Raymond Solga

Elite Attitudes Toward Foreign and New ReligionsIn the Ancient Roman World

This is a study of the reaction of Roman elites to

religious innovation and foreign influences. During the

imperial period foreign religious influences played an

important role in Roman life and the Roman elite had a

somewhat ambivalent view of them. Everyone in the empire was

required to make public sacrifices to the emperor and the

gods of the Roman state. This can be seen as a loyalty test

of sorts, but people were allowed to take part in other

religious activities besides their official obligation.

Generally foreign religious practices were tolerated as long

as they did not prevent people from worshiping the official

state gods, especially the emperor. However, the practice of

magic was illegal under Roman law, even though the vast

majority of Romans sought out some kind of magical

assistance. Educated Romans were critical of what they

considered superstition, which was generally considered

excessive fear of the gods, but thought it only proper to

1

perform a reasonable amount of sacrifices to the gods in

order to show them respect. “In Rome, religio (national and

authentic) was readily contrasted with superstitio (exotic and

suspect).”1 I expect to find a variety of opinions,

positive, negative and mixed, on various religious

practices. Although innovation in religion was generally

seen in a negative light certain practices were approved of

despite their novelty.

Some of the research questions I will be addressing

are: How did they define superstition? How did they perceive

magic? How did they perceive divination? How were different

cults perceived and treated by the larger society? What

justifications were used for treating some religious groups

differently than others? What laws were made regarding

religious practices? What is known about the practices of

the mystery religions? What were opinions on religion among

elites? How did they change over time?

1 Robert Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire Trans. by Antonia Nevill. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1996.), 10.

2

In the Roman Empire there were many mystery religions

coming from various regions of the empire. Mystery religions

are religions that use secret rites or doctrines that only

members are allowed to know about. Today the best known of

the mystery religions is Christianity, which was just one of

the many foreign religions that spread throughout the empire

at its beginning. Other mystery cults focused on Demeter (a

Greek goddess of the harvest), Isis (an Egyptian Goddess),

Mithras (an Indo-Iranian god who was popular with Roman

soldiers), Dionysus (Greek god of wine), Cybele – Magna

Mater (a mother goddess from Asia Minor), among other

deities. People were allowed to practice these religions as

long as they also worshiped the state gods. The refusal of

Christians to worship the imperial cult set them apart from

society and led to persecution. There are more Roman sources

that are critical of Christianity than any of the other

religions of the time. Since the mystery cults demanded that

its members keep certain aspects of their religion secret

there is much that is not known about them today. However,

sources on some of the other religious practices and on

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religious leaders do exist and I intend to examine them as

well in order to understand the attitude of Roman

intellectuals toward foreign religions.

“Intellectuals like Cicero and Seneca and poets like

Horace want us to believe that superstitio was an insanity, an

illness of the mind… However, it was widespread and deeply

rooted in Roman society.”2 Professional soothsayers, dream

interpreters, astrologers, and magicians were hired

throughout the Roman Empire by people from all levels of

society, and the price for their services varied greatly.

There are accounts of Roman Senators using magic to further

their political goals. “In one of the stories, M. Scribonius

Libo Drusus, a relative of the emperor Tiberius, was accused

in AD16 of aiming for the throne. According to Tacitus (Ann.

2.27-31) the senator Firmus Catus… had: promoted the young

man, who was thoughtless and an easy prey to delusions, to

resort to astrologers’ promises… magical rites… and

interpreters of dreams…”3 Libo Drusus was forced to commit

2 Rupke, Jorg. A Companion to Roman Religion. (Malden, Massachussets: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2007.), 339. 3 Rupke, A Companion to Roman Religion, 340

4

suicide, and “In the aftermath of the alleged conspiracy of

Libo Drusus, the senate expelled astrologers and magicians…

from Rome and italy and at least two of them were executed…

According to the chronicle of the late antique Codex

Calendar of 354, 54 sorcerers and 85 sorceresses were even

executed under Tiberius.”4 This shows that Roman elites

took unofficial and foreign religious practices seriously,

whether they believed they were effective or not.

In Religions of the Hellenistic-Roman Age, Antonia Tripolitis

describes the foundations of Hellenistic and Roman religious

practices. She argues that the Greeks, who had great

influence on Roman culture, began to lose confidence in

their traditional gods in the 5th century B.C.E.5 because of

the influence of the Sophists, Plato, and a new

understanding of cosmology. People continued to worship the

ancient gods, but by the 4th century “the ordinary man and

woman no longer placed their hope or faith on the ancient

gods, whom they believed could not alleviate their daily

4 Rupke, A Companion to Roman Religion, 3415 Tripolitis, Antonia. 2002. Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.), 14.

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encounters with the vicissitudes of Hellenistic life.”6

Mystery cults used “purification rites, their enthusiasm and

ecstasy, and their rewards of immortality through personal

identification with the deity” to meet the individual’s

desire for “salvation, revelation, peace of mind, or inner

illumination.”7 These included both oriental cults and cults

created around the traditional gods of Greece, which spread

throughout the Roman Empire. Unlike the traditional gods and

the cult of the ruler, the mystery religions offered

salvation, meaning protection in this life and a better life

after death. The ruler was called savior because he assured

the peace and prosperity of his subjects on earth. However,

people were skeptical of the cult of the ruler since its

primary purpose was political rather than meeting people’s

spiritual needs.

Another difference between the official religion and

the mystery cults was that the old “gods were often limited

in both scope and function.”8 They were associated with

6 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 157 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 168 Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire, 25

6

certain professions, activities and geographical areas, so

people could not call on them for all of their needs. In

contrast, the gods of the mystery cults took on a degree of

universality in that the power of these gods was defined

more broadly.

Mystery Religions and the Literary Critics

“The oldest and most significant for the development of

Hellenistic-Roman mysteries was the cult of Demeter situated

at Eleusis, some 14 miles west of the city of Athens.”9 This

continued to be a destination for pilgrims as long as the

cult existed. It began as a local religion, but grew so that

by “the 7th century, Eleusis acquired immense prestige as a

holy place and a shrine of pilgrimage… The cult’s ever-

increasing popularity resulted in the continuous expansion

and development of the sanctuary and its facilities. It

reached the zenith of its development during the Roman

imperial period.”10 There are many aspects of the cult that

remain hidden to this day. Demeter was the Greek goddess of

9 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 1710 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 20

7

grain and the annual renewal of vegetation to the Earth.

There were two stages of Eleusinian mysteries. The Lesser

Mysteries were celebrated in Athens and were open to the

public both as initiates and observers. This part “included

fasting, the ritual of washing and purification by water,

and public sacrifice. It served as a preliminary exercise to

determine the worthiness of the participants and to prepare

them for the initiation into the Greater Mysteries, the

second and highest stage of the mysteries.”11 The Greater

Mysteries were held in Eleusis and lasted for ten days

because that was how long Demeter searched for her daughter

Persephone before she found out that she had been kidnapped

by Pluto, the god of the underworld. The ritual “included

three elements: the dromena, the things demonstrated; the

legonmena, the words spoken; and the deiknoumena, the objects

that were shown.”12 All that is known is that part of the

dromena included a reenactment of the abduction of

Persephone. People from all over the known world sought to

be initiated into this cult, “including several emperors…

11 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 2012 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 21

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However, not everyone who sought initiation was accepted,

only people of approved moral character. Nero never visited

Eleusis because he knew that he would probably be denied

initiation, and Appollonius of Tyana was refused

participation because he was considered a magician.”13

Cicero said of the mysteries that “‘we recognize in them the

true principles of life’” and have learned from them “‘how

to live in happiness and how to die with a better hope.’”14

Clearly this cult is an example of a religion that had the

approval of the elites. That this cult existed for a long

time certainly helped it gain the approval of Romans, as did

the fact that Demeter was one of the twelve Olympian gods.

Isis was an Egyptian goddess that acquired new

attributes as her cult spread throughout the Greek world,

but “her dominant trait was as devoted wife and mother, the

divine patroness of family life.”15 In the classical myth,

Isis’s brother Osiris is killed by his twin brother Seth,

who dismembers the body and throws it into the Nile. Isis

13 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 2114 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 2115 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 27

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and her sister Nephtys search for the body parts, reassemble

them, and perform the embalming ritual, which bring Osiris

back to life. In the Egyptian tradition Osiris is of more

importance, and Isis’s duty is to mourn him and try to

receive him. The Hellenistic tradition made Isis the central

figure. Plutarch gives an account of the myth in his On Isis

and Osiris 16. “Isis’s early identification with Demeter

facilitated the popularity and expansion of her cult and

enhanced her role as wife and mother. Both had wandered,

mourned and suffered for a beloved family member, and both

were successful in the restoration of the lost family

member.”17 Equating foreign gods with similar gods within

their own tradition was typical in the Roman world, as it

was among the Greeks, which made it more palatable to people

within the society by making them less foreign.

The cult of Dionysus was quite popular and wide

spread18. Dionysus was the god of wine, and like Demeter, a

nature god and one of the twelve Olympian gods. Unlike the

16 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 2617 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 2718 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 22.

10

Eleusinian Mysteries of Demeter there was never any

institution that created a standardized religion, so there

is variety in the rituals of the cult and in the stories

told about Dionysus. Euripides provides us with a

description of the public rites of the cult in his play the

Bacchae 19. “A development of the cult of Dionysus during the

Classical period was the theater and two dramatic forms,

tragedy and comedy, which served as a principal expression

of the public worship of Dionysus and were an essential part

of Greek culture.” 20 Dionysus was popular in the Greek

world, “but it was not until the Hellenistic-Roman age that

this cult gained wide acceptance and was publicly promoted

by kings and emperors.” 21 The cult spread rapidly through

the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C.E. in Roman Italy. At this time

“initiates held secret meetings and had secret signs by

which they recognized each other, and changes were made to

the initiation ceremonies, or Bacchanalia. Wine drinking and

feasting were added to the religious component, which led to

19 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 23.20 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 23.21 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 23.

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ecstatic fanaticism and the practice of scandalous

behavior.” 22 The Roman senate considered them a threat and

passed laws restricting the cult. Livy gives an account of

the spread of the cult of Dionysus in 186 BCE as well as the

reaction of the Senate, which places restrictions on cult

worship. “Many of their audacious deeds were brought about

by treachery, but most of them by force; it served to

conceal the violence, that, on account of the loud shouting,

and the noise of drums and cymbals… The infection of this

mischief, like that from the contagion of disease, spread

from Etruria to Rome;” 23 The senate thought it was a threat

to their authority, and passed a law forbidding the

celebration of Bacchanalia, not allowing citizens to join

the cult, not allowing them to organize or have a common

treasury, and not allowing them to meet in groups larger

than five. 24 The cult continued for centuries after, but

did not enjoy the same enthusiasm it had earlier. Although

22 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 24.23 Halsall, Paul. Ancient History Sourcebook: Roman Religious Toleration: The Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus, 186 BCE, 1998. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/livy39.html

24 Halsall, Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus, 186 BCE

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this was a Greek and Roman god this cult faced persecution

because its power rivaled that of the official government of

Rome.

Cybele originally comes from Anatolia and is often

referred to as Magna Mater. Evidence shows that her cult can

be traced to the Neolithic age. “During her prehistoric

existence, Cybele was revered as Earth Mother.” 25 Believers

thought of her as the mother of the gods, mankind and all

other life. The cult was especially important in the

Phyrgian kingdom in Asia Minor, where she was their national

goddess. “The Phyrgians are also responsible for the wild

and barbaric features of the cult, the loud ululations and

wild dances that incited people to bloody self-flagellation

and self-mutilation.” 26 She was seen as akin to Demeter and

Isis in the Greek world and came to take on similar

characteristics in their culture, as goddess of the earth,

fertility and agriculture. Because of the ecstatic dance of

members of this cult it was associated with the cult of

Dionysus as well. Its Asiatic style of worship prevented the

25 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 30.26 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 31.

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cult from becoming very popular in Greece. Livy provides an

excellent example of how a foreign religion was integrated

into Roman culture. He writes about how the cult of Magna

Mater was officially recognized by the Roman state in 204

B.C.E. “About this time the citizens were much exercised by

a religious question which had lately come up. Owing to the

unusual number of showers of stones which had fallen during

the year, an inspection had been made of the Sibylline

Books, and some oracular verses had been discovered which

announced that whenever a foreign foe should carry war into

Italy he could be driven out and conquered if the Mater

Magna were brought from Pessinos [in Phrygia] to Rome.” 27

Rome was under threat from its old enemy Carthage, with

Hannibal and his men marching through the Italian

countryside at will. The interpretation of signs was taken

seriously, and was done officially by augurs. Due to this

prediction a delegation was sent from Rome to bring the

statue of Cybele to Rome, where she was placed in the temple

of Victory until a new temple was built for her. It was

27 Halsall, Roman Religious Toleration: The Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus

14

officially recognized by the Roman state and received money

from patrician families. However, participation in the cult

was restricted due to certain features of the cult, like

“The extravagance in the ceremonies, the barbaric corybantic

enthusiasm of the galli, or eunuch priests, their mad

hypnotic dances accompanied by the loud shrill of the flute,

and the sound of the tympanum that led to their self-

mutilation were abhorrent to the Romans… Romans could not

serve as priests, play the sacred instruments, or take part

in the orgies. All this changed beginning with the time of

Claudius (41-54 C.E.).” 28 After Claudius the cult was

allowed to spread in Italy and Romans were allowed to become

priests. It is interesting the way Romans treated the cult

for over 200 years from the time it was brought to Rome. It

was incorporated into the pantheon during a time of crisis

in order to save Rome from destruction, but because it was

so foreign the elites did not want it to spread because it

would change Roman traditions. After 200 years it became

28 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 33.

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popular and more familiar, so it was politically expedient

to allow the religion to be practiced openly.

“Mithra was an Indo-Iranian deity whose earliest

recorded evidence is found in a 14th century B.C.E. treaty

between the Hittites and their neighbors, the Mitanni of

Upper Mesopotamia.” 29 Mithra was seen as a guarantor of

treaties, and as an intermediary between mankind and the

supreme deity, “the Indian Varuna and the Persian Ahura

Mazda…” 30 There is little written evidence about the

teachings and practices of Mithras followers so much of what

is known comes from archaeological evidence found in the

mithraea, which were small caves where small groups of

worshipers met. The image of Mithra slaying a bull is common

to all known mithraea. “All that can be said with some

certainty is that the slaying of the bull has a

soteriological significance. It was an act of salvation that

is an important aspect in all the ancient mystery religions

and cults.” 31 Other important aspects of the religion

29 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 47. 30 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 47.31 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 49.

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depicted on cave walls are the sacred meal, which is

reenacted by cult members, and the birth of Mithras out of a

rock, which was said to have happened on December 25.

Members of the cult were divided into seven levels through

which members advanced. Women were prohibited from joining

the religion, which made it difficult to compete with

Christianity, which eventually eclipsed Mithraism. Mithraism

is thought to have been introduced in Rome by Cilican

pirates, who were brought to Rome after their defeat by the

Roman general Pompey in 66 B.C.E. “By the end of the 1st

century C.E., it had begun to spread throughout the empire,

and by the middle of the 3rd century it had become the most

important of the contemporary cults.” 32 It was especially

popular among Roman soldiers and in Rome itself, becoming

popular among Roman elites and spreading along the Roman

frontier and in port cities. Mithraism was able to spread

because of the support of imperial officials and emperors

and because of the fact that worshipers were allowed to

worship other gods. Also, the movement towards sun worship

32 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 56.

17

in the empire helped the spread of Mithraism because Mithras

had always been associated with the sun god. Mithraism was

very influential beginning with the reign of Emperor

Aurelian, who made the cult of Sol Invictus (the invincible

sun) an official religion of Rome. Even though he did not

practice Mithraism, this recognition helped the spread of

Mithraism because of the association. Then, in 308 C.E. a

conference was held with Diocletian, who had recently

abdicated as emperor, and his successors. After the

conference they declared that “Mithras the invincible sun

[to be] god and protector of their rule…” 33 which made

Mithras the official god of the Roman state, replacing the

less-specific sun god of Aurelian. However this was short

lived because in 312 Constantine became sole ruler of the

Roman Empire and he promoted Christianity as the official

religion of Rome. There was a chance for Mithraism to regain

its former status during the reign of Emperor Julian, a life

long Mithras follower. However he only reigned briefly, from

361-363, and was followed by Christian rulers who persecuted

33 Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age, 57.

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the Mithras cult. Although foreign in origin, the fact that

Mithras was a sun god helped popularize the cult because sun

worship was already practiced in Rome, and as mentioned

earlier Romans often identified foreign gods with those they

already worshiped.

A major world religion today, Christianity began as a

small apocalyptic sect. When Christianity emerged in the

first century C.E. it was considered by Romans to be a sect

of Judaism. Although an exact date cannot be determined for

when Christianity began to be viewed as a new religion, “By

the 60’s… we may assume that Christianity had emerged as a

new religion in the Roman Empire.” 34 The change in Rome’s

perception of Christianity as a new religion rather than a

sect within Judaism brought about a change in the way the

Roman government treated Christians. One reason for this was

that Christianity was a new religion. Judaism, like other

religions within the empire, was allowed by Rome, so Jews

were allowed to practice their religion. Christianity was

34 Bainton, Roland H. Early Christianity. New York: Van Nostrand, 1960.

19

deemed to be a separate religion from Judaism because

Christians worshiped Jesus Christ as their god. Since

Christianity was not Judaism, and was therefore a new

religion it was illicit, because anything new was bad from a

Roman perspective. Also, Jesus was a person who was executed

as a criminal by Roman authority, and in the eyes of

Christians his authority was superior to that of the emperor

of Rome. This was seen as an affront to the authority of the

emperor and Rome. Another charge levied against Christians

was that they refused to participate in the imperial cult.

Jews were even given a special exemption from participating

in the imperial cult, which required everyone in the empire

to make a sacrifice to the emperor as a god. Since

Christianity was a new religion, and not a sect of Judaism,

practitioners were not extended the same exemption from the

imperial cult.

The first persecution of Christians took place in 64

C.E. under the emperor Nero. That year, there had been a

terrible fire which consumed much of the city of Rome, and

many people believed that Nero himself had started the fire.

20

“Therefore,” according to Tacitus, “to quiet the rumor, Nero

cast the blame and ingeniously punished a people popularly

called Christians and hated for their crimes.” 35 The crimes

he refers to are “not so much… arson… [but] hatred of the

human race” 36, a claim which plays into the Roman

perception of Christians as different than other Romans and

the suspicion that surrounds them due to their supposed

secrecy and refusal to participate in many aspects of public

life in Rome, which made them a convenient scapegoat. He

goes on to say “Whence, though the victims were deserving of

the severest penalty, nevertheless compassion arose on the

ground that they suffered not for the public good but to

glut the cruelty of one man.” 37 Here Tacitus makes two

points: that the Christians didn’t, and weren’t believed to

have set the fire and that even though they weren’t guilty

of this they deserved to be punished anyway for being

Christians.

35 Bainton, Early Christianity, 8736 Bainton, Early Christianity, 8737 Bainton, Early Christianity, 87

21

A letter from Pliny, a provincial Roman governor in

Bithynia, to the emperor Trajan between 111 and 113 C.E.

sheds some light on the nature of Roman persecution of

Christians in the second century. In the letter he asks

Trajan for advice on how to deal with Christians who are

brought to him and explains the considerations and methods

he has been using. Having never witnessed trials of

Christians, he wonders “whether profession of the name

should be punished if there be no attendant crime or whether

only the crimes associated with the name are subject to

penalty.”38 By this he means to ask whether they should be

punished for the crime of arson, which was associated with

their name, or for their refusal to worship the emperor,

which is what Pliny does. He also says “I do not doubt that

whatever it was that they profess, surely their stubbornness

and inflexible obstinacy deserved to be punished.” 39 This

shows that he was somewhat indifferent to what the

Christians believe as long as they show submission to the

emperor. He goes on to say “There were others addicted to

38 Bainton, Early Christianity, 8839 Bainton, Early Christianity, 88

22

this same madness…” 40 This refers to Christianity, which

indicates that he viewed it as a sort of mental illness,

which is akin to Cicero and Seneca’s views on superstition.

To test those denounced to him as Christians he would ask

them if they were, giving them three chances to recant, and

if they denied being Christians they had to worship an image

of the emperor and curse Christ. Trajan replies in a letter

that he “has followed the proper procedures in dealing with

Christians… No absolute rule can be laid down. They are not

to be hunted out… [and] he who denies that he is a Christian

and proves it by supplicating our gods, although suspect in

the past, may gain pardon from penitence.” 41 This shows

that Trajan’s policy towards Christians was not a sustained

effort, and that as long as the Christian in question showed

his submission he would be forgiven.

In addition to the official persecutions of Christians

by Roman authorities there were elites who were vehemently

opposed to Christianity. Writing in 177-180 C.E., the Roman

intellectual Celsus offers an example of elite pagan

40 Bainton, Early Christianity, 8841 Bainton, Early Christianity, 89

23

attitudes towards Christians. One charge he makes is that

the Christians practice obscurantism, which means

deliberately preventing the facts from being known. He

writes that they “do not even want to give or to receive a

reason for what they believe, and use such expressions as

‘Do not ask questions; just believe,’… [and] ‘Let no one

educated, no one wise, no one sensible draw near. For these

abilities are thought to be evil.” 42 Here he is asserting

that Christian teachings are anathema to true wisdom and

civilization. He goes on to accuse them of corrupting the

minds of women and children, telling them that “they must

not pay any attention to their father or school-teachers,

but must obey [the Christian leaders]… [and] urge the

children on to rebel.” 43 Rome was a patriarchal society,

and the Paterfamilias, or Father of the family, was the

ultimate authority within a family. To a Roman it was truly

scandalous that women and children should be encouraged to

disobey the father. It was seen as undermining the fabric of

society.

42 Bainton, Early Christianity, 11143 Bainton, Early Christianity, 111-112

24

Next Celsus takes on the notion that God has come to

earth to judge mankind, calling it “most shameful…” 44 He

questions whether God’s purpose was to learn about mankind,

yet Christians claim that God knows everything, and if this

is true “why does he not correct men, and why can he not do

this by his divine power?” 45 rather than by sending his son

to die on a cross. He also criticizes God’s supposed

lateness in sending Jesus, saying “Is it only now after such

a long age that God has remembered to judge the life of men?

Did he not care before?” 46 This is a reasoned attack based

on Celsus’s cultural assumptions about religion as a Roman,

which differ from those of Christians now as then.

He goes on to compare Christians and Jews “to a cluster

of bats or ants coming out of a nest, or frogs holding

council round a marsh, or worms assembling in some filthy

corner, disagreeing with one another about which of them are

the worst sinners.” 47 This is a classic attack used by

those in the majority culture to dehumanize members of a

44 Bainton, Early Christianity, 11245 Bainton, Early Christianity, 11246 Bainton, Early Christianity, 11247 Bainton, Early Christianity, 113

25

non-conforming minority, and it can be seen throughout

history. It is also an assertion that the Christians and

Jews are both right in their attacks on each other. He

continues by mocking the belief of Christians and Jews that

they hold a special place in God’s plan for the universe,

communicates only with them “disregarding the vast earth to

give attention to us alone…” 48 and that non-believers will

be punished, “when God applies the fire (like a cook!), all

the rest of mankind will be thoroughly roasted and they

alone will survive, not merely those who are alive at the

time but those who are long dead who will rise up from the

earth possessing the same bodies as before.” 49 The idea

that God would ignore the vast majority of the world in

favor of people as low as the Christians and Jews is

ludicrous on it’s face from Celsus’s perspective, and so are

the concepts of God’s punishment of non-believers and

raising the dead Christians, because he was raised in an

aristocratic, pagan Roman family.

48 Bainton, Early Christianity, 11349 Bainton, Early Christianity, 113

26

The next line of attack against the Christians is

against Jesus himself. He uses a Jewish source which says,

“He came from a Jewish village and from a poor country woman

who earned her living by spinning… She was turned out by the

carpenter who was betrothed to her, as she had been

convicted of adultery and had a child by a certain soldier

named Panthera… While she was wandering about in a

disgraceful way she gave birth to Jesus… Because he was poor

he hired himself out as a workman in Egypt, and there tried

his hand at certain magical powers on which the Egyptians

pride themselves; he returned full of conceit because of

these powers, and on account of them gave himself the title

of God…” 50 This account of Jesus’ life gives a negative

impression of him as: the son of an adulterous woman, a

shameful thing, particularly in this period; poor, something

that would also be shameful to an aristocratic Roman and

evidence of his dishonesty; and a charlatan who went to

Egypt, a place thought to be full of sorcerers in Roman

eyes, to learn magic and used this magic to pretend to be a

50 Bainton, Early Christianity, 113

27

god. The charge of practicing magic is familiar in Roman

history and is used on many different people and practices.

Next, Celsus attacks Jesus’ disciples as “ten or eleven

infamous men, the most wicked tax collectors and sailors,

and with these fled hither and thither, collecting a means

of livelihood in a disgraceful and importunate way…” 51 Tax

collectors were hated because people didn’t want to pay

taxes, and sailors were viewed much as the stereotype is

today: curse like a sailor, drink like a sailor, and sleep

around like a sailor; so the people Jesus surrounded himself

with did not speak well of him. He goes on to say “The body

of a god would not have been born as you, Jesus, were born…

The body of a god would also not eat food…” 52 Here he is

displaying his culture’s view of what a god was supposed to

be like, which differed widely from Christianity. Then

Celsus quotes his Jewish source again, which says, “he did

not manifest anything which he professed to do, and when we

had convicted him, condemned him, and decided that he should

be punished, was caught hiding himself and escaping most

51 Bainton, Early Christianity, 113-11452 Bainton, Early Christianity, 114

28

disgracefully, and indeed betrayed by those whom he called

disciples?” 53 Celsus comments that no good general, or even

a robber chieftain was ever betrayed by his followers, and

this shows that Jesus was a poor leader, since he didn’t

even inspire the good will of his followers. Next Celsus

criticizes the claim that Jesus foretold what would happen

to him, saying “why did they not fear him as God, so that

the one did not betray him nor the other deny him?” 54 He

also argues that if Jesus was a god and had allowed himself

to be punished on purpose, then it would not have been

painful, so “Why then does he utter loud laments and

wailings, and pray that he may avoid the fear of death…” 55

Then he criticizes the story of Jesus coming back to life,

saying, “But who saw this? An hysterical female, and perhaps

some other one of those who were deluded by the same

sorcery… If Jesus really wanted to show forth divine power,

he ought to have appeared to the very men who treated him

despitefully, and to the men who condemned him and to

53 Bainton, Early Christianity, 11454 Bainton, Early Christianity, 11455 Bainton, Early Christianity, 114

29

everyone everywhere.” 56 Here, Celsus displays typical Roman

misogyny in his description of Mary Magdalene, and concludes

by applying a final consideration, that Jesus should have

proven himself a god if he was one.

Finally, Celsus addresses the political aloofness of

Christians, saying “If they refuse to worship in the proper

way the lords in charge of the following activities, then

they ought neither to come to the estate of a free man, nor

to marry a wife, nor to beget children, nor to do anything

else in life.” 57 He is saying that if Christians do not

honor the emperor and the traditional gods of Rome, then

they should not enjoy the benefits that are bestowed by

Rome. The Roman gods were seen by Celsus and others as the

protectors of Rome and the providers of prosperity, so it

was a civic duty to honor them. Next he makes a case in

favor of the authority of the emperor, saying “We ought not

to disbelieve the ancient man who long ago declared ‘Let

there be one king’… For, if you overthrow this doctrine, it

is probable the emperor will punish you. If anyone were to

56 Bainton, Early Christianity, 11557 Bainton, Early Christianity, 115

30

do the same as you, there would be nothing to prevent him

from being abandoned, alone and deserted, while earthly

things would come into the power of the most lawless and

savage barbarians…” 58 Here he is saying that it is right

that the emperor punish anyone who challenges his status as

the Christians have by declaring Jesus their only lord

because if people like the Christians had their way the

empire would fall to barbarians. Finally, he argues that the

Christian God would not protect Rome if the Romans converted

to Christianity. To prove this, he says “Instead of being

masters of the world, they [the Jews] have been left with no

land and home of any kind. While in your case, if anyone

does still wander about in secret, yet he is sought out and

condemned to death.” 59 In the ancient world a god’s power

is judged by the success of the people who worship that god.

By those standards the God of Christianity and Judaism

doesn’t seem powerful from Celsus’ perspective.

Conclusions

58 Bainton, Early Christianity, 11559 Bainton, Early Christianity, 115

31

Looking at the most common foreign and innovative

religious practices in the Roman Empire it is clear that

there are some common threads in how they are perceived and

treated by the establishment. Although the Romans generally

looked down on foreigners, they had a significant impact on

Roman culture. With eastern religions like Christianity,

Mithraism, Isis, and Cybele integration came easier if there

were some parallels with Roman religion. The cult of Demeter

was accepted at all levels of Roman society because she had

a direct Roman counterpart, Ceres. The cult of Demeter was

small, exclusive, and non political, so there was no reason

for Romans to object. Isis was associated with Demeter, and

the cult of Isis was around for a long period of time,

becoming Hellenized before becoming popular in Rome. Cybele

had also been Hellenized, but the practice of self

castration of priests had an alien oriental quality to it

that Romans had a hard time accepting, which is why it was

restricted for the first 200 years that it was in Rome.

Mithras was associated with the sun god, which Romans

worshiped in many other forms before the arrival of that

32

cult. On the other hand, Christianity did not have a

counterpart in Roman religion, but was somewhat associated

with Judaism, a sect not well liked by Romans. Also,

Christians denied the existence of all the other gods, which

greatly offended Roman sensibilities. Another common factor

across the different religions was that the longer they were

around the more likely they were to be accepted. Only after

existing in the Roman consciousness for centuries did any of

the religions gain widespread acceptance. Notably, Dionysus’

cult was quite popular, but when it began to be seen as a

threat to the established order it was persecuted. Cybele

was seen as a threat because it was so different, but after

a long period of controlled exposure it became fashionable.

Christianity was also seen as a threat and was persecuted

sporadically. The fact that Christians were not allowed to

worship other gods, including the state gods, offended the

Romans. All of the other Mystery Religions allowed their

adherents to worship other gods, and if they hadn’t they

would have been persecuted by the Roman state for not

worshiping the gods of Rome. The practice of magic was also

33

proscribed, although it was quite popular. This is because

magic was widely believed to be effective and because it was

most often used for nefarious purposes, particularly putting

curses on people. Since there was no legitimate use for

magic it made sense that it remained illegal, but because it

was thought to be effective people continued to use it.

34

Works Cited

Bainton, Roland H. Early Christianity. New York: Van Nostrand,

1960.

Halsall, Paul. Ancient History Sourcebook: Roman Religious

Toleration:

The Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus, 186 BCE, 1998.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/livy39.html

Halsall, Paul. Ancient History Sourcebook: Roman Religiones

Licitae and Illicitae, c. 204 BCE - 112 CE, 1998.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/romrelig2.html

Rupke, Jorg. A Companion to Roman Religion. Malden,

Massachussets: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2007.

Tripolitis, Antonia. 2002. Religions of the Hellenistic Roman Age.

Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Turcan, Robert. The Cults of the Roman Empire. Trans. by Antonia

Nevill. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1996.

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