A History of Magic and Experimental Science, Volume 1 (of 2) by Lynn Thorndike
3836. Other MSS are: BN 11624, 11th century; BN 12135, 9th century; BN
9520 words | Chapter 89
12136, 12-13th century; BN 13336, 11th century; BN 14847, 12th century,
fol. 163; BN nouv. acq. 490, 12th century; Vatican 269-273 inclusive,
10-15th centuries; Alençon 10, 12th century; Vendôme 129, 12th century,
fols. 48-126; Semur, 10, 12th century; Chartres 63, 10-11th century,
fols. 3-46; Orléans 35, 11th century; Orléans 192, 7th century, part of
the first two books only; Amiens fonds Lescalopier 30, 12th century;
le Mans 15, 11th century; Brussels 1782, 10th century; CLM 2549, 12th
century; CLM 3728, 10th century; CLM 6258, 10th century; CLM 13079,
12th century; CLM 14399, 12th century; Novara 40, 12th century; and
many other MSS of later date in these and other libraries.
[2071] _De proprietatibus rerum_, VIII, 4.
[2072] Bede, _Hexaemeron, sive libri quatuor in principium Genesis
usque ad nativitatem Isaac et electionem Ismaelis_, in Migne, PL, 91,
9-100. Bede originally intended to carry his work only to the expulsion
of Adam from Paradise, but subsequently added three more books.
[2073] Homilies I, VIII, and X.
[2074] Homily III, 1 and 10.
[2075] I, 7; III, 5 and 10.
[2076] IV, 1.
[2077] I, 7; III, 5; IV, 3, 4, and 7; VI, 9; VII, 6.
[2078] II, 7; III, 10.
[2079] IV, 1; VI, 1.
[2080] VIII, 8.
[2081] Homily V, 10; IX, 2.
[2082] I, 3.
[2083] II, 1.
[2084] III, 3.
[2085] II, 4, _et seq._
[2086] III, 9.
[2087] Charles, _The Book of the Secrets of Enoch_, Introduction, pp.
xxxi, xxxix.
[2088] Irenaeus, I, 5; Epiphanius, ed. Petavius 186AB.
[2089] Homily I, 10.
[2090] VI, 9-11.
[2091] I, 11.
[2092] II, 7.
[2093] IV, 2-4.
[2094] Homily IV, 4.
[2095] IV, 6.
[2096] V, 2.
[2097] IV, 5.
[2098] III, 4.
[2099] VI, 1.
[2100] Homily V, 3.
[2101] V, 9.
[2102] V, 4.
[2103] V, 6.
[2104] VII, 5; IX, 3.
[2105] VIII, 6.
[2106] Homily VII, 6.
[2107] IX, 3.
[2108] VIII, 5. See also Aristotle, _History of Animals_, V, 8.
[2109] Homily VIII, 6.
[2110] IX, 2.
[2111] IX, 5.
[2112] Homily, VI, 11.
[2113] V, 1.
[2114] VI, 3.
[2115] _Ad Autolycum_, II, 15.
[2116] Homily VI, 5-7.
[2117] Homily VI, 10.
[2118] V, 2.
[2119] V, 7. But perhaps he simply means that oaks will grow where
pines used to.
Tertullian, _De pallio_, cap. 2, dwelling on the law of change, speaks
of the washing down of soil from mountains, the alluvial formation
by rivers, and of sea-shells on mountain tops as a proof that the
whole earth was once covered by water. He seems to have in mind a
gradual process of geological evolution rather than Noah’s flood,
and Sir James Frazer states that Isidore of Seville is the first
he knows of the many writers who have appealed “to fossil shells
imbedded in remote mountains as witnesses to the truth of the Noachian
tradition,”—_Origines_, XIII, 22, cited by J. G. Frazer, _Folk-Lore in
the Old Testament_ (1918), I, 159, who cites the passage in Tertullian
at pp. 338-9.
[2120] Homily IX, 2.
[2121] Cunningham, _Christian Opinion on Usury_, p. 9.
[2122] Twice in the course of the _Panarion_ (Dindorf, I, 280, and
II, 428; Petavius, 2D and 404A) he gives the year of the reign of
Valentinian and Valens, namely, the eleventh and the twelfth.
[2123] Lucian’s _De dipsadibus_ will be recalled; see also Pliny, NH,
XXIII, 80; Lucan, _Pharsalia_, IX, 719.
[2124] Pliny, NH, XXIII, 18; XXX, 10.
[2125] Pliny, NH, XXV, 53; XXI, 92; XIX, 62; XII, 40 and 55.
[2126] Dindorf, II, 450; Petavius, 422C.
[2127] _Liber de XII gemmis rationalis summi sacerdotis Hebraeorum_,
published in Dindorf’s edition of the _Opera_ of Epiphanius, vol. IV,
pp. 141-248, with the preface and notes of Fogginius, and both the
Latin and Greek versions.
[2128] _Ibid._, 160-62.
[2129] P. 174.
[2130] Pp. 190-91.
[2131] _Ibid._, 184.
[2132] Pitra, _Spicilegium Solesmense_, Paris, 1855, III, xlvii-lxxx.
K. Ahrens, _Zur Geschichte des sogenannten Physiologus_, 1885.
M. F. Mann, _Bestiaire Divin de Guillaume Le Clerc_. Heilbronn,
1888, pp. 16-33, “Entstehung des Physiologus und seine Entwicklung
im Abendlande.” F. Lauchert, _Geschichte des Physiologus_,
Strassburg, 1889. E. Peters, _Der griechische Physiologus und seine
orientalischen Uebersetzungen_, Berlin, 1898. M. Goldstaub, _Der
Physiologus und seine Weiterbildung, besonders in der lateinischen
und in der byzantinischen Litteratur_, in _Philologus_, Suppl. Bd.
VIII (1898-1901), 337-404. Also in _Verhandl. d. 41. Versammlung
deutscher Philologen u. Schulmänner in München_, Leipzig (1892), pp.
212-21. V. Schultze, _Der Physiologus in der kirchlichen Kunst des
Mittelalters_, in _Christliches Kunstblatt_, XXXIX (1897), 49-55. J.
Strzygowski, _Der Bilderkreis des griechischen Physiologus_, in _Byz.
Zeitsch._ Ergänzungsheft, I (1899). E. P. Evans, _Animal Symbolism
in Ecclesiastical Architecture_, 1896, is disappointing, being
mainly compiled from secondary sources and having little to say on
ecclesiastical architecture.
[2133] EB, 11th ed., “Arthropoda.”
[2134] Lauchert (1889), pp. 229-79, attempts a critical edition of the
Greek text.
[2135] Pitra (1855), III, 374-90; French translation in Cahier,
_Nouveaux mélanges_ (1874), I, 117, _et seq._
[2136] O. G. Tychsen, _Physiologus Syrus_, 1795; from an incomplete
Vatican MS. Land, _Otia Syriaca_, p. 31, _et seq._, or in _Anecdota
Syriaca_, IV, 115, _et seq._, gives the complete text with a Latin
translation.
[2137] Hommel, _Die aethiopische Uebersetzung des Physiologus_,
Leipzig, 1877. A bit of it was translated by Pitra (1855), III, 416-7.
[2138] Land, _Otia Syriaca_, p. 137, _et seq._, with Latin translation.
A fragment in Pitra (1855), III, 535.
[2139] Pitra (1855), III, 338-73, used MSS from the 13th to 15th
century. The earliest known illuminated copies are of 1100 A. D. and
later: see Dalton, _Byzantine Art and Archaeology_, Oxford, 1911, pp.
481-2.
[2140] The oldest Latin MSS seem to be two of the 8th and 9th centuries
at Berne. Edited by Mai, _Classici auctores_, Rome, 1835, VII, 585-96,
and more completely by Pitra (1855), III, 418; also by G. Heider, in
_Archiv f. Kunde österreich. Geschichtsquellen_, Vienna, 1850, II,
545; Cahier et Martin, _Mélanges d’archéologie_, Paris, II (1851),
85ff., III (1853), 203ff., IV (1856), 55ff. Cahier, _Nouveaux mélanges_
(1874), p. 106ff.
Mann (1888), pp. 37-73, prints the Latin text which he regards as
William le Clerc’s source from Royal 2-C-XII, and gives a list of other
MSS of Latin Bestiaries in English libraries.
Other medieval Latin Bestiaries have been printed in the works of
Hildebert of Tours or Le Mans (Migne, PL, 171, 1217-24: really this
poem concerning only twelve animals is by Theobald, who was perhaps
abbot at Monte Cassino, 1022-1035, and it was printed under the name
of Theobald before 1500,—see the volume numbered IA.12367 in the
British Museum and entitled, _Phisiologus Theobaldi Episcopi de naturis
duodecim animalium_. Indeed, it was printed at least nine times under
his name,—see Hain, 15467-75): and in the works of Hugh of St. Victor
(Migne, PL, 177, 9-164, _De bestiis et aliis rebus libri quatuor_).
Both of these versions occur in numerous MSS, as does a third version
which opens with citation of the remark of Jacob in blessing his sons,
“Judah is a lion’s whelp.” The author then cites _Physiologus_ as usual
concerning the three natures of the lion. See Wolfenbüttel 4435, 11th
century, fols. 159-68v, Liber bestiarum. “De leone rege bestiarum et
animalium (est) etenim iacob benedicens iudam ait Catulus leonis iuda.
De leone. Leo tres naturas habet.” Laud. Misc. 247, 12th century, fol.
140-, ... caps. 36, praevia tabula ... Tit. “De tribus naturis leonis.”
Incip. “Bestiarium seu animalium regis; etenim Jacob benedicens filium
suum Udam ait Catulus leonis Judas filius meus quis suscitabit eum;
Fisiologus dicit, Tres res naturales habere leonem....” Library of
Dukes of Burgundy 10074, 10th century, “Etenim Jacob benedicens.” CLM
19648, 15th century, fols. 180-95, “Igitur Jacob benedicens.” CLM
23787, 15th century, fols. 12-20, “Igitur Jacob benedicens.” CU Trinity
884, 13th century in a fine hand, with 107 English miniatures, fol.
89-, “Et enim iacob benedicens filium suum iudam ait catulus leonis est
iudas filius meus”; this MS ends imperfectly.
[2141] Printed by Lauchert (1889), pp. 280-99.
[2142] Max F. Mann, _Der Physiologus des Philipp von Thaon und seine
Quellen_, Halle, 1884, 53 pp.
[2143] Mann, _Bestiaire Divin de Guillaume Le Clerc_, Heilbronn, 1888,
in _Französische Studien_, VI, 2, pp. 201-306. Most recent edition by
Robert, Leipzig, 1890.
[2144] Besides the two foregoing see Goldstaub und Wendriner, _Ein
tosco-venez. Bestiarius_, Halle, 1892. Magliabech. IV, 63, 13th
century, mutilated, 53 fols., bestiario moralizato, in Italian prose.
E. Monaci, _Rendiconti dell’ Accad. dei Lincei, Classe di scienze
morali, storiche e filol._, vol. V, fasc. 10 and 12, has edited a
Bestiario in 64 sonetti on as many animals from a private MS at “Gubbio
nell’ archivio degli avvocati Pietro e Oderisi Lucarelli,” MS 25, fols.
112-27. See also M. Garver and K. McKenzie, _Il Bestiario Toscano
secondo la lezione dei codice di Parigi e di Roma_, in _Studi romanzi_,
Rome, 1912; McKenzie, _Unpublished Manuscripts of Italian Bestiaries_,
in _Modern Language Publications_, XX (1905), 2; and Garver, “Some
Supplementary Italian Bestiary Chapters,” in _Romanic Review_, XI
(1920), 308-27.
[2145] For instance, A. S. Cook, _The Old English Elene, Phoenix, and
Physiologus_, Yale University Press, 364 pp., 1919.
[2146] K. Ahrens, _Das “Buch der Naturgegenstände,”_ 1892.
[2147] _Cod. Vind. Med._ 29, τοῦ ἅγιου Ἐπιφανίου ἐπισκόπου Κύπρου περὶ
τῆς λέξεως πάντων τῶν ζώων φυσιολόγος. In the edition of Ponce de
Leon, Rome, 1587, there are twenty animals described, and the symbolic
interpretation is very short compared to later versions. Heider (1850),
p. 543, regarded this as the oldest version and as extant in complete
form.
[2148] Mansi, _Concil._, VIII, 151, “Liber Physiologus ab hereticis
conscriptus et beati Ambrosii nomine presignatus apocryphus.”
[2149] Heider (1850), II, 541-82, “Physiologus nach einer Handschrift
des XI. Jahrhunderts”: the text opens at p. 552, “Incipiunt Dicta
Johannis Chrysostomi de naturis bestiarum.” Lauchert used another
MS, Vienna 303, 14th century, fol. 124v-, which was considerably
different and was furthermore combined with the Physiologus of
Theobald. An earlier MS than either of the foregoing is CLM 19417,
9th century, fols. 29-71, Liber Sancti Johannis episcopi regiae urbis
Constantinopoli ... Crisostomi quem de naturis animalium ordinavit.
Another Vienna MS is 2511, 14th century, fols. 135-40, “Incipiunt dicta
Johannis Chrysostomi de naturis animalium et primo de leone .../ ...
Sic erit et scriba doctus in regno celorum qui profert de thesauro suo
noua et uetera. Expliciunt dicta Johannis Crisostomi.” A Paris MS of
the same is BN 2780, 13th century, 14, Sancti Ioannis Chrysostomi liber
qui physiologus appellatur.
[2150] Additional 11,035, Johannis Scottigenae Phisiologiae liber.
In the same MS are Macrobius’ _Dream of Scipio_ and the poems of
Prudentius.
[2151] _De bestiis et aliis rebus_, II, 1 (Migne, PL 177, 57). “Physici
denique dicunt quinque naturales res sive naturas habere leonem....”
[2152] _Mineral._, II, i, 1 (ed. Borgnet, V, 24).
[2153] Bubnov (1899), p. 372.
[2154] Thus even Lauchert (1899), p. 105, admits that Bartholomew
of England, the thirteenth century Latin encyclopedist, cites
_Physiologus_ for much which does not come from _Physiologus_.
[2155] Goldstaub (1899-1901), p. 341.
[2156] This and the preceding quotations in the paragraph are from Mâle
(1913), pp. 48, 35, 49, 45.
[2157] Goldstaub (1899-1901), pp. 350-1. The same statement could be
made with equal truth of Vincent of Beauvais and Bartholomew of England.
[2158] Hommel (1877), pp. xii, xv.
[2159] Duhem, II (1914), 314, seems to me to have overestimated the
significance of _Confessions_, V, 5, and _De Genesi ad litteram_, I,
19, in saying, “L’assurance avec laquelle les Basile, les Grégoire de
Nysse, les Ambroise, les Jean Chrysostome opposaient aux enseignements
de la Physique profane les naïves assertions de leur science puérile
contristait fort l’Évêque de Hippone.” There is nothing, I think, to
indicate that Augustine had these men or men of their stamp in mind,
and I doubt if his scientific attainments were superior to Basil’s.
[2160] _De consensu Evangelistarum_, I, 11; in Migne, PL 34, 1049-50.
[2161] _Ibid._, I, 9-10.
[2162] _De civitate Dei_, X, 9; PL vol. 41.
[2163] _Ibid._, VII, 34-35; and see Arnobius, _Against the Heathen_, V,
1, for Augustine’s probable source.
[2164] _De civ. Dei_, VIII, 19.
[2165] _Ibid._, VIII, 18, 19, 26; IX, 1.
[2166] _De civ. Dei_, X, 9-10.
[2167] _De trinitate_, IV, 11; in Migne, PL 42, 897.
[2168] _De civ. Dei_, X, 9.
[2169] _De civ. Dei_, XXI, 6.
[2170] In Grenoble 208, 12th century, containing works of Augustine,
there is listed separately at fol. 54v, “De magis Pharaonis,” to which
the MSS catalogue adds, “et de CLIII piscibus.” Probably it is an
extract from one of Augustine’s longer works as it covers only one leaf.
[2171] _De trinitate_, IV, 11.
[2172] _De diversis quaestionibus_, cap. 79; Migne, PL 40, 92-3.
[2173] See also _De cataclysmo_ (perhaps spurious), cap. 5, Migne, PL
40, 696; and _Sermo VIII_, PL 38, 74. _Sermo XC_, PL 38, 562, however,
speaks of “Moyses et Aaron.”
[2174] _De civ. Dei_, XXI, 6; XVIII, 18.
[2175] _De diversis quaestionibus_, cap. 79; _De doctrina Christiana_,
II, 20, in Migne, PL 34, 50.
[2176] Migne, PL 40, 581-92.
[2177] _De trinitate_, III, 8; PL, 42, 875.
[2178] _De trinitate_, III, 7-8. It seems strange to me that they
should have failed on minute insects who in ancient and medieval
science are often represented as produced by spontaneous generation.
The Talmudists also, however, state that the Egyptians were unable to
duplicate the plague of lice, as their art did not extend to things
smaller than a barleycorn.
[2179] _De civitate Dei_, XVIII, 22. In commenting on Genesis (PL 34,
445) he speaks even more harshly of “that absurd and harmful notion of
the changing of souls and of men into beasts, or of beasts into men”;
but perhaps he has reference to the doctrine of transmigration of souls
rather than to magic transformations.
[2180] _Confessions_, X, 42, in PL vol. 32.
[2181] Quaest. VI; PL 40, 162-5.
[2182] II, 3; PL 40, 142-4.
[2183] _De civitate Dei_, XXI, 4-6; PL 41, 712-6.
[2184] _De Genesi ad litteram_, XI, 28-9; PL 34, 444-5.
[2185] _Confessions_, X, 35; in PL vol. 32.
[2186] II, 20 and 29.
[2187] IV, 2-3.
[2188] PL 39, 2268-72.
[2189] _Sermo CXXX_, PL 39, 2004-5.
[2190] II, 21-3; PL 34, 51-3.
[2191] _De civitate Dei_, V, 7.
[2192] _Confessions_, VII, 6.
[2193] Unless otherwise noted, the ensuing arguments are found in _The
City of God_, V, 1-7.
[2194] _De Genesi ad litteram_, II, 17; PL 34, 278. _De diversis
quaestionibus_, cap. 45; PL 40, 28-9. _Epistola_ 246; PL 33, 1061.
_Sermo_ 109; PL 38, 1027.
[2195] _Confessions_, IV, 2-3.
[2196] See below, chapter 24.
[2197] _De Genesi ad litteram_, XII, 22 and 17 and 12; PL 34, 472-3,
467-9, 464-5. See also the marvelous divinations of Albicerius
recounted in _Contra Academicos_, I, 6; PL 32, 914-5.
[2198] _Sermones_ 199 and 374; PL 38, 1027-8, and 39, 1666. _Contra
Faustum_, II, 15; PL 42, 212.
[2199] In _Quaestiones ex Novo Testamento_, Quaest. 63, PL 35, 2258,
which is probably a spurious work but was cited as Augustine’s by
Thomas Aquinas (_Summa_, III, 36, v), Balaam is said to have warned the
Magi to watch for the star. It is also asserted, however, that “these
Chaldean Magi watched the course of the stars, not from malevolence,
but curiosity concerning nature” (_Hi Magi chaldaei non malevolentia
astrorum cursum sed rerum curiositate speculabantur_).
[2200] _Enchiridion, sive de fide, spe, et charitate_, I, 58; PL
40, 259-60. _De civitate Dei_, XIII, 16; PL 41, 388. _De Genesi ad
litteram_, II, 18; PL 34, 279-80.
[2201] _Orosii ad Augustinum Consultatio sive Commonitorium de
errore Priscillianistarum et Origenistarum_, PL 31, 1211-22; also
in G. Schepss (1889), in CSEL XVIII. _Augustini ad Orosium contra
Priscillianistas et Origenistas_, PL 41, 669, _et seq._ Augustine also
discusses the Priscillianists in _Epistle_ 237, PL 33, 1034, _et seq._,
where he makes no charge either of magic or astrology against them.
[2202] This charge was later repeated by St. Leo, _Epistola XV_; see
Withington, _History of Medicine_, 1894, p. 178; but the offense would
seem a trivial one in any case.
[2203] _De principiis_, I, 7.
[2204] _De doctrina Christiana_, II, 29, in Migne, 34, 57.
[2205] _De Genesi ad litteram_, II, 16, in Migne, 34, 277.
[2206] _De civitate Dei_, XI, 30-31. He says about the same things
concerning six and seven in _De Genesi ad litteram_, IV, 2.
[2207] _Sermo supposititius_ 21, in Migne, PL XXXIX, 1783, “De
convenientia decem preceptorum et decem plagarum Egypti. Non est sine
causa, fratres dilectissimi, quod preceptorum legis Dei numerus cum
numero plagarum quibus Aegyptus percutitur exaequari videtur.”
[2208] _Cambridge Medieval History_, I, 9.
[2209] The Greek work, _Hermippus or Concerning Astrology_, however,
can no longer be regarded as an example of Christian belief in
astrology at this period, since F. Boll, _Heidelberger Akad. Sitzb._,
1912, No. 18, has shown it to be a fourteenth century work of John
Katrarios, who makes use of a Greek translation of Albumasar.
[2210] For bibliography see F. Boll’s “Firmicus” in PW. It does not
include my article written subsequently on “A Roman Astrologer as a
Historical Source: Julius Firmicus Maternus,” in _Classical Philology_,
VIII, No. 4, pp. 415-35, October, 1913. For bibliography see also Kroll
et Skutsch, II, xxxiv.
[2211] The edition of _De errore profanarum religionum_ by K. Ziegler,
Leipzig, 1907, is more critical than that in Migne, PL.
[2212] _Iulii Firmici Materni Matheseos Libri VIII_, ed. W. Kroll et
F. Skutsch, _Fasciculus prior libros IV priores et quinti prooemium
continens_, Leipzig, 1897; _Fasciculus alter libros IV posteriores cum
praefatione et indicibus continens_, 1913. My references will be by
page and line to this text, unless otherwise noted. Earlier editions,
which I used for the later books before 1913, are the _editio princeps,
Julius Firmicus de nativitatibus, ... Impressum Venetiis per Symonem
papiensem dictum bivilaqua, 1497 die 13 Iunii_, cxv fols.; the Aldine
edition of 1499 containing apparent interpolations, _Julii Firmici
Astronomicorum libri octo integri et emendati ex Scythicis oris ad
nos nuper allati...._; and the Basel editions of 1533 and 1551 by M.
Pruckner which reproduce the Aldine text. See Kroll et Skutsch, II,
xxxiii, for another reproduction of the Aldine text, printed in 1503,
and p. xxviii for a partial edition of books 3-5 of the _Mathesis_ in
1488 and 1494 in _Opus Astrolabii plani ... a Iohanne Angeli_.
[2213] Kroll et Skutsch, I, 3, 27.
[2214] Boll in PW, VI, 2365.
[2215] _Hermes_, XXIX, 468-72. The treatise could not have been
composed before 334 since Firmicus (I, 13, 23) refers to an eclipse in
the consulship of Optatus and Paulinus which occurred in that year.
[2216] For instance, at I, 37, 25, “_Constantinus scilicet maximus divi
Constantini filius_,” might as well be rendered, “Constantius, son of
Constantine,” as “Constantine, son of Constantius.”
[2217] I, 1, 3, “Olim tibi hos libellos, Mavorti decus nostrum, me
dicaturum esse promiseram verum diu me inconstantia verecundiae
retardavit.”
[2218] I, 195-6.
[2219] Ammianus Marcellinus, XVI, 8, 5, “iubetur Mavortius, tunc
praefectus praetorio, vir sublimis constantiae, crimen acri
inquisitione spectari.”
[2220] Ziegler, p. 7, “Physica ratio quam dicis, alio genere celetur”;
p. 9, “quod dicant physica ratione conpositum.”
[2221] Ziegler, p. 5.
[2222] Ziegler, p. 23.
[2223] Kroll et Skutsch, I, 86, 12-21.
[2224] Ziegler, pp. 15, 38, 39, 64, 67, 81, 82, “sacratissimi
imperatores”; pp. 31, 40, “sacrosancti principes”; p. 65, “sanctarum
aurium vestrarum.”
[2225] Ziegler, pp. 53-4.
[2226] Kroll et Skutsch, I, 17-18.
[2227] See my “A Roman Astrologer as a Historical Source,” _Classical
Philology_, VIII, 415-35, especially p. 421.
[2228] I, 16, 20, “Summo illi ac rectori deo, qui omnia perpetua legis
dispositione composuit....”
[2229] I, 16, 14; I, 57, 2; I, 90, 11, to 91, 10.
[2230] I, 280, 2-28.
[2231] Besides the prayer just quoted, see I, 18, 10-13. See also the
long prayer at the end of the first book to the planets and supreme God
for the successful continuance of the dynasty of Constantine.
[2232] I, 18, 25-9.
[2233] I, 85-89 (Book II, chapter 30).
[2234] I, 17, 2-23.
[2235] I, 10, 3-.
[2236] I, 11, 7-.
[2237] Book I, Chapter 4 (I, 11-15).
[2238] Book I, Chapter 7 (I, 19-30).
[2239] For a fuller exposition of this quantitative method of
source-analysis and the results obtained thereby see Thorndike (1913),
pp. 415-35.
[2240] Temple-robbers, 5; servile or ignoble employ in temples,
5; spending one’s time in temples, 4; builders of temples, 3;
beneficiaries of temples, 3; temple guards, 2; _neocori_, 3; and
so on, making 35 references to temples in all. It is perhaps worth
remarking that H. O. Taylor, _The Classical Heritage_, 1901, p. 80,
notes that Synesius about 400 A. D. speaks of the Christian churches at
Constantinople as “temples.”
[2241] Chief priests, 5; priests, 9; of provinces, 1; priestess, 1;
priests of Cybele (_archigalli_), 3; _Asiarchae_, 1; priest of some
great goddess, 1; illicit rites, 1. There are 27 passages concerning
divination.
[2242] Kroll et Skutsch, I, 148, 8 and 123, 4.
[2243] Kroll et Skutsch, I, 201, 6.
[2244] Cumont says (_Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism_, p. 188):
“But the ancients expressly distinguished ‘magic,’ which was always
under suspicion and disapproved of, from the legitimate and honorable
art for which the name ‘theurgy’ was invented.” This distinction was
made by Porphyry and others, and is alluded to by Augustine in the
_City of God_, but it is to be noted that Firmicus does not use the
word “theurgy.” Cumont also states (p. 179) that in the last period
of paganism the name philosopher was finally applied to all adepts
in occult science. But in Firmicus, while magic and philosophy are
associated in two passages, there are five other allusions to magic and
three separate mentions of philosophers.
[2245] Kroll et Skutsch, I, 161, 26.
[2246] _Computus_, 3; _calculus_, 2; and “those who excel at numbers,”
1.
[2247] Including two mentions of court physicians (_archiatri_). See
_Codex Theod._, Lib. XIII, Tit. 3, _passim_, for their position.
[2248] I leave this sentence as I wrote it in 1913.
[2249] _Aestus animi_, 5; insanity, 13; lunatics, 10; epileptics, 8;
melancholia, 3; inflammation of the brain (_frenetici_), 4; delirium,
dementia, demoniacs, alienation, and madness, one or two each; vague
allusions to mental ills and injuries, 5.
[2250] In his last chapter he says, “Take then, my dear Mavortius, what
I promised you with extreme trepidation of spirit, these seven books
composed conformably to the order and number of the seven planets. For
the first book deals only with the defense of the art; but in the other
books we have transmitted to the Romans the discipline of a new work,”
(II, 360, 10-15). And in the introduction to the fifth book he writes,
“We have written these books for your Romans lest, when every other
art and science had been translated, this task should seem to remain
unattempted by Roman genius,” (I, 280, 28-30).
[2251] I, 41, 7 and 15; I, 40, 9-11.
[2252] I, 41, 5 and 11; I, 40, 8.
[2253] They are listed by Kroll et Skutsch, II, 362, _Index auctorum_.
[2254] II, 294, 12-21.
[2255] Kroll et Skutsch, II, p. iii.
[2256] I, 258, 10, “in singulari libro, quem de domino geniturae et
chronocratore ad Murinum nostrum scripsimus”; II, 229, 23, “exeo libro
qui de fine vitae a nobis scriptus est.”
[2257] II, 18, 24; II, 283, 19.
[2258] Engelbrecht, _Hephästion von Theben und sein astrologisches
Compendium_, Vienna, 1887.
[2259] _De vita sua_, in _Libanii sophistae praeludia oratoria LXXII
declamationes XLV et dissertationes morales, Federicus Morellus regius
interpres e MSS maxime reg. bibliothecae nunc primum edidit idemque
Latine vertit ... ad Henricum IV regem Christianissimum_, Paris, 1606,
II, 15-18.
[2260] _Magi accusatio_, _Ibid._, I, 898-911.
[2261] _De vita sua, Opera_, II, 2-3.
[2262] X, 196, 11, _De sepulcro incantato_.
[2263] My citations of Synesius’ works, unless otherwise noted, are
from the edition: _Synesii Cyrenaei Quae Extant Opera Omnia_, ed. J. G.
Krabinger, Landshut, 1850, vol. I, which has alone appeared. The older
edition of Petavius with Latin translation is reprinted in Migne PG,
vol. 66, 1021-1756. For a French translation, with several introductory
essays, see H. Druon, _Œuvres de Synésius_, Paris, 1878. The _Letters_
and _Hymns_ have often been published separately. For this and other
further bibliography see Christ, _Gesch. d. griech. Litt._, 1913, II,
ii, 1167-71, where, however, no note is taken of Berthelot’s discussion
of Synesius as a reputed author of alchemistic treatises.
Some works on Synesius are: H. Druon, _Études sur la vie et les
œuvres de Synésius_, Paris, 1859; R. Volkmann, _Synesius von Cyrene_,
Berlin, 1869; W. S. Crawford, _Synesius the Hellene_, London, 1901;
G. Grützmacher, _Synesios von Kyrene_, Leipzig, 1913. In periodicals:
F. X. Kraus in _Theol. Quartalschrift_, 1865 and 1866; O. Seeck, in
_Philologus_, 1893.
[2264] See Crawford, _op. cit._, and monographs listed in Christ, _op.
cit._, p. 1168, notes 4 and 8.
[2265] The date is variously stated as 411, 406, or 410.
[2266] A. J. Kleffner, _Synesius von Cyrene ... und sein angeblicher
Vorbehalt bei seiner Wahl und Weihe zum Bischof von Ptolemais_,
Paderborn, 1901. H. Koch, _Synesius von Cyrene bei seiner Wahl und
Weihe zum Bischof_, in _Hist. Jahrb._, XXIII (1902), pp. 751-74.
[2267] Christ, _op. cit._, p. 1168, note 1.
[2268] _Ibid._, p. 1170, citing K. Prächter, in _Genethliakon für C.
Robert_, 1910, p. 244, _et seq._
[2269] Περὶ ἐνυπνίων (_On dreams_), ch. 2.
[2270] Περὶ ἐνυπνίων (_On Dreams_), ch. 3. Ἔδει γὰρ, οἶμαι, τοῦ παντὸς
τούτου συμπαθοῦς τε ὄντος καὶ σύμπνου τὰ μέρη προσήκειν ἀλλήλοις, ἅτε
ἑνὸς ὅλου τὰ μέλη τυγχάνοντα. Καὶ μή ποτε αἱ μάγων ἴυγγες αὗται; καὶ
γὰρ θέλγεται παρ’ ἀλλήλων, ὥσπερ σημαίνεται· καὶ σοφὸς ὁ εἰδὼς τὴν τῶν
μερῶν τοῦ κόσμου συγγένειαν. Ἕλκει γὰρ ἄλλο δί’ ἄλλον, ἔχων ἐνέχυρα
παρόντα τῶν πλεῖστον ἀπόντων, καὶ φωνὰς, καὶ ὕλας καὶ σχήματα....
Evidently Synesius did not regard the magi as mere imposters.
[2271] Περὶ ἐνυπνίων, ch. 3. Καὶ δὴ καὶ θεῷ τινὶ τῶν εἴσω τοῦ κόσμου
λίθος ἐνθένδε καὶ βοτάνη προσήκει, οἷς ὁμοιοπαθῶν εἴκει τῇ φύσει καὶ
γοητεύεται. In his _Praise of Baldness_ (Φαλάκρας ἐγκώμιον), ch. 10,
Synesius tells how the Egyptians attract demons by magic influences.
[2272] Περὶ ἐνυπνίων, ch. 1. Αὗται μὲν ἀποδείξεις ἔστων τοῦ μαντείαν ἐν
τοῖς ἀρίστοις εἶναι τῶν ἐπιτηδευομένων ἀνθρώποις.
[2273] _Ibid._, ch. 18.
[2274] Δίων ἢ περὶ τῆς κατ’ αὐτὸν διαγωγῆς.
[2275] Φαλάκρας ἐγκώμιον, ch. 10.
[2276] Αἰγύπτιοι ἢ περὶ προνοίας, bk. ii, ch. 7.
[2277] Πρὸς Παιόνιον περὶ τοῦ δώρου, ch. 5.
[2278] Δίων, ch. 7. Περὶ ἐνυπνίων, ch. 4. Ἐπιστολαί, 4, 49, and 142.
[2279] On Synesius as an alchemist see Berthelot (1885), pp. 65,
188-90; (1889), p. ix.
[2280] T. R. Glover, _Life and Letters in the Fourth Century A. D._,
Cambridge, 1901, p. 187, note 1.
[2281] _Saturnalia_, I, xvi, 12.
[2282] _Commentary on the Dream of Scipio_, II, 17, “Universa
philosophiae integritas”; ed. Nisard, Paris, 1883.
[2283] _Ibid._, I, 5-6; II, 1-2.
[2284] _Ibid._, I, 7.
[2285] _Ibid._, I, 19.
[2286] _Ibid._, I, 14.
[2287] Glover (1901), p. 178.
[2288] _De nuptiis philologiae et mercurii et de septem artibus
liberalibus libri novem, Lugduni apud haeredes Simonis Vincentii_,
1539; ed. U. F. Kopp, Frankfurt, 1836; ed. F. Eyssenhardt, Leipzig,
1866.
[2289] It occurs toward the close of the second book.
[2290] In Kopp’s edition pp. 202-23 are almost entirely taken up with
notes setting forth other passages in the classics concerning such
spirits.
[2291] Greek text in Migne, PG 3, 119-370.
[2292] Migne, PL 122, 1037-70.
[2293] The following bibliography includes the editions of the texts
concerned and the chief critical researches in the field. A. Ausfeld,
_Zur Kritik des griechischen Alexanderromans; Untersuchungen über
die unechten Teile der ältesten Ueberlieferung_, Karlsruhe, 1894. A.
Ausfeld and W. Kroll, _Der griechische Alexanderroman_, Leipzig, 1907.
H. Becker, _Die Brahmannen in der Alexandersage_, Königsberg, 1889,
34 pp. E. A. W. Budge, _History of Alexander the Great_, Cambridge
University Press, 1889; the Syriac version of the _Pseudo-Callisthenes_
edited from five MSS, with an English translation and notes. E. A.
W. Budge, _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, Cambridge
University Press, 1896; Ethiopic Histories of Alexander by the
Pseudo-Callisthenes and other writers. D. Carrarioli, _La leggenda
di Alessandro Magno_, 1892. G. G. Cillié, _De Iulii Valerii epitoma
Oxoniensi_, Strasburg, 1905. G. Favre, _Recherches sur les histoires
fabuleuses d’Alexandre le Grand_, in _Mélanges d’hist. litt._, II
(1856), 5-184. Ethé, _Alexanders Zug zur Lebensquelle im Lande der
Finsterniss_, in _Atti dell’ Accademia di Monaco_, 1871. B. Kübler,
_Julius Valerius; Res gestae Alexandri Macedonis_, Leipzig, 1888
(see pp. xxv-xxvi for further bibliography). Levi, _La légende
d’Alexandre dans le Talmud_, in _Revue des Études juives_, I (1880),
293-300. Meusel, _Pseudo-Callisthenes nach der Leidener Handschrift
herausgegeben_, Leipzig, 1871. M. P. H. Meyer, _Alexandre le Grand
dans la littérature française du moyen âge_, 2 vols., Paris, 1886.
C. Müller, _Scriptores rerum Alexandri Magni_, Firmin-Didot, Paris,
1846 and 1877 (bound with Arrian, ed. Fr. Dübner); the first edition
of the Greek text of the _Pseudo-Callisthenes_ from three Paris
MSS, also Julius Valerius, etc. Noeldeke, _Beiträge zur Geschichte
des Alexanderromans, Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der
Wissenschaften in Wien, Philos. Hist. Classe_, vol. 38, Vienna,
1890; Budge says of this work, “Professor Noeldeke discusses in his
characteristic masterly manner the Greek, Syriac, Hebrew, Persian,
and Arabic versions, and ably shows how each is related to the other,
and how certain variations in the narrative have arisen. No other
writer before him was able to control, by knowledge at first hand,
the statements of both the Aryan and Semitic versions; his work is
therefore of unique value.” _Padmuthiun Acheksandri Maketonazwui, I
Wenedig i dparani serbuin Chazaru_, Hami, 1842; the Armenian version
published by the Mechitarists, Venice, 1842. F. Pfister, _Kleine Texte
zum Alexanderroman_, Heidelberg, 1910; _Sammlung vulgärlateinischer
Texte herausg. v. W. Heraeus u. H. Morf, 4 Heft_. Spiegel, _Die
Alexandersage bei den Orientalen_, Leipzig, 1851. Vogelstein,
_Adnotationes quaedam ex litteris orientalibus petitae quae de
Alexandro Magno circumferuntur_, Warsaw, 1865. A. Westermann, _De
Callisthene Olynthio et Pseudo-Callisthene Commentatio_, 1838-1842. J.
Zacher, _Pseudo-Callisthenes: Forschungen zur Kritik und Geschichte der
ältesten Aufzeichnung der Alexandersage_, Halle, 1867 (see pp. 2-3 for
further bibliography of works written before 1851). J. Zacher, _Julii
Valerii Epitome, zum ersten mal herausgegeben_, Halle, 1867.
[2294] _Hexaemeron_, VI, 7. On the other hand, Augustine, _De civitate
dei_, V, 6-7, alludes to the sage who selected a certain hour for
intercourse with his wife in order that he might beget a marvelous son.
[2295] Seneca in the _Natural Questions_ (VI, 23) called the death of
Callisthenes “the eternal crime” of Alexander which all his military
victories and conquests could not outweigh,—a passage which did not
keep Nero from forcing Seneca to commit suicide.
[2296] Reitzenstein, _Poimandres_, Leipzig, 1904, pp. 308-309.
[2297] _Res gestae_ of Alexander of Macedon, contained in three MSS
of the Royal Library in the British Museum, dating according to the
catalogue from the eleventh and twelfth centuries: Royal 13-A-I, Royal
12-C-IV, and Royal 15-C-VI, are not the full text of Julius Valerius,
but the epitome of which I shall soon speak.
[2298] The longer epitome is known from an Oxford MS, Corpus Christi MS
82, and was believed by Meyer to be intermediary between Valerius and
the other briefer epitome. Cillié, however, tries to prove the shorter
epitome to be the older.
[2299] _Alexandri Magni Epistola ad Aristotelem de mirabilibus Indiae_,
first printed with _Synesii Epistolae, graece; adcedunt aliorum
Epistolae_, Venice, 1499; then Bologna, 1501; Basel, 1517; Paris, 1520,
fols. 102v-14v, following the Pseudo-Aristotle, _Secret of Secrets_;
etc. These early printed editions give the oldest Latin text, dating
back as we have seen to at least 800.
Some MSS of the same version are:
BM Royal 13-A-I, fols. 51v-78r, a beautifully clear MS of the late 11th
century with clubbed strokes. The Epistola is preceded by the _Epitome
of Valerius_ and followed by the correspondence with Dindimus.
Royal 12-C-IV, 12th century.
Royal 15-C-VI, 12th century.
Cotton Nero D VIII, fol. 169.
Sloane 1619, 13th century, fols. 12-17.
Arundel 242, 15th century, fols. 160-83.
BL Laud. Misc. 247, 12th century, fol. 186; preceded at fol. 171 by the
“Ortus vita et obitus Alexandri Macedonis,” and followed at fol. 196v
by the letter to Dindimus.
BN MSS 2874, 4126, 4877, 4880, 5062, 6121, 6365, 6503, 6831, 7561,
8518, 8521A, _Epistola de itinere et situ Indiae_; 8607, _Epistolae
eius nomine scriptae_; and 2695A, 6186, 6365, 6385, 6811, 6831, 8501A,
for _Responsio ad Dindimum_.
CLM 11319, 13th century, fol. 88, _Alexandri epistola ad Aristotelem
de rebus in India gestis_, preceded at fol. 72 by the _Epitome_ and
followed at fol. 97 by the _Dindimus_.
In the library of Eton College an imperfect copy of the _Epistola_
follows _Orosius_ in a MS of the early 13th century, 133, BL 4, 6,
fols. 85r-87.
A somewhat different and later version of the _Letter to Aristotle_ was
published in 1910 at Heidelberg by Friedrich Pfister from a Bamberg MS
of the 11th century, together with _Palladius_ and the correspondence
with Dindimus. Pfister believed all these to be translations from the
Greek.
An Anglo-Saxon version of the _Letter to Aristotle_ was edited by
Cockayne in 1861 (see T. Wright, RS 34; xxvii).
[2300] III, 17.
[2301] First published by Joachim Camerarius about 1571.
[2302] Published with _Palladius_ by Sir Edward Bisse in 1665; MSS are
numerous.
[2303] From this same MS Pfister published the _Letter to Aristotle_
and other treatises mentioned above.
[2304] Its influence would therefore seem to have been upon the later
prose romances and not upon French vernacular poetry. Known at first
only in Italy and Germany, its popularity became general in western
Europe toward the close of the middle ages.
[2305] Harleian 527, fols. 47-56.
[2306] Amplon. Quarto 12, fols. 200-201; presumably it includes only
those chapters concerned with Nectanebus.
[2307] CUL 1429 (Gg. I, 34), 14th century, No. 5, 35 fols. Also in CU
Trinity 1041, 14th century, fols. 200v-212v, “De Nectanabo mago quomodo
magnum genuerit Alexandrum. Egipti sapientes....”
[2308] NH XXXVI, 14 and 19.
[2309] _De anima_, cap. 57, in Migne, PL II, 792.
[2310] The former built a Temple of Isis, now a heap of ruins, at
Behbit el-Hagar and a colonnade to the Temple of Hibis in the oasis
of Khîrgeh; and his name appears upon a gate in the Temple of Mont at
Karnak. Besides the Vestibule of Nektanebos at Philae there is a court
of Nektanebos before the Temple of the Eighteenth Dynasty at Medinet
Habu.
[2311] Berthelot (1885), pp. 29-30.
[2312] The Syriac version, on the contrary, emphasizes this point less.
[2313] Budge’s translation of the Ethiopic version.
[2314] CLM 215, fols. 176-94, “Egiptiorum gentem in mathematica magica
quam in arte fuisse valentem littere tradunt.”
[2315] _Pseudo-Callisthenes_, I, 4, “casters of horoscopes,
readers of signs, interpreters of dreams, ventriloquists, augurs,
genethlialogists, the so-called magi to whom divination is an open
book.” Budge, Syriac version, p. 4, “The interpreters of dreams are of
many kinds and the knowers of signs, those who understand divination,
Chaldean augurs and casters of nativities; the Greeks call the signs of
the zodiac ‘sorcerers’; and others are counters of the stars. As for
me, all of these are in my hands and I myself am an Egyptian prophet,
a magus, and a counter of the stars.” Budge, _Ethiopic Histories_,
p. 11, “Then Nectanebus answered and said unto her, ‘Yea. Those who
have knowledge of the orbs of heaven are of many kinds. Some are
interpreters of dreams, and some have knowledge of what shall happen in
the future, and some understand omens, and some cast nativities, and
there are besides all those who know magic and who are renowned because
they are learned in their art, and some are skilled in the motion of
the stars of heaven: but I have full knowledge of all these things.’”
[2316] From Fowler’s translation of _Alexander: the False Prophet_. See
also Plutarch’s _Alexander_.
[2317] The Syriac and Ethiopic versions are somewhat more detailed
as to the magic by which Philip’s dream was produced. Budge, Syriac
version, p. 8, “Then Nectanebus ... brought a hawk and muttered over
it his charms and made it fly away with a small quantity of a drug,
and that night it shewed Philip a dream.” Budge, _Ethiopic Histories_,
p. 21, “Then Nectanebus took a swift bird and muttered over it certain
charms and names, and ... in one day and one night it traversed many
lands and countries and seas, and it came to Philip by night and
stopped. And it came to pass at that very hour ... that Philip saw a
marvelous dream.”
[2318] In another place, however, Albert calls Philip Alexander’s
father, _De causis et proprietatibus elementorum et planetarum_, II,
ii, 1.
[2319] The story is better told in the Syriac version (Budge, 14-17),
where Alexander does not push Nectanebus into the pit until after he
has asked the astrologer if he knows his own fate and has been told
that Nectanebus is to be slain by his own son. Alexander then attempts
to foil fate by pushing Nectanebus into the pit, but only fulfills
it. In the Ethiopic version Nectanebus is represented as educating
Alexander from his seventh year on in “philosophy and letters and the
working of magic and the stars and their seasons.” Aristotle becomes
Alexander’s tutor only after the death of Nectanebus. Aristotle, too,
is represented as an adept in astrology, amulets, and the use of magic
wax images. (Budge, _Ethiopic Histories_, pp. 31, xlv).
[2320] VI, 4.
[2321] Royal 13-A-I, fol. 53v.
[2322] In CU Trinity 1446 (1250 A. D.) _The Romance of Alexander_ in
French verse by Eustache (or Thomas) of Kent, among 152 pictures listed
by James (III, 483-91) are two representing the hero’s colloquy with
the moon tree (fol. 31r). Marco Polo also tells of these marvelous
trees. And see Roux de Rochelle, “Notice sur l’Arbre du Soleil, ou
Arbre Sec, décrit dans la relation des voyages de Marco Polo,” in
_Bulletin de la Société de géographie_, série 3, III (1845), 187-94.
[2323] For the _Letter to Aristotle_ I have employed the Paris, 1520
edition and Royal 13-A-I, which follow the early Latin version. As
stated above, Pfister’s edition (Heidelberg, 1910) gives a later
version probably translated from the Greek.
[2324] There appears to have been no complete edition of Aëtius in
Greek. The first eight of his sixteen books were printed at Venice in
1534, and the ninth at Leipzig in 1757, but for the entire sixteen
books one must use the Latin translation of Cornarius, Basel, 1542,
etc., which I have read in Stephanus, _Medicae artis principes_, 1567.
Recent editions of portions of Aëtius are: Αετιου λογος δωδεκατος
πρωτον νυν εκδοθεις ὑπο Γεωργιου Α. Κωστομοιρου, pp. 112, 131, Paris,
1892.
_Die Augenheilkunde des Aëtius aus Amida_, Griechisch und deutsch
herausg. von J. Hirschberg, pp. xi, 204, Leipzig, 1899.
_Aetii sermo sextidecimus et ultimus_ (Αετιου περι των εν μητρα παθων
etc.). Erstens aus HSS veröffentl. mit Abbildungen, etc., v. S. Zervòs,
pp. k’, 172, Leipzig, 1901.
Αετιου Αμιδινου Λογος δεκατος πεμπτος, ed. S. Zerbos, 1909, in
Επιστημονικη Εταιρεια, Αθηνα, vol. 21.
My references to Alexander of Tralles are both to the text of Stephanus
(1567) and the more recent edition by Theodor Puschmann, _Alexander
von Tralles, Originaltext und Übersetzung nebst einer einleitenden
Abhandlung_, Vienna, 1878-9, 2 vols. This gives a more critical text
than any previous edition, but unfortunately Puschmann adopted still
another arrangement into books than those of the MSS and previous
editions, and also in my opinion did not make a sufficient study of the
Latin MSS. His introduction contains information concerning Alexander’s
life and the MSS and previous editions of his works.
A valuable earlier study on Alexander was that of E. Milward, published
in 1733 under the title, _A Letter to the Honourable Sir Hans Sloane
Bart., etc._, and in 1734 as _Trallianus Reviviscens_, 229 pp. Milward
was preparing an edition of Alexander of Tralles, but it was never
published. His estimate of Alexander’s position in the history of
medicine furnishes an incidental picture of interest of the state of
medicine in his own time, the early eighteenth century.
The old Latin translation of Alexander of Tralles was the first to be
printed at Lyons, 1504, _Alexandri yatros practica cum expositione
glose interlinearis Jacobi de Partibus et (Simonis) Januensis in
margine posite_; also Pavia, 1520 and Venice 1522. Next appeared a
very free Latin translation by Torinus in 1533 and 1541, _Paraphrases
in libros omnes Alexandri Tralliani_. The Greek text of Alexander was
first printed by Stephanus (Robert Étienne) in 1548 (ed. J. Goupyl).
The Latin translation by Guinther of Andernach, which is included in
Stephanus (1567), first appeared in 1549, Strasburg, and was reprinted
a number of times.
Another work by Puschmann may also be noted: _Nachträge zu Alexander
Trallianus. Fragmente aus Philumenus und Philagrius nebst einer bisher
noch ungedruckten Abhandlung über Augenkrankheiten_, Berlin, 1886, in
_Berliner Studien f. class. Philol. und Archaeol._, V, 2; 188 pp., in
which he segregates as fragments of Philumenus and Philagrius portions
of the text of Alexander as found in the Latin MSS.
My references for the _De medicamentis_ of Marcellus apply to
Helmreich’s edition of 1889 in the Teubner series. This edition is
based on a single MS of the ninth century at Laon which Helmreich
followed Valentin Rose in regarding as the sole extant codex of the
work. As a result Rose indulged in ingenious theories to explain how
the _editio princeps_ by Ianus Cornarius, Basel, 1536, included the
prefatory letter and other preliminary material not found in the Laon
MS, whose first leaves and some others are missing.
But as a matter of fact BN 6880, a clear and beautifully written MS of
the ninth century, contains the _De medicamentis_ entire with all the
preliminary letters. Moreover, it is evident that the _editio princeps_
was printed directly from this MS, which contains not only notes by
Cornarius but the marks of the compositors.
The text of the edition of 1536 was reproduced in the medical
collections of Aldus, _Medici antiqui_, Venice, 1547, and Stephanus,
_Medicae artis principes_, 1567.
Jacob Grimm, _Über Marcellus Burdigalensis_, in _Abhandl. d. kgl. Akad.
d. Wiss. z. Berlin_ (1847), pp. 429-60, discusses the evidence for
placing Marcellus under the older Theodosius, lists the Celtic words
and expressions found in the _De medicamentis_, and also one hundred
specimens of its folk-lore and magic. This article was reprinted in
_Kleinere Schriften_, II (1865), 114-51, where it is followed at pp.
152-72 by a supplementary paper, _Über die Marcellischen Formeln_,
likewise reprinted from the Academy Proceedings for 1855, pp. 51-68.
The magic of Marcellus was further treated of by R. Heim, _De rebus
magicis Marcelli medici_, in _Schedae philol. Hermanno Usener oblatae_
(1891), pp. 119-37, where he adds _nova magica ex Marcelli libris
collata_ which Grimm had omitted.
[2325] Marcellus is often called of Bordeaux, notably in Grimm’s
article, _Über Marcellus Burdigalensis_, 1847; also by C. W. King, _The
Gnostics and their Remains_, 1887, p. 219; and by J. G. Frazer, _The
Golden Bough_, I, 23; but there seems to be no definite proof that he
was from that city.
Jules Combarieu, _La musique et la magie_, 1909, p. 87, says in
reference to the following incantation recommended by Marcellus,
_tetunc resonco bregan gresso_, “Je remarque en passant qu’il faut
frotter l’œil en disant ce _carmen_, et que dans le patois du Midi,
_brégua_ ou _brége_, signifie frotter. Marcellus, si je ne me trompe,
était de Bordeaux.”
Grimm, however (1847), p. 455, interpreted _bregan_ as “lies”—“breigan
gen. pl. von breag lüge,” and the whole line as in modern Irish _teith
uainn cre soin go breigan greasa_ (“fleuch von uns staub hinnen zu der
lügen genossen!”).
[2326] Stephanus (1567), I, 347, _et seq._ For an English translation
of the text see F. Adams, _The Seven Books of Paulus Aegineta_, London,
1844-1847.
[2327] _Simia Galieni_, according to Guinther in his translation of
Alexander of Tralles, Stephanus (1567), I, 131.
[2328] Milward (1733), 9-11.
[2329] John Friend (or Freind), _History of Physick_ (1725), I, 297.
[2330] Puschmann, _History of Medical Education_, 1891, p. 153.
[2331] Milward (1733), p. 11.
[2332] J. F. Payne, _English Medicine in Anglo-Saxon Times_, 1904, pp.
102-8.
[2333] Milward (1733), p. 19; Puschmann (1878), I, 104.
[2334] Ch. Daremberg, _Histoire des Sciences Médicales_, Paris, 1870,
I, 242.
[2335] This general impression received from reading many classical
and medieval works I was glad to find confirmed by Milward (1733), p.
29, in the particular case of Alexander of Tralles, of whom he writes:
“As our author’s stile is excellent, so likewise is his method, and
there is no respect in which he is more distinguished from the other
Greek writers in physick than in this. The works of Hippocrates, Galen,
and indeed of all of them except it be Aretaeus are not only very
voluminous but put together with little or no order, as is evident
enough to all such as have been conversant with them.”
[2336] Daremberg (1870), I, 258-9, said that a mass of MSS in a score
of European libraries contained as yet unidentified Latin translations
of Greek medical writers.
[2337] BN 10233, 7th century uncial; BN nouv. acq. 1619, 7-8th century,
demi-uncial; BN 9332, 9th century, fol. 1-, Oribasii synopsis medica;
CLM 23535, 12th century, fols. 72 and 112. V. Rose, _Soranus_, 1882,
pp. iv-v, speaks of a sixth century Latin version of _Oribasius_.
[2338] _Tetrabiblos_, IV, iii, 15.
[2339] _Ibid._, I, iv, 9, where Galen is not cited, and III, i, 9,
where Galen is cited. In Galen, _De simplicibus_, IX, ii, 19 (Kühn,
XII, 207).
[2340] _Ibid._, I, ii, 170, where Galen is not cited; _De simplicibus_,
XI, i, 1 (Kühn, XII, 311-4).
[2341] _Tetrabiblos_ I, ii, 175; Kühn XII, 356-9. Galen is not cited
in this, nor in any of the following passages from the _Tetrabiblos_
listed in the notes, unless this is expressly stated.
[2342] _Tetrabiblos_ at the beginning, pp. 6-7 in Stephanus (1567).
[2343] _Tetrabiblos_ IV, i, 33; Kühn XIV, 233, and XII, 250-1.
[2344] _Tetrabiblos_ I, ii, 109; Kühn XII, 288.
[2345] _Tetrabiblos_ I, ii, 84; Kühn XII, 253.
[2346] _Tetrabiblos_ I, ii, 84; Kühn XII, 248, 284-5.
[2347] _Tetrabiblos_ I, ii, 111; Kühn XII, 291-3.
[2348] _Tetrabiblos_ II, iv, 34; Kühn XII, 860. Perhaps a closer
correspondence than this could be found. In his preceding 33rd chapter,
headed _Curatio erosorum dentium ex Galeno_, Aëtius includes use of the
tooth of a dead dog pulverized in vinegar, which is to be held in the
mouth, or filling the ear next the tooth with “fumigated earthworms” or
with oil in which earthworms have been cooked.
[2349] _Tetrabiblos_ I, ii, 49.
[2350] _Tetrabiblos_ IV, i, 39.
[2351] _Tetrabiblos_ III, iii, 35.
[2352] _Tetrabiblos_ II, ii, 12. Marcellus, cap. 20 (p. 188) also
speaks of “those who often think that they are made sport of by an
incubus.”
[2353] _Tetrabiblos_, I, ii, 177.
[2354] _Tetrabiblos_, IV, i, 86.
[2355] _Tetrabiblos_, I, iii, 164. This passage was printed separately
in the _Uranologion_ of D. Petavius, Paris, 1630 and 1703.
[2356] Agathias, _De imperio et rebus gestis Justiniani_, Paris, 1860,
p. 149.
[2357] Milward (1733), p. 17, “he travel’d through Greece, Gaul, Spain,
and several other places whose mention we find up and down in his
works.”
[2358] Puschmann (1878), I, 288, διὸ καὶ γέρων λοιπὸν πειθαρχῶ καὶ
κάμνειν οὐκέτι δυνάμενος....
[2359] Milward (1733), p. 25.
[2360] Puschmann (1878), I, 83.
[2361] Milward (1733), p. 27.
[2362] Puschmann (1891), 152-3.
[2363] Stephanus (1567), I, 131.
[2364] Friend (1725), I, 106.
[2365] Milward (1733), pp. 65-6, 57 _et seq._
[2366] _Ibid._, pp. 104, 92-3, 71.
[2367] _Ibid._, pp. 48-9.
[2368] See V. Rose, _Hermes_, VIII, 39; _Anecdota_, II, 108. I
presume that BN 9332, 9th century, fol. 139, “Alexandri hiatrosofiste
therapeut(i)con” (libri tres) is the free Latin translation in a Paris
MS of the ninth century alluded to by Daremberg (1870), I, 258-9.
Puschmann (1878) I, 91-2, in a blind and inadequate account of the
Latin MSS, does not mention it, but lists a Monte Cassino codex (97)
of the 9-10th century and an Angers MS of the 10-11th century. He also
alludes to a MS at Chartres without giving any number or date for it,
but probably has reference to Chartres 342, 12th century, fols. 1-139,
“Libri tres Alexandri Yatros.” He alludes to BN 6881 and 6882, both
13th century, libri tres de morbis et de morborum curatione; but not to
CLM 344, 12-13th century, fols. 1-60, libri III de medicina,—integra
versio Latina Lugduni a. 1504 edita. Other MSS are: Gonville and
Caius 400, early 13th century, fols. 4v-83v, “Inc. Alexander yatros
sophista”; Royal 12-B-XVI, late 13th century, fol. 113, Practica
Alexandri.
It will be noted that the text in all these Latin MSS is in only
three books, but it follows the same order as the twelve books. It
is also, at least in the edition of 1504, not as abbreviated as one
might infer from Rose. Rather the later editors, Albanus Torinus and
Guinther of Andernach, seem to have taken greater liberties with,
and made unwarranted additions to Alexander’s text. At the same time
the early Latin text treats of some topics such as toothache which
are not included in Puschmann’s Greek text, and also includes (II,
79-103, and 104-50) treatments of diseases of the abdomen and spleen
for which there seems to be no genuine Greek text and which Puschmann,
_Nachträge_, 1886, has published separately as fragments of Philumenus
and Philagrius, medical writers of the first and fourth centuries. His
chief reason seems to be that cap. 79 is entitled, _De reumate ventris
filominis_, and cap. 104, _Ad splenem philogrius_, while cap. 151
is headed, _Causa que est ydropicie alexandri_. These passages are,
however, found in the Latin MSS of Alexander’s work from the first,
and the use of Romance words by the unknown Latin translator indicates
that the translation was made in the early medieval period,—Puschmann
(1886), p. 12.
[2369] Puschmann (1878), I, 91.
[2370] As in Vendôme 109, 11th century, fol. 1, Mulsa Alexandri
(Tralliani), fol. 68v, “De reuma ventris, de libro Alexandri” (not here
ascribed, it will be noted, to Philumenus), fol. 71, “De secundo libro
Alexandri de cura nefreticorum.” The _Mulsa Alexandri_ is found also in
two other 11th century MSS of the same library: Vendôme 172, fol. 1,
and 175, fol. 2.
In Royal 12-E-XX, 12th century, fols. 146v-151v, “Incipit liber
dietarum diversarum medicorum, hoc est Alexandri et aliorum.” This
extract, made up of a number of Alexander’s chapters on the diet
suitable in different ailments, is often found in the MSS, as here,
with the Pseudo-Pliny and was printed as its fifth book in 1509 and
1516.
[2371] Puschmann (1878), I, 97.
[2372] Milward (1773), p. 179.
[2373] Thus in Vendôme 109 (see note 2, p. 577) besides the
extracts from Alexander of Tralles we find at fol. 58, “Alexander
(Aphrodisiensis) amicus veritatis in tertio libro suo ubi de febribus
commemorat.” The Arabs seem to have confused these two Alexanders: see
Steinschneider (1862), p. 61; Puschmann (1878), I, 94-5.
[2374] See the discussion by Choulant in _Janus_ (1845), p. 52, and
Henschel in De Renzi (1852-9) II, 11, of a 12th century MS at Breslau,
“Liber Alexandri de agnoscendis febribus et pulsibus et urinis”; also
Puschmann (1878) I, 105-6, concerning BN Greek MS 2316, which seems to
be a late Greek translation of it,—another instance that a Greek text
is not necessarily the original.
[2375] Corpus Christi 189, 11-12th century, fols. 1-5, “Antidotum
pigra magni Alexandri Macedonii quod facit stomaticis epilenticis.”
Steinschneider, cited by Puschmann (1878) I, 106, has also noted the
attribution in Hebrew MSS to Alexander the Great of a work on fever,
urine, and pulse, presumably identical with that mentioned in the
foregoing note.
[2376] Stephanus (1567) I, 176, 204, 216, 225; and Puschmann, II, 575,
are a few specimens.
[2377] Amplon. Quarto 204, 12-13th century, fols. 90-5, Experimentorum
Alexandri medici collectio succincta. Digby 79, 13th century, fols.
180-92v, “Alexandrina experimenta de libro percompendiose extractata
meliora ut nobis visum est ad singulas egritudines.” Additional 34111,
15th century, fol. 77, “Experimenta Alexandri,” in English.
[2378] Stephanus I, 156; Puschmann II, 563.
[2379] Milward (1733), p. 168.
[2380] Stephanus I, 312; Puschmann II, 579.
[2381] Stephanus I, 345, see also 296 and 339; Puschmann I, 407, 437.
[2382] Stephanus I, 312; Puschmann II, 579.
[2383] Stephanus I, 156; Puschmann I, 565.
[2384] Stephanus I, 345; Puschmann I, 437.
[2385] Καὶ θαυμαστῶς ὅπως ἀντιπαθείᾳ τινὶ καὶ λόγῳ ἀρρήτῳ.
[2386] For the passages in this paragraph see Stephanus I, 156-7, 313;
Puschmann I, 561, 567-73.
[2387] Stephanus I, 312.
[2388] Stephanus I, 281; Puschmann II, 475.
[2389] Stephanus I, 296; Puschmann II, 377.
[2390] Stephanus I, 313.
[2391] Stephanus I, 296; Puschmann II, 377.
[2392] Stephanus I, 281; Puschmann II, 475.
[2393] Stephanus I, 314; Puschmann II, 585.
[2394] If the MSS, which I have not examined, agree with the 1504
edition.
[2395] Both in BN 6880 and the edition of Basel, 1536, “Marcellus
vir inluster ex magno officio Theodosii Sen. filiis suis salutem
d(icit).” In the MS, however, a later hand has written above the now
faded line an incorrect copy in which “Theodosii Sen.” is replaced by
“theodosiensi.” Helmreich (1889), on the other hand, has replaced “ex
magno officio” by “ex magistro officio.” It is perhaps open to doubt
whether the “Sen.” goes with “Theodosii” or “Marcellus.”
[2396] Cap. 20 (1889), p. 204.
[2397] In BN 6880 there are other headings written in capitals than
those which mark the openings of the 36 chapters.
[2398] Cap. 29 (1889), pp. 304-6.
[2399] Cap. 35 (1889), p. 361.
[2400] Cap. 8 (1889), p. 80.
[2401] Cap. 5 (1889), p. 49.
[2402] For such mentions of experience and experiment see the following
passages in the 1889 edition, numbers referring to page and line: 31,
7; 34, 3; 35, 14; 44, 2; 53, 1; 58, 21; 64, 34; 65, 30; 66, 26; 72,
22; 73, 7; 74, 2; 77, 9; 80, 28; 81, 29; 89, 3 and 29; 96, 14 and 31;
102, 27; 120, 32; 123, 15; 129, 21; 133, 10; 145, 33; 148, 25; 149, 26;
160, 18; 176, 5; 178, 25; 186, 15; 190, 20; 192, 31; 211, 1; 222, 18;
224, 31; 230, 3; 235, 15; 236, 14; 239, 8 and 26; 242, 8 and 23; 248,
20; 256, 9; 258, 5; 264, 21; 276, 35; 281, 19 and 27; 282, 15; 308, 21;
312, 6 and 19 and 22; 314, 25; 326, 28; 327, 13; 334, 29; 343, 23; 351,
23 and 25; 353, 4; 354, 19; 356, 6; 362, 32; 370, 22 and 37.
[2403] Cap. 15 (1889), p. 146.
[2404] Cap. 23 (1889), p. 239.
[2405] Caps. 20 and 24 (1889), pp. 208 and 244.
[2406] Cap. 26 (1889), pp. 264-6.
[2407] Cap. 29 (1889), p. 311; and see cap. 28, p. 298.
[2408] Cap. 12, p. 123.
[2409] Cap. 16, p. 166.
[2410] Cap. 23, p. 238.
[2411] Cap. 34, p. 357.
[2412] Cap. 8, p. 69.
[2413] Cap. 8, p. 66.
[2414] Cap. 12, p. 125.
[2415] Cap. 10, p. 113.
[2416] Cap. 10, p. 112; NH 30, 11.
[2417] Cap. 8, p. 68; NH 29, 38.
[2418] Cap. 29, p. 313.
[2419] Cap. 29, p. 314. Pliny has a similar procedure with a frog and a
reed.
[2420] Cap. 22, p. 230.
[2421] Cap. 33, p. 347, “mulierem verendaque eius dum cum ea cois
tange.”
[2422] Cap. 23, p. 239.
[2423] Cap. 1, p. 34.
[2424] Cap. 25, p. 247.
[2425] Cap. 12, p. 126.
[2426] Cap. 18, p. 178.
[2427] Cap. 17, p. 176.
[2428] Cap. 32, pp. 337, 338, 340.
[2429] Cap. 8, p. 70.
[2430] Cap. 12, p. 123.
[2431] Cap. 36, p. 379. Marcellus employs the phrase, of course, to
indicate a private or personal incantation, and as a matter of fact it
is somewhat less absurd than a number of others.
[2432] Cap. 28, p. 301.
[2433] Cap. 29, p. 310. For further instances of incantations and
characters in the _De medicamentis_ see page 110, lines 18-27; 111,
26-33; 112, 29-113, 2; 116, 8-11; 133, 18-22, 26-31; 139, 17-26; 142,
19-26; 149, 4-11; 151, 18-33; 152, 9-14, 19-24; 180, 1-3; 220, 11-20;
221, 2-6; 223, 15-18; 241, 1-6, 14-22; 244, 26-28; 248, 16-19; 260,
22-24; 295, 18-22; 333, 9-15; 382, 16-18.
[2434] Daremberg (1870) I, 257-8.
[2435] _Plinii Secundi Iunioris de medicina libri tres_, ed. V. Rose,
Lipsiae, 1875. V. Rose, “Ueber die Medicina Plinii,” in _Hermes_, VIII
(1874) 19-66.
[2436] _C. Plinii Secundi Medicina_, ed. Thomas Pighinuccius, Rome,
1509.
[2437] Codex St. Gall 751; described by V. Rose, _Hermes_, VIII, 48-55;
_Anecdota_ II, 106.
[2438] For the list of his six genuine works see above p. 222.
[2439] De nota aspirationis and De diphthongis, ed. Osann, Darmstadt,
1826, with _De orthographia_, a forgery by a sixteenth century humanist.
[2440] Περὶ ἑρμηνείας, sometimes printed as the third book of the _De
dogmate Platonis_. Some scholars, however, regard it as genuine, and
there are a number of MSS of it from the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries.
See Schanz (1905), 127-8.
[2441] See above p. 290.
[2442] See Schanz (1905), 139-40.
[2443] See below p. 683. Schanz fails to mention it among the
apocryphal works of Apuleius.
[2444] H. Köbert, _De Pseudo-Apulei herbarum medicaminibus_, Bayreuth,
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