The Emperor Julian's Oration to the Sovereign Sun

IT appears to me that the present oration very properly belongs to all

who participate of being, of a rational soul, and of intellect; but I consider it as particularly belonging to myself; for I am an attendant of the sovereign Sun: and of the truth of this, indeed, I possess most accurate assurances, one of which it may be lawful for me, without envy, to relate. A vehement love for the splendors of this god took possession

1. But this deity disseminates souls into the earth not from himself alone, but from other divinities; and these evince by their lives the end of their propagation. And his destiny will indeed be most illustrious, who, prior to his third progeny, and from a long series of

1, the summit of which is the solar ray, situated, as it were, in the second degree from the intelligible world: but it is more antiently comprehended by the king and moderator of all things, about whom the universe subsists. This cause therefore, whether it is lawful to call him that which is superior to intellect; or the idea of the things which are, (but whom I

1, since the one appears to be the most antient of all things; or that which Plato is accustomed to denominate the good; this uniform cause, then, of the universe, who is to all beings the. administrator of beauty, perfection, union, and immeasurable power, according to a primary nature abiding in himself, produced from himself as a medium between the middle intellectual and demiurgic causes, that mighty divinity the sun perfectly similar to himself. And this was the opinion of the divine Plato, when he says 2: "This is what I called the son of the good, which the good generated analogous to itself: that as this in the intelligible place is to intellect and the objects of intelligence, so is that in the visible place to sight and the objects of sight." Hence it appears to me, that light has the same proportion to that which is visible, as truth to that which is intelligible, But this intelligible universe, as it, is the progeny of the idea of the first and greatest good, eternally abiding about his stable essence, obtains the supremacy among the intellectual gods; and is the, source of the same perfection to these, as

1 the incorporeal

1; for

1 and separate from its nature; which obtains the principle of generation, and is itself superior to origin. Hence, in an essence of this kind, as well as among elementary forms, the extreme principles which are separated from all corporeal commerce being through certain mediums collected into one by the royal sun, become united about his nature: and with this indeed the demiurgic power of Jupiter accords; to whom, as we have previously related, temples were dedicated in Cyprus in common with the sun. In the same place, too, we have brought the testimony of Apollo in confirmation of its truth, who doubtless understands his nature better than the wisest of mankind;

1. But a speculation of this kind is not indeed adapted to our present investigation; because these circles are always apparent, and are conspicuous to the inhabitants of regions situated in opposite shadows, each to each; yet he who perceives the one cannot by any means discover the other. However, that we may not dwell any longer in explaining the present affair, the sun, as we know by his annual revolutions, is the parent of the seasons; and considered as

1, so long before us, calls Ocean 2 the generation of mortals, of the blessed divinities, and of all things: and this indeed with the greatest truth and propriety; for there is nothing in the universe which is not the natural progeny of the Ocean. But are you willing I should explain in what respect this concerns the vulgar? Though perhaps it

1; if it be proper to call them hypotheses, and not rather dogmata; confining the appellation of hypothesis to the doctrine of the sphere: for the truth of the former is testified by men who audibly received this information from gods, or mighty dæmons; but the latter is founded on the probability arising from the agreement of the phænomena. Hence, if any one should esteem it better both to praise and confide in the former, such a one, whether I am trifling or in earnest, will meet with my esteem and admiration.

But besides those which I have mentioned, there is an innumerable multitude of celestial gods, perceived by such as do not contemplate the heavens indolently and after the manner of brutes. As the sun quadruply divides

1 is the source of joy, who is said to obtain a common kingdom with the sun. But why should I here mention the epithet Horus, or other names of the gods, all of which correspond with the divinity of the sun? Mankind, indeed, may conceive the excellence of the god from his operations; since he perfects the heavens

1 These gods indeed preside over all motion, as far as to the utmost boundaries of the world; so that both nature and soul, and every thing that exists, is perfected by their beneficent communications. But the sun combining this abundant army of gods into one ruling unity, confers on it the providence of Minerva; who originated, according to fables, from the head of Jupiter; but who, according to our opinion, proceeded from the whole of the sovereign sun, and is wholly comprehended in his nature. Hence we differ from fables in this, that we do not consider her as springing from the summit, but as totally born from the whole of Jupiter; for by conceiving no difference between Jupiter and the sun, we shall think agreeable to the decisions of the antients. And, indeed, by calling the sun providential Minerva, we shall not assert any thing new, if we properly understand the following verse. "he came to Python, and to providential

1." For thus the antients seated Minerva with Apollo, who appears to differ in nothing from the sun. And I know not whether Homer, by a certain divine instinct, (for it is probable that he was seized with a divine fury,) prophesies this, when he sings,

That is to say, like Jupiter, who is the same with the sun. And as the king Apollo, on account of his simplicity of intellection, communicates with the sun, so likewise it is proper to believe that Minerva, since she receives her essence from this deity, and is his perfect intellection, combines into union, without any confusion, the gods who surround the sovereign sun; and that the same goddess, from the summit of heaven, pours through the seven planetary orbs, as far as to the moon, the genuine and pure rivers of

1, who is the last of the orbicular bodies, with intelligence; and thus causes her to contemplate the intelligibles above the heavens, to regard inferior natures, and to beautify matter with the investiture of forms, by removing from its shadowry essence whatever it contains, wild, turbulent, and destitute of order.

But the goods which Minerva confers on mankind are wisdom, intelligence, and operative arts: she is also said to obtain the towers of cities, because she establishes civil community by her wisdom. It is likewise proper to declare a few particulars respecting Venus 2, who, according to the learned among the Phœnicians, (which is likewise my opinion) has a demiurgic community with Minerva. Venus, then, is the temperament of the celestial gods, and the friendship and

1 and Azizus, the same as Mars; and each of them, in conjunction with the sun, diffusing a variety of goods on the earth.

Such, then, are the effects of this god in the heavens, and through these his perfections

1. But consider what mighty goods he confers on partial souls! 2 For to these he extends judgement, governs them by justice, and purifies them by his splendor. Besides this, does he not move and suscitate all nature, by imparting to it fecundity from on high? For he is the true cause of particular natures arriving at the destined end of their existence; since (as Aristotle observes) man and the sun generate man. Hence, we should form the same judgement, of the sovereign sun, in every other effect of particular natures: for does not the god fabricate for us rains and winds, and whatever else is produced in the aerial regions? Since, by giving heat to the earth he excites vapour and fume, by means of which, not only these sublime phænomena, but likewise subterranean events of greater or less importance, are produced.

But why should we protract this enumeration any farther, since it is now proper to hasten to the conclusion; first of all celebrating the goods which the sun bestows on mankind? For as he is the source of our existence,

1, by the succession of many days and nights, never cease

1 himself evinces when he says, that the gods pitying the human race, which is naturally laborious and afflicted, gave to us Bacchus and the Muses 2, who perpetually combine in one harmonious choir. But the sun appears to be the common ruler of these, since he is celebrated as the father of Bacchus, and the leader of the Muses; for does not Apollo, whose government is united in amicable conjunction with these divinities, diffuse his oracles over all the earth? Does he not extend divinely-inspired wisdom to mankind, and adorn cities with sacred and political institutions? It is this divinity who, through the colonies of the Greeks, has civilized the greatest part of the globe, and disposed

1 is reported to have been the founder of our city; which, however paradoxical and incredible, was abundantly confirmed by succeeding prodigies. However, as I am well aware, and have already mentioned, that Mars, who is called by the Edessenian Syrians, Azizus, is the forerunner of the sun, I shall not insist on this particular at present. But it may be asked, why is a wolf consecrated to Mars rather than to the sun? For they denominate from hence the space of a year Lycabas. Nor is this appellation assumed by Homer only, and the more illustrious Greeks, but by a god himself; for thus he speaks: "Accomplishing, by a leaping progression, Lycabas, the path of twelve months."

Are you willing therefore that I should

1, who is said to have met with Silvia carrying the bath of the goddess, might contribute to the fabrication

1 of terrene concerns, who is in a most perfect manner subjected to the sun, received our Quirinus, when he was sent by providential Minerva on the earth; and afterwards brought him back, when flying from. this terrene abode, to the sun, the sovereign of the world. But if you are desirous, besides this, that I should employ another argument on the same subject, derived from the works of King Numa, behold the unextinguished fire, enkindled from the sun which is preserved among us by sacred

1 to the different seasons of the year; and which, by this means, imitates the beneficent energy of the moon in her revolution round the earth.

But I am able to produce another, and a much more indubitable argument, concerning this god, from the institutions of that most divine king. For while all other nations number their months from the course of the moon, we alone, together with the Egyptians, measure the days of our year from the revolutions of the sun. To all which, if I should add that we celebrate Mithras 2, and institute quadrennial contests in honour of the sun, I should speak of things more recent and known: but it will be better perhaps to adduce one testimony from more antient traditions.

1 of human wisdom. But may the mighty sun, nevertheless, enable me to understand whatever pertains to his divinity; and to impart my information to all men in common, and privately to those who are worthy of such instruction. In the mean time, till the god shall crown my desires in this respect

Footnotes

39:1 Odyssy 6.

41:1 A well-known saying of Aristotle.

43:1 For an account of this fifth body, see my Introduction to Plato's Timæus.

44:1 See my Introduction to the Parmenides of Plato.

44:2 In the 6th book of his Republic.

45:1 Light, according to Proclus, and, I think, according to 51:1 Iliad, 8.

52:1 Iliad, 18.

62:1 In the Greek οὐσία γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὑπάρχει τὰ ἀγαθά καὶ διηνεκῶς· οὐ ποτὲ μεν, ποτὲ δ᾿ οὐ. Petavius thinks οὐσία

64:1 In the Greek, agreeable to our version προ των σωμάτων, which is evidently the proper reading; and yet such is the ignorance of Petavius, that he thinks πρώτων should be read instead of προ των! (note: last greek string printed upside down in my edition--JBH.)

71:1 This sentence is defective In the Greek; for there is nothing more than ὑπολήψεταί τις, οὐκ ἴσον ἐστιν. Perhaps αλλ᾿ ει ought to be prefixed, agreeable to the sense of our translation.

72:1 Iliad, 14.

72:2 Ocean, according to his first subsistence, belongs to that order of gods which is properly called intellectual, and is therefore πηγαιος θεος, a fontal deity. "Hence," (says Proclus, in his Scholia on "the Cratylus",) he is the cause to all the gods of "acute and vigorous energy, and bounds the distinctions of the first, middle, and last orders; converting himself to himself, and to his proper principles through swiftness of intellect, but moving all things from himself, to energies accommodated to their natures; perfecting their powers and causing them to possess a never-failing subsistence." As a fountain therefore is the origin of a stream, in the same manner Ocean gives birth to the procession of the gods into the sensible universe, from their subsistence in the intellectual order; and therefore he may very properly be called the generation of the gods. Ocean, however, is far from being the same with the sun, though this seems to have been the opinion of the Emperor; for Ocean, as I have before observed, originates among the intellectual gods, of which order Saturn is the summit; but the sun commences from the ruling or supermundane order, of which Jupiter is the monad. See more concerning this divinity in my notes on the Cratylus.

73:1 That is, according to the Zoroastrian Oracles, the sun is the middle of the Empyrean, Ætherial, and Material worlds, the two last of which receive a triple division. See the Introduction to this Volume.

74:1 Dionysius, or Bacchus, is the mundane intellect, and the monad, or proximately exempt producing cause, of the Titans, or ultimate artificers of things. He is said to have been torn in pieces by the Titans, because the soul of the world, which immediately participates this deity, and which is of an intellectual nature, is partially participated by these divinities, and may be said to be plucked off and scattered into generation. See more concerning this divinity in my notes on the Cratylus. See also my translation of Proclus's Hymn to the Sun.

76:1 There is an unfortunate chasm in this place in the Oration.

70:1 Iliad, 13. For a copious account of this divinity, who, abiding in Jupiter, from whom she was produced, becomes a separate, immaterial, and fabricative intelligence, see my notes on the Cratylus. I only add at present, that as Minerva ranks among the Curetes, who subsist in the intellectual order, she is consequently superior to the sun.

70:2 Pope's Homer. Book 8, line 669.

77:1 The following triad of consubsistent divinities is, according to Proclus, contained in the Moon, viz. Diana, Proserpine, and Minerva.

77:2 According to the arcana of the antient theology, Venus contains in herself the cause of the most uniform and pure life, (for beauty is a vital, intellectual form, illuminating all things with symmetry), and exterminates every thing confused and inordinate In the universe: but this is likewise the province of Minerva, considered according to her undefiled characteristic. See more concerning Venus in my notes on the Cratylus.

78:1 For an account of Mercury and Mars, see my Notes on the Cratylus.

80:1 i.e. Angels, Dæmons and Heroes.

80:2 i.e. Such souls as ours.

81:1 This assertion of Plato, which as well as that preceding it, is to be found in the Epinomis, is defective in the Greek text of this oration. Whether or not, I have supplied it according to Julian's intention, the learned reader must determine, by perusing that excellent dialogue. Petavius, however, has not even mentioned the place where these words of Plato are to be found.

82:1 De Legib, lib. 2.

82:2 For an account of Bacchus, see my notes on the Cratylus; and of the Muses, the note to my translation of Proclus's Hymns to these divinities.

85:1 i.e. Romulus, who was wholly of a martial nature, and who, knowing that he descended from this deity, entirely pursued a martial life, was therefore called a hero, or demigod, and the son of Mars.

86:1 According to the arcana of the ancient theology, every god produces his own proper series, commencing from on high to the last of things; and this series comprehends in itself many essences differing from each other. Thus, for instance, the sun produces angelical, dæmoniacal, heroical, and nymphical powers, each of which subsists according to a solar characteristic; and the lowest of these powers possess a great alliance with the human race: for throughout the whole of things the extremity of a superior order coalesces with the summit of one inferior. Hence, these powers contribute to the natural operations of the human race, and among these to their procreations. Hence too, say Proclus 2, it often appears, that heroes are generated from the mixture of these powers with mankind; for those that possess a certain prerogative above human nature, are properly denominated heroes. He adds, that not only a dæmoniacal genus of this kind sympathizes physically with men, but that other kinds sympathize with other natures, as Nymphs with trees, others with fountains, and others with stags or serpents. It is therefore by no means wonderful, that a dæmon belonging to the series of Mars should contribute to the generation of Romulus, who descended from that deity, and to whom he was so exquisitely allied, that, according to habitude or proximity (κατασχεσιν) he ranked in the order of Martial heroes. I only add, that if we carefully remember, in conjunction with the above theory, that the lowest of these orders were assigned by antient theologists the same names as their leaders the gods, we shall find nothing In the Grecian theology but what is admirably consistent, and beautifully sublime.

86:2 In Cratylum.

87:1 That is, the moon, who maternally produces whatever the sun produces paternally, and who, on account of her intimate alliance with this divinity, was called by some of the ancients a lesser sun.

88:1 Petavius is right in observing that Julian expresses himself very obscurely in this sentence, κατὰ τὰς διαφόρουσ ὥρας, according to the different seasons of the year; but he is certainly wrong in conjecturing that it alludes to the vestal virgins watching by turns; for this has no affinity whatever with the text. If we may be allowed to offer our own opinion, perhaps it alludes to the quality of the fire, which was preserved more or less intense according to the greater or less power of the sun at different periods of the year!

88:2 Mithras, according to the information of Porphyry, de Antro Nymph, is considered by the Persians as the father and creator of things, and consequently is the same with the Jupiter of the Greeks.

93:1 Petavius in the margin conjectures that σθένος should be wrote instead of τελος, that is, Strength or power, instead of the end; but for what reason I am unable to discover!

94:1 Opera et Dies. lib. 1.

The Emperor Julian's Oration to the Sovereign Sun

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