Julian's Pagan Revival and the Decline of Blood Sacrifice Author(s): Scott Bradbury Source: Phoenix, Vol.

49, No. 4 (Winter, 1995), pp. 331-356 Published by: Classical Association of Canada Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1088885 . Accessed: 01/11/2013 14:32
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JULIAN'SPAGANREVIVALAND THE DECLINE OF BLOOD SACRIFICE

"This is the chief fruit of piety:to honorthe divinein the traditional ways."7
Ad Marcellam 18 Porphyry

IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PARADOX that in a predominantly pagan empire the EmperorJulian(A.D. 360-363) did not meet with immediatesuccess in his efforts to revivepaganism. Contemporary pagans feltuneasy with Julian'sattemptto make the gods live again in the public consciousness of temples,the revivalof pagan priesthoods, the throughthe rebuilding restoration ofancientceremonies, and mostimportantly, therevival ofblood sacrifices. Historianshave long pointedout that Christianemperors had other elementsof pagan festivalsto continuewhile forbidding permitted blood on the altars, since blood sacrificewas the elementof pagan cult most repugnant to Christians.Thus, blood sacrifice, althoughlinkedto the fate of pagan cults in general,poses special problemsprecisely because it was regarded as themostloathsomeaspect ofcult and arousedthe greatest amountofChristianhostility. The presentarticleexploresJulian'smotives in reviving and thereasonsforhis apparentfailure to publicbloodsacrifices mobilizeimmediate, support.By "public,"I mean notonlysacrifices strong in public cults,but moregenerally, sacrifices conductedin the public eye. interest is in whatwe might call "normative" My principal publicpaganism in the largertownsand cities of the Eastern Empirein the fourth century A.D. Asia Minor,Syria, and Greece figure in the discussion, prominently since these regionswereforJulianthe heartlandof Hellenism, the regions that could be countedon to respondto the call fora pagan revival,and they are also the regionswherewe findclusteredmuch of the evidence about sacrifice in the Roman imperialperiod. I begin by settingout the debate withinNeoplatonism about the desirability ofsacrifices and Julian's own place in the debate. I thenexaminethestatusof sacrifices in the cities of the GreekEast in the generation before Julian'sreignand contemporary reactionto Julian'sconductduringthe pagan revival. Finally,I examine
The followingworks will be cited by the author's name: P. Debord, Aspects sociaux et economiques de la vie religieuse dans I'Anatolie greco-romaine (Leiden 1982); R. Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians (New York 1986). Works of the Emperor Julian are cited in the edition of J. Bidez (ed.), L'Empereur Julien: Oeuvres complbtes 2 vols (Paris 1963-72). 331

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in thefourth one ofthe principal reasonsforthe declineofsacrifice century, ofthe euergesiathathad playeda crucial namelythe declineand redirection role in funding pagan cults.
I. SPIRITUAL SACRIFICE IN LATE PAGANISM

in Julian'spagan revivalis In one sense,the prominence ofblood sacrifice since the act of sacrificial predictable, killingremained,even in the fourth emblematicof the whole complexof pagan beliefand cult. The century, was divided,however, tradition in whichJulianwas nurtured Neoplatonist on the issue of blood sacrifice. Hellenism,like Judaism,had a long and well-established of criticism of the dominantsacrificial tradition system.1 with of attemptsto buythe gods' favors had long disapproved Philosophers the of approaching and had stressedthe importance ostentatiousofferings altars witha pure heart.2These gentlereproofs, whichhad neverseriously and meaningin late antithreatened sacrificial customs,acquirednewforce the ofan intellectual and within Neoplatonism prompted development quity most clearlyin articulated sacrifice. find this debate for We justification and Iamblichus. the worksof Porphyry in his youth,Porphyry's in sacrifices years Althoughkeenlyinterested ofhis spirabout a reorientation Plotinus with profound (262-268) brought of conventional itual lifeand led him to call into doubt the utility cult, into between blood In Letter 263 and sacrifice. the Anebo,composed cluding of "lowa even tone the elements in 268, he rejected dismissive, mocking, that had the daemonology, occult practices,and sacrifices brow" religion, been so conspicuousin his early works,the PhilosophyfromOracles and On the Returnof the Soul.3 Soon after270, he composed On Abstinence from animalfleshwas to persuadea fellow pupilof Plotinusthat abstinence essentialforspiritualas well as bodilyhealth.4 He devotes all of Book 2 since meat eating and blood of On Abstinenceto the problemof sacrifice, in Greekculture.In earlierperiods, sacrifice had been so closelyinterwoven met social, political,and religious groupsin a Greekcityalmost invariably
O0nthe moral critique of sacrificein Judaism, see G. B. Gray, Sacrifice in the Old Testament: Its Theory and Practice2 (New York 1971) 41-54; F. Young, The Use of SacrificialIdeas in Greek Writersfromthe New Testament to John Chrysostom(Philadelphia 1979) 57-66. 20n worship with a pure heart, cf. Cic. Nat. d. 2.71, with the parallels assembled by A. S. Pease, M. Tulli Ciceronis De Natura Deorum (Cambridge, Mass. 1958) ad loc.; Philostr. VA 1.10-11 (on need forpurityof spirit and inadequacy of opulent offerings). 3The Philosophy fromOracles contained a section "On Sacrifices" in which he used the evidence of oracles to corroborate sacrificialpractices. For an example of his techPorphyriide Philosophia ex Oranique, see Euseb. Praep. Evang. 4.9.2, with G. Wolff, culis haurienda reliquiae (Berlin 1856) 112-121. and M. Patillon, Por40n the date and purpose of the treatise, see J. Bouffartigue phyre: De l'Abstinence 1 (Paris 1977) xviii-xxxvii.

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to whomthemeat consumedat the and feastedundertheaegis ofa divinity been offered between feasthad first The intimateconnection in sacrifice.5 ritesand feasting obvious to all. sacrificial on roastedmeats was perfectly As Aristotle forthe sake of wrote,"some associationsappear to be formed which for and are unions pleasure, example,religiousguilds dining-clubs, for the of and sacrifice purpose companionship" existing (Ooaiaq 'veccarai aovovua1a: Eth. Nic. 8.9.5, 1160a, 19-20). Comic poets could expect a ofthe gods' indignation withwhich at the brazenness portrayals laugh from mortalscontrived sacrifices fortheirpersonalbenefit (Men. Dys. 447-453), and to be "fondof sacrifice"(tpikoOtrg) mightimplypiety,but it could equally wellimplygluttony (Ar. Vespae 81-84). Althoughmockedin comthese customs were taken terms edy, seriously.Greekspossessed technical formeat that had not been butchered in the conventional sacrificial system and cautionary tales warnedof the dangersof its consumption.6 is sensitiveto the possiblecriticism that his rejection of meat Porphyry sacrificialcustoms. Consequently, he stressesthat he eating undermines is not encouraging the abolitionof civic cult (De abst. 1.27.1; 2.3-4, and esp. 33), but thisspecial pleadingcannotmask the fact that Book 2 of On Abstinenceoffers the most sustainedattack on sacrificial practicesto survive fromantiquity.7 variousarguments-mythological, Porphyry presents but at the heartof philosophical, daemonological-against blood offerings, the matterlies the notionof spiritualsacrifice, an idea best documented among early Christians,since they felt more antipathyfor blood sacrificethan any otherreligiousgroup in the Roman Empire. They opposed not only blood sacrifices, but all forms of materialsacrifice, inincluding cense and fruitand vegetableofferings. They did not, however, rejectthe idea of sacrifice.On the contrary, theytrumpedall otherreligious groups that Christ's sacrificewas the supremeand perfect sacriby proclaiming fice that would make all othersacrifices, those of both Jew and Gentile, and void. Furthermore, unnecessary they showed unparalleledcreativity in theirspiritualizing of what constitutedan appropriate interpretations
5G. Berthiaume, Les R6les du migeiros (Lyons 1982) passim, esp. 81-93. Romans, on the other hand, ate more pork and beef than Greeks and did not observe so strictly that the meat be sacrificedand shared with a god prior to consumption. On the pervasiveness ofsacrificein the affairs of all types of social organizationsin the Hellenisticand early Roman period, see H.-J. Klauck, Herrenmahl und hellenistischerKult (Miinster 6Lane Fox 70; cf. F. Sokolowski, Lois sacries de l'Asie Mineure (Paris 1955) 84 (regulations for cult of Dionysus Bromios at Smyrna with prohibitionon worshippers eating meat that has been improperlysacrificed[second centuryA.D.]). 7The argument,however,is not original. Nearly 80% of Chapters 5-32, roughlythe firsthalf of Book 2, appear to have been cut and pasted fromTheophrastus' On Piety (now lost). See J. Bouffartigueand M. Patillon, Porphyre: De l'Abstinence 2 (Paris 1979) 4.

1982).

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sacrifice. Fourth-century Christian writersroutinelyemploy the traditional language of sacrifice,both to combat pagan and Jewishsacrifices and to redirectthe faithfulto the bloodless, spiritualizing sacrificesof Like Christians, all religious a higher groupspursuing pagan spirituality is superior to materialsacrifice.The accept the idea thatspiritualsacrifice exact meaningofspiritualsacrifice variesdepending on whether the phrase is being used in a more or less restricted sense. In its most restricted to immaterialsacrifice, forexample, the sacrificeof pure sense, it refers to value thoughts.In a less restricted sense, it may be used of a tendency theinner stateoftheworshipper and to devaluethematerialobjects spiritual offered in sacrifice. In its broadestsense, it can even refer to a hierarchy of materialsacrifices, some of whichare consideredmore "spiritual"than others.Thus, forexample,Porphyry the commonargument that puts forth different sacrifices are appropriate to different levelsofdivinity and thatthe withspiritualsacrifices:to the High God, higher gods are best worshipped he claims,we shouldoffer conceivedin deep silence;to onlypure thoughts the intelligible gods, pure thoughtsutteredin prayersand hymns;to the visiblegods, inanimateobjects like barley,honey, and flowers; to the fruit, or nothing at all (De abst. 2.34). daemons,blood sacrifices The viewthatspiritual sacrifice alone is appropriate to thehigher gods is commoncoin among religious a higher groupspursuing pagan spirituality. At theirmost austere, the philosophers espouse an ideal of worshipthat is severelyintellectual, but in more compromising moments,theymerely stressthesuperiority ofimmaterial a hierarchy sacrifice within ofacceptable sacrifices.Most acceptable are pure thoughts, followed by spokenprayers, and finally, in last hymns, incense,fruitand vegetableofferings, invariably and Hermetists place, blood offerings.Neoplatonists,Neopythagoreans, all accept this hierarchy of sacrificesand all considerblood sacrificesto be least desirable-they should be employedonly to placate daemons or should be avoided altogether (De abst. 2.36.5, 37.5). Amongmaterialsacis incense considered to be the most spiritualand is most highly rifices, These views not were confined to the realmof theory. For example, prized. the mysteries that developedwithinNeoplatonismdo not appear to have theirsacrificesconsisted of incense,perfumes, employedblood offerings; herbs and sacred stones, accompaniedby incantations.9 Neopythagoreans
80n spiritual sacrificein early Christianity, see R. J. Daly, Christian Sacrifice: The Judaeo-Christian Background before Origen (Washington, D.C. 1978); Young (above, n. 2); E. Ferguson, "Spiritual Sacrifice in Early Christianity and Its Environment," ANRW 11.23.2 (1980) 1152-89. 9J. Bidez, "Note sur les mysteresneoplatoniciens," RBPh 7 (1928) 1477-81, at 1481: "Quant aux sacrificessanglants, il semble que, dans ces mysteres,on se soit abstenu d'en A la divinit6." offrir

Christianity.8

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were equally scrupulousin these matters. Apolloniusof Tyana practised even to be presentat blood sacrifices.He comonlybloodlesscult, refusing a work Sacrifices On posed (now lost) and was criticalof citieslike Athens that were fondof sacrifice(philothutai)and adjusted theirceremonies in orderto decrease expenditures.10 Apolloniuscould claim to be upholding the genuineteachingof Pythagoras,who was alleged in late antiquityto have promoted and a frugal, meatlessdiet." bloodlesssacrifices moderate, Hermetists too accept this hierarchy of sacrifices and stressthe superiority of spiritualsacrifice withits implicitrejectionof meat eating.12 It is perhaps not surprising that groups pursuinga higherpagan spiris the evidencefor itualityavoided blood cult. What is more surprising the proliferation of bloodlesssacrifices in some traditional civic cultsin the Roman imperialperiod. Nearlya half centuryago, MartinNilsson called to theparallelsbetween attention in late antipagan and Christian liturgies quity,citingthe appearance withinvarious cults of a daily divineservice in addition to the traditionalannual festivalsand the increasingprominence in pagan cult of incense,lamps and hymns.In this religious milieu, 13 Nilsson claimed Nilsson, "animalsacrifice was not the dominating rite." later argued that caches of lamps in temples,epigraphical and testimonia, evidenceall supportedthe contention that lamps weremuchmore literary commonin liturgical use in the Roman periodthan previously.14 Incense too came intogreateruse in this period.15Its exotic fragrances could drathe solemnity of religiousrites,and yet it was inexpenmaticallyheighten sive if used in small quantities(cf. Tert. Apol. 30.6) and proveda perfect
10Philostr. VA 1.31-32 (refusal to be present at blood sacrificesand use of incense); 4.11 (bloodless sacrificesat Ilium); 4.19 (arranging sacrifices,libations and prayersfor the Athenians); 6.41 (arrangingsacrificesforthe towns of the Hellespont). Euseb. Praep. Evang. 4.12.1 mentions Apollonius' Iept ouou^Ov. rather than 11Porph. Vita Pyth. 34-35 outlines Pythagoras' diet, stressingfrugality strict vegetarianism. Pythagoras would on rare occasions eat sacrificialmeat; ch. 36 claims that he normallyoffered bloodless sacrifices,but occasionally offered a cock or a sucklingpig. There was a traditionthat Pythagoras once sacrificedan ox, but the "best authorities"identified it as an ox ofdough. It was thus a surrogatevictim. Cf. Iambl. De Vita Pyth. 11.54 (advice to the women of Croton on importance of one's spiritual state and moderate, bloodless sacrificesproduced with one's own hands); 21.98 (libations and sacrifices of incense within the Pythagorean community); 24.107 (exhortation to most accomplished students to avoid blood sacrificesand consumptionof meat); 28.150 (advice to "hearers" and "civic" followersto employ blood sacrificeonly rarely). 12Ascl. 41; CH 13.16. On ritual in a Hermetic context, see G. Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes (Cambridge 1986) 142-150. 13M. P. Nilsson, "Pagan Divine Service in Late Antiquity,"HThR 38 (1945) 63-69, at 65. 14M. P. Nilsson, "Lampen und Kerzen im Kult der Antike,"Opuscula archaeologica 6 (1950) 96-111. 150n incense in the Greco-Roman world, see E. G. Atchley,A History of the Use of Incense in Divine Worship (London 1909) 41-77.

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sacrifice.Of the variousforms of spiritualsacrifice, "everyday" hymnody is the best attested.16 Amateur and professional chorusesproliferated in a varietyof cults, but the epigraphical evidenceis richestat Claros and the most remarkable is a late-thirdDidyma. Among these inscriptions, oracle of Apollo fromDidyma, in whichthe god reveals his own century interest in a morespiritualized form of cult: whatconcern have I withbountiful hecatombs of cattleand [Haplessmortals], statuesof richgold and imagesworked in bronzeand silver? The [gleaming] immortal haveno needofpossessions norofanybusiness with which godsindeed their cheer minds .... Some of have remembered to singa hymn you [mortals] in mysanctuaries evenbeforetimes, whenever the prophet was about to bring forth an oraclefrom theinner . ... I rejoice shrine overevery it song[whenever is performed] butit is a muchbetter in myview,whensomeone thing, singsan old-fashioned song....17 Louis Robertremarked of Apollo's preference forspiritualcult: "C'est la dans le grandsanctuaireoramarque d'une evolutionde la penseereligieuse culaireet de preoccupations a cette6poquedans la philosophie."'s repandues Underthe empire,daily divineserviceemploying bloodlesssacrifices is attestedin cults of Zeus, Asclepius,Dionysus,Isis, and Hecate.19At Teos in the reignof Tiberius,forexample,an inscription that "every prescribes at the the of of 'Patron of the day temple Dionysus opening City' hymns are to be sung by the priest,the ephebes, and the priestof the boys. At the openingand closingof the god's temple,the priestof Tiberius Caesar shall pour libations,burn incense,and lightthe lamps, [all of whichwill be paid for]fromthe god's temple funds."20 At Stratoniceiain the late second or early thirdcentury, the city orderedthat the statues of Zeus and Hecate, whichstood in the Council Chamberand whichwere famed fortheir"good deeds of power,"be honoredwithchoralhymns to be sung a chorus of well-born children was to be led to the daily. Everyday thirty Council Chamber,robed in whiteand crownedwitholive, to sing a hymn to Zeus and Hecate.21At Epidaurus an inscription from the secondor third a records service of libations of century daily wine,the lighting consisting
160n spiritualsacrificeand pagan liturgicalmusic, see J. Quasten, Music and Worship in Pagan and Christian Antiquity2(Eng. tr.; Washington,D.C. 1983) 51-57. von Didyma Nr. 217 Vers 4," in Nav17IDidyma 2.217, with R. Harder, "Inschriften icula Chiloniensis (Leiden 1956) 88-97. Furtherreferencesto hymnsin daily cult in R. MacMullen, Paganism in the Roman Empire (New Haven 1981) 166, n. 9. 18L. Robert, "Trois oracles de la theosophie et un prophete d'Apollon," CRAI (1968) in Lane Fox 219-222. 568-599, at 597. See also the brillianthistorical reconstruction 19Nilsson (above, n. 13) 63-69. 20Sokolowski(above n. 6) 28; L. Robert, anatoliennes (Paris 1937) 20-37. ,tudes [above, n. 6] 69); A. Laumonier, 21IK Stratonikeia 1101, lines 7-17 (= Sokolowski "Notes sur une inscriptionde Stratonice," REA 36 (1934) 85-87; Robert (above, n. 20) 516-523.

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of lamps, and the offering of incense, but the text is too fragmentary forus we mightcite also the practice to understand the details.22In thiscontext, ofpraying at dawn and duskto King Helios, attestedin the imperial period from ofreligious In an inscription Oenoanda,for amonga variety groups.23 riteofthe citythatthe inhabitants as an official example,Apolloprescribes theireyes fixedon the Eastern sky.24 Aether," prayat dawn to "all-seeing In the mindsof morespiritualworshippers, bloodless cult is in no way deficient-itis to be preferred. Blood sacrificeis best avoided because it involves theworshipper withevil daemons,to whomare attributed notonly natural disasters,but also violence and psychological turmoilin people's lives (De abst. 2.38). But Porphyry goes further, makingthe astonishing to the that muchof traditional civic religionis to be attributed argument of the deceptionof daemons. Deceived by the daemons, the inhabitants cities sacrificein the mistakenbeliefthat they are propitiating the gods (2.40). The daemons intendto convertus away fromthe gods to worship of themselves; fortheywish to be gods, assertsPorphyry, and theirleader wishes to be the Supreme God (2.42.2). They delightin sacrificesnot forthehonortheyare shown,but because theyare fedby thesmoke merely and the vaporsof sacrifice.25 They lurkin publicspaces, in privatehouses, even in our verybodies. The prudentman, ifhe takes Porphyry seriously, will not thenbe neutralon the issue of blood sacrifice (2.43.1). Avoidance of sacrificesand sacrificialmeats is fundamental to the personal care of the soul; the man who does not purify his soul draws the daemons like a wouldsay laterin the Letterto Marcella,he makes or,as Porphyry magnet, his soul a "dwelling place forthe wickeddaemon" (19). to remember It is important the rhetorical purpose of On Abstinence. was to a friend that he could not, as a Porphyry attempting persuade with but strict was not philosopher, dispense vegetarianism, vegetarianism
22F. Sokolowski,Lois sacrees des cites grecques. Suppldment (Paris 1962) 25. 23Many parallels are assembled in F. J. D6lger, Sol Salutis (Miinster 1925, Liturgiegeschichtliche Forschungen4-5) 1-60 and A. J. Festugiere, La Revelation d'Hermbs Trismdgiste4 (Paris 1954) 245, n. 3. 24Marinus Vita Procli 21 says that Proclus prayed to the sun three times a day; cf. Proc. Theol. Plat. 2.11 withcommentary ad loc. in H. D. Saffrey (ed.), Proclus, Thdologie platonicienne 2 (Paris 1974) 121, n. 11. Jul. Ep. 89b.302a encourages pagan priests to pray to the gods at least at dawn and dusk, preferablythricedaily; cf. Ep. 98.401b. On the inscriptionfromOenoanda, see L. Robert, "Un Oracle grave a Oinoanda," CRAI (1971) 597-619; Lane Fox 168-177. 25A Christian commonplace, cf. Athen. Leg. 26; Origen C. Cels. 8.60; Sent. Sext. n. 564; Euseb. Praep. Evang. 5.2; Firm. Mat. Err. prof.rel. 13.4; Arnob. Adv. nat. 7.23; Lactant. Div. inst. 2.17 claims that the daemons hide themselvesin temples and attend sacrifices in order to attach themselvesto people: ut alliciant facile in templisse occulunt et sacrificiisomnibus praesto adsunt. At De abst. 2.43.2 Porphyryconcedes that blood sacrificeto propitiate the daemons may be necessary forcities.

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necessaryforthe averageperson(1.27.1). In the Letter to Marcella, comdoes not seem so muchhostileas indifferent to posed after300, Porphyry traditional cult. Althoughhe maintainsthat the chieffruitof piety is to honorthedivinein the traditional wantsnor ways,he adds that God neither needs such worship: "tears and supplicationsdo not move God, sacrifices do not honorGod, numerousvotiveofferings do not adorn God ... " (Ad Marc. 18-19, cf.23). Nonetheless, the arguments of On Abstinence werein the publicdomainand offered endlessweaponsto Christiancritics ofpagan Eusebius in the compositionof the Preparationfor the cult, particularly Gospel. In the 320s, lamblichuswould take aim at the criticisms advanced by in the Letter to Anebo and Abstinence. Behind the most On Porphyry obvious pointsof contention, a more fundamental dishowever, lay deeper, between lamblichus and Plotinus over the of cultic agreement significance ritual. Porphyry had absorbed fromPlotinus a conceptionof the human soul and its capacitiesthat made traditional inconcult,including sacrifice, in to care of the soul. a In bold sequential comparison personal metaphor intendedto expressits purityand impassibility, Plotinusclaimed that the part of Soul (voi^), the trueessence of a human being,neveractuhigher "descends." It remainsalways "above" and retainsits capacityto enjoy ally unmediatedcontact with the Intelligibles.26 In slightly different Platonic also advanced the view that is vo6; always presentto language,Porphyry and focused with noetic activity, even if itself, upon itself, away humming the are in and mired the realm of matter.27 we, compositeself, "forgetful" Cult matteredlittle in comparisonto the care of the soul. Thus, when and visits to temAmelius,a pupil who was fondof sacrifices (ptXo6MrS;) asked the to master Plotinus the ples, accompanyhim, put youthoffwith the enigmaticquip that "they [the gods] ought to come to me, not I to them" (Porph. Vita Plot. 10). In the view of Iamblichus,Plotinus and Porphyry had seriouslyundervalued cultic ritual because they overvaluedthe abilityof the individual human soul to achieve union with the divine realm.28 Iamblichusstates
26On Plotinus' view of the undescended soul and its implications forcult, see C. de Vogel, "Plotinus' Image of Man: Its Relationship to Plato as well as to Later Neoplatonism," in G. Verbeke (ed.), Images of Man in Ancient and Medieval Thought (Louvain 1976) 147-168; C. G. Steel, The Changing Self: A Study on the Soul in Later Neoplatonism: Iamblichus, Damascius and Priscianus (Brussels 1978) 34-38; H. D. Saffrey, "La Theurgie comme phenomeneculturelchez les Neoplatoniciens (Ive-ve siecles)," Koinonia 8 (1984) 161-171, at 165: "Ainsi pour Plotin, point n'est besoin d'interm6diaires ni de theurgiepour aller ' dieu, l'ame seule le peut par ses propres forces,elle n'a besoin ni de salut, ni d'aides surnaturellesni de rites religieux." 27De abst. 1.39.1-2. 280n Iamblichus' critique of Plotinus' "undescended soul," see Steel (above, n. 26) 38-45. The importance of Iamblichus' view of the soul for understandinghis attitude

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activityby itselfis unable to secure the flatlyin Book 2 that intellectual with divine union worshipper beings. The source of unionwiththe gods is not humanintellectual effort: with thegods... rather, it doesnotconnect Intellectual theurgists understanding and of ineffable is theperfect acts,religiously performed beyond accomplishment ofineffable all understanding, and it is thepower bythe comprehended symbols union.... In fact,even if we are not gods alone that establishes theurgical of their their ownwork; the symbols themselves own accordperform thinking, us recognizes ofthegodsto whom thesesymbols elevate and theineffable power its ownimages.It is notawakened to thisbyourthinking. byitself (Iambl.Myst.2.11) the symbolsmanipuEven ifwe are not engagedin intellectual activity, the wordsor materialobjects of a religious lated by the theurgist, whether about unionwiththegodswhenever thegods are "awakened" rite,can bring oftheirsymbols the traces oftheirown divinity by recognition (avvOiltara), hereon earth. Cultic ritualis thusessentialeven forthe philosopher. views on the hierarchical of the structure Iamblichusshares Porphyry's cosmos. He accepts,forexample,thatdifferent kindsofsacrifice are approlevels of divinity, but he places a muchhighervalue on priateto different the materialrealmand consequently rejectsthe notionthat materialsacriblood sacrifices, are destinedonlyforthe lowergods. God fices,specifically illuminatesthe entireuniverse, the material argues lamblichus,including thereexistsa realm,whichis not evil and shouldnot be reviled.Moreover, cosmicsympathy, or rather, a "friendship and likeness"(<itia wall oiKicoaiw;) betweenGod or the gods as creativeforcesand theircreations, imwhether materialor material(5.7-9). This friendship and likenessresultsfromthe fact that the gods have depositedtraces or symbols(ovOilvtara) of themselves in theircreations, materialobjects likesacrificial animals. including When these objects are manipulatedin the appropriate way by the theurgist, they may, forreasons unknownto mortals, "awaken" the gods and drawthemintoone's presence(5.10). Or, to use another image,the objects becomepurified manipulatedby the theurgist receptaclesforthe reception of god (5.23). Even a blood sacrifice, transformed has the by purifying fire, lamblichus echoes capacityto drawthegods to the sacrificer. Furthermore, the commonpagan assumptionthat thegods themselves gave humanstheir traditional rites,and it is by the symbolsin these rites that the gods are "awakened"and drawninto the worshippers' presence(5.25). Thus, to allow sacrifices to lapse is willingly to foregothe manifestation of the gods, to banish the gods fromone's life. In addition,Iamblichushas knowingly but disdain forthe commonplacethat daemonsfeed on sacrificial nothing
toward theurgyhas been stressed by G. Shaw, "Theurgy: Rituals of Unificationin the Neoplatonism of Iamblichus," Traditio 41 (1985) 1-28, at 13-16.

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victims. The nourishment, and illumination of beings,he arperfection, not fromthe botgues, workfromthe top down in the cosmic hierarchy, tom up. Nothingin the cosmic hierarchy dependson what is beneathit. Gods do not dependon daemonsfornourishment and perfection, noris it conceivable that daemonscould dependon mortals.The idea that daemons need and are nourished is patentlyabsurd (5.10). by blood sacrifices Julianhimself was clearlyconversant withthe philosophical debate over sacrifice.He was acquaintedwiththelongdisputeovertheappropriateness ofvegetarianism and its implications for sacrificial customs(Or. 9.191c). He was aware of the Pythagorean caused the animals objectionthat sacrifice he rejectedthe argument pain and torment(Or. 8.174a). Furthermore, that Diogenes was impious,in that he failed to frequent the templesand to worship at statues and altars. Diogenes, claims Julian,possessed none of the usual sacrifices, incense,or libations,or the moneyto buy them. He offered the gods the most preciousof possessions, the dedicationofhis soul throughcontemplation approveof (Or. 9.199b). Nor did Julianinvariably lavish publiccult. On themarcheastwardin 363, he saw sacrificial victims and billowsof incenseeverywhere about Batnae, a scene that should have delightedhim, but the Neoplatonistdesire for withdrawaland seclusion asserteditself.He confesses to Libanius that it all seemed likeoverheated zeal and aliento a spiritoftruepiety.Worship ofthegods,he claims,should take place in quiet seclusionaway frombusy public spaces Ep. 98.400c-d; cf. Misop. 344d). It is possible, in fact, to imagineJulianpromoting a revival without blood sacrifice. should not We underestimate his pagan capacityforinnovation.His viewson the natureof the pagan priesthood, for example, were a marked innovationon conventional practice.29 He well have the tradition pursued might exemplified by Porphyry, arguing that blood sacrifice was a "recent"and wrong-headed innovation and that it was necessaryto "restore"a pristine, bloodlesscult.30 Julianhimself offers no intellectual forthe revivalof sacrijustification but in Sallustius' the and the Gods we findan Universe fices, Concerning of the sort of and current in inner Julian's example explanation justification circle. In chapters15-16 of this compendium of pagan belief,Sallustius stitchestogether a ratherdisjointedseries of observations on sacrifice, all of whichhave parallels in Book 5 of On the Mysteries. It comes as no
290. Nicholson, "The 'Pagan Churches' of Maximinus Daia and Julian the Apostate," JEH 45 (1994) 1-15. 30De abst. 2.5-10, 29 for myths supporting the idea that sacrificewas fromits inception wrong-headedand criminal,the product of anger, fear,or ignorance. It is often connected with the end of a golden age (Hes. Theog. 535-616; Ovid Met. 15.111-142). On the tensions and anxieties produced by sacrificial killing, see W. Burkert, Homo Necans: The Anthropologyof Ancient Greek Sacrifical Ritual and Myth (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1983).

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surprisethat all of these views derivefromthe lamblicheantradition. He begins by notingthe commonplacethat God has no needs or emotions; forour own benefit, not God's. But he quicklymoves hence,we sacrifice to Iamblichus'principalargumentwhen he claims that God's providence has been extendsthroughout the universeand can be enjoyedby whatever to receiveit. Fitness, he explains, is preparedby "fitness"(tCv18Et6'ri;) and likeness"(pinltr ia~ b6ot6LrSl). For this achievedthrough"imitation reason,templesare a copyof heaven,altars ofearth,imagesof life,prayers of the intellectual elementin us, magic symbolsof the ineffable powerson animals of the irrational high,plants and stones of matter,and sacrificial lifewithinus. The gods gain nothingfromall these things,but we may gain union (ouvapii) withthem. thereand beginschapter16 on a newtack. Sallustiusdropsthe argument He states twoconventional arguments (both also used by Iamblichus):first, since everything comes fromGod, we should repay God withfirst fruits of our possessionin the form of votiveofferings, and second,prayers divorced fromsacrifices are only words,whileprayers with sacrifices are animated words,the wordgivingpowerto the lifeand the lifeanimationto the word to reverts argument (cf. De myst.4.3; 5.26). His thirdand most important the theurgic explanationthat he had raised in chapter15. The happiness of anything, claims Sallustius, consistsin its appropriateperfection, and the appropriateperfection of anythingis union (aovacpij)with its cause. The union of mortals with their cause, which is God, can only happen the throughimitationor likenesswith some intermediary agent bringing two together.Sallustius does not, however, have in mindthe unionof voiq withthe Intelligibles. He has in mindthelikeness oftwoforms oflife ('oil), that is, of mere human lifewith the perfect, divinelife,achievedthrough the intermediary ofa third oflife,namelythelivingsacrificial form animal. All of the argumenthere derivesdirectlyor indirectly fromIamblichus' discussionin De Mysteriis.31 We can feelconfident that Julianhimself was schooledby his own spiritualguides in these and similararguments.32
II. SACRIFICE UNDER JULIAN'S CHRISTIAN PREDECESSORS THE PAGAN REVIVAL AND

For the nineteenmonthsof Julian's reign,a haze of sacrificialsmoke himself. hungoverthe Roman world,muchof it generated by the emperor Ammianus complains that he "drenched the altars with the blood of an excessivenumberof victims,sometimesslaughtering a hundred oxen at a
see A. D. Nock, Sallustius: Concerningthe Gods and the Universe 31Forcommentary, (repr. Hildesheim 1966) lxxxiii-lxxxvi. 32On Julian and his philosophical masters, see J. Matthews, The Roman Empire of Ammianus (Baltimore 1989) 115-129.

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time, with countlessflocksof various other animals .... Moreover,the ceremonial riteswereexcessively increasedat an expensethat was hitherto unusual and burdensome"(22.12.6-7). In the elogium,Ammianusagain deploresthe slaughterof "countlessherdswithoutregardto expense" and characterizes Julianas superstitiosus obmagis quam sacrorumlegitimus servator(25.4.17). Libanius too mustconcedethat in sacrificing everyday the dictatesof convention and further Juliandid not follow (v6ov dvd&yicat) that he spent huge sums of money(Or. 12.80; 18.170). But this begs an does Libaniusmean and how, important question. What convention (v6Slog) in Ammianus'view,woulda legitimus observator honorthe gods? Do they have in mindthe convention of a timelessClassical past or pagan convention as theyhad actuallyexperienced it underthereigns of Constantine and his sons? What exactly was sacrificial or customin the Greek convention East duringthe fourth A.D.? century Historians ofthe periodare wellacquaintedwiththedifficulty ofanswersourcesto take the pulse of ing this question. If we consultpagan literary sacrifical ritesin the period,we will be temptedto pronounce the patient near death,sincepagan sourcesare strangely reticent on the topic ofsacrino Greekinscriptions fice,and virtually attestingpagan cult survivefrom the fourth century apart fromthe reignof Julian.33Christianapologetic but its timelessqualitymakes it exconstantly inveighsagainst sacrifice, forthe historian unreliable to determine actual practicesat tremely trying a specificpoint in time. Moreover,when sacrificing pagans do reappear in the hagiographical sources of the fifth and sixth centuries, theyare no the cults oftheirnativecities. By longerproudcivicnotablesorchestrating that periodthey are constrained, of social status, to sacrifice irrespective ifnot in total secrecy.34They are not representatives of the nordiscreetly, mativepublicpaganismin whichwe are primarily interested.
33On the decline of epigraphy, see R. MacMullen, "The Epigraphic Habit in the Roman Empire," AJP 103 (1982) 233-246; id., Corruption and the Decline of Rome (New Haven 1988) 1-15. For attestations of cult, see L. Robert, Hellenika 4 (Paris 1948) to Zeus in the caves of Cretan Ida and ending 55-57, on a governor boasting ofsacrificing his epigram with a prayer to preserve "my emperor" with all the immortals. Robert assumes that the inscriptionbelongs to Julian's reign. Cf. J. Reynolds, "Inscriptionsof Roman Tripolitania: A Supplement," PBSR 23 (1955) 124-147, at 139, on a man from Ghirza who sacrificed51 bulls and 38 goats at the tomb of his father. The inscription is "unlikelyto be earlier than the middle of the Iv cent." Dedications of altars in the fourthcenturyare infrequent, but cf. IG II2 4841/2 (=SIG3 907). and sixth centuries,see M. J. 34On the survival of pagan cult practices in the fifth Maspero, "Horapollon et la fin du paganisme egyptien," BIAO 11 (1914) 164-195; R. Remondon, "L'Egypte et la supremeresistanceau christianisme(vevIIe siecles)," BIAO 51 (1952) 63-78; W. E. Kaegi Jr., "The Fifth-Century Twilightof Byzantine Paganism," ClMed 26 (1966) 243-275; F. R. Trombley, "Paganism in the Greek World at the End of Antiquity: The Case of Rural Anatolia and Greece," HThR 78 (1985) 327-352; K. W. Harl, "Sacrificeand Pagan Belief in Fifth-and Sixth-Century Byzantium," PastPres 128

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The failureof our pagan sources to mentionsacrifices can be attributed of sacrifice largely to Christian intoleranceand the fiercedenunciations foundin the anti-paganlegislationof Christianemperors.These laws, issued first by Constantineand reissued by his sons, were aimed predomiconductedin public and wereintended to create an atnantlyat sacrifices or climateof opinionin whichpeople would considerit "imprumosphere dent" to sacrifice.35 It is hardlysurprising that discreetly conductedprivate sacrifices in late antique sources,since Christian appear sporadically officials could not hope to intrudeso far into the privaterealm, at least not without mobilizing chargesof magic. They could, however, hope to determine what would be normative and sociallyacceptablein publicspaces. in the pubJulian,Libanius,and Eunapius all make clear that to sacrifice lic eye underChristianemperors was to exercise "boldness"and "daring." To recapture some sense of Julian'spersonalexperience, no source is more than his own letterconcerning revealing Pegasius, the bishop of Ilion who apostatized and was made a priestin the pagan revival(Ep. 79). As Julian travelledwestwardto court in late 354, he visited Ilion with bishop Pegasius as his tour guide. Surprisedto findthe altars "still lit, almost tested the bishop'sviews,"What does ablaze," theyoungprincecautiously this mean? Do the peopleof Ilion offer sacrifices?"Pegasius concededthat the locals did honorHectorwithsacrifices and likenedthis practiceto the honors but therewas moreevidenceof Pegasius' paid to Christianmartyrs, good faith. The bronzestatue in the littletempleof Hectorwas well-oiled and gleaming, and the greatstatue of Achillesin the forecourt of Hector's had suffered no harm. It was with eagerness,claims Julian,that temple Pegasius unlockedthe templeof Athena Polias to reveal the statues safe and in good order,nor did he hiss at daemons or make the sign of the cross, as Christiansusually did in such circumstances.Most significant, was theirvisit to the templeof Achilles. Julianhad previously however, been informed that Pegasius had pulled the hero's tomb to pieces, but it turnedout to be in good repairand Juliancarefully observedhow Pegasius no temples,argued approachedit withreverence.Pegasius had destroyed Julian; he had merely "throwndown a few stones as a blind so that he the rest." mightpreserve Julian'saccount reveals what mightwell greet the visitorin some paof the bishop, gan sanctuaries: templesclosed and underthe supervision strippedof their treasuresand statuary,even their doors and columns. This account lendscredenceto the evidenceof Libanius and Eunapius. As
(1990) 7-27; P. Chuvin, A Chronicle of the Last Pagans (Cambridge, Mass. 1990); F. R. Trombley,Hellenic Religion and Christianization,ca 370-529 (Leiden 1993). 35On the vexed problem of the originand effect of anti-pagan legislation,see now my "Constantine and the Problem of Anti-Pagan Legislation in the Fourth Century," CP 89 (1994) 120-139 (with bibliography).

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Libaniussaid ofa friend's unclewhocontinued to offer sacrifices underConstantius,"despitethe law whichbanned it and the death penaltyinflicted on any who dared to do so, he yet wenthis way throughlifein the company of the gods, and he laughedto scornthat evil law and its sacrilegious enactor.""36 Eunapius was impressedwith the rare example of Anatolius, the PPO Illyrici(357-360), who went to Athens around 359, "sacrificed boldlyand visitedall the temples."" It emergesfromEunapius that under Theodosius public sacrifices wereriskyand all but non-existent in Sardis. In the Vitae Sophistarumhe describesthe case of Iustus, a Roman nobleman who constantly visitedthe templesand who was keenlyinterested in all forms of divination.AppointedVicar of Asia underTheodosius, he arrivedin Lydia, foundthe governor to be a like-minded pagan, and set about building"makeshift altars at Sardis--fortherewere none thereand wherever a vestigewas to be foundhe set his hand to the remainsof the templeswiththe ambitionofrebuilding them." He offered sacrifices in and on one occasion, aftera publicsacrifice, public (8n?oo{<q) staged a test ofthedivinatory a demonstration powersofthe city'sintellectuals, actually attendedby Eunapius.38 The reports of smashed altars should not surpriseus. They wereearly targetsof Christianviolencebecause theyreceivedthe blood ofslaughtered and theywereafterall easier to smash than temples. When Julian victims, restoredaltars in Antioch,the Christianpopulace promptly threwthem downagain.39 The reports ofthe destruction ofsanctuaries, the conversion of templesintochurches, and the theft of templeproperty are also relevant here,because theyrevealthe extentto whichthe physicalsettingof pagan cultscould be disrupted or destroyed.40 Julianhimself observedcloselyhow citieshad treatedtheirtempleswhenhe came to power,reserving imperial
36Lib. Or. 1.27; cf. Or. 30 passim, esp. 17-19; Ep. 1351.3. 37Eunap. VS 10.6.8: Oicaa S' xa nepLeX09%v ep& aIvra, r%& 0apaaXoa .... % fi %lep eOwp

~ dp8esiv (ob 38Eunap. VS 23.4.2-3: ~6ooiS red&vortloEv a ooX~i{ou &v ?aav airc6i) yp Theodosius, .... PLRE I s.v. lustus 2 points out that lustus probably held office under for Chrysanthius,who died ca 396/7, was an old man when lustus came to Sardis. For the governorof Lydia, see PLRE I s.v. Hilarius 10. 39Jul. Misop. 361b; cf. Lib. Or. 17.7 forthe overthrowof altars after Julian's death. in RAC s.vv. Heidenverfolgung and Christianisierung 40References (der Monumente), with F. W. Deichmann, "Friihchristliche Kirchen in antiken Heiligtiimern," JDAI 54 (1939) 105-136; G. Fowden, "Bishops and Temples in the Eastern Roman Empire A.D. 320-435,"JThS Ns 29 (1978) 53-78. Cf. Lib. Ep. 712, on a pagan priest named Bacchius "stealing back" a statue of Artemis stolen fromher shrine; 757 for Bacchius' restorationsof shrines in Tarsus and heavy exactions frommen who were apparently accused of despoiling temple property. The circumstances are obscure, but Libanius' defense is characteristic. Bacchius should be lenient with Aemilianus (otherwise unknown) since he "was not one of the aggressors (bfpi{ovre;) though he could have been, had he wished."

Kcuevv

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forthose who had treatedthemwell (Lib. Or. 18.129). In many patronage was a settlingof scores against Christianswho had despoiled there places, on beshrinesunder ConstantiusII. Libanius was kept busy interceding halfof acquaintances,old friends, and even his own family memberswho werenowbeingattackedfortransgressions committed underConstantius.41 Libanius' defenseof two youngcousins who had converted templesinto a house is typical: "theyacted in conformity withthe policyadopted by the of the day. I do not approveof it, but anywaysuch thingswere emperor legal at the time" (Ep. 1364.7). had Such examples do not of course provethat public blood sacrifices been completely abandonedin Eastern cities,but theydo revealthe demorthat existed in many areas, particuatmosphere alizing and intimidating larly in largertowns and cities. Moreover, theyshould make us hesitate to assume, as some scholarsdo, that pagans continued to sacrifice largely withoutworry or interference. To sacrifice publiclyin urban areas was to run a risk, and we must question whether pagans would have considered of the risk worthtaking. Imperiallegislationwith its harshdenunciations "dared" people to pagan cult and its fiercethreatsof retaliationin effect do in public what some people occasionallydid in private. Eunapius obviit provocative that Anatoliusand Iustus engagedin blood ously considered to sacrifice in full,public view. Iustus even asked the local philosophers in the entrailsof sacrificial divinethe future victims. That could be construedas high treason. The atmosphereof various towns and cities was since some places, like Carrhae (Harran) and Gaza, by no means uniform, had virtually no Christianpresenceand became famousforadherenceto traditional They may well have feltconfident religion.42 enoughto sacrifice in public. Apamea too "continued to honorZeus at a timewhentherewere thegods" (Lib. Ep. 1351.3), which means presumably penaltiesforhonoring that theyconductedpublic sacrifices underConstantius.But those places werenot,in my view,the norm. had countedhimself a Hellenefornearlyten yearsby thetimethe Julian uprisingin Paris in February360 made him a fullAugustus. He and his confidants thegods in secret, had worshipped forthesuspiciousConstantius would have interpreted such activities as evidenceof a plot against the throne.Althoughhe now possessed the rankofAugustus, Juliancontinued to feign to Christianity devotion usurper (Amm. 21.2.4), sincean underdog
41Cf. Ep. 724, concerninga man who had made a habit of buying up temple spoils. The magnificenthouse that resulted from this practice understandably aroused envy. Cf. Epp. 763; 819. 420n Carrhae's pagan character,note Egeria's commentafterher visit of385: In ipsa autem civitate extra paucos clericos et sanctos monachos, si qui tamen in civitate commorantur,penitus nullum Christianuminveni, sed totum gentes sunt (Peregr. Egeriae 20.8). On Gaza, see Trombley (above, n. 34) 188-222.

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to the old stood to gain little and to lose much by a public conversion sense of a and shared cohesive spirit purpose, pagans religion. Lacking would not have knownhow to react to such an announcement. Christians, on the otherhand,wouldhave been galvanizedby the threatofpersecution Julianbegan to (cf. Lib. Or. 18.121-125). At Constantius'death, however, as he explainsin a letterto Maximus: sacrifice lavishlyand publicly, We worship of the armyaccompanying me the gods openly, and the majority to the We sacrifice is god-fearing. in public. We haveoffered manyhecatombs as I can, insofar The godsorder meto purify godsas thank-offerings. everything we and I formypartobeythem shall For that say reapgreat very eagerly. they ifonlywe do notlose heart. (Ep. 26.415c-d) forourlabors, rewards from November In his brief 361 to June363, Julian reignas sole Augustus cult altars, restoring expendedgreat energyrestoring temples,rebuilding ancientceremonies.43 Nor was as well as inventing, statues, and reviving, he content ofthegods. At therising to sacrifice onlyat theregularfestivals he offered blood sacrifices and settingof Helios-Mithras, birds (apparently he in the of a exfordivinatory his which palace, practice garden purposes) as about to He would the follow himself pected pagan priests busy well.44 firewood preparations, openingthe birds, collecting (!), wieldingthe knife, was so conspicuousa and inspecting theirentrails. Indeed,blood sacrifice dubbed him slaughterer part of Julian'spietythat the Antiochenes (victiAmm. rather than priest(sacricola, marius) 22.14.3). withinthe pagan But whydid Julianfocusso keenlyon blood sacrifice revival? Why not conductthe pagan revivalwith perfectly adequate and far less controversial cult formssuch as processions,prayersand hymns, him incense,candles and lamps? The studentsof Iamblichushad provided with the intellectual for blood as but much sacrifice, justification politics, as piety,moved Julianin this direction. In the religiousenvironment of the fourth blood sacrifice was It was confrontational. the element century, of traditional cult that Christiansabsolutelycould not abide. It enticed the daemons who clung to the fleshof slaughtered victims,but more imit in the remained a of Christian portantly, imagination constantreminder the tortures inflicted on themby the persecutors.During the Great Perand civic officials secution,forexample, MaximinDaia orderedprovincial to insurethat all citizenssacrifice and pour libations,that they "taste the set out forsale in the marketbe pollutedsacrifices"and that "everything with libations from the sacrifices." Guards wereto be set at the polluted entrancesto public baths in orderto "pollutewith abominablesacrifices those who were washingthere" (Euseb. De martyr.Palaest. 9.2). Even
43Lib. Or. 18.126; 1.119; Amm. 22.12.6. 44Lib. Or. 1.121; 18.127; 12.80-82 mentionsinspection of the entrails of birds at the altar in the palace garden.

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in the absence of physicalcoercion,sacrifice could be used to alienate and discomfort Christians. Lactantius claims that Maximinorderedthat only meat be servedat his table and thus "anyonewho had been insacrificial vited to dinnerwould departsullied and impure"(De mort.persec. 37.2). of blatantphysicalcoercionof Christians, he AlthoughJuliandisapproved was not above subtlerforms of coercion.His constantpresenceat smoking altars and his habitofholdingaudiencesin sanctuariesbesidethe cult statues were designedto politicizereligiousissues and to confront Christians witha starkchoice.45They could not recoilfrom the altars and expectthe emperor's patronage. at his contemporaries' Julian'sfrustration failureto matchhis own zeal is well-known shared the 84.429; Misop. (Ep. 361d-362b). Few polytheists In earlierperiodsofantiquity, comspiritofconfrontation. youngemperor's munalfeasting on sacrificial meat had proclaimedand reinforced the comTo rejectsacrificial meat was to rejectfullparticipation munity's solidarity. in the community.46 In the religiously "mixed" communities of the fourth communal on sacrificial meat could hardlyreinforce solicentury, feasting it could onlycreatedivision.The bondsoffamily, darity, class, and culture matteredmore to such people than religiouscontroversy. Moreover,the use ofsacrifice as an instrument ofdiscrimination, ifnotpersecution, could invitereprisalsif the regimedid not last. Consequently, prudentpeople appear to have adopted a "wait-and-see" attitude,a policywhosewisdom was confirmed when the news of Julian'ssudden death arrivedfromthe Eastern front. Other developments in civic life also made it difficult to revivelarge-scale forthe declinein sacrifice in the fourth sacrifices, century was not due solelyto Christianhostility or pagan desireto avoid religiously divisivecustoms. It resultedin part froma shiftin patternsof euergetism and a declinein the abilityand willingness of civic notables to fundthe traditional festivals as theyhad done in earlierperiods.
III. THE FUNDING OF PUBLIC CULTS: EUERGETISM PAGAN PRIESTHOODS AND

As Ramsay MacMullenhas written ofphilotimia : "No word,understood to its depth,goes farther to explaintheGreco-Roman achievement."" The ofphilotimia, gods wereamongthe most conspicuousbeneficiaries particuofthepriests themselves. festivals larlyoftheheavyspending Traditionally,
45Lib. Or. 18.121, 161-163, 167-168. 460n the political implications of vegetarianism, see M. Detienne, "La Cuisine de Pythagore," Archivesde sociologie des religions29 (1970) 141-162; id., "Culinary Practices and the Spirit of Sacrifice," in M. Detienne and J.-P. Vernant (eds.), The Cuisine of Sacrificeamong the Greeks (Chicago and London 1989) 1-20. 47R. MacMullen, Roman Social Relations (New Haven 1974) 125.

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of the gods in Greek cities had been fundedfromthree different sources: sacred funds,civic funds,and privatebenefaction.48Within the chaotic finance an unusuallystasystemsof Greekcities,sacred fundsrepresented ble and reliable source of revenue,but revenuewhose use was in theory restricted to sacred purposes,such as the construction and repairof temof festivals(includingthe sacrifices)and the paymentof ples, the funding the templepersonnel.Civic magistrates were chargedwithoverseeing the use ofthegods' revenues.Rentsfrom from proper templelands and revenue the authorized sale of templeproperty were insufficient, to cover however, of festivals.Thus, it was convenupkeepof the sanctuaryand the funding tional forcities to allocate part of theirown civic fundsto defray part of the cost of festivals(includingthe sacrifices)and to pay templepersonnel. A. H. M. Jonesjudged that the majorityof sacrifices at the festivals were 49 This combination of civic and sacred funds, paid forout of publicfunds. stillfellshortofthe sums necessary to stage theelaboratefestivals however, oftenconnected withthe most prominent shrinesand cities. The religious lifeof the citiesreliedheavilyon privatebenefaction, paron the of the prieststhemselves.50 ticularly euergetism By the Hellenistic and Roman periods,priesthoods in Greek cities, as at Rome, had become assimilatedto civic magistracies.51 Social prestigeand an abilityto shoulder the considerable financial burdenswerethe most important criteriain the selectionof pagan priests,who usually served fora year, sometimes for a fixednumberof years. Priesthoods"forlife" were not uncommon, and a fewwere hereditary, eitherby ancient custom or because the same held the family priesthoodthroughsuccessive generations. As we noted the sources of civic revenue,sacred fundswere unusual for above, among theirstabilityand reliability.In theorythese fundswere the property of the god, but citiesfrequently foundcreativewaysto tap them. No practice reveals more clearly the economicaspects of priestlyappointments than the outright sale of priesthoods, attested in Asia Minor (particularly Ionia) fromthe fourthcenturyB.c. to the second centuryA.D. By selling a priesthood and then awardingthe priest'ssalary froma combination of civic and sacred funds, citiesmighteffectively sacred funds for secular tap was merelythe formalization of purposes.52 But the sale of priesthoods the well-attested of a which notable's process "pollicitation," by "promise"
4"A. H. M. Jones, The Greek City fromAlexander to Justinian(Oxford 1940) 227235; Debord 51-75. 49Jones(above, n. 48) 228. 500n euergetism,see P. Veyne, Bread and Circuses, tr. Brian Pearce (London 1990) 70-200. 51"Priest" (.epevx) in Greek has a wide range of meaning. I am not concerned here with soothsayers,diviners,or the lower echelons of the temple personnel. 52Jones(above, n. 48) 228.

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of a specific benefaction lead to the bestowalof might,afternegotiation, a prestigious office.Pollicitationprecededthe granting of priesthoods as well as secularoffices, as we see in inscriptions in whicha notableboasts of "in accordancewithhis promise."53 havingbestowedbenefactions evidencefrom the thirdcenthe Hellenistic Epigraphical periodthrough in turyA.D. recordsthe wide varietyand stupendousscale of benefaction whichpriestsmightengage: the construction or repair of public and sathe funding cred monuments; of festivals, including grantsto the citizens of money, of sacriand unguents;the funding oil, wine, grain,perfumes, ficesby remitting to the cityor privateworshippers the hides,animalparts, owed to the priest;the feasting of the magistrates taxes, and feesrightfully the provision ofentertainment, such or, in some cases, the wholecitizenry; as singers,actors, horse races, and gladiatorialcombats.54 Priests and fromthe possessionof priesthoods, priestessesderivedconspicuousbenefit sincelavishexpenditure on thegods was traditional, it builtup thereligious and social lifeof the community, and, as Peter Brownhas pointedout, it was well suited to deflect the envyof one's peers.55 Moreover, the priest as sacrificer had a conspicuousrole in the religiouslife of the early emof the perioddepictthe Roman emperor pire. Numerousreliefs engagedin a conventional sacrificial ritual. As RichardGordonhas argued,the focus of the reliefs is not the act of sacrificial killing,but the emperorhimself dressedas a priestand engagedin the ceremony of sacrifice.The focusis thus on the emperor in a ceremonial role as sacrificer and benefactor. The sacrifices on these become depicted reliefs, argues Gordon, "paradigmsor ofpublicsacrifice theempire.... 56In thisideology exemplars throughout of benefaction, the emperor'sact of sacrifice is the act of benefaction par in imitation of which elites make theirown sacrifices excellence, provincial and benefactions. If social prestigehad been the only benefit to accrue to civic notables, nonetheless have been less attractivesince they could priesthoods might involvehuge expenditures. Accordingly, cities made considerableefforts to make these posts desirableby providing them with an incometo help costs. Priests were often awarded defray stipendsfromcivic fundsand/or sacred funds. They receivedexemptionfroma varietyof other liturgies and were awarded fees and taxes fromsacrificesor mystery initiations.57 also had to of the sacrificial animals and a portionof They rights parts
530n pollicitation, see Veyne (above, n. 50) 89-90, 136-138. 54Epigraphical testimonia in Debord 72-75. 55p. Brown, The Making of Late Antiquity (Cambridge, Mass. 1978) 35-36. 56R. Gordon, "The Veil ofPower: Emperors, Sacrificers and Benefactors,"in M. Beard and J. North (eds.), Pagan Priests: Religion and Power in the Ancient World (London 1990) 199-231, at 208. 57Debord 68-70.

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It appears that otherkindsof sacrifice such as fruit or vegetableofferings. of the various formsof income available, the most significant and most reliable was that derivedfromthe public sacrificesfundedby the city.58 The parts of the sacrificial victimsawarded to priestswould normally be sold to retailbutchers.Hence,it was important that thecityitself faithfully meet its obligations.Sacred laws carefully spelledout who was requiredto whatsacrifices, fineson those who werederelict.59 The city offer imposing also put pressureon privatecult associations and privatecitizensto offer sacrifices. a combination of sacred -The systemof funding publicfestivals through civicfunds, and private benefaction lasted wellintothethird funds, century, forthe largesseof civic benefactors, despitethe rise of seriouscompetitors the festivalsof the imperialcult and agonisticfestivals. The particularly imperialcult quicklybecame one of the most dynamiccults in Asia Minor ifwe measuredynamism by a capacityto attractcompeti(and elsewhere), resources.60 The similarities tivezeal and financial amongthesefestivalsimperial,agonistic,and divine-were greaterthan theirdifferences: they all employedthe processions, and consacrifices, banquets, distributions, tests that had come to be a centralfeatureof Greekcultureand sustained a characteristically would Greekstyleof civic life. These variousfestivals continueso long as civic finances permitted and, in particular,so long as the "sheerwillingness" (MacMullen's phrase) of the notablesto fundthem held firm. However, the thirdcentury'sdrasticeconomicdecline,accelerated by military anarchyand barbarianinvasions,dealt a seriousblow to this styleof civic life. Althoughthe impact of these factorsvaried from it is clear that whenprosperity underthe regionto region, began to return were resources muchreducedand the scale of public and private Tetrarchs,
58Debord 69. 59F. Sokolowski,Lois sacrees des cites grecques (Paris 1969) 33, 159, 168 (stipulating whichgroups must sacrifice);id. (above, n. 22) 90 (regulatingthe voluntarycontributions "required" of citizens and finesforfailureto comply); Inscr. Ilion 5, 10 (finesimposed on those who fail to sacrifice). These issues are best illustrated by the lengthyinscription fromOenoanda commemorating the institutionofan agonistic festivalunder Hadrian. It not only by various civic officials, but also prescribesin detail the sacrificesto be offered Those who fail to meet theirobligation must by the rural villages in the city's territory. pay a fine of 300 drachmas. See M. W*rrle, Stadt und Fest in kaiserlichenKleinasien. Studien zu einer agonistischenStiftungaus Oenoanda (Munich 1988) 12, lines 70-88. 60Debord 213: "Le culte imp6rial se pose trbs vite en concurrent-et en concurrent avide-des cultes traditionnels de la cit6"; S. R. F. Price, Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor (Cambridge 1984) 130: "The imperial cult ... was probably the most important cult in the province of Asia"; S. Mitchell, "Festivals, Games, and Civic Life in Roman Asia Minor," JRS 80 (1990) 183-193, at 190: "The age of the Severans opened the flood-gates to a new tide of agonistic foundations which matches the spate of public building which had transformed the cities of the eastern provinces between the reigns of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius."

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inspendinghad to be cut back. In some of the areas that had suffered civic life was The sack of Athens in for vasion, seriouslydisrupted. 267, and "defines example,proved"catastrophic" clearlythe end of the ancient to the status of a minorprovincial town ... withlife cityand its transition to such extent an the that old be resumed.",6 could never disrupted pattern all the monuments that the modern visitor to Nearly greet Ephesus were restored or rebuiltin the fourth century.62 Scholars will continueto dispute the "crisis" of the thirdcentury, but it appears that this periodwitnessedsignificant in the traditional changes The virtualdisappearanceof epigraphic evidence styleof Greekcivic life.63 after ca 260 makesit difficult to judge theextentofthechange, butfinancial restraints and a shiftin civic values led to the declineof manypriesthoods in this period. As we have seen, however, festivalscould not be staged on the scale that had become traditionalwithoutthe active participation of the local notables who filledthe priesthoods. Paganism was thus forced into "decline"forreasons that had littleto do with "belief"or "faith."Its financial base was undermined. When MaximinDaia attemptedto stage a he recognized the importance pagan revivalduringthe Great Persecution, of priesthoods and took steps to make themonce again prestigious and attractive.Everytownand citywas to have a priest,overwhomtherestood a provincial to be selectedfromthose who were "most distinhigh-priest guishedin public life and conspicuousin performing everykindof public service" (Euseb. HE 8.14.9). Like an imperialgovernor, the high-priest was granteda bodyguard ofsoldiers. Lactantiuscorroborates Eusebius' acus withfurther details: count,whileproviding wenton to adoptthenovelpractice [Maximin] high(novomore)ofappointing one foreach cityfrom its leadingcitizens. priests (sacerdotes among maximos), These wereto makedailysacrifices to all theirgods,and withthe support of thelong-established were to makesurethattheChristians did not priests they construct or assemble either in publicor private; further buildings theywereto havepower to arrest Christians and compel tosacrifice them orhandthem to over themagistrates. Norwas thisenough; he setindividuals ofevenhigher rankover each province to be, as it were, and he ordered that pontiffs (quasi pontifices), boththesenewclassesofpriests shouldmovearound adorned in white cloaks.
(De mort.persec. 36.4-5)
A.D. 267-700 (Princeton 1988) 3. 6lA. Frantz, The Athenian Agora 24: Late Antiquity, 62C. Foss, Ephesus after Antiquity (Cambridge 1979) 46-95 reveals a long list of buildings restoredor rebuilt in fourth-century Ephesus: the stadium, Church of the Virgin Mary,bishop's palace, theater, gymnasium,baths of Constantius, libraryof Celsus, baths of Scholasticia, nymphaeum of Trajan, hydreionfacing the Temple of Domitian, nymphaeum rebuilt by the Proconsul Caelius Montius, and, on Foss's hypothesis (51, n. 9), the governor'spalace. 63See, for example, the recent essays in J. Rich (ed.), The City in Late Antiquity (London and New York 1992).

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was the systematic What was novelabout Maximin'sconduct imposition of such a hierarchy on the cities of the Greek East, and, if Lactantius is to be trusted,the granting to priestsof broad powersover the religious lifeof the community. Maximin'spriestswerenot beingassimilatedto the church'shierarchy, as has been suggested;theywere being assimilatedto civicmagistrates withpoliticalpowerand social prestige.64 The Martyrdom ofSt. Theodotusrecounts of Galatia, offers howTheotecnus, durgovernor to make Theodotus "high-priest of Apollo" with ing the Great Persecution the rightto appointsubordinate priestsand to enjoywealthand civic honenhancedpowersof patronage,access to local officials, and ors, including embassiesto theemperors.65 A contemporary from Stratoniceia inscription offers a glimpseof what Maximinhoped to achieve. Aftertheiryear as priestof Zeus Panamaros and priestessof Hecate, and afterexperiencing an imperialvisit to the area, a brother and sisterboasted of theirdescent from and Asiarchs of the templesat Ephesus.... [They] priestsand high-priests dutiesthroughout the wholeyearwithreverence performed priestly (6aepoq) toward thegods,with munificence toward oil for the men, providing (cptXoreitog) bathsforthirty-four theprocession and festival ofthe Panamareia daysduring all the councillors and citizens, noneof the mysteries Theyfeasted overlooking theentire or anymonthly no sacrifice also during yearand neglecting banquet, withmunificence and greatness of spirit(qptioceigon iccal providing gyaXowgX) donatives forthe menand women ofevery rankand age who took partin the
procession... 66 . . not onlyforcitizensand foreigners, but also forthe soldiery stayingthere....

sources.67

is whollycharacteristic The inscription of earlierpatternsof euergesia, but uncharacteristic of thefourth With his death in 313, however, century. Maximin'srevivedpagan priesthood and indeedalmost all mention of civic notablesas priestsof the gods in the Eastern provinces our disappearfrom

declined notonlybecausecivicnotableswereless willPagan priesthoods wereno longer ing and able to spend,but also becausecivicand sacredfunds
64Rightlynoted by Nicholson (above n. 29) 5-6. S. Theodoti 23, in F. de' Cavalieri (ed.), I martiriide S. Teodoto e di S. 65Martyrium Ariadne (Rome 1901, Studi e Testi 6) 75. The authenticityof the account is defended by S. Mitchell, "The Life of St. Theodotus of Ancyra," AnatSt 32 (1982) 93-113. 66lStratonikeia310 (=SIG3 900). Brown ([above, n. 55] 51) remarkedof Stratoniceia that the third century "does not appear to have happened" there. 67A. Wardman, "Pagan Priests in the Later Empire," in M. Henig (ed.), Pagan Gods and Shrines in the Roman Empire (Oxford 1986) 257-262. For a catalogue of Julian's priests, see P. Athanassiadi-Fowden, Julian and Hellenism (Oxford 1981) 185-186. On high priests of provincial assemblies and their connection to the imperial cult, see A. H. M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire (Oxford 1964) 764-765.

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confisConstantine available to help defray the cost of privatebenefaction. cated templefundsto help financehis own buildingprojects,particularly He a stable currency. in Constantinople, and to obtain bullionforminting was primarily in hoards of gold and silver,but he also confisinterested the wealth, cated templelandholdings.He and his successorsconfiscated as well,whichconboth landholdings and movablegoods,of municipalities in the fourth chronic suffered financial Thus, problems sequently century."6 of traditionalfestivalsall three sources of fundsfor the orchestration sacred funds,civic funds,and privatebenefaction-wereseverelyreduced in the fourth did not disappearin the fourth century, century. Euergetism but it became,like othermanifestations of powerand wealth,increasingly confined to a tinyclique of richcuriales (principales),former imperialofthe all ficials(honorati),and provincial Virtually epigraphical governors.69 concernthe activiand fifth centuries instancesof euergesiain the fourth Public worksof the periodbear the goverties of provincial governors.70 themesin inscripand is one of the most important nor's name, building with tions honoring public worksis rougovernors.71 Legislationdealing or theirsuperiors.72 addressed to either tinely imperialofficials, governors few stones instances of attest curial Relatively euergesia.73 In the keen competition forthe reducedresourcesavailable, not all the fesor perhaps,not all the elementsof the traditional traditional festivals, could be funded. tivals (sacrifices, distributions of oil, etc.) money, dyw6ve;, but in Our sourcesdo not allowus to plot thedeclineofparticular festivals, retained enormous terms we can assert that agonisticcompetitions general
68R. Delmaire, Largesses sacrees et res privata: L'aerarium imperial et son administrationdu iv au vf siecle (Rome 1989) 641-645 (confiscationof temple funds), 645-657 (confiscationof municipal funds). 69For the transferof "la manie du bitiment" from curiales to provincial governors and honorati, see P. Petit, Libanius et la vie municipale A Antioche au lVe siecle apres J.-c. (Paris 1955) 291-293 and 318-319. For the building activities of powerfulbishops, see P. Brown, "Art and Society in Late Antiquity,"in K. Weitzmann (ed.), An Age Of Spirituality: A Symposium (New York 1980) 17-29. 70E.g., IK Ephesos 621 on Artorius Pius Maximus, Proconsul of Asia 287/98 and honored as e6epyqg; by the city of Ephesos for the restorationof the Imperial gymnaIai &v sium; 1312 on L. Caelius Montius, Proconsul of Asia 340/50 (ofMpa ?bv&yv6crarov ,x&tv e~epy'yv); ICret. 4.312 honoring Petronius Probus, PPO llyrici,as rovei'ep'yv xal o?mpa roCEOvoua (Gortyn,after371); SEG 29.1070 honoringFlavius Palmatus, consularis Cariae, as rv &dvavev ica~ r{iorlv m; ? Idorq; Kap{a; ?prpono6(ea) rxai eepyiyv (Aphrodisias, A.D. before 536). 71Robert (above, n. 33) 60. 72Jones(above, n. 67) 758; cf. CTh 15.1 (De operis publicis), city councils are mentioned only twice in fifty-three laws on public works. These laws are routinelyaddressed to imperial officials. un 73Robert (above, n. 33) 109: "on a normalementrecours A la po6sie pour glorifier gouverneurou-le cas est devenu beaucoup plus rare-un gen6reuxcitoyen."

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of the imperialcult and the agonisticfestiappeal and that the priesthoods vals provedto be moreattractive than those of traditional gods. It antagonized Julianthat at Antiochthe richestcurialesweremorewidelyknown and talkedabout fortheatrical showsand horseraces than Solon was forhis meetingwith Croesus!74Juliandeploredthe shiftin the focusof civic life a shiftwhichhe away fromthe sanctuaryto the theaterand hippodrome, and otherpagan moralists denounced withthelanguageof "impiety." What was a secularizationof civic life. In the second half theywere describing of the fourth both pagan and Christian,thunder century, moralists, away at the mania of theircontemporaries formimesand farces,horseraces and chariotraces,and worst ofthe fesof all, wildbeast fights.75 Secularization tivals was acceleratedby the hostility of Constantineand his sons toward resultedin thedeclineofthe prestige oftraditional pagan cult,which priestand the gradualdisappearanceof the priestly resources, hoods,diminished rites. As Juliancomplainedto knowledge necessaryto conductsacrificial one of his priests: "Show me a genuineHellene among the Cappadocians. For I observethat, as yet,some refuseto sacrifice, whileothers,although lack knowledge of how to sacrifice"(Ep. 78). theyare willing, This passion forspectacles and adyGve; did not, of course,begin in the fourth thebalanceofsacred and secular By Julian'sday,however, century.76 elementsin the festivals had shifted, partlybecause of Christianpressure, withinpaganism itself. Conpartly because of an internaldevelopment the citiesand theirbenefactors toward sciouslyor unconsciously, gravitated ceremonies and entertainments that were religiously neutral,at least until Julianbrought The exasperatedAntiochenes woneveryone up short.77 deredwhythe emperor could not be contentwiththe frequent festivalsin Antiochwhichcould be enjoyedby the entirepopulation,notjust pagans sacrifices,people presumably (Misop. 346c). BeforeJulianreintroduced to eat meat at festivals, continued but the meat was no longerthe product of the old sacrificial system,nor was it providedfreeof chargeby a civic benefactor. It was simplyslaughtered and set out forsale like meat at any other time of the year. If this hypothesisis correct,it helps to explain
74Misop. 342c. Note also John Chrysostom's vivid tableau of a civic benefactor in JohnChrys. De inani gloria 4-6, with commentariesby L. Robert, Hellenika 11-12 (Paris 1960) 569-576; A.-M. Malingrey,Sur la vaine gloire (Paris 1972, Sources Chr6tiennes 188) 74-80. 5Lib. Or. 35.17-18, linking together dicing, horse-racing,and impiety toward the gods; Aug. Contra Acad. 1.2 (386 A.D.), Conf. 3.2 (Augustine's own passions for the theater); 6.8 (Alypius' "madness" for gladiatorial shows); 76Cf. SIG3 850 (Antoninus Pius praising a benefactorfornot engaging in the "usual practice" of courting "instant popularity" through "spectacles, distributionsand prizes for contests"); Philostr. VA 4.2, 8, 21-22, 27, 32 (impiety of contemporarysociety). see S. MacCormack, Art and Ceremonyin Late Anti770n fourth-century ceremony, quity (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1981).

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and upof blood sacrifice did not cause disruption whythe discontinuation but to be part of the festivals, heaval. Feastingand good cheercontinued ritethat provedso controversial. withoutthe sacrificial Such are the social that lie behindJulian'swell-known and religiousdevelopments description of his disastrousvisit to the shrineof Apollo at Daphne: that at Daphne,if therefrom the temple of Zeus Kasios, thinking I hastened I shouldenjoythe sightof yourwealthand publicspirit(ptonXrtgCa). anywhere, it wouldbe, likea man in myownmindthe sortofprocession And I imagined ofthe in a dream, choruses in honor visions beastsfor sacrifice, libations, seeing souls theshrine, their andtheyouths ofyour there city surrounding god,incense, raiment. withall holiness and themselves in white and splendid adorned attired as a cake, theshrine notso much But whenI entered I found there no incense, thatI nota single beastfor sacrifice. Forthemoment I wasamazedand thought and thatyouwerewaiting thesignalfrom was stilloutside theshrine me,doing what becauseI am supreme But whenI beganto inquire methathonor pontiff. to offer theannualfestival in honor ofthe sacrifice thecityintended to celebrate "I havebrought withme from answered, myownhousea goose god,thepriest as an offering to thegod,but thecitythistimehas madeno preparations." (Misop.361d-362b) The Antiochenes, it appears, had spenttheirmoneyon horseraces, not on festival Apollo's (Lib. Or. 15.19).
IV. CONCLUSION

Blood sacrifice was a centralriteof virtually all religiousgroupsin the and its gradual disappearanceis one of the Mediterranean, pre-Christian most significant of late antiquity.Sacrificedid not religiousdevelopments declineaccordingto any uniform pattern,since therewas a wide diversity in local customsand the impact of imperialand episcopal authority varied fromregionto regionand city to city. Moreover, in conit is important these mattersto distinguish betweenpublicand privatesacrifices. sidering In manyof the largertownsand cities of the Eastern empire,publicblood were no longernormative sacrifices by the time Juliancame to powerand embarkedon his pagan revival. Public sacrificesand communalfeasting had declinedas the resultof a declinein the prestige of pagan priesthoods and a shiftin patternsof euergetism in civic life. That shiftwould have occurredon a lesserscale even withoutthe conversion but of Constantine, it was acceleratedby the hostility toward cult. oftheChristiancourt pagan It is easy,nonetheless, to imaginea situationin which sacrifice could decline withoutdisappearing.Why not retain,forexample,a singleanimalvictim in orderto preservethe integrity of the ancientrite? The fact that public sacrifices in manytownsand cities appear to have disappearedcompletely must be attributedto the atmospherecreated by imperialand episcopal

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in my view,did not thinkit worththe riskto hostility.Most polytheists, in publicunderChristianemperors. conductsacrifices

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