War requires not only the extreme exertion of the forces of its participants, but also the use of all available means to achieve victory. Like our contemporaries, the Romans tried to use modern knowledge, the most advanced weapons and technologies. However, if in our time the boundaries of perfection pass according to the level of development of technology, then for the Romans the cutting edge of knowledge often lay in the field of magic.
Marcus Aurelius and the miracle workers
The end of the era of the "golden age" of the Roman Empire and the first manifestations of the crisis in the second half of the 2nd - early 3rd centuries were accompanied by an increase in interest and attention to superstition, astronomy, alchemy, miracles and magic. The emperor resorted to magical rituals and fortune-telling to defeat enemies, senators - wanting to know who would be the next emperor, the urban aristocracy - to gain support in elections, and the common people - in order to predict the harvest and get rid of diseases. Even such a ruler not subject to superstition as Marcus Aurelius, in his Meditations, he himself says that he adopted from his educator “nonsense; disbelief in the tales of sorcerers and sorcerers about their spells, exorcisms, and so on …”- was forced to meet the spirit of the times in a moment of danger. In the midst of the plague that hit Rome,from which a third of the population of the empire died out, a war broke out on the Danube against the Marcomans and Quads. In this situation, the emperor, according to his biographer Julius Capitolina, decided to call upon priests from everywhere, perform foreign rituals and carry out all kinds of purification of Rome.
Bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. Capitoline Museum, Rome.
Going from Rome to the Danube to lead the troops, Marcus Aurelius included several famous magicians and miracle workers in his retinue. Among them we know by the names of the Egyptian hierophant Arnuphius, the theurgist Julian, the magician Apollonius, and some others. The emperor also turned to the oracle of the serpent god Glycon and received an answer instructing him to throw two living lions with a large amount of incense into the Danube and make rich sacrifices. The oracle's instructions were followed exactly. However, the lions, as the satirist Lucian writes, did not drown in the river, but swam to the other side, where the barbarians finished them off with clubs, deciding that this was an alien breed of dogs.
Miracle with rain
Promotional video:
At this time, perhaps the most famous story about the intervention of supernatural forces in hostilities on the side of the Romans, at the prayer of the emperor or someone from his entourage, took place. This episode is known from a rather detailed description by the Roman historian Cassius Dion:
And a little further:
Apparently, this story is based on some real event noticed by many contemporaries and interpreted by them in a supernatural way. The reference to the seventh imperial acclamation of Marcus Aurelius allows him to be dated between 172 and 174. Perhaps it was in honor of the miraculous salvation of the emperor and his legions that an annual festival was established, celebrated on June 11 by the Pannonian army at the imperial sanctuary on Mount Pfafenberg.
Scene 16 of the relief frieze of the Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome depicting the "miraculous rain".
This story was even honored to be reflected on the reliefs of the Column of Mark, erected in Rome in honor of the victories won by the emperor, after his death. Scene 11 of the relief frieze depicts a thunderstorm and lightning striking the barbarians. The strange "shaggy" figure taller than human growth, depicted on stage 16 of the same relief, according to historians, is an allegory of the saving rain that brought the Romans deliverance from death and destroyed their enemies.
Miracle worker
The story of the "miraculous rain" became widely known and was reflected in the writings of many historians, including those who lived several centuries later, when the picture of religious beliefs in the empire radically changed. Comparison of the versions of the presentation of various authors, especially early pagan and late Christian ones, allows us to observe how the evolution of the legend and understanding of the nature of the miracle took place. The official point of view, apparently, attributed the merit of performing the miracle to the prayer of the emperor himself, who turned to the traditional Roman patron of the sky and the thundering deity Jupiter. This version is expressed in the biography of Mark, compiled by Julius Capitolinus and included in the collection "Lives of the Roman Emperors", as well as by the Christian author Tertullian. It also appears in a number of other sources.
Another point of view was expressed in the text quoted above by Cassius Dion. She is also of pagan origin. In this version, the creation of a miracle is attributed to the Egyptian magician and sorcerer Arnuphius, who, through secret spells, summoned Hermes Erius to help. This Arnufy was most likely a real historical character who was part of the emperor's retinue. His name is mentioned in the Byzantine dictionary of the Court just in connection with the description of the wonderful rain. An additional proof of its reality is an archaeological find made in Aquileia (Italy) - an altar with a dedication to the goddess Isis on behalf of Arnufy, priest and hierogrammatist. The altar dates back to the last quarter of the 2nd century, which, with a high degree of reliability, makes it possible to directly link it with the character mentioned in the text. In this case, Hermes Erius, the deity to whom Arnuphius spoke,most likely is the hypostasis of the Egyptian god Thoth.
Dedication of Arnuphius on the altar from Aquileia.
Finally, there is another pagan tradition, also recorded by the Court, which ascribes the creation of a miracle with a call to rain to another famous magician and theurge - Julian, who also lived in the time of Marcus Aurelius. This Julian was the son of another famous theurge, Julian Chaldeus, and was revered as the greatest miracle worker of his time. According to one late legend, Julian Theurge competed with other famous magicians of his time, Apuleius and Apollonius, in which of them would quickly ward off the plague from Rome, and won. The Byzantine historian Michael Psellus fully credits Julian with the authorship of the rain miracle, but tells the story differently. He allegedly made a clay mask that released terrible lightning and put the enemies of the Romans to flight. These enemies, according to Psellus, were the Sarmatians and Dacians,while the rest of the authors featured Marcoman and Quadas.
The Christian point of view
Christian authors of that time were not very sympathetic to the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who was considered guilty of the persecution that occurred at that time. And even more so negative figures for them were magicians-sorcerers Arnuphius and Julian. Accordingly, they began to ascribe deliverance from danger to the prayer of Christian warriors who were part of the XII Lightning Legion. In this form, the story is first told by Apollinarius, whose presentation has come down to our time through the transmission of Eusebius Pamphilus, and Tertullian ("Apologist"), who wrote at the end of the 2nd century. She is also known in the presentation of later authors: Rufinus, Jerome, Zonara and others. In its fullest form, this story is quoted by Eusebius Pamphilus in Church History:
The legion mentioned here is the XII Fulminata Legion, from the beginning of the 1st century AD. located in Syria, and after the suppression of the Jewish uprising, transferred to Melitena (Malatia), on the border between Cappadocia and the Euphrates. The legion was here until the time of Justinian's reign, when information about it is lost. There is no reliable evidence proving his participation in the Marcomanian War on the Danube, but there could be separate vexillations withdrawn from the legion. One of the inscriptions at our disposal at least suggests this possibility. The Legion acquired its nickname "Lightning" long before the events described. In the minds of Christian authors, it miraculously intertwined with the legend of the "miraculous rain", which they began to associate with it.
![Sestertius Marcus Aurelius from the RELIG [IA] AUG [USTA] series with the image of the temple and the statue of Mercury-Hermes with a hat and caduceus](https://i.greatplainsparanormal.com/images/008/image-22709-4-j.webp "Sestertius Marcus Aurelius from the RELIG [IA] AUG [USTA] series with the image of the temple and the statue of Mercury-Hermes with a hat and caduceus")
Sestertius Marcus Aurelius from the RELIG [IA] AUG [USTA] series with the image of the temple and the statue of Mercury-Hermes with a hat and caduceus.
Afterword
The story of the wise emperor Marcus Aurelius, who struck enemies not only with force of arms, but also with magic, spread widely, it continued to be told many decades and even centuries later. It is natural that this legend aroused the envy of subsequent rulers, who were not distinguished by either strength or wisdom. About one of them, the cruel and depraved emperor Elagabal, his biographer Elius Lampridius told:
Author: trombon