Who was Anubis? What was Apis; why was the name Osiris changed to Serapis; and what does Osiris signify? Who was Isis; what is said of her; and what is signified by the name? How was Iphis changed into a man, and what was the cause of this metamorphosis? Under what name has Serapis been worshipped? How is he denominated by Eusebius; and what symbols are connected with him: Who was Apis; and how is he described by Pliny? APPENDIX. OF THE VIRTUES AND VICES WHICH HAVE BEEN DEIFIED. CHAPTER I. THE VIRTUES AND GOOD DEITIES. THE ancients not only worshipped the several species of virtues, but also Virtue herself, as a goddess. Therefore, first of her, and then of the others. Virtue derives her name from vir, because virtue is the most manly ornament. She was esteemed a goddess, and worshipped in the habit of an elderly matron, sitting upon a square stone. *M. Marcellus dedicated a temple to her; and hard by placed another, that was dedicated to Honour: the temple of Virtue was the passage to the temple of Honour; hence by virtue alone true honour is attained. priests sacrificed to honour with bare heads, and we usually uncover our heads when we see honourable and worthy men; and since honour itself is valuable and estimable, it is no wonder if such respect is shown in celebrating its sacrifices. The Fides had a temple at Rome, near the capitol, which †Numa Pompilius, it is said, first consecrated to her. Her sacrifices were performed without slaughter or blood. The heads and hands of the * Liv. 1. 2. + Cic. de Officiis. Dion. Halicarn. 1. 2. priests were covered with a white cloth when they sacrificed, because faith ought to be close and secret. Virgil calls her *Cana Fides, either from the candour of the mind, whence fidelity proceeds, or because faith is chiefly observed by aged persons. The symbol of this goddess was a white dog, which is a faithful creature. †Another symbol was two hands joined, or two young ladies shaking hands: for by giving the right hand, they engaged their faith for their future friendship. Hope had a temple at Rome, in the herb-market, which was unfortunately burnt down with lightning. Giraldus says, that he has seen her effigies in a golden coin of the emperor Adrian. She was described in the form of a woman standing; her left hand lightly held up the skirts of her garments; she leaned on her elbow; and in her right hand held a plate, on which she was placed a ciberium, a sort of a cup fashioned to the likeness of a flower, with this inscription: SPES, P. R. "The Hope of the people of Rome." We have already related in what manner Hope was left and preserved in the bottom of Pandora's 'box. Justice was described like a virgin, with a piercing, steadfast eye, a severe brow, her aspect awful, noble, and venerable. Alexander says, that among the Egyptians she had no head, and that her left hand was stretched forth, and open. The Greeks called her Astræa. Attilius, the duumvir, dedicated a chapel to Piety, at Rome, in the place where that woman lived, who fed her mother in prison with the milk of her breasts. The story is thus: the mother was punished with * Serv. in 1. et 8. Æn. + Stat. Theb. 1. Dextra data fidem futuræ amicitiæ sancibant. Liv. 1. 21. Plin. Hist. Nat. 1. 7. c. 36. imprisonment; her daughter, who was an ordinary woman, then gave suck; she came to the prison frequently, and the gaoler always searched her, to see that she carried no food to her mother: at last she was found giving suck to her mother with her breasts. This extraordinary piety of the daughter gained the mother's freedom; and they both were afterwards maintained at the public charge; and the place was consecrated to the goddess Piety. There is a like example in the *Grecian history, of a woman, who by her breasts nourished Cymon, her aged father, who was imprisoned, and supported him with her own milk. The Athenians erected an altar to. Misericordia, "Mercy;" where was first established an Asylum, a place of common refuge to the miserable and unfortunate. It was not lawful to force any from thence. When Hercules died, this kindred feared some mischief from those whom he had afflicted; therefore, they erected an asylum, or temple of mercy, at Athens. Nothing memorable occurs concerning the god dess Clemency, unless that there was a temple erected to Clementia Cæsaris, "The Clemency of Cæsar," as we read in §Plutarch. Two temples at Rome were dedicated to Chastity; the one to Pudicitia Patricia, which stood in the oxmarket; the other to Pudicitia Plebeia, built by Virginia, the daughter of Aulus: for when she, who was born of a patrician family, ||had married a plebeian, the noble ladies were mightily incensed, and banished her from their sacrifices, and would not suffer her to enter into the temple of Pudicitia * Val. Max. 1. 13. into which senatorian families only were permitted entrance. A quarrel arose upon this among the women, and a great breach was made between them. This induced Virginia, by some extraordinary action, to blot out the disgrace she had received; and therefore, she built a chapel in the long street where she lived, and adorned it with an altar, to which she invited the plebeian matrons; and complaining to them that the ladies of quality had used her so barbarously; "I dedicate," says she, "this altar to Pudicitia Plebeia; and I desire of you that you will as much adore Chastity, as the men do Honour; that this altar may be followed by purer and more chaste votaries than the altar of Pudicitia Patricia, if it be possible." It is said in history, that the women, who were contented at one marriage, were usually rewarded with a *crown of chastity. Truth, the mother of Virtue, fis painted in garments as white as snow; her looks are serene, pleasant, courteous, cheerful, and yet modest; she is the pledge of all honesty, the bulwark of honour, the light and joy of human society. She is commonly accounted the daughter of Time or Saturn; because truth is discovered in the course of time: but Democritus feigns that she lies hidden in the bottom of a well. Good Sense, or Understanding, [mens,] was made a goddess by the Romans, Sthat they might obtain a sound mind. An altar was built to her in the capitol, by M. Emilius. The prætor Attilius vowed to build a chapel to her; which he performed when he was created duumvir. *Corona pudicitiæ. Val. Max. 1. 2, Philost. in Heric. et Amp. Plut. in Quæst. Aug. de Civ. Dei. 2. Cic. Nat. Deor. 2. Liv. 22 et 23. |