MYSTERIES, PHILOSOPHY, AND SELF-REPRESENTATION IN IMPERIAL ROME: PLUTARCH, APULEIUS, AND VETTIUS AGORIUS PRAETEXTATUS _______________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ by ANDREW J. BUCHHEIM Dr. Dennis Trout, Dissertation Supervisor December 2019 © Copyright by Andrew J. Buchheim 2019 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled MYSTERIES, PHILOSOPHY, AND SELF- REPRESENTATION IN IMPERIAL ROME: PLUTARCH, APULEIUS, AND VETTIUS AGORIUS PRAETEXTATUS presented by Andrew J. Buchheim, a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. ____________________________________________________________ Professor Dennis Trout ____________________________________________________________ Professor Anatole Mori ____________________________________________________________ Professor Raymond Marks ____________________________________________________________ Professor Barbara Wallach ____________________________________________________________ Professor Susan Langdon DEDICATION To my grandfather Wayne Buchheim who inspired me in this pursuit. I hope he would be proud of my efforts. Thanks also to my father for his help and support and to my brother for no particular reason. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Dennis Trout for all his help. His graduate seminar on Latin epigraphy refocused my general interest in mystery cults into what would become the current project. I thank him for introducing me to Praetextatus and to Late Antique Rome. I would also like to thank my fellow graduate students, Kristin Harper and Claire McGraw. They were always invaluable resources for help in developing my ideas, and they provided me insightful directions for my research. My productivity was at its peak when I was working together with Kristin. I also want to express my gratitude to my volunteer editors, especially my friend Brenna who caught one of my more egregious typos. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................ ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS..............................................................................................v ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 I. The Specifics of the Mysterious ........................................................................4 II. Writing (and Reading) Mysteries.....................................................................14 III. The Cults and the Characters ...........................................................................27 2. SUPERSTITION, ISIS, AND PLUTARCH..........................................................36 I. Introduction......................................................................................................36 II. Trends in Plutarchean Thought: Plutarch as Educator and Religious Philosopher ......................................................................................................40 III. On Superstition (Peri Deisidaimonias)............................................................53 IV. On Isis and Osiris (Peri Isidos kai Osiridos) ..................................................62 V. Conclusion .......................................................................................................78 3. MYSTERIES, MAGIC, AND PHILOSOPHY IN APULEIUS’ APOLOGY AND GOLDEN ASS ........................................................................................................81 I. Introduction......................................................................................................82 II. The Apology.....................................................................................................85 A. Background and Apuleius the Philosopher................................................85 B. Magic, Mysteries, and Philosophy.............................................................94 C. Concluding Remarks on the Apology and Apuleius’ Character ..............108 iv III. The Golden Ass ..............................................................................................109 A. Background and Establishing Lucius’ Character.....................................109 B. The Isis Book ...........................................................................................116 C. Concluding Remarks on The Golden Ass and Lucius’ Character............131 IV. Conclusion .....................................................................................................132 4. A LATE ANTIQUE MYSTERY: PRAETEXTATUS AND MYSTERIES ON A FUNERARY MONUMENT ...............................................................................135 I. Introduction....................................................................................................135 II. Praetextatus’ World: The Context of the Fourth Century AD.......................137 III. Praetextatus’ Funerary Monument: Description and Contents......................145 A. The Front..................................................................................................146 B. The Back ..................................................................................................149 IV. Symmachus’ Letters and Praetextatus ...........................................................155 V. Macrobius’ Saturnalia and Praetextatus........................................................163 VI. Conclusion: Praetextatus’ Death, Afterlife, and Remembrance ....................172 5. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................179 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................186 VITA................................................................................................................................206 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS The dissertation will follow the abbreviation guidelines set out in the fourth edition of the Oxford Classical Dictionary, with any variations from this standard noted. vi Abstract In my dissertation, I explore the use of mystery cults in three separate authors— Plutarch of Chaeronea, Apuleius of Madauros, and Vettius Agorius Praetextatus—and analyze how these writers use mystery cults to self-referential ends. This study is not primarily concerned with the actual rituals and the objects used in mystery cults, but rather explores how these writers present these elements in their works. Through writing about mystery cults, I argue, these authors intentionally construct significant facets of their public iamges built around claims to erudition and the possession of a paideia that includes knowledge of Greek philosophy (often explicitly Platonic). Further, these constructed images are colored by traditionalism and antiquarianism. I argue that these texts are (auto)biographical in nature because each author shapes his personal experience and his ideas about religious practice in calculated ways that aims for a particular type of self-presentation. Through discussion of mystery cults, that is, these three authors present themselves in a way that address both reading and listening audiences. I chart the elements consistent between each author and also explore how specific historical contexts and contemporary intellectual currents shaped what it meant to write about mystery cults over a span of nearly three hundred years. Plutarch’s On Superstition and On Isis and Osiris, Apuleius’ Apology and Golden Ass, and Praetextatus’ funerary monument in conjunction with Macrobius’ Saturnalia all show that elite authors intimately connect participation in mystery cults with erudition and the possession of philosophical knowledge, which is Greek and Platonic in nature. More particularly, Plutarch and Apuleius make strong connections between themselves and the Greek past, emphasizing their connections to Platonic thought. Although Praetextatus’ funerary monument vii contains some vague Platonic resonances, it primarily emphasizes his connection with traditional religion practices of the Roman senatorial aristocracy that consciously separate the senator from the Christian element in Roman high society. Ultimately, philosophy and religion are nearly synonymous in these texts. In short, each author intellectualizes popular religious forms in order to highlight in some manner the difference between the social elite and the common people. Writing about mysteries is also self-writing. 1 Chapter 1: Introduction Mystery cults rely on a performative process that is exemplified by secret and emotionally powerful mystery initiations. The ritual was hidden from the uninitiated, and the penalty for revealing the specifics of these rituals were harsh.1 This silence makes it difficult to assess what sort of weight people gave to their individual initiations.2 Mystery cults, however, do appear in literature in a context that ultimately removes the ritual from its performative context. Authors write about these cults in ways