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Banchich Nestorius ίερϕαντεῑν τεταγμένοϛ
Banchich Nestorius ίερϕαντεῑν τεταγμένοϛ
Banchich Nestorius ίερϕαντεῑν τεταγμένοϛ
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Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte
The early 6th c. A.D. historian Zosimus recounts in his Historia Nova how,
sometime after the death of Valentinian I on 17 November 375, a dream
Zos. 4.18, ed. F. Paschoud, Zosime. Histoire Nouvelle (Paris 1979) II.2, 278-279. R. T.
Ridley, Zosimus, New History (Melbourne 1982) 77-78, translates: "After his [Valenti-
nian's] death, a thunderbolt struck Sirmium, burning the palace and market; interpreters
considered this an in auspicious portent for public affairs. And earthquakes occurred in
some places: Crete, the Peloponnese, and the rest of Greece were severely shaken and
many cities were destroyed. Athens and Attica, however, were spared, and they say the
reason for their preservation was this: Nestorius, the hierophant at this time [ "a cette
epoque charge des fonctions de hi6rophante," trans. Paschoud], had a dream in which he
was told to honour the hero Achilles with public sacrifices in order to save the city (3) but
when he informed the magistrates of this vision, they thought he was foolish and senile
e' xaQt taiftava EtXe xaMX;, a1cou, oa; ,t ni;ov eivai cxaa Tiiv 'EXXd6a
nap' tCtaItv EEaIv i'poOxvMta, cKav lp6o; i1icEvov 6O;g `6pagEv. toi 6e
iEpoo vtou, xca' ecEItvov IOv xpOvov Oatri Tiv, o5ouvoRia ov iol. 09tt;
X?yEtv kTeXcit y&p TOv tacx)a ypa'ovta, Kait i; E6VioXnitiaq ; Tye icat
o0ut6; YE i7 v 6 icat ti-vv t p ip(v KaTaatpoOiv iai tf; 'EXXd8o; a'nc6Xc-
av ad&irai; npoyvou;, toi auyypa4?co; iapovto;, xcait avcpCb; czaiaptx-
p6p.cvo; 6S; rcO' aiut6v i'poOaVTmT; ycviTc(oTo, (1) gTi OEt igpoOaVTtKuCV
axNaoacat Opovov, eitSi Oco1; kti poi; -caO6ipwtat, xcat o6ouOKiv appTj-
tox; OpKOV5; CTpE3V itpdv (V >1ot npOOtcTc0ac tpoatraEoOat 6E ?Xc9yev
6iw; acnt6v gir8c 'A0ivatov 6vta. cat (ci; TOCTOV8? ipovoia; ?utcvElto)
au' atCp tE ta 'epa iataaKca4niaecOat Kai 8nro"caOaat -`aaicv,
alcxcIvov Co)vra tauta E21O'xgEjcOat, ia' 4nXoTtgiav neppvrti6v artqaC6ge-
vov, icat npotcX.uMtiOCtV ye al5TOI tv 0cpanEiav tcilv Ocaltv, TOv &e tf;
Ttg4; EoatcEpT10?vta, [it*r TOv iEpo4dvtv i,t? TO6v ynpat6v fiiov ?X?lV.
KaQ taiTd yE 06Oit aga TE yap o tFic OcantWvt EyivETO, IEatiCp (Ov TTI;
MtOptaici; TOXct;, Kat ouic ci; IaKpa&v i,OV Kaicat a&iyit(ov e'ntwKxl-
CS09vTwv ivaKCv, 3v Ta ?v ?v Tooto Y; ti u iatopia; cipwrat, T&
F aV ?XntTp?5'nn T6 Octov, XecX? tat, 6 [t] 'AXXdptXo; ?XOV TOV;
PapJa'pom; 8ta' TCiv HltX6ov napiXOc-v, 65o-nep 8taz msaioi Kai 'InIoicpO-
toU nS8ioU tpEXov to TwTa; al5(O Ta; ntxa; a; Sctt4e -j; 'EXX65o; il tc
T6v Tda oaa iitcita Xovtowv a&xcX-6to; npoaiapclacXOOvTOv as?acta,
and took no notice of what he said. He turned it over in his own mind, however, and under
the influence of divine thoughts. he fashioned an image of the hero in a small shrine
which he set up under the statue of Athena in the Parthenon. So when he made the
customary sacrifices to the goddess, at the same time he did for the hero what was decreed
by law. (4) In this way he carried out the advice of his dream, and when Greece was
afflicted by earthquakes, only the Athenians were saved, and the whole of Attica shared in
the hero's benefits. You may learn the truth of this from the account of Syrianus the
philosopher, who wrote a hymn to this hero. I have added this because of its relevance to
our present theme."
2 PLRE I, 626 and 708 s.vv. Nestorius 2 and 3 and Plutarchus 5, provides references; E.
tvrard, "Le maitre de Plutarque d'Athenes et les origines du neoplatonisme athenien,"
L'Antiquite classique 29 (1960) 108-133, and H. D. Saffrey and L. G. Westerink,
Proclus. The'ologie Platonicienne (Paris 1968) I, xxvi-xxxiv, discuss Nestorius, his
family (n.b., stemma, p. xxxv), and his place within the context of the history of Athenian
Neoplatonism.
There is little reason to dispute the scholarly consenus regarding the identity of
Zosimus' Nestorius, but the links between Nestorius, Eleusis, and Eunapius'
hierophant are problematic at best.4
8 E.g., iEpo01av?.o): Eusebius Or. de Laudibus Constantini 32-33, PG 20 (1857) col. 1317:
ol; 8il r; OE-oipEnEl T;tXEta; iEpoOavsoUtEvot, 4&i 'All Oeiwv opyijw Ebawv6geOa;
Heraclitus Homeric Allegories 64.4, ed. F. Buffi&re (Paris 1989) 70: e10' il nokXnp6ao-
no; 6i; aiavTa ' oo0xTat FpwTEo; Etac6p0ot; XOtInottKOi cai Kcepda-Ttot gsi0oo
SOKOl)flV, ?i pgn X15 o6pavi(I 4XVj T&Q oXlv7iOt) OWlpOtU TEXta; 1.Epo0cva tE;
Lucian Alex. 39.5, ed. M. Macleod (Oxford 1974) 11, 349: 96q8)ouKEIt 6& xai icc pOdvn
o 'Ev&uiio.v AkXav8po;; Philo De Vita Mosis 2.37, edd. L. Cohn and P. Wendland
(Berlin 1896-1926) IV, 208: ntcpi eyv nrp&rov Tij yeve6acc 9egtXov iEpoOav'ri'atv
[i.e., to translate from "Chaldaean" to Greek. The production of the Septuagint]
9 Zosimus seldom uses oaai or its equivalents. Examples are Xaoi, 4.36.5, with Paschoud's
n. 174, esp. pp. 421-422; Xi-yoxt)u, 1.32.3 and 3.22.5, with Paschoud's n. 60; and
4iyErac, 5.38.5. Eunapius, on the other hand, frequently uses forms of oruii and Xiyco to
signify reports of others. Cf. Index in Eunapii vitas sophistarum, edd. 1. and M. Avotins
(Hildesheim 1983), s.vv. orlgi and Xiyw, and, in Blockley's edition, frags. 28.3-4 (in both
of which Ocda may be the work of the excerptor), and 6; 39.9; 48. 1, line 2 (the strongest
parallel to Zosimus); and 71, line 12. Menander Rhetor 331-345, especially the commen-
tary of D. Russell and N. Wilson, Menander Rhetor (Oxford 1981) to 332.4 on prose
hymns and to 333.2-26 on parallels between Menander and Neoplatonic classifications of
myth. At 390.4, Menander recommends oveipara rX&rCEI.v, though there seems scant
chance that Nestorius' dream was a fiction of Eunapius or Syrianus. However, Syrianus'
hymn may have presented aspects of the episode - particularly in a hierarchic arrange-
ment of Nestorius rdlc; Ooeta6nv evvoiat; nat8ayov6g)tvo;, the dream baiwci.v, the
hero Achilles and his statue, and the goddess Athena - to conform with Neoplatonic
telestic and prayer theory, on which see Anne Sheppard, "ProClus' Attitude to Theurgy,"
CQ 32 (1982) 211-224, and J. Dillon, lamblichi Chalcedensis in Platonis Dialogos
Commentariorum Fragmenta (Leiden 1973) 48-52 and 407-411. On Syrianus 3, PLRE
II, 1051; K. Praechter, "Syrianos I," RE IV A.2 (1932), cols. 1728-1775; and Aristotle
Transformed, ed. Richard Sorabji (Ithaca 1990) passim. J. Geffcken, The Last Days of
Greco-Roman Paganism (trans. of 1929 ed.: Amsterdam 1978) 175, thought Nestorius
had attempted to institute a cult of Achilles, but the circumstances as described by
Zosimus would seem to demonstrate otherwise: Nestorius' actions were meant to avert
the specific threat of earthquakes rather than to establish some permanent cult. Neverthe-
less, note Zosimus' use at 4.18.3 of the imperfect gnparTe. For Achilles cults, see W. H.
Roscher, Lexicon der griechischen und romischen Mythologie (Leipzig 1884-1886) I.1,
cols. 58-63, and, on Zosimus' story at 5.6.1-3 of the intervention of Achilles and Athena
during the invasion of Alaric, Paschoud, Zosime 11.2, 96-97.
10 Cf., e.g., Zos. 1.15.1: oi 'reraypgvot OiAdvretv; 1.40.1: Aurelian 'reaypevov napacub-
Xdtasv; 2.51.4: Menelaus apXetv reray&voq; 4.20.6: r6ov ... 4poupeiv re'raayg6ve)v;
5.32.6: Salvius tetayg&vo; -nsayopelktv. Zosimus uses 6aaow simplex and various
compound forms at least fifty-nine times.
11 Pausanias 2.14.1, ed. F. Spiro (Stuttgart 1903) I, 161, provides in his description of
mystery rites celebrated at Celae an example of non-Eleusinian hierophants of the cult of
Demeter. See also, Oxyrhynchus Papyri 36 (London 1970) no. 2782; R. Raslan, "Notes
on the Cult of Demeter in Roman Egypt," Proceedings of the XVIII International Con-
gress of Papyrology. ed. B. Mandilaras (Athens 1988) II. 211-213; and Oxyrhynchus
Papyri 58 (London 1991) no. 3920, especially p. 17, n. 17. The inscriptions: von
Gaertringen's commentary to IG IV2 I 549, p. 122: xCot flavOEjico r6v I(ogs6v M. Avp.
M-nvo-yv% o iepodxvxni; Kcai xpxkavt;; and Greek and Latin Inscriptions, edd. W.
Buckler and D. Robinson, Sardis VII.I (Leiden 1932) 74, no. 62: [xcov] gtuan[piov
iepo0xvti1v]. ILS 4152 and 4153, both from August 376, on the hierophantae of Hecate
Aedesius 7 and Faventius 1, PLRE I, 15-16 and 325. J. Matthews, "Symmachus and the
Oriental Cults," JRS 63 (1973) 175-195, sets these in historical context. Iamblichus De
Vita Pythagorica 3. 14, ed. A. Nauck (Reprint of 1884 ed.; Amsterdam 1965) 14, line 6.
Synesius I1EPI ENTINIQN 144 A, Synesii Cyrenensis Opuscula, ed. N. Terzaghi (Rome
1944) 11.1, 167, with the commentary of Nicephorus Gregoras. Scholia in Synesium de
Insomniis, PG 149 (1865), col. 600. Throughout his treatise Synesius stresses that no
special qualifications are needed for dreaming, but nonetheless describes dream experi-
ence in the language of the mysteries and prophecy. Cod. Theod. 16.10.14, ed. T.
Mommsen (Berlin 1904) I.2, 901.
12 Dessau ILS 1259. Cf. Dittenberger SIG II1 (Leipzig 1917) 583, no. 869, line 20, and OGIS
II (Leipzig 1905) 189, no. 528, line 14, the first, from Eleusis (165/9 A.D.), to honor T. Fl.
Leosthenes 14, A Lexicon of Greek Personal Names I1, edd. M. Osborne and F. Byrne
(Oxford 1994) 284, the second, from Prusa ad Hypium (early third century A.D.), to
honor Ti. Claudius Piso, PIR II. no. 961. Lydus De Mensibus 4.2, ed. R. Wuensch
(Stuttgart 1898) 65-66, on Praetextatus and Sopater 1, PLRE I, 846.
13 IG IV2 I 417-427 and 438. See also no. 551, the undated dedication of a hierophant
T[tp6i6KpI'ro;, and, on translation from Greek to Latin, J. Oliver, The Athenian Expound-
ers of the Sacred and Ancestral Law (Baltimore 1950) 84-119. Sara B. Aleshire, The
Athenian Asklepieion (Amsterdam 1989) 7-36, especially 18-20, examines history and
topography, and, 85-86, the permanent priesthood of Asclepius Soter, last known to have
been held ca. 300 by Marcus lunius Nicagoras, son of Minucianus. On Nicagoras 1, PLRE
I, 627, also the last known diaduch of Eleusis and who himself may have had Neoplatonic
connections, see Clinton, Sacred Officials (as in n. 4) 64-66.
14 IG 1V2 I 436-437, with Kurt Latte, Review of IG IV2 1, Gnomon 7 (1931) 118, n. I and
Saffrey and Westerink, Theologie Platonicienne (as in n. 2) xxix-xxx. The proximity of
the so-called House of Proclus to the Asclepieion is noteworthy in this connection. See A.
Frantz, "Pagan Philosophers in Christian Athens," PAPhS 119, No. 1 (1975) 29-38.
15 IG 112 3818. A. Frantz, Late Antiquity: A.D. 267-700. The Athenian Agora XXIV
(Princeton 1988) 23-24, on the Panathenaic procession, and 63-64, on the identification
of the Plutarch of IG II2 3818 with Plutarch, the son or grandson of Zosimus' Nestorius.
Perhaps Plutarch was among the priests described by Himerius Or. 47. 13, ed. N. Festa
(Rome 1951) 194: T6o jiv oiv nkipwga ri' vedi iepeL; e Kcai i?pEtat, eiYitarpibat
irdv're, XPxool;, oi &i dv6evolt ea 4ecavojvot roi4 aTetacrtv. Note too the com-
ments of Archiadas 1, PLRE 11, 134, Nestorius' great-grandson, on Athena and the
Panathenaea at Damascius fr. 273, ed. C. Zintzen, Damnascii Vitae Isidori Reliquiae
(Hildesheim 1967) 217. Valentinian died in November and the Panathenaic celebration
would fall late in the Athenian month Hecatombaeon, which began with the new moon
before the summer solstice. If the episode of Nestorius is connected to the Panathenaea,
the date must be the summer of 376. We do not know what did or did not transpire in late
antiquity once the Panathenaic procession reached the acropolis and inferences from
earlier testimony may mislead. This noted, see J. Niels, Goddess and Polis: The Panathe-
naic Festival in Ancient Athens (Hanover, New Hampshire/Princeton, N.J. 1992), and D.
Harris, The Treasures of the Parthenon and the Erechtheion (Oxford 1995), especially
244.
16 Philo Legum Allegoriarum 3.173, edd. Cohn and Wendland, I. 151; De Somniis 2.109, III,
276; and De Specialibus Legibus 1.41, V, 10. Heraclitus 76. 1, ed. Buffiere, 82.
17 AHMHIOPIA 20a, edd. G. Downey and A. F. Norman, Themistii Orationes (Leipzig
1974) III, 124, lines 17-19. I owe this reference to R. J. Penella.
18 Porphyry Vita Plotini 15, ed. J. Boissonade, Diogenis Laertii Vitae Philosophorum (Paris
1878) 110; Julian fr. 161, Epistulae, Leges, Poematia, Fragmenta Varia, edd. J. Bidez
and F. Cumont (Paris 1922) 214; Marinus Vita Procli 19, ed. Boissonade, Diogenis
Laertii Vitae Philosophorum (Paris 1878) 161; Proclus In Rem Publicam, ed. W. Kroll
(Leipzig 1899) I, 71.
19 Papyri Graecae Magicae2, ed. Karl Preisendanz, et al. (Stuttgart 1973-1974), V.370-
446; VII.222-254, 359-369, 664-685, 703-726, 740-755, 795-845; VIII.64-1 10, with
K. Preisendanz, "Oneiropompeia," RE XVIII.1 (1939), cols. 440-448, and the posthu-
mous excerpts from Samson Eitrem's unfinished manuscript Magie und Mantik der
Griechen und Romer in Magika Hiera, edd. C. Faraone and D. Obbink (Oxford 1991)
175-187. Thessalus De virtutibus herbarum, Catalogus codicum astrologorum Graecorum
VIII.3, ed. P. Boudreaux (Brussells) 134-136, especially 135, lines 27-30: aei 8e ioV
rfl; i*Xu%; npogav?xvo?vTl; Oeolt 6gXikaat, auve.x* 6i; oipav6v tiac; Xeipa; EK-
teiVov roiU; 0eo-; 0Xtrdveuov St' 6veipou 4avtacia; ii 8t& XvEs6asco; eeiov xapiaCa-
a0ai toi 'It tofoiXo, KXX., summarized and discussed by Garth Fowden, The Egyptian
Hermes (Reprint of 1986 ed.; Princeton 1993) 162-165, provides colorful detail about an
encounter with Asclepius. Damascius frs. 1-14 with annotations, ed. Zintzen, 4-15, on
Isidore, and fr. 69, p. 98, on Anthusa, whose dream in the shape of her father, introduces
her to the mantic technique of divination through the observation of cloud formations.
lamblichus condemns T(iv Evlnviov EiwXk6v at Protrepticus 8, ed. H. Pistelli (Stuttgart
1888) 46, but for the type of dream ascribed to Nestorius, see De Mysteriis 3.2-3/102.15-
109.3, ed. E. des Places, Les MystMres d'Egypte (Paris: 1966) 99-103, where the civrloi;
,e xCov G9opo6vrcova uvundpXTI of 3.2/104.11 raises the possibilty that Nestorius was a
sort of designated dreamer iEpo0avTeiv xerayg9vo; from among some group which was
present during his dream experience and whose movement even facilitated it. Priscianus
Solutiones ad Chosroem 3.566.64-72, ed. I. Bywater. Commentaria in Aristotelem Grae-
ca. Supplement 1.2 (Berlin 1886) 63: si igitur segregatur corpore in somnis, dignafieri
potest deo missis visionibus - et nunquid hoc videtur Aristoteli et quibusdam ex illius
schola - et a deo missas operationes et virtutes accipit, quas pulcre habet et facile
commixta intellectualibus. unde et sine somnis anima corporalibus purgata intellectuales
habet receptiones et cum divina quadam operatione praevidetfuturum. See especially A.
Bouch6-Leclercq, Histoire de la divination dans l'antiquite9 (Reprint of 1879 ed.; Paris
1963) 1, 83-91, on divination and Neoplatonists, and 277-329, on oneiromancy, together
with T. Hophner, "Mantike," RE XIV.1 (1928), cols. 1268-1274, and "Traumdeutung,"
RE VI.A,2 (1937), cols. 2233-2245; H. Kenner, "Oneiros," RE XVIII.I (1939), cols.
448-459; R. Festugi6re, La Revelation d'Hermes Trisme'giste (Paris 1950) I, 312-317,
and P. Athanassiadi, "Dreams, Theurgy and Freelance Divination: The Testimony of
lamblichus," JRS 83 (1993) 115-130. The orientation and focus of P. Miller, Dreams in
Late Antiquity (Princeton 1994), perhaps explains her failure to treat this distinction and
the literature that surrounds it.
20 Vita Procli 28, ed. Boissonade, 165; In Rem Publicam, ed. Kroll, II, 324-325.
21 Julian did, of course, hold the hierophant in esteem and probably did consult him, if not
before making the final choice to rise against Constantius, then in the immediate after-
of the assertion of the Vitae Sophistarum that Julian journeyed from Asia Minor
to Athens specifically to avail himself of the "something more" than the
math of the elevation to Augustus, in order to confirm for himself that the course of affairs
were in agreement with the will of the gods. It is the centrality of the role of the
hierophant as described by Eunapius that is here significant. D. Buck, "Eunapius on
Julian's Acclamation as Augustus," AHB 7 (1993) 73-80, analyzes the ancient sources
and surveys modern scholarship. See too J. Drinkwater, "The 'Pagan Underground',
Constantius II's 'Secret Service', and the Survival, and the Usurpation of Julian the
Apostate," Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History III, ed. C. Deroux, Collection
Latomus 180 (Brussels 1983) 348-387. Eunapius' account of Prohaeresius' consultation
of the hierophant, VS 10.8.1-2/493, probably also derives from the anonymous priest.
22 VS 7.3.1/475. In reality, Constantius had summoned Julian from Asia Minor to Italy,
whence the latter journeyed to Athens. PLRE I, 477, gives the literary evidence. J. Arce,
Estudios sobre el emperador Fl. Cl. Juliano, Anejos de "Archivo Espaiiol de arqueolo-
gia" 8 (Madrid 1984) 155-156, argues convincingly against dating to 355 an inscription -
Arce, p. 106, no. 102 - sometimes assigned to the period of Julian's sojourn in Athens, for
evocative accounts of which see J. Bidez, La Vie de l'Empereur Julien (Paris 1930) 112-
120, and P. Athanassiadi, Julian and Hellenism (Oxford 1981) 45-51. G. Pighi, "La
Dichiarazione Cesarea di Giuliano," Aevum 8 (1934) 489-521, and Nuovi Studi Am-
mianei. Pubblicazioni della Universita? Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Series 4: Scienze
Filologiche 21 (Milan 1936) 27-45, produces a detailed chronology for the period in
question and places Julian's depature for Athens at the end of June, 355, his return to
Milan at the beginning of October of the same year.
23 VS 7.3.7-9/476 and, on priestly rivalry, Lib. Or. 18.115, ed. R. Foerster (Leipzig 1903-
1927) II, 284.
24 T. Barnes, "The Epitome de Caesaribus," 266, and The Sources of the Historia Augusta,
116 (both as in n. 4), has argued for retrojection with respect to destruction caused by
Alaric's Goths. T. Banchich, The Historical Fragments of Eunapius of Sardis (Diss.,
Buffalo 1985) discusses the chronology of the publication of the History and sets the
appearance of its relevant sections, i.e., the treatments of Julian and Valens, before 383.
For the period during which Eunapius was in Athens, see R. Goulet. "Sur la chronologie
de la vie et des ceuvres d'Eunape de Sardes," JHS 100 (1980) 60-72; Banchich, "On
Goulet's Chronology of Eunapius' Life and Works," JHS 107 (1987) 164-167; C.
Fornara, "Eunapius' Epidemia in Athens," CQ n.s. 39 (1989) 517-523; and Banchich,
"Eunapius in Athens," Phoenix 50 (1996) 304-311.
25 S. Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, trans. J. Strachey. The Standard Edition of the
Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud V (London 1953) 488-508.
Whatever his name, this hierophant had initiated Julian into the Myste-
ries, traveled to him in Gaul, and helped convince him to put Constantius to the
test. In turn, the hierophant and the Eleusinian cult had benefited from Julian's
patronage and doubtless from the favor of the emperor's proconsul of Achaea,
Praetextatus, himself an initiant.26 But, after Julian's death (17 July 363), this
refloresence seemed threatened by the policies of Valentinian.
Valentinian's recognition as Augustus at Nicaea on 26 February 364 repre-
sented a not altogether satisfactory compromise between the interests of ap-
pointees of Julian and various factions within the command structure of the
Roman army. On 28 March of the same year Valentinian saw to the elevation of
his brother Valens, to whom he entrusted the management of eastern affairs,
which, in the aftermath of terms agreed upon by Sapor and the late Jovian,
would have comprised primarily domestic matters. In late-April or early-May
364, the Augusti departed Constantinople and moved west. At Naissus, there
was a division of troops between the brothers and a reapportionment of pro-
vinces, as a result of which Achaea became subject to Valentinian. By 7
September he had reached Aquileia, and in late-October arrived in Milan,
where he remained until the following September. During this same period
Valens returned to Constantinople and remained in or near that city.27
It appears that before the brothers parted company a series of moves were
made against individuals suspect partly due to their connections with Julian. In
some cases, the rationale may have been to find scapegoats for the failure of the
Persian campaign. But Zosimus, probably following Eunapius, supplies a fur-
ther motive. In 364 Valentinian had become ill and suspected that his sickness
was magically induced by supporters of Julian.28 Julian's guru, the theurgist
Maximus, whom Zosimus alleges had accused Valentinian of impiety before
Julian, was arrested, fined, imprisoned, and tortured.29 The philosopher Priscus,
26 Eunapius VS 7.3.7/476, almost certainly on the basis of the testimony from the hierophant,
recounts how Julian consulted the priest in Gaul before itni tiv ca8aipecfv nyjepOij rf
KowvoavTiou tupavvi6o;. On Valentinian's assumption of control in Illyria, Zos. 4.3.1
and E. Groag, Die Reichsbeamten von Achaia in spatromischer Zeit, Dissertationes
Pannonicae Ser. 1, no. 14 (Budapest 1946) 48. On Julian's patronage of Eleusis, Claudius
Mamertinus Pan. 3 (11) 9.3-4, ed. R. Mynors (Oxford 1964), with commentary of B.
Rodgers in C. Nixon and B. Rodgers, In Praise of Later Roman Emperors (Berkeley
1994) 410-41 1, nn. 62 and 65, and, on Praetextatus, Zos. 4.3.3 with ILS 1259, which
styles him sacratus Eleusilnils.
27 Chronology and evidence, 0. Seeck, Regesten der Kaiser und Papste (Stuttgart 1919)
214-218. For events at Naissus, Zos. 4.3.1, with Paschoud, Zosime, I1.2, 335-336, and J.
Matthews, The Roman Empire of Ammianus (London 1989), 190-191.
28 Zos. 4.1.1-2.1 and Amm. Marc. 26.4.4, with Paschoud's n. 107, Zosime, I1.2, 331. T.
Elliott, Ammianus Marcellinus and the Fourth Century (Toronto 1983) 140-143, investi-
gates the dismissal by Valentinian and Valens of officials with connections to Julian.
29 Zos. 4.2.2, VS 7.4.11-17/478-479, and Themistius Or. 7.99D, ed. G. Downey (Leipzig
1965) 1, 149, which J. Vanderspoel, Themistius and the Imperial Court (Ann Arbor 1995)
who, like Maximus, had accompanied Julian on the march into Persia, was
arrested at the same time. We next hear of him upon his return to Greece
sometime around 366.30 Julian's physician Oribasius, who, together with Maxi-
mus and Priscus, had been at the Apostate's deathbed, suffered exile too,3'
while the praetorian prefect and confidant of Julian, Salutius Secundus was
briefly deposed but reinstated upon satisfactory demonstration of his loyalty to
the new regime.32 We know nothing of the proconsul of Achaea Praetextatus
between 364 and his appointment as prefect of Rome sometime before 18
August 367, and he may have been replaced in 364 by a certain Olympius.33
Finally - though perhaps of only tangential relevance - there is Julian's relative
Procopius, who had under Jovian retired to his Cappadocian estates, but,
suspect in the eyes of Valentinian and Valens, now went into hiding until his
proclamation as Augustus on 28 September 365.34
Given this list of suspects, it would come as a surprise if the hierophant who
had been so instrumental in Julian's rise and who was an acknowledged adept at
mantic prognosis escaped attention. Eunapius' departure from Athens to Lydia,
if correctly dated to 366, provides a terminus ante quem for the hierophant's
prophecy. His removal may antedate legislation of 9 September 364 against
nocturnal sacrifice or may have been coincident with it.35 However, it would
have resulted from Valentinian's concerted effort to break the power of Julian's
former supporters and from fear of the efficacy of their perceived proficiency in
magic, rather than from any pointedly anti-pagan policy. Valentinian's positive
reaction to Praetextatus' plea on behalf of the mysteries demonstrates this
point. If for no other reason than to avoid unnecessary unrest and discontent in
166, believes refers to Julian's praetorian prefect Salutius rather than to Maximus 21,
PLRE I, 583-584.
30 VS 7.4.11-12/478. PLRE I, 530, s.v. Priscus 5.
31 VS 21/498-499 with PLRE I, 653. R. J. Penella, Philosophers and Sophists (as in n. 4)
113-114. Barry Baldwin, "The Career of Oribasius," AClass 8 (1975) 85-97, especially
95-96. This setting for Oribasius' exile seems preferable to the later contexts considered
in Banchich, The Historical Fragments of Eunapius (as in n. 24) 86-88.
32 PLRE I, 814-817, s.v. Saturninius Secundus Salutius 3. Zos. 4.1.1, on Salutius and
Valentinian's illness; 4.2.3-4 on Salutius' dismissal. On the relationship of Suda ? 64, ed.
A. Adler, Suidae Lexicon (Stuttgart 1935) IV, 316-317 and Fl 2441, ed. Adler IV, 208 =
Eunapius fr. 30 Muller FHG IV, p. 26, and Malalas 13.31/340, see A. Cameron, "Priscus
of Panium and John Malalas in 'Suidas,"' CR 77 (1963) 264.
33 For the evidence, see PLRE I, 722, s. v. Praetextatus 1. and 645-646, s. v. Olympius 9, with
the remarks of E. Groag, Reichsbeamten (as in n. 26) 49.
34 PLRE I, 742-743, s.v. Procopius 4. Zosimus alone, via Eunapius, recounts Procopius'
flight to the Tauric Chersonese. Zos. 4.5.1-2, ed. Paschoud, 11.2, 265-266, with Paschoud's
analysis of sources in n. 114.
35 Banchich, "Eunapius in Athens" (as in n. 24), on the date of Eunapius' return to Sardis.
Cod. Theod. 9.16.7, ed. Mommsen, 462, and Zos. 4.3.3, ed. Paschoud, II.2, 264, with n.
111.
Greece, Valentinian allowed the ancient rites to continue but, in my view, under
a new hierophant. In fact, this policy would stand him in good stead, for, when
supporters of Procopius attempted to portray him as the pagan alternative to
Valentinian, they received a cool reception.36
The divorce of Nestorius from any connection with the Eleusinian myste-
ries thus allows the dismissal of Eunapius' hierophant to be placed within the
historical context of the early months of the reign of Valentinian. In the process,
the perception of Valentinian's policy by Julian's closest confidants becomes
better understood, and in the foreboding of the soon-to-be-deposed iepotcv";
of Eleusis we are granted a glimpse of the very real psychic price paid by those
who invested so much in support of the Apostate. Zosimus' account of Nestori-
36 On Procopius' rebellion, see J. Matthews, The Roman Empire of Ammianus (as in n. 27)
191-203, and Paschoud's commentary to Zosimus 4.4-8, ed. Paschoud, 11.2, 265-269,
with nn. 114-120.