Aelius Aristides was a 2nd century AD Second Sophist orator who suffered a long series of illnesses for which he sought relief by divine communion with the god Asclepius, effected by interpreting and obeying the dreams that came to him while sleeping in the god's sacred precinct; he later recorded this experience in a series of discourses titled Sacred Tales (Hieroi Logoi).
According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, the six books of Sacred Tales
According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, the six books of Sacred Tales
"are in a class apart ... they are of major importance, both as evidence for practices associated with temple medicine, and as the fullest first-hand report of personal religious experience that survives from any pagan writer."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aelius_AristidesAristides' most famous oration was the Roman Oration, which he delivered before the imperial household in Rome and in which Aristides glorifies "the Empire and the theory behind it, particularly the Pax Romana", and "paints an impressive picture of the Roman achievement".
"The culminating passage...compares the creation of the Roman World with the creation of an orderly universe and represents the Roman World as the perfect state in which the gods can take delight, because it is dedicated to them."
This oration would become "the main basis for history's favorable verdict on the Antonines", inspiring Gibbon's famous pronouncement that the period between Domitian and Commodus was the happiest era of human history.
Statistics: Posted by MrMacSon — Thu May 23, 2024 2:00 pm