Conceptions and Sources
Yetthisviewofthenatureoftheworldandofthedivinitywas,astimewent
on,tobeatleastasimportant,formillionsofpeoplewhoselanguageofcul-
turewasGreek—andlater,aswewillsee,Latin—asanythingcontainedin
thepaganclassics.Itisthereforeessentialforustoseeittooaspartofancient
culture.Thethirdcenturywasthusalsothemomentwhenthetwostrands
ofourinheritedculturecametogether.
Beforewe go on to look at the later Graeco-Roman world, it is worth
takingaglancesidewaysatanotherconjunctionofculturesandreligioussys-
temswhichmighthaveledtoanequallylong-lastingnewcivilisation,butin
theenddidnot.InthetimeofPtolemyPhiladelphuslargepartsofIndiaand
Afghanistan,profoundlyaffectedbythearrivalofAlexander,butgivenup
bySeleucusNicator,wereruledbyagreatemperoroftheMauryandynasty,
Asoka,oneofwhoseepithetswas‘‘piodasses,’’whichapparentlymeans‘‘of
benevolentcountenance.’’Havinganimportantmessagetocommunicateto
hispeople,Asokahadaseriesofproclamationsinscribedatdifferentpoints
acrosshisempire.OneoftheseplaceswasKandahar,whereheputupanedict
inAramaicandGreek.Sincethisquiteremarkabledocument,firstpublished
in , has never become generally well known to classicists, it deserves
quotationinfullhere:
Whentenyearshadbeenfulfilled,Piodassesdemonstratedpietybe-
fore men, and from that time on has made men more pious, and all
hasprosperedthroughouttheland.Forthekingabstainsfrom(eating)
livingthings,andothermen—evensuchasaretheking’shuntersor
fishermen—haveabandonedthechase.Andifanyarelackinginself-
control,theyhaveleftofftheirexcessessofarastheycan.Moreover
theyareobedienteachtotheirfatherandmother,andtotheelders,to
anextentgreaterthanpreviously.Forthefuture,actingaccordingto
alltheseprinciples,theywilllivemoreagreeablyandbetter.Whywasthekingimpressingtheseidealsonhispeople?Becausehehadre-
centlyconvertedtotheteachingsofBuddha.Thedocumentisoneofonly
two (the other being anotheredict of Asoka, published in ) in which
BuddhistbeliefsareexpressedinclassicalGreek.
Thatremarkableconjunctionturnedout,sofarasweknow,tobeabor-
tive.Intheend,theworldofGreekcitieswouldstretchnofurtherthanthe
Tigris,oratthemostSeleuciaontheEulaeus,theancientSusa.Butinthe
widerMediterraneanregion,Romanexpansion,beginning,aswehaveseen,
exactlyatthemomentofAlexander’sconquests,absorbednearlyallofthe
regionwherethoseconquestshadleftlong-lastingeffects,andatthesame
time carried Latin culture all over Mediterranean North Africa, western