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"Do
not fear, Scipio, but be calm. Note carefully all the things I will tell you.
Do you see Carthage there? I was the one who made that city submit to Rome,
though now they stir up all the ancient conflicts
yet once more and refuse to live in peace with Rome." From where he
stood amid the brightness of the stars, Africanus
pointed down at Carthage, and said, "This is the city you have come to
attack. At this moment, you are merely an ordinary soldier, but within two
years you will be consul, and then you will utterly lay waste to this city.
At that moment, your surname, which you've inherited from me, will belong to
you by right. After you've destroyed Carthage, celebrated your triumph in
Rome, held the office of censor, travelled to Egypt, Syria, Asia, Greece, you
will become consul yet again, and you will win a great war and level Numantia. But when you are celebrating this triumph in
Rome, you will find the government in a state of anarchy, the results of the
plots of Tiberius Gracchus, my grandson.
"After that, it will be your duty to devote to your
people the beneficence of your integrity, talent, and wisdom. At that
juncture, I see two paths which destiny opens up for you. For when your life
has completed seven times eight revolutions of the sun, and when these two
numbers [seven and eight], each of which for different reasons possesses some
quality of perfection, have in their natural course brought you to your
highest destiny, that is the time when Rome will turn to you and everything
you represent. At that time, the fate of the entire country will depend on
you alone. It will be your duty to take on the burden of the dictatorship,
and restore order to the fractured state; an event that will be prevented
only if your own criminal kinsmen turn their murderous hands against
you."
He continued, "Mark this, for this thought will steel
your determination to rush to the defense of your homeland. Every man who has
preserved or defended his country, or has made it greater, is reserved a
special place in heaven, where he enjoys an eternal life of happiness. Of all
those things one might do on earth, nothing is more pleasing to the Supreme
God, ruler of the universe, than the gatherings of men who are bound together
by law and custom in those communities we call states. In fact, it is from
this place, here, in heaven, that the rulers and preservers of states come
from, and to which they eventually return."
I now saw my dead father, Paullus,
approaching, and I burst into tears. My father put his arms around me and
kissed me, telling me not to weep. When, with effort, I held back my tears, I
managed to say, "Since this, my dear father, is the true life, as Africanus declares, why must I remain on earth? Why can I
not join you?"
"That cannot be," my father replied, "for
unless God, who rules all you see around you here, frees you from your
confinement in the body, you cannot gain entrance to this paradise. You see,
humans are brought into existence in order to inhabit the earth, which is at
the center of this holy place, this paradise. They have been given souls made
out of the undying fire which make up stars and constellations, consisting of
spherical bodies animated by the divine mind, each moving with marvelous
speed, each in its own orbit and cycle It is destined that you and other
righteous men suffer your souls to be imprisoned with your bodies; you may
not abandon life except when commanded by the Supreme God who bestowed it on
you. Otherwise, you will have failed your duty, the duty which you, like
every other human being, were meant to fulfill.
"Do upon earth as your grandfather did. Do as I have
done, your father. Love justice and devotion. These are owed to both your
parents and kinsmen; but more than anything else, they are owed to your
country. Such is the life that leads to heaven, and to the company of those
who, having finished their lives in the world, are now freed from their
bodies and dwell in that region you gaze upon, the Milky Way." As he
said this, he pointed to a circle of light, flashing brilliantly among all
the other fires of heaven. As I looked around from my vantage point in every
direction, the whole view was complete and beautiful. I saw stars never seen
from the earth, larger than anyone has ever imagined. The smallest of these
stars was the one farthest from heaven and nearest to the earth, the moon, which
shone only with a reflected light. The starry spheres were much larger than
the earth. The earth, in fact, seemed so minute in relation to these spheres
that I began to think less of this vast Roman Empire of ours which is only a
pinpoint on the surface of this small earth.
While I stared fixedly at the earth, Africanus
angrily rebuked me. "How long do you intend to keep staring at that
world of yours? Look up, look at the blessed region
you've entered. Look, the universe is held together by nine concentric
spheres; the outermost sphere is heaven itself and embraces and includes all
the other spheres. This is the Supreme God, enveloping and comprehending
everything in existence, all the fixed and rotating stars. Contained within
this outermost sphere are eight other spheres. Seven of these spheres contain
the planets, one planet in each sphere, which all move
contrary to the movement of heaven. The sphere neighboring the outermost
sphere is occupied by the planet named after Saturn. Below Saturn shines
Jupiter, a planet which brings good fortune and health. Then comes Mars, blood-red and evil to men on earth. Next, the
Sun, prince, lord and king of all other worlds, the mind, the guiding
principle of the entire universe, so enormous that everything in every corner
of the universe is pervaded by its light. Attending the Sun are Venus and
Mercury, and the lowest sphere of all contains the Moon, which derives its
light from the Sun. Everything is eternal above the Moon; everything beneath
it is mortal and transient, except for human souls, a gift from the gods to
humanity. Below the Moon lies the earth, the ninth and lowest of the spheres,
at the very center of the universe. Fixed in place, the earth does not move.
All things are drawn to it, because gravity pulls them down."
I was dumbfounded for quite a while before I managed to
inquire, "What sound do I hear, so magnificent, so sweet, which fills my
ears?"
"That is the music of the spheres," he answered.
"The spheres create this music by their own motion as they move. The
intervals between the spheres, though they differ in length, are all measured
according to a fixed scheme of proportions; this arrangement of proportions
produces a harmony of high and low notes. Did you believe that these motions
could take place in silence? Rather, nature has ordained that these spheres
give forth music, the highest spheres singing high sounds, the lowest singing
deep and low sounds. The spheres containing the uppermost stars are the regions
where the motions are fastest, and so they give off high sounds; the Moon, on
the other hand, lies beneath the others and moves very slowly, and so gives
off the lowest note. The ninth sphere, the earth, since it does not move at
all, is motionless and silent. But the other eight spheres produce seven
notes, each corresponding to one of the notes on the scale. You may wonder
why they don't give off eight sounds; this is because two of the spheres move
at identical speeds. So the spheres give off seven notes, the number fundamental
to all existing things. Some people have imitated these musical effects with
their instruments and their voices, giving themselves the possibility of
returning to this place. Others have the same chance as well if they devote
themselves to heavenly activities while living on earth. You should realize
that human ears are constantly filled with this music, but they have made
themselves completely deaf to it. No other human sense is as weak as this. A
similar thing occurs where the Nile rushes down from a mountain to Catadupa; the noise is so loud that the people living
nearby have become completely deaf. That's why this great music of the
spheres, created by the whole universe, can't be heard by humans. It is
similar to looking into the sun, which is so bright it will blind you
entirely."
I was both awestruck and delighted. Nevertheless, I kept
looking back to earth. Africanus took note of this
and said, "I see you're still stuck on the place where mortals live.
Don't you see how insignificant this earth is? Think on the heavenly regions!
You should have nothing but scorn for mortal things. For mortals can't give
you any fame or glory that is worth seeking or having. Look, the inhabited
portions of the earth are tiny and few, the rest is
vast desert dividing one inhabited area from another. The inhabitants of
earth are so removed from each other that they cannot even communicate with
one another. The place where you live is so very far away from other
populated areas; some people live in areas on the opposite side of the globe.
Do you expect them to honor or glorify your name? Look at all the different
zones enveloping the earth; the two most widely separated from one another,
at opposite poles of the heavens, are fixed with an icy cold, while the midmost
zone burns with the heat of the sun. Only the two zones between these
extremes are habitable The zone which lies south of yours has no connection
or means of connection with your zone, because they are prevented from
crossing the midmost zone. If you look at your own northern zone, you can't
help but notice how small a section of this region can be regarded as yours.
The territory you occupy, your vast Empire, is nothing more than a small
island, narrow from north to south, a bit wider east to west, surrounded by
the sea which is known as the Atlantic. In spite of the grand name given to
this stretch of water, mark how small it really is.
"So where do you get the idea that your fame, or
anyone's fame, can ever be so great that it would extend beyond these
inhabited lands? Your fame could never cross the Caucasus mountains you see
there, nor could it ford the Ganges river. Not one
person in these eastern regions, or the remote western regions, or the far
north or south for that matter, will ever hear your name, let alone desire to
remember it. Once you leave all these people out, you can see how small and
trivial an area your glory will spread over.
"What about the people who do know and speak about us?
How long do you think they will remember us or even desire to remember us?
Let us even grant that future generations will desire to remember us. Think
about the deluges and conflagrations which descend on the earth at set
intervals. These disasters make it impossible for our glory to last for any
length of time, let alone for eternity. But putting all this aside, why do
you even want people who have never even been born to talk about you, people
you will never know. Think about it: all those multitudes of people who
preceded you in life never spoke about you—there are as many people who
preceded you as will follow you, and the early generations were better than
later generations, for humanity continues to degenerate.
"Keep in mind also that even those who may perchance
hear our names mentioned will not remember them even for one year. By this I
do not mean a "year" as is commonly understood, which is measured
by the orbit of the sun, the movement of only one sphere, but rather when all
the spheres return to the places where they started from, so that after an
immense interval of time the entire heaven resumes its original
configuration—only that great period of rotation can properly be called a
year. I can't even guess how many generations of human life this immense span
of time comprises. Long ago, when the soul of Romulus ascended into these
sacred expanses, to those living it seemed that a shadow had suddenly passed
over the sun and blotted out its light. When the sun goes into eclipse once
again, that will mean that all the constellations and all the stars have
returned to their original positions. By this you will know that the Great
Year will have been completed. But, up to now, only one-twentieth of this
year has passed.
"Concerning yourself, never lose hope that you might
come back here one day. For this is the place which offers great and
magnificent men their true reward, for all fame or glory you win among mere
human beings should simply be ignored, since such fame and glory can scarcely
be said to be eternal if it cannot last one Great Year. Fix your gaze
upwards, then! Think on this place, a dwelling place for all eternity! Then
you will no longer have any use for what the masses might say about you or
for any human rewards your achievements may merit. Rather, let Virtue
herself, by her own unclad beauty, call you to a
true and genuine glory. Ignore what people say about you, for they will say
it anyway and whatever words they may say will not pass beyond the narrow
bounds you see below you. Nothing anyone has ever said has ever abided, for when
people die, their words die, too; the future forgets
them and tosses them on the rubbish heap of oblivion."
When he ceased speaking, I shouted my agreement. "Even
as a boy, I exerted myself with every fiber of my being to follow your
example and the example of my father. I intended never to be unworthy of your
reputation. If there is really a path leading to heaven for those who
selflessly serve their country, the knowledge of this goal will inspire me to
redouble my efforts!"
"Strive on," he answered, "secure in the
knowledge that only your body is mortal and that your true self endures
forever. The man you appear to be is not yourself at all, for your real self
is not that corporeal, palpable, changing form you see, but the spirit inside.
Remember that you are a god, you have a god's potential for life, sensation,
memory, and foresight, a god's power to rule, to govern, and to direct the
body which is given to you as a servant, in the same way God, who reigns over
us, directs the entire universe. This sovereignty exercised by the eternal
God over the universe is mirrored by the sovereignty your immortal soul
exercises over your frail body.
"That which is always in motion is eternal. However,
that which communicates motion to some other thing but is itself moved by
some other force, must necessarily cease to exist
once this outside motion has ceased. Therefore, the only thing that never
ceases to move is that which has the power to create motion on its own, for
it can continue to move eternally because its power to achieve motion depends
on itself alone. This is the source and the first principle of motion for all
things that move. Being the first principle, it has no beginning. For since
the first principle is the origin of everything else, it cannot have an
origin itself. If it did originate from something else, we could not call it
the first principle. And since it never had a beginning, it will never have
an end. For if it did end, it could never be reborn from any other source and
would no longer be capable of creating things, which is obviously what the
first principle has to do. The source of all movement, then, is that which
has set itself in motion and has no beginning or end. If it had beginning or
end, one would have to imagine the entire heaven and every other created
thing crashing down and ceasing to be, for that is what would happen if the
force generating their motion were taken away.
"Therefore, since it has been demonstrated that the
self-moving principle is eternal, the same must be applied to the human soul.
For unlike inanimate objects which can only be set in motion by some external
force, the soul, in its very substance and nature, is an animate thing that,
as such, derives its animation and motion from within itself. Since the soul
possesses this characteristic of self-motion, we can only conclude that it,
too, has no beginning and lives forever.
"Use this everlasting force, then, for the most
resplendent deeds possible! And remember that the most splendid deeds you can
do are those which serve your country. Those souls devoted to such deeds will
find it easy to wing their way to this place, which is the true and genuine
home for human souls. The soul's flight will be all the more quick if, during
the period of confinement within the body, this soul has contemplatively
roamed widely, thinking on what lies outside itself, and has contrived ways
to detach itself from the body as much as possible. When one has failed to do
this, and has abandoned the soul to bodily indulgence and enslaved it to the
body, allowing those passions which are bonded to pleasure to persuade the
soul to flout the laws of gods and men, this soul, after departing from the
body, can only hover weakly above the earth. Nor does it return to its proper
place in the heavens until it has suffered many ages of torment."
At these words, Africanus
vanished, and I awoke from my sleep.
Translated from the Latin by
Richard Hooker
©1993, Richard Hooker
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