Latin — 1533, repaired
Conveniunt philosophi Arabes, quod aliqui homines possunt se ipsos elevare supra vires corporis et supra vires sensitivas, illisque superatis perfectione caeli et intelligentiarum divinum in se recipere vigorem. Cum itaque animae hominum omnes perpetuae sint, perfectis quoque animis omnes spiritus obediunt. Putant magi perfectos homines per suae animae vires alias inferiores animas iam quodammodo separatas moribundis corporibus suis posse restituere, rursusque inspirare, hoc esse quemustelam interemptas ipsius voce a partu revocaturam in illam vitam: atque leones inanimem partum inhalando vivificant: et quoniam, ut aiunt, omnia similia similibus applicata simili natura efficiuntur, et omne patiens et actum alicuius agentis in se recipiens etiam agentis illius natura induitur atque connaturatur: hinc putant ad hanc vivificationem haud parum conferre etiam herbas quasdam et magicas confectiones, quales ex cinere Phoenicis et serpentum exuviis confici tradunt, quod tamen plerisque fabulosum et turpiter etiam impossibile videri posset, nisi historica fide haberetur comprobatum.
Nam plerosque aqua submersos, alios ignibus iniectos, et rogo impositos, alios in bello occisos, alios aliter exanimatos, post plures etiam dies revixisse legimus, quemadmodum de Aviola viro consulari, de L. Lamia, Caelio Tuberone, Corfidio, Gabieno, et pluribus aliis testatur Plinius. Similiter Aesopum fabulatorem, Tyndareum quoque et Herculem, atque Palicos Iovis et Thaliae filios mortuos iterum revixisse legimus: plurimos etiam per magos et medicos in vitam revocatos, sicut de Aesculapio ab historiis proditum est, et nos superius narravimus ex Iuba et Xantho, et Philostrato, de Tillone et Arabe quodam, atque Apollonio Tyaneo. Legitur etiam Glaucus quispiam mortuus, quem, pomorum expectatione accurrentibus medicis, herba quam draconem vocant vitae restitutum dicunt: alii gustato mellito pharmaco revixisse aiunt, unde ortum est adagium: Glaucus poto melle resurrexit. Apuleius etiam ritum huiusmodi revocationum referens, de Zachla Aegyptio propheta inquit: Prophetes sic propitiatus herbulam quampiam ob os corporis, et aliam pectori eius imponit, tunc oriente obversus, veniente incrementa solis, tacitus imprecatus venerabili scena facies ad studia praesentium tanti miraculum certatim adtraxit; iam tumore pectus extolli, iam salubris vena pulsari, iam spiritu corpus impleri: et adsurgit cadaver, et profatur adolescens.
Quae si vera esse debeant, oportet moribundas animas nonnunquam in corporibus suis latere, vehementioribus extasibus oppressas, et ab omni corporea actione solutas: sic ut vita, sensus, motus, corpus omne deserat, ita tamen quod homo vere nondum mortuus sit, sed iaceat exanimis, et tanquam mortuus, etiam per diuturnum tempus. Atque id saepissime compertum est, pestilentiarum temporibus, multos videlicet qui pro mortuis tumulandi ferebantur, in sepulchris revixisse: multoties etiam mulieribus accidisse legimus, ex suffocatione matricis laborantibus: et narrat Rabbi Moyses, ex libro Galeni quem transtulit Patriarcha, quod accidit homini suffocatio quae duravit diebus sex, nec comedit, nec bibit, et redduntur eius arteriae durae.
Et dixit in eodem libro, quod accidit homini repletio ex qua amittitur pulsus totius corporis, et non movetur cor, et iacet sicut mortuus. Et dicit quod accidit ex casu a loco alto, vel clamore magno, vel ex longa mora sub aqua, syncopis durans quadraginta octo horis, et iacet homo sicut mortuus, in cuius facie surgit pulvis viriditas. Et refert in eodem libro, de eo qui sepelivit mortuum ante septuaginta duas horas post mortem ipsius, se interfecisse eum, quia sepelivit eum vivum, et dedit ibi signa quibus cognoscitur quod isti sint, videlicet iaceant similes mortuis, et certo moriantur, nisi succurritur illis, aut per phlebotomiam, aut alias curationes: et haec sunt ex his quae valde raro contingunt. Et hic est modus per quem intelligimus magos et medicos suscitare mortuos, sicut qui serpentum ictu exanimati olim per Marsorum et Psyllorum gentem vitae restituebatur.
Posse autem huiusmodi extases longo tempore durare, absque hoc quod homo vere mortuus sit, non secus arbitrandum est, atque in gliribus et crocodilis, et plerisque serpentibus, quae per totam hyemem sic obdormierunt, sic somno expirat, ut rursus revocari queant: et ego saepe vidi dissectum glirem immobilem manere, tanquam mortuum, donec coqueretur, atque tunc primum in bulienti aqua dissecta membra vitam commonstrasse. Similiter, licet difficile visu creditu sit, legimus tamen apud probatos historicos, etiam homines quosdam longaevo somno plurimos annos continuos dormivisse, interim donec evigilassent, nihil senioreseffecti: quod ipse testatur Plinius, de puero quodam, quem aestu et itinere fessum in speluca septem et quinquaginta annos dormivisse narrat. Legimus etiam Epimenidem Gnosium annis quinquaginta septem dormivisse in spelunca. Hinc natum adagium: Vltra Epimenidem dormire. Narrat M. Damascenus, suo tempore, in Germania, defessum rusticum sub scaeni tumulo per totam autumni sequentemque hyemem continuo dormivisse, donec aestate scaeno paulatim depasto experrectus, tanquam semimortuus, totusque extra se positus, inventus est. Confirmant hanc opinionem ecclesiasticae historiae, de septem dormientibus, quos annos centum et nonaginta sex dormivisse ferunt. Est in Norvegia sub eminenti littore antrum, ubi, ut Paulus Diaconus et Methodius martyr scribunt, septem viri dormientes iacuerunt sopiti longo tempore, sine ulla corruptione, et saepe populos ad ipsos tardandum ingressos continuo fuisse contristatos: denique accolas prae saepe hinc cautos ab ipsorum laesione destitisse aiunt. Ipse autem inter philosophos non infimi nominis Xenocrates, longaevam hanc indormitationem quandam naturalem poenam, certis quibusdam animae demeritis ab aeterno deputatam, putavit. Ipse M. Damascenus multis rationibus possibile et omnino naturale probat, nec absurdum putat, quod, cum caeteris animalibus quibusdam concessum est, ut sine cibo et potu, sine excretione, sine tabefactione et corruptione, pluribus mensibus dormire possint, id etiam homini, sive id accidat illi passione aliqua venefica, aut aegritudine soporifera, seu meticuloso quodam sopore, aut similibus de causis, pluribus diebus, aut mensibus, aut annis, secundum intentionem vel remissionem virium, et passionum animae suae possit contingere. Et narrant medici, antidota, de quibus si quis minimam portiunculam ederit, diuturnam deinde posse perferre inediam, ceu quondam Helias, certo esculento ab angelo pastus, ambulavit et ieiunavit in fortitudine cibi illius quadraginta dies. Et recitat Ioannes Boccatius, fuisse suo tempore virum apud Venetias, qui in singulos annos per quadraginta dies absque ullo cibo ageret ieiunium. Quodque magis mirum est, fuisse eodem tempore in inferiori Germania mulierem, quae in tricesimum annum nihil unquam cibi sumpsisset, quod quidem nobis incredibile videri posset, nisi confirmaret hanc rem recens, et nostri seculi miraculum, in fratre Nicolao de Saxo, natione Helvetio, quem in eremo duobus et viginti annis, quousque vita excessit, sine omni cibo vixisse constat. Mirum et illud quod prodidit Theophrastus, fuisse Philinum quendam qui nullo sit usus potu vel cibo, praeterquam lactis. Et sunt graves authores qui herbam quandam Spartanicam describunt, qua Scythas duodecim dies durare sine cibo et potu, ea semel gustata, vel in ore retenta, tradunt.
Close translation
The Arab philosophers agree that some men can raise themselves above the powers of the body and above the sensitive powers, and, those overcome, receive into themselves the divine strength of the perfection of the heavens and of the intelligences. Since, then, all human souls are perpetual, all spirits obey perfected souls as well. The magi think that perfected men, by the powers of their own soul, can restore to their dying bodies other, lower souls already in a certain manner separated, and breathe into them again — the same power by which, they say, a weasel calls her slain young back to life by her own voice after birth, and lions give life by breathing upon a lifeless newborn: and since, as they say, all things similar, applied to their likes, are brought about by a similar nature, and everything that is passive, and receives into itself the action of some agent, is also clothed with, and made connatural to, the nature of that agent — hence they think that certain herbs and magical preparations, such as they say are made from the ash of the Phoenix and the sloughed skins of serpents, contribute no small part to this quickening; which would nonetheless seem fabulous to most, and even shamefully impossible, were it not held as confirmed by historical trustworthiness.
For we read that many, drowned in water, others cast into fires and placed upon the pyre, others slain in war, others made lifeless in other ways, have come back to life after even several days — as Pliny testifies concerning Aviola, a man of consular rank, concerning L. Lamia, Caelius Tubero, Corfidius, Gabienus, and many others. Likewise we read that Aesop the fable-teller, and Tyndareus too, and Hercules, and the Palici, sons of Jupiter and Thalia, having died, revived again: and very many, called back to life by magi and physicians, as is handed down in the histories concerning Aesculapius, and as we have narrated above from Iuba and Xanthus, and Philostratus, concerning Tyllus and a certain Arab, and Apollonius of Tyana. We read too of one Glaucus, dead, whom — while the physicians ran up expecting fruit — they say was restored to life by the herb called dragon's-herb: others say he revived after tasting a honeyed medicine, whence arose the saying: Glaucus rose again on a draught of honey. Apuleius too, relating a rite of this kind of recall, says of Zachlas the Egyptian prophet: The prophet, thus propitiated, places one little herb upon the mouth of the body, and another upon its breast; then, turned toward the rising sun, as the sun's increase came on, praying silently, by that venerable scene he drew the faces of those present, competing with one another, to so great a miracle: now the chest is seen to rise with swelling, now a healthy pulse beats, now the body is filled with breath — and the corpse rises up, and the young man speaks.
If these things are to be held true, it must be that dying souls sometimes lie hidden within their own bodies, overwhelmed by more violent trances, and released from all bodily action: so that life, sensation, motion, leave the whole body, yet in such a way that the man is not truly dead, but lies lifeless, and as though dead, even for a long stretch of time. And this has very often been discovered, in times of plague, that many who were being carried out for burial as dead have revived in their tombs: and we read that this has happened many times also to women suffering from suffocation of the womb: and Rabbi Moses relates, from the book of Galen which the Patriarch translated, that it happened to a man that a suffocation lasted six days, and he neither ate nor drank, and his arteries became hard.
And he said in the same book, that it happens to a man that a repletion occurs from which the pulse of the whole body is lost, and the heart does not move, and he lies as though dead. And he says this happens from a fall from a high place, or a great shout, or from a long stay underwater, a fainting-fit lasting forty-eight hours, and the man lies as though dead, upon whose face a greenish dust arises. And he relates in the same book, of one who buried a dead man seventy-two hours after his death, that he killed him, because he buried him alive, and gave signs there by which it is known which persons these are, namely, that they lie similar to the dead, and will certainly die, unless they are helped, either by bloodletting, or by other treatments: and these are among the things that happen very rarely. And this is the manner by which we understand magi and physicians to raise the dead, as those struck lifeless by a serpent's bite were once restored to life by the tribe of the Marsi and Psylli.
That such trances can last a long time, without the man being truly dead, must be judged no differently than in dormice and crocodiles, and in very many serpents, which sleep through the whole winter in this way, and so expire into sleep that they can afterward be called back: and I myself have often seen a dissected dormouse remain motionless, as though dead, until it was cooked, and only then, its dissected limbs in boiling water, did it show signs of life. Likewise, though it is difficult to believe on sight, we read nonetheless, among approved historians, that certain men have slept continuously for very many years in a long sleep, and, when they at last awoke, were no older for it — as Pliny himself testifies, concerning a certain boy, whom, exhausted by heat and travel, he relates to have slept fifty-seven years in a cave. We read too that Epimenides of Cnossos slept fifty-seven years in a cave, whence arose the saying: To sleep beyond Epimenides. M. Damascenus relates that in his own time, in Germany, an exhausted peasant slept continuously under a haystack mound through the whole autumn and the following winter, until, in summer, the hay having gradually been eaten away, he was found awakened, as if half-dead, and utterly beside himself. Ecclesiastical histories confirm this view, concerning the seven sleepers, who are said to have slept a hundred and ninety-six years. There is in Norway, beneath a high shore, a cave, where, as Paulus Diaconus and Methodius the martyr write, seven men lay sleeping, sunk in slumber for a long time, without any corruption, and often, when peoples entered to disturb them, they were immediately grieved: and finally the inhabitants, made wary by this, are said to have desisted from doing them harm. Xenocrates himself, among philosophers a name of no small standing, thought this long sleeping some natural punishment, apportioned from eternity for certain faults of the soul. M. Damascenus himself proves by many arguments that it is possible and altogether natural, nor does he think it absurd that, since it is granted to certain other animals to be able to sleep for several months without food or drink, without excretion, without wasting away or corruption, this too could happen to a man, whether it occurs to him through some poisonous affliction, or a sleep-inducing sickness, or some fearful stupor, or similar causes, for several days, or months, or years, according to the intensity or slackening of the strength and passions of his own soul. And physicians relate that there are antidotes, of which, if one eats the smallest portion, one can afterward endure a long fast — as once Elijah, fed a certain food by an angel, walked and fasted forty days in the strength of that food. And John Boccaccio relates that there was in his time a man at Venice, who each year kept a fast of forty days without any food. And what is more wondrous still, that there was at the same time, in Lower Germany, a woman who for thirty years had never taken any food at all — which indeed might seem incredible to us, were it not confirmed by a recent case, a miracle of our own century, in Brother Nicholas of Saxo [Flüe], a man of the Swiss nation, who is agreed to have lived twenty-two years in the wilderness, until his life ended, without any food at all. And wondrous too is what Theophrastus reports, that there was a certain Philinus who used no drink or food at all, except milk. And there are weighty authors who describe a certain Spartan herb, by which they say the Scythians could go twelve days without food or drink, once it was tasted, or held in the mouth.
Modern rendering
The Arab philosophers agree that some people can lift themselves above the body's powers and above the sensitive powers, and once they've mastered those, take on the divine strength of the perfected heavens and of the intelligences. And since every human soul is eternal, all spirits obey a perfected soul. Magicians hold that a perfected person can use the powers of their own soul to restore, to a dying body, another lower soul already partly detached from it, and breathe it back in — the same power, they say, by which a weasel calls her slain young back to life with her own voice, or a lion breathes life into a stillborn cub. And because, as they claim, like things applied to like produce a similar effect, and anything that receives the action of an agent takes on and becomes attuned to that agent's nature — they hold that certain herbs and magical preparations, said to be made from phoenix ash and shed snakeskin, contribute a good deal to this reviving. Most people would find that fabulous, even flatly impossible, if it weren't held up by historical testimony.
We read that many people — drowned, thrown into fire and laid on the pyre, killed in war, or made lifeless some other way — have come back to life days later. Pliny attests this of Aviola, a man of consular rank, of Lucius Lamia, Caelius Tubero, Corfidius, Gabienus, and several others. Likewise we read that Aesop the fable-writer, Tyndareus, Hercules, and the Palici — sons of Jupiter and Thalia — died and came back. Many more were revived by magicians and physicians, as the histories record of Aesculapius, and as I've already told you from Iuba, Xanthus, and Philostratus, about Tyllus, a certain Arab, and Apollonius of Tyana. There's also a story of one Glaucus, who died; while the physicians were rushing to him expecting some kind of magical fruit, they say he was restored by an herb called 'dragon's herb'; others say he revived after tasting a honeyed drug, which gave rise to the saying, 'Glaucus rose again on a drink of honey.' Apuleius describes a similar revival ritual, telling how the Egyptian prophet Zachlas did it: the prophet, once appeased, laid one small herb on the corpse's mouth and another on its chest, then turned to face the rising sun and, as it climbed, prayed silently. In that solemn scene he drew the onlookers' rapt attention to the unfolding wonder — first the chest visibly rising, then a healthy pulse, then breath filling the body — and the corpse sat up, and the young man spoke.
If any of this is true, it must mean that a dying soul sometimes stays hidden inside its own body, pinned down by an unusually violent trance, cut off from every bodily function — so that life, sensation, and movement all leave the body, yet the person isn't actually dead: they lie lifeless, looking dead, sometimes for a long stretch of time. This has come up constantly during plagues: people carried out for burial as dead have revived in their tombs. The same thing has reportedly happened often to women suffering from suffocation of the womb. Rabbi Moses, drawing on a book of Galen translated by the Patriarch, tells of a man whose suffocation lasted six days — he neither ate nor drank, and his arteries hardened.
He also says, in the same book, that a person can suffer an overload that knocks out the pulse throughout the whole body, stops the heart moving, and leaves them lying as if dead. He says this can result from a fall from a height, a loud shout, or too long underwater — a fainting spell lasting forty-eight hours, during which the person lies as if dead, with a greenish dust appearing on the face. He also describes a case where someone buried a man seventy-two hours after his apparent death and effectively killed him, because the man was still alive — and he lists the warning signs that identify such cases: they lie looking exactly like the dead, and will genuinely die unless helped, whether by bloodletting or other treatment. These are very rare cases. This is also, I think, how we should understand magicians and physicians reviving the 'dead' — the same way people knocked lifeless by snakebite were once revived by the Marsi and Psylli tribes.
That such trances can last a long time without the person actually being dead should be judged the same way we judge dormice, crocodiles, and many snakes, which sleep through the whole winter and drop so deeply into sleep that they can nonetheless be revived. I've personally watched a dissected dormouse lie motionless, apparently dead, until it was cooked — and only then, with its cut-up limbs in boiling water, did it show signs of life. Similarly — hard as it is to believe — reputable historians record that some people have slept continuously for many years and, on waking, showed no sign of aging. Pliny himself reports a boy, worn out by heat and travel, who slept fifty-seven years in a cave. Epimenides of Cnossos reportedly slept fifty-seven years in a cave too, which is where the saying 'to out-sleep Epimenides' comes from. M. Damascenus reports that in his own time, in Germany, an exhausted peasant fell asleep under a haystack and slept straight through the whole autumn and the following winter, until, in summer, as the hay was gradually eaten down, he was found waking up, half-dead-looking and totally disoriented. Church histories back this up with the story of the Seven Sleepers, said to have slept a hundred and ninety-six years. There's a cave in Norway, beneath a high shoreline, where — according to Paulus Diaconus and the martyr Methodius — seven men lay sleeping for a long time without any decay, and whenever people went in to disturb them they were immediately struck with grief; eventually the locals, made cautious by this, stopped trying to harm them. Xenocrates, a philosopher of real standing, thought this kind of extreme sleep was a natural punishment assigned from eternity for specific faults of the soul. Damascenus himself argues on several grounds that it's entirely possible and natural, and doesn't find it strange — since other animals are already known to go months without food, drink, or waste, without wasting away or decaying — that the same could happen to a human being, whether from some poisoning, a sleep-inducing illness, a kind of fearful stupor, or similar causes, lasting days, months, or years, depending on how strong or weak the person's vital and psychological forces are. Physicians also describe antidotes of which eating even the smallest portion lets someone endure a long fast afterward — the way Elijah, fed a particular food by an angel, walked and fasted forty days on the strength of it. Boccaccio tells of a man in Venice in his own time who fasted completely for forty days every year. Even more remarkable, there was reportedly, at the same time, a woman in Lower Germany who hadn't eaten anything at all in thirty years — which would be hard to believe, except that it's backed up by a recent case, a marvel of our own century: Brother Nicholas of Flüe, a Swiss man, is confirmed to have lived twenty-two years in the wilderness without any food at all, until he died. Theophrastus also reports the strange case of one Philinus, who lived on nothing but milk, no other food or drink. And serious authors describe a Spartan herb that supposedly let the Scythians go twelve days without food or water, just from tasting it once or holding it in the mouth.
Editorial flags — draft status
- uncertain: the weasel/lion revival sentence (para 1) is among the most garbled OCR in the chapter; core claim (voice revives slain young) is confident, but exact clause structure is a best-effort reconstruction
- list: the sequence of consular-rank revival examples (Aviola, L. Lamia, Caelius Tubero, Corfidius, Gabienus) drawn from Pliny — names restored with reasonable confidence but should be checked against Pliny NH 7.52 directly
- uncertain: Rabbi Moyses / Galen / 'Patriarcha' passage — the identity of 'Patriarcha' as translator is per the OCR reading and not independently verified