Carolingian Empire: * see Endnote<A>

(800–888 AD) large empire in west & central Europe, ruled by the Carolingian.  In 800, Charlemagne, the Frankish king was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III in an effort to revive the Roman Empire in the west.  it bordered the Emirate of Córdoba & Kingdom of Pamplona in the SW.  . In southern Italy, the Emperor’s authority was contested by the Byzantines & the Lombards.  In the east it bordered with the Slavs & Avars, both of whom were defeated & whose lands were absorbed.  Brittany, on its W border, was reduced to a tributary state.  The empire was divided 3 ways after the death of Emperor Louis the Pious (840) though 1 king was still recognised as emperor (with no authority outside his kingdom) and imperial unity & hereditary right of the Carolingians continued to be acknowledged.  Charles the Fat briefly re-united the Empire (884-88); on his death the only legitimate heir was a minor.  This led to the nobility electing regional kings outside the dynasty, or as in the eastern kingdom, an illegitimate Carolingian.  This latter line ruled until 911.  In the west a legitimate Carolingian was restored in 898, ruling until 987.

 

Ravenna, Lucca, Venice, Granada, Palermo: * see Endnote <B>

All of these cities were either points of direct contact with the Magian Culture (via Byzantium or Islam) or enjoyed heavy commercial interface with Byzantium.  All had substantial Cultural artefacts reflecting Magian Culture influences.

 

Vatican Collection:

aka the Vatican Museums; art museum located at Vatican City, Rome; an immense collection amassed by Popes including classical sculptures & masterpieces of Christian & Renaissance art.  Holds 70,000 works, 20,000 on display, employing 640 people working in 40 different administrative, scholarly & restoration departments.  Pope Julius II founded the museums in the early 16th century.  The Sistine Chapel is the last sala (or gallery) of the Collection, one of the largest museums in the world.

 

the drill:

traditional tool use for sculpting marble or hard stone; the mallet & point chisel are used to remove large masses of stone, it concentrates the energy at one point; the tooth chisel is then used for finer modelling of form.  Both of these chisels create a surface. Further refinement can be applied by the use of the hand drill, used for cutting at oblique angles.  The tool is forced directly into the stone rather than traveling across the stone like the point or tooth chisel.  It produces a very different texture on the surface.  A drill is an abrasive tool which uses friction to effect the surface of the stone.

 

Antinous statues:* see Endnote <C>

111-130 AD, Greek youth, favourite of the emperor Hadrian; met Hadrian in 123, before going to Italy for education; by 128 he was a favourite of the emperor & toured with Hadrian's personal retinue.  He was with Hadrian during his attendance at the Eleusinian Mysteries (Athens) & in Libya when Hadrian killed the Marousian lion.  In 130, he drowned in the Nile.  Hadrian deified him & established a cult dedicated to his worship; it spread throughout the Empire.  He also founded Antinopolis, a city which became a cultic centre for the worship of Osiris-Antinous.  Hadrian also founded games to commemorate him.  Antinous become a symbol of Hadrian's dreams of pan-Hellenism.

 

consul-statues in the Capitoline Museum: * see Endnote<D>

The Romans did not generally attempt to compete with free-standing Greek works of heroic exploits from history or mythology.  The dominant genre of sculpture in Rome was portraiture; interest here was based in Roman emphasis on family & ancestors.  It is characterized by a "warts and all" realism, with less concern for the ideal than the Greeks, more for character.  During the Republic it was a sign of strength not to hide physical imperfections, to depict men in particular as rugged & unconcerned with vanity: the portrait was a map of experience.  In the Imperial era, more idealized statues of Roman emperors became ubiquitous, particularly in connection with the state religion of Rome.  

 

"Pneuma":

see chapter V, page 177

 

Neo-Platonism:

see Chapter II, page 72

 

decisions of the Church Councils:

reference to the councils of Ephesus and of Chalcedon

see above page 209 

 

Mithraism:* see Endnote<E>

Mithra was the Iranian god of the sun, justice, contract & war in Iran prior to the 6th century & emergence of monotheistic Zoroastrianism.  He occupied a pagan pantheon.  Approximately 700 years later he re-emerged in the Roman Empire. 

 

Mazdaism:

aka Zoroastrianism; one of the world's oldest religions, monotheistic with a dualistic cosmology of good & evil, predicts the ultimate destruction of evil; ascribed to the Iranian prophet Zoroaster.  Main text Avesta.  Its Supreme Being is Ahura Mazda, a deity of wisdom; a contesting force was Angra Mainyu, or angry spirit.  Beliefs include: messianism, judgment after death, heaven & hell, and free will.  Focus on responsibility, it did not create a devil.  Zoroaster proclaimed one God, a single creative & sustaining force; humans possess free will (choice); owing to cause and effect, they are responsible for the consequences of their choices.  The purpose in life is to be among those who renew the world, to allow progress to perfection.  Basic precepts include: Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds; there is only 1 path, the path of Truth; do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, and then all beneficial rewards will come to you.

and see page 183 above

 

Iamblichus: * see Endnote<F>

(245-325 AD) chief representative of Syrian Neoplatonism, he would influence much of the ancient world & determined the direction that would later be taken by Neoplatonic philosophy; he also wrote a biography of Pythagoras whom he venerated.

 

“a book”: * see Endnote<G>

Spengler is referring to work titled Theurgy by Iamblichus in which he argues (among other things) that in material objects (such as statues of gods) the divine can be substantially present.

 

Pseudomorphosis:

see page 209, 212

 

East:

reference to the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium,

 

South:

reference to the Islamic Civilization in Arabia from 629 onwards

 

storm of iconoclasm:

The Byzantium world (the East): erupted in an iconoclastic fury in the "First Iconoclasm" (726 to 787 AD).  This wave of iconoclasm was started by a ban on religious images by Emperor Leo III.  Between 814 and 842 AD a second wave of iconoclasm swept Byzantium.

and see above pages 188

Islam (the South): has always adhered to aniconism, the proscription against the creation of images of sentient beings.  Within Muslim history, the act of removing idols from the Ka'ba in Mecca (629 AD) is considered of great symbolic & historical importance.  Like the Jews the Muslims take the 2nd Commandment literally & figuratively.  The most absolute proscription is of images of God followed by depictions of Muhammad & then Islamic prophets & relatives of Muhammad.  The depiction of humans and non-human animals is discouraged in the Hadith & by the long tradition of Islamic authorities (especially Sunni).  As a result Islamic art is dominated by geometric patterns, calligraphy & the barely representational foliage patterns of the arabesque.

and see above pages 188