The emperor Julian's oration dedicated to the Mother of the Gods was composed in Constantinople in the December of 361 just after his accession as sole emperor and intended for delivery during the festival of the Magna Mater (Cybele) in the following March. It is one of the more remarkable testimonies to Julian's attempt to reinstate pagan ritual and religious thought, presented in an intricate interpretation of the myth and ritual of Cybele and Attis in terms of sophisticated Neoplatonic metaphysics. This convergence of philosophical and pagan religious tradition was, for Julian, a profound personal intellectual and religious experience, as is most clearly expressed in the 'hymn' to the Mother of the Gods which concludes the piece. For us the most difficult challenge of the work is to penetrate and appreciate the subtle complexity of his neo-platonic exegesis. Michael Schramm's magisterial commentary provides the tools for this task in a volume that contains a translation of the Greek text (just thirty-five pages) and 324 pages of commentary. A comprehensive introduction usefully outlines the historical and literary context of the oration and, more particularly, the philosophical background and Julian's indebtedness to Iamblichus, the detailed evidence for which is presented throughout the commentary. The volume is equipped with an extensive bibliography and indexes of topics and of passages cited in the text.

As well as elucidating many detailed linguistic and textual issues the commentary is full of lengthy discussions of important topics, e.g. Julian's theory of the interpretation of myth compared with other authors (219-225), the relatively minor influence of Porphyry (152-6) and some five pages discussing the Korybantes mentioned in 168B3-5. Thoughtful references are also frequently made to the relationship of Julian's thought to Christianity, not least in the obvious comparison of the festival of the Magna Mater with the Christian Easter Triduum. A particularly good example of the author's treatment of significant detail is his explanation of Attis as the 'third demiurge' (91-102, 161D5). With a wealth of references to primary sources and the opinions of other scholars, he plausibly establishes the background of Julian's interpretation as a developing set of ideas going back to Amelius, Theodorus of Asine and, most of all, Iamblichus, Julian's most admired predecessor. The location of this 'third demiurge' in Iamblichus' Intellectual Hebdomad which embraced three 'fathers', the third of which may be identified with Julian's 'third demiurge', demonstrates Julian's extraordinary grasp of the complex metaphysical structures which later Neoplatonists like Iamblichus exploited in their attempts to account for the continuity of the progressively pluralised unfolding of reality from the highest principle, the One. Added to this is Julian's ingenuity in aligning this structure with divinities and divine phenomena, again owing much to Iamblichus.

One of Julian's main concerns in this work is to establish the role and position of Attis in the context of the Neoplatonic metaphysical structure, in order to explain and validate his significance in religious belief and ritual. It is this concern that leads him to avoid simply identifying Attis as the third demiurge in its entirety but rather as that aspect of the third demiurge which expresses its outgoing generative power in bringing the forms to matter (165B1-3). Schramm's commentary guides us patiently through this delicate enterprise and, more particularly, helps us to understand the more metaphysically profound principles that underlie Julian's interpretation of myth and ritual. A further example is his discussion of the mutual love of the Mother of the Gods and Attis (172-180) which involves the turning back (epistrophé) of Attis towards the Mother, to be enriched and perfected (moné), thus equipping him for his definitive procession (proodos) to inform matter. Here we have a very particular instance of the basic Neoplatonic dynamic of procession and return which permeates the entirety of Plotinus' structure of the intelligible and material universe, a structure which was then seen to be replicated at every conceivable 'level' by later Neoplatonists. Schramm also convincingly unravels and explains the sometimes for us confusing conflation of the Mother of the Gods with other divinities such as Athena and Rhea.

The author also makes some useful remarks which may help us to reconcile the metaphysical structure of The Mother of the Gods with the very different emphasis of that found in The Hymn to King Helios. Moreover, there are constant cross-references both within the treatise and to other treatises of Julian, as well as to Plato, Aristotle, and to the entire Platonic and Aristotelian tradition both before and after Julian's own time. Considerable prominence is given to his use of Aristotle and his commitment to the harmonisation of the Platonic and Aristotelian traditions.

It is a virtue of this commentary that the author always presents the evidence for his interpretations and for that of alternative views, so that we may judge for ourselves. The citation of sources is also generously provided with the original Greek text, a really useful bonus for the reader who may not have to hand the vast array of authors drawn upon. Sometimes, however, the amount of references makes it difficult to follow the main argument. For example, on page 152 where we find seven lines of references in parenthesis, followed by four lines of main text, followed by eight lines in parenthesis. It might have been more helpful for the reader had the parentheses been placed in a footnote. Nevertheless, this is a commentary that will help the diligent reader to penetrate the often bewildering intricacies of Julian's thought and will, more generally, supply a vast repository of texts and interpretations of major Platonic religious and metaphysical themes. Above all it has established, with detailed argument, the extent of Iamblichus' influence on Julian and Julian's own philosophical acumen. It will long remain a standard work of reference for anyone studying his oration On the Mother of the Gods.

Andrew Smith