iests for spiritual remedies.

People flattered themselves that by performing the rites they would attain
a condition of felicity after death. All barbarian mysteries pretended to
reveal to their adherents the secret of blessed immortality. Participation
in the occult ceremonies of the sect was a {43} chief means of
salvation.[36] The vague and disheartening beliefs of ancient paganism in
regard to life after death were transformed into the firm hope of a
well-defined form of happiness.[37]

This faith in a personal survival of the soul and even of the body was
based upon a strong instinct of human nature, the instinct of
self-preservation. Social and moral conditions in the empire during its
decline gave it greater strength than it had ever possessed before.[38] The
third century saw so much suffering, anguish and violence, so much
unnecessary ruin and so many unpunished crimes, that the Roman world took
refuge in the expectation of a better existence in which all the iniquity
of this world would be retrieved. No earthly hope brightened life. The
tyranny of a corrupt bureaucracy choked all disposition for political
progress. Science stagnated and revealed no more unknown truths. Growing
poverty discouraged the spirit of enterprise. The idea gained ground that
humanity was afflicted with incurable decay, that nature was approaching
her doom and that the end of world was near.[39] We must remember all these
causes of discouragement and despondency to understand the power of the
idea, expressed so frequently, that the spirit animating man was forced by
bitter necessity to imprison itself in matter and that it was delivered
from its carnal captivity by death. In the heavy atmosphere of a period of
oppression and impotence the dejected soul longed with incredible ardor to
fly to the radiant abode of heaven.

To recapitulate, the Oriental religions acted upon the senses, the
intellect and the conscience at the same time, and therefore gained a hold
on the entire man. {44} Compared with the ancient creeds, they appear to
have offered greater beauty of ritual, greater truth of doctrine and a far
superior morality. The imposing ceremonial of their festivities and the
alternating pomp and sensuality, gloom and exaltation of their services
appealed especially to the simple and the humble, while the progressive
revelation of ancient wisdom, inherited from the old and distant Orient,
captivated the cultured mind. The emotions exci