Note 619 — Chapter XI · ROMAN MORALS: AN IDEAL OF CIVIC DUTY

The cult of Isis when introduced into the Western lands favored illicit love, but by the second century of our era it had, in its new environment, become so far transformed as to be a true moral force in society. “Sacrament and mystery lent their aid to fortify the worshiper [of Isis] in the face of death, but, to derive their full virtue, he must exercise himself in temperance, abjure the pleasures of the senses, and purify himself for the vision of God” (Dill, Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius (1904), p. 583).