THE DIALOGUE OF HERMES TRISMEGISTUS ON THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, EXCELLENTLY TRANSLATED INTO LATIN BY L. APULEIUS OF MADAURA, BEGINS

.St.

This Asclepius is a god to me in place of the sun.
This Asclepius is a god to me in place of the sun. He gave you to us, O Asclepius, to arrive and participate in the divine discourse. The reason is this: because the supporter of all things beforehand, or the inspirer to us by divine power, seemed more divine than religious piety, which if you see with understanding, you will be most full of all good things in your whole mind. But since there are many good things, and not one in which all things reside, they demonstrate that one thing exists in another, resonating. That all things are one, or that one is all things. They connect the one to the other in such a way that one cannot be separated from both. But you will know about the times of this discourse with diligent attention. You, however, O Asclepius, withdraw a little and call those of us who are interested. When he entered, Asclepius also suggested that Ammon be present. Then neither I nor any envy of Ammon prohibits him from us; for we remember that many things were written by us to him, just as to a most loving and good son: many things on physics and very many on ethics. However, I shall ascribe this one to your name; call no one else besides Ammon, lest the most religious discourse on so great a matter be violated by the intervention of many. For piety grows in solitude or is entirely full of the majesty of the divine; it is the sign of an irreligious mind to publish it to the consciousness of many. With Ammon also having entered to the one, and that holy place, where