DISSERTATION ON THE ANCIENTS

Jupiter and Vejovis: the good God and the evil God among the ancient Pagans.

...produces evil works. But others say that the one who is better is God, and the one who is worse is a Demon. This is the origin, according to Gellius (1), of those names and the divine worship of Jupiter original: "Jovis." Jupiter was the king of the gods in Roman mythology. and Vejovis An early Roman deity often associated with the underworld or a "negative" Jupiter; the name implies a god who lacks the power to help., of whom the former was named by the ancient Pagans for helping, and the latter for not helping—or rather, for doing harm. When they had named Jupiter from helping, he [Gellius] says, they also called his opposite "Vejovis"—that god who had not the power of helping but the force of harming—by removing and taking away the capacity for helping. For they celebrated certain Gods so that they might be beneficial, and they appeased others so they would not be harmful. Therefore, the statue of the God Vejovis, which is in the temple between the Citadel and the Capitol, holds arrows, which are ready to do harm. Arnobius (2) bears witness that this false opinion prevailed among the Pagans right up until Christian times; addressing them, he says: We have received it from your own words that some of the Gods are good, while others are evil and more prone to the lust for harming; and that solemn sacred rites are performed for the former so they might help, and for the latter so they do not harm. Nor was that discordant opinion—concerning good and evil Gods, with the former being the authors of good and the latter the authors of evil—entirely erased from the minds of those Pagans who still lived among Christians in the age of Augustine Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD), one of the most influential Christian theologians.. Some think, says the Holy Doctor (3), that evil Gods must be appeased with sacrifices so they do not harm, while the good are to be invoked so they might help.

11. The Magi A priestly caste of ancient Persia associated with Zoroastrianism and occult wisdom. of the most ancient pagan Persians, under the authority or rather the restoration of Zoroaster The legendary Iranian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism, a religion centered on the struggle between a good spirit and an evil spirit., showed themselves many centuries ago to be not only precursors to the Manichaeans, but also their leaders. Regarding Zoroaster, many fables are told about his age, his name, his origin, his life, his death, and his writings and deeds. Concerning whom...

(1) Gellius, Attic Nights, book 5, chapter 12. Aulus Gellius (c. 125 – after 180 AD), a Roman author and grammarian.
(2) Arnobius, Against the Pagans, book 7, page 286, Paris edition, 1605. Arnobius of Sicca (d. 330 AD), a Christian apologist.
(3) Augustine, The City of God, book 8, chapter 13, volume 7.