Chaldean Oracles - Origin

Origin

The origins of the texts are unknown and mysterious. Some have claimed that the Chaldean Oracles, in the form in which they survive, were attributed to Julian the Theurgist, son of Julian the Chaldean, who served in the Roman army during Marcus Aurelius' campaign against the Quadi. Julian claimed to have saved the Roman camp from a severe drought by causing a rainstorm. At least four other religious groups also claimed credit for this rainstorm. The circumstances surrounding the writing of the Oracles are mysterious, the most likely explanation being that Julian uttered them after inducing a sort of trance akin to that of the archaic oracles of Greece.

Whether or not they were composed by Julian or whether they are in any sense translations from supposed Chaldean originals, the oracles are mainly a product of Hellenistic (and more precisely Alexandrian) syncretism as practiced in the cultural melting-pot that was Alexandria, and were credited with embodying many of the principal features of a "Chaldean philosophy". They were held in the greatest esteem throughout Late Antiquity, and by the later followers of Neoplatonism, although frequently argued against by Augustine of Hippo. The doctrines contained therein have been attributed by some to Zoroaster.