LUCIANO (Λουκιανός) of SAMOSATA. — Rhetorician and sophist, born at Samosata (Syria), near the Euphrates, around 125 A.D., died ca. 190. He travelled throughout the Empire: Gaul, Italy, and finally Egypt; he spent two decades in Athens (165–85), where he perfected himself in sophistry and in the use of the Greek language as a polished Atticist.
He wrote 82 pamphlets on various subjects, in which he displayed his sarcastic spirit against every form of theological belief and religious manifestation that he regarded as superstitious, but which was very much in vogue in his time. He favoured the dialogical form, in which are written the Dialoghi degli dei, numbering 26, in which he ridicules popular religiosity; the Dialoghi dei morti (30), in which he satirizes the fame usurped by persons regarded as illustrious; the Dialoghi marini (13), akin in spirit to those of the gods; and the Dialoghi delle cortigiane, a mirror of the social life of the time. He was not an atheist, although he was regarded as such because of his unrestrained attitude in theological matters, but he was certainly opposed to mysticism and to the many philosophical charlatans against whom he wrote: Il pescatore, I filosofi all'incanto, Nigrino, Simposio; and to the impostors intent on thaumaturgy and displays of virtue, whom he exposed in Alessandro o il falso profeta. There is no need to give an account of L.’s entire production. We may mention the Sogno, in which he narrates his life; the Anacarsi, a most refined irony directed at the educational system of the Greeks, based on competitive athletics; the Storia vera, a satire of fantastic travel narratives, beginning with that of Ulysses in the Odisea; and Il modo di scrivere la storia, likewise elegantly satirical in content. Against Christianity he did not display the violence and dialectical vigour of Celsus, but he presented its followers in an unsympathetic, though not hostile, light, among the category of fanatics and almost madmen. The Christian is depicted (De morte Peregrini) by a Cynic philosopher named Proteus who, after a scandalous life also stained by parricide, converts to Christianity and, given his ability, soon succeeds in becoming director of the Christian assemblies, interpreting their sacred books and writing some himself, so that his fellow believers hold him in the highest esteem (alluding to Christ, L. states that he was a great man, crucified in Palestine because he was introducing new mysteries into life). This esteem did not diminish even when Peregrinus was imprisoned for parricide; indeed, it secured him wealth and devoted assistance after his release, until the day when he was abandoned because he was seen tasting meat sacrificed to idols. Having returned to Cynicism, Peregrinus-Proteus put himself to death on a pyre that he had prepared himself during the Olympic Games, perhaps in 165. Apart from the excessively credulous image that Christians present of themselves in considering Peregrinus a “new Socrates” and “a god,” L. sketches a portrait of them which, in substance, corresponds to reality: the use of sacred books and assemblies, belief in immortality, brotherly love, mutual assistance, no accusations of depravity brought against them, contempt for death, and readiness to disavow anyone who does not put the precepts of the religion into practice. Many of L.’s writings are regarded as spurious, but the De Syria Dea, which describes the sanctuary of Atargatis, the great deity of his native region, must be excluded from this list; whereas the Philopatris, a Byzantine work (it is known that L. was highly popular in the Byzantine age) from the time of the emperor Nicephorus Phocas (ca. 968), must be included. It describes a dispute between a conservative (Triephon), who detested the Hellenistic rhetoric that was flourishing anew in Constantinople at that time, and a defender of it (Critias).
In essence, L. is a writer who did not examine in depth any of the subjects about which he speaks, content merely to present, in a lively form, a faithful picture of the customs of his time, with inexhaustible verve, an abundance of witty jests, skilful use of irony and satire, and profound contempt for every form of superstition. It must nevertheless be observed, in this regard, that although he described Christians as inclined to religious fanaticism, he sketched a brief portrait of Christianity that captures several of its essential features.