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Page 11.

Conclusions

The Sator Square, as explained here, is a short aphorism, or folkloric saying, that very likely dates from the Latium farm environment of the Republic. That’s before 27 BCE, when Augustus became the first of a new line of tyrants or monarchs in all but name, which we rather awkwardly call emperors. I make this observation to remind us that language is fluid, as is its meaning. Octavian much preferred the religiously based, ancestor-venerating honorific title of Augustus, in which ‘au’ may have the same root as modern English awe; a feature in common with ancient terms like augur or auspicium. It is related to a visceral sense of swelling or growing, of power (as in ‘augment’).

The Sator rebus would have likely had its beginnings in oral form, and only became the five-word, five by five palindrome we know today when someone cleverly wrote it down sometime in the early empire.

Time will tell as more exemplars are found.

I mentioned the twisting paths by which the philosophy inherent in the Sator Square found its way into Christian theology.

Early Roman religion, a rather typical form of animism, did not deal in issues of personal salvation or moral living as a personal choice. Animism, though it has its bright side like all religions, is at heart a religion of awe, or even terror. We are terrified by unseen spirits everywhere, and there is usually no powerful father or mother deity we can turn to for help. We may inadvertently disturb some spirit by crossing a river, or hiking across a mountain, and wind up victims of that spirit's wrath.

As the aphorism of the Sator Square shows, a grass roots doctrine of self-reliance and personal responsibility grew up among the farmers of Latium, I think as early as the late Republic.

At the same time, the intellectual center of the Mediterranean shifted from Greece to Egypt after Athens fell to the Spartans in 404 BCE, followed by the rise and premature death of Alexander (c321).

In Alexandria, which had the greatest library in the ancient world, new philosophers took up the baton of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

By the 3rd Century CE, Plotinus and Ammonius Saccas were hard at work, redefining what would survive in Christendom as neo-Platonism.

A whole, diverse raft of famous neo-Platonist philosophers followed, both inside and outside Christianity. Neo-Platonism is a palette of related beliefs and thoughts based on the earlier teachings of Plato.

Among them is a belief that there is some highest Good, and the idea that the universe was created by a higher intelligence than all that it contains.

These ideas were grasped upon early by Christian philosophers, who had to refute their sophisticated polytheist adversaries in debate.

These thoughts continued in the formation of Boethius, St. Augustine, and many Medieval European theologians. Neo-Platonism received a fresh invigoration during the Renaissance (1300-1500), when the church rediscovered the Greek originals of Latin documents it had been limited to for centuries.

Christendom developed a number of key ideas in its theology, including the idea of Free Will. If a person is not free to make choices, then they cannot be held responsible for either the good or the evil that they do. The idea of Free Will makes not only sin, but also salvation possible. That concept is inherent in the aphorism that "God holds the plow, but you turn the furrows."

God, the seeder or creator, determines those aspects of our fate over which we have no control: Sator Fate. That includes our birth, and usually our death (suicide being arguably due to insanity). I cannot help it if a car hits me, or if a piano falls on me.

We, on the other hand, have control over a host of small and large daily decisions. This is Rotas Fate. We can choose right or wrong, good or evil.

A related idea developed into a cornerstone of Christian theology. Jesus said "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, for this is the law and the prophets." [Mat 7:12].

It is not likely that a humble aphorism from the farm world of Latium in itself caused a formation in Christian theology, but it is likely that the philosophers and theologians were aware of the Sator Square and its message. It is, after all, common sense. As much as superstitious Christians probably avoided scary ‘pagan’ artifacts like the Sator Square, its message most likely found its way into Christian theology by way of secular philosophers, whose inquiries found their way into the eagerly waiting hands and minds of Christian thinkers.

After many centuries of darkness, a modern light shines upon this important ancient artifact. The people of long ago come to life in our minds, and we instantly recognize the profundity and the humanity of the Sator Square's message. It is a message as alive today as it was on the farms and in the army headquarters of ancient Rome. To repeat once more:

GOD HOLDS THE PLOW, BUT YOU TURN THE FURROWS.

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