Few books of the Middle Ages enjoyed a circulation comparable to that of the Secretum secretorum, the "Secret of Secrets". Presented as a letter from Aristotle to his pupil Alexander the Great, the text combined political, moral and practical advice with notions of astrology, physiognomy and the occult sciences. For centuries it was read by kings, princes, scholars and copyists, and today hundreds of manuscripts survive in many languages.
A pseudo-Aristotelian work
The Secretum secretorum is not by Aristotle. It is a text composed in Arabic, under the title Kitāb sirr al-asrār, probably in the tenth century, on the basis of older material. The literary fiction is clear: Aristotle, now old and far away, writes to Alexander, busy with his conquests, to pass on the wisdom needed to rule.
The attribution to Aristotle gave the text enormous authority, because in the Middle Ages the philosopher was regarded as the master of all rational knowledge.
The Latin translations
The text reached Europe through two main Latin translations:
- a partial translation made in the twelfth century by John of Seville, covering mainly the section devoted to health;
- a complete translation made in the thirteenth century by Philip of Tripoli, which circulated very widely.
The text was then translated into numerous vernaculars, including French, English, Italian and Spanish. Roger Bacon, the celebrated English Franciscan, prepared an edition with glosses, a sign of the importance he attached to it.
The contents
The Secretum secretorum is a composite work touching on very different subjects. A few major themes can be identified:
| Theme | Content |
|---|---|
| Government | the king's virtues, justice, generosity, choice of counsellors |
| Regimen of life | guidance on daily life according to the medicine of the time |
| Physiognomy | reading character from the features of face and body |
| Astrology | choosing the right moments for important actions |
| Occult sciences | properties of stones and plants, talismans, alchemy in some versions |
The section on the regimen of life is of interest today only as a historical document of medieval medicine and has no practical value.
Physiognomy
A particularly famous section concerns physiognomy, the art of inferring a person's character from physical appearance. The text describes the meaning attributed to the shape of the eyes, eyebrows, forehead, nose and voice. The advice to Alexander is to choose his collaborators by carefully observing their appearance.
This section also tells a famous anecdote: a physiognomist examines the portrait of a sage and judges him a man of base instincts. The disciples protest, but the sage confirms that the inclination was indeed in him and that he had overcome it through discipline. The story, sometimes told of Hippocrates, shows that even in the Middle Ages the limits of physiognomy were recognised: character is not destiny.
The Emerald Tablet
One aspect of particular interest to students of Hermetism is the presence, in some versions of the Secretum secretorum, of a version of the Emerald Tablet, the famous text attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. Philip of Tripoli's Latin translation was one of the channels through which this text reached Europe, although another independent Latin translation existed, included in an alchemical treatise.
The Secretum also contains notions of alchemy and of the occult properties of stones and plants, which helped spread these ideas in the Latin world.
A handbook for princes
Beyond its esoteric sections, the Secretum secretorum was above all a "mirror for princes", a literary genre describing the qualities of the ideal ruler. Many medieval readers regarded it as a guide to good government, and the text influenced political and moral literature for centuries.
This combination of political and occult knowledge was not seen as contradictory: the good ruler had to know both people and the hidden forces of nature and the heavens.
How to read it today
The Secretum secretorum is a text to be read as evidence of an entire culture. To approach it:
- distinguish the different versions, which vary greatly in content;
- treat the frame of Aristotle's letter as literary fiction;
- read the occult sections in the context of medieval science;
- appreciate the text as a mirror of expectations about power.
In short
- The Secretum secretorum is a pseudo-Aristotelian letter to Alexander the Great, composed in Arabic.
- It was translated into Latin by John of Seville in the twelfth century and by Philip of Tripoli in the thirteenth.
- It combines advice on government, regimen of life, physiognomy, astrology and the occult sciences.
- Some versions contain a version of the Emerald Tablet.
- Roger Bacon prepared a glossed edition, a sign of its great authority.
