Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
- . -a*
By
Dr. R. W. Eemalrd
HEALTH HESEARCH
P.O. Box 850
62 7th Street
Pomeroy, Washington 99347
(sos) 843-2385
a
i.:
AFOLi.ONIIE OF IYAIVA AS BALINUS, THE ARABIAI.I
ATCHEYIST AI{D HERI"{EMC Pr{IMSOFHER
: Philostratus srys'that no cne has eren ].cncp,m of ttre tonb of @oIlonir:.s or
any certaintSl that he died, but er,er5noher"e he has ret with rnar:,relous stories aborrt
his ]ldisappeqanc.rr Serreral Rcnnn ftperors ruho a&nired Apoltcruius, notable
CanaaeJ-La (wtro pqt up a temple to nidl inr,estigated tle rnarrcn in 'irain, Now it
is renarkable, that eleven centr-rries laten ther"e Liraed in Spain an Arrab philosophen
naired frtephi.us, uho clcLmed to be ApoZlonius of Tyana. Th-is Artephiris 1ir,r:a in
Gl'anada and Cadiz, vfrrene Apollcnius had stayed a lcrrg.tire. He stood in rery
higfr r.eputation ano:g ttre hernetic philosophens of his day, who came f.rcm ttre
most distant cora:trnies in order to consullhim. Like lpolionius, he p::ofessed
tJre-$rttragorcan philosophy and strrdied tlre a::t of compotnding talisnnns and
divirntion by the cha:ractbr" of tl:e, pJanets and the soirg of tire birds. He had
been able, he said, to prolcng his life in a mir:aculoG way by re.ans of his
krowledge of ttre phiS-eophents stcner
there isconsi&nable evidence on hand that aften his m5atenio-rs disappea:n-
ance fnom ttre or.urt of Dcrnitian (in pnoof of r^itridr Philotrratus quotes cotut rec-
ords still entant in tlds day), ara iften a stay in the Hnrafayad, Apollcnir:s went
to t:e Nea East, where he oontinued to live amcng the Arabiars, and was instr:r:-
rnmtal in intrrcdr:cing arcng ttrem tlre Hernetic scienees, of a,stnolory, aLchemy and
nedicine as weIL as other iciences, htrich aften the Onrsades were bniugfrt to Eun-
ope and ccnstihrted the origin of nxr&,rz: scienaes. Phil'linone refers to the iden-
tity of .Apollorrirr^s and Balinus in ttre follcruing descr:iption of him:
r$lhat was ttris Apollonius? With the Balinus of eastem legend r*e rnight Ue
content; had l'{oenagenes srrnvir,ed, we mi$t have had sone certitude.?'r (t's}@rragenes
wrote a biograp[ry og ft)oltcnius *nicfr fiirca to su::s/i\e, traving 'been probably des-
h:q7ed by ttre Srnistians). SonetJ:ing .uncomncn ttrere must harre been jn ttre per"son-
afiW which gar,,e Philostratus a thene to emb:roiden on; sonettring captirating in
ttre linen-clad itinerrant ascetic whose quaint fads and pictr:resqrre poses made him
a welcone visiton jn' ttre market-places of Ephes,:s, on Attens, on nntioch; whee
eloquent senncns of rebuke (in tire Stoico-c-ynic rnaru:en) often entertained a cnord
in sone terple precinet on sorrE fine aftemocn; whose ragnificent pr"etensions
easily h5pnotized a l.evartine mob to ta]<e hirn at his cx.rr estinrate - it gcdtt:lr:
(**Phi1limore, J.A. ttln Hcnon of lpollorius of Tlanarfi Pirillirxrre?s attitude
tcrards Apol1cniu.s, like tlrat of nost Cathotic writers, was ursynpattretic.)
Ther.e is ccrrsidenable evidenie ccncerning Apollcnir:s of Tlala having lired
ancng ttre Arabians unden ttre nare of Balinus, and havj.ng conposed a nurben of
works in the Syraic and Anabian languaps cn the tbr:netic sciencesr.i.e., talis-
nansr. aletemy and astrrrlory. After he was 'last seen in tJ:e west, and aften a stay
in ttre'llinal4ras, t]ere is reason to belierae that Apollorius went to lir,re amcng
the Anabians, he introduced a nurber of sciences, includi^ng aldremy.
arncng r,rhom
Professon Rictlard GottJ:eil of Colunbia l-lriversity trans]ated frcm the Syriac
certain wr"itings of Apollcnius, vrhictr were plservad in the Nea:: East. t\,rihi1e
in lon&n i^n 1889r rt he vnnites, ttI fourd sone grriac e>rtnacts said to be by Apol-
lcnius of Tfana, vhich f here pni.nt as pmsibly of sone jnterest. Ihey a:re
taken fnom Sy::iac rrEnLecrripts of ttre lib:rary of ttre East India Office, which f
was enabled to onsult thr"ough the kindress of Dr.. Rost. I lrroo cnly of ote
other: reference to Apollcnir:s in Syriac liter:ature.Itrs ( r.Richard Gctt]rei1, ttApol-
lcnius of Tlranarrt Zeisctrrift butschen ltrrrgenlandischen Gesellsdraft, Vo1. 46,
1992).
(3) The Seven Plarrets and Talisrnflls. this bock &a1s wittr plirrets in rela-
tion to tdlisrens.. Ibkirrg of talisrrnns, wittr figr:res of.ttre positions of stsns,
with magcal r,rritings cqrerning the heaLing'virtues of talisnEn-b.a:e,dealt with
in ttris-bod<. Il"act 1 deds r^ritfr ZO felisffisr, ild has 400 pidures o.f Urg rrpon
at fl:e end. Il.act II has figurnes of Satum. Tbast III has figures of .Irpiter.
Tr"act fV has figr::res of l{ars. Tbact V has figrxrEs of , t}re Srq" Venu,s and }Ercuryr.
,
Magic is dealt wittr at ttre end. There is .a1so a treatise cn tJ:e nagical and
healing propereies of plants, arld an erplaration of, a wotJ< by Ar.istcrtle cn
preciorrs stcnes and thein jnf}:ence, ltt/,iherr peqple tn&r.stard ttre figr-unes of the
p3:anetsrrr wrote! Apol1onirrs, tlthey & not need any rredieires.rr From this it ap-
peIrs thathe necornnended,herbs fon ttle cure of disease in plae,of drtrgs. He
tlrur spdce against'the doctors and lfrein ne-thods. Thene is also nerrticrr of .tlre
Pensieors having been beaten back and kiIled by, Talisnnns. Ttrere.a:ne a]f,o pie-'
tures of the zcdirc,, the edh, the sel/en planets, a talisnan fon a Gerrran
sidcress, hnd r.eference to itindu wisdom. and p:rophets, but no Ctrristiar indication.
l.-
'lsaLcsno deb Natarr. Ongieno o{ Aix in t}e .}OV centr-ury,.tnanslated a wor.k of
ApoLlcniu,s cn rnagic ftom Latjn into Hebnew, also,.a bocrii of ttBock of huses, tt
Aceorrding'to Steinsclurei&n, Salolp. tr"anslited a bool<'entitled ttDe Car-r,sis Rensntt
by Pe adept Apollonius of [ra:a cn, Theosophy, which. is np:rtioned by SilGstre
de Sacy, in-,lutrieh tnaces of the Poemanden of, Hernes, in Arabic, are for:nd. Ttle
tiranslatorr into S5neie on Arabiar wa,s called ZacfraeG (or Sergirr.s) of.l.[ap1e.s.
:'
(4-) Ibgrc. There is a bod< ca: rnagic attr:j-br:ted to gpollonius of, Tlrana. ft
. not la:o,n if th-is
is was included in trre five r^rorks by hinr, nenticned by Flaei
Ktralfa, an'Anabian.rariten. Here Balinus is representsd as a'&scoiereirpr"r,agical
works. Ttris bool< crr rnagie nentions Hernes ard Aristotle,s pupiI, Alexanden Ce
-Aeat_(a legend by whom, presenr,ed in.histcry, he rrentions). "It'is said to har,e
been disco'rered by Balinu"s,in a Ctr::istian chui:h in Aroriqg ard',eas forrd and
trinslated
.: frclil the 6lreek to Anabian by l\futlanned B. lftaljdr,-the astrcnsren. i
,
lcrriusn'vfro-cane
-fu* Tfana. The works of aaUorrs herre refer-rea tq r^re*,d1Icrt
'rl['Etj.'oa1- gr,..q1o6oplrV, ragi.e ard ale]reny. Sprenger affnib1;tes a bod< *-*:"ti""f
p-4lq"ptrby Batinr-s to ar ea:{ien .iocr,., ,rcEr"*, in nis, hli;..y
ldicine (f,
215) sayrs:
;i Iffiil
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'rTtre tritings of Apollcnius $Iene anrng ttrose ttrat rrer.e tnanslated by
Khaled'ben Yezid; He prorues tiat ttre works of Apollcrrius, t'the nran of tali.s-
rrEns, t were ]arcra'r to' @ben.tr
leclerrc bases his opiniol on ttre evidences of t}e wor.k of Djalir B. Hajjan,
which atlrribute ten wor"ks to Balinus. Seven of these ten bocks were eoncer"neA
wiJh tfre planets, and also deal with nagic and alchery. Balinr:s also wrote foun
othen workslt .
the alctrernist, Antephius, who clajms to hare been Apollcnius himself,
spea)<s of ttBa'linue olu3 raster.r' Djildeki r^irote about tfre mo:< by Balinus-on
the Seraen Figunes (planets). Izrdki mentions a work by Balinr:^s on A1chengr.
Albent den D:"osse cites the follcwirrg fuom the uork, ttThe Ser,enrtt by Balinus,
which starts with: rtsalinus said that Apollo (Apo11sriur,s) dictited the bookr "
which is cited in an anorlarous astuological-magical conpilation in tfie year, 926
in Djabir iln Atlah rs bool< cn palmistry.
T}IE MIRACLES OF APOLIONIIB OT TTAI{A
- Populgr fancy bansforms the natr.sral deeds of grreat nen into rniracles afEer:
ttrein passing; and the nurnbe:: of such miracles aconddited to ttrem is a fairly
good index of thein estimaticn in ttre eyes of thein ccntempora::ies. Even since
the days of Hienocles and Eusebius, at the beginning of the for-s'tJ- centrr5r A.D.,
the-confi:oversy has naged as to who vns flre greaten wor"ken of rnirracles, Apol-
lonius or' llesus. The pantisans of Apollorius clained that he penfmned mone
nullEnqls and gneater rnirael-es than rIesu,s, and ttrat ttrose of the latten roere
fantastic imitations of deeds actuaIly penforned by thein chanpion; wluile, cn
t}le crELren tnnd, the Chr.istians clained ttrat ttre nuirnacles of Apollcruius r^rere a
plagiar^ism of tlrose of their savion, invented in an effont to set up a pagan
coulterpa:rr of tfiein, nessiah.tt Hooerrer, an open-rninded examination of tlre
accotrtts of the minacles of Apollcnius, stanting wittr ttre annrrciation and
rninaculor:s bjJnti and ending with his nysterious-disappeanance, resurection and
ascension, [ust corvince cne ttrat ttre adhenents of Apollcniw harrc a betten
c?se, sinee npst of the suppeed miracles of Apollcnius, therne is reasorr to be-
lieve, wene based crr deeds-he actua-Ily penfornea, ed which can be e>plained in a
natural ranner, appeaning minaculous to the public orly because t}ey inr,olved
the applicaticn of certa.in r-rr]<rrown, eeuJ.t fo:roes of natr-ue oven which Apol-
lcnius tr,ad ccntrol.
Apollonir:s, urlike ,.Tesus, rlisglaiffed his per:forrning of ilrniraelesrtt in
ttre aocepted.sense of the wond, saying that whateven he acfriered r^a.s acconplished
by nattr:ral IIEans, though resulting from ccrrlrool o'ren centain sr:bt1e, urlcrcx^nr
fonees of natr-re. 0n this point, Carrdinal Newrnan, seeking to strcn^r tlnt Apollor-
ius, urlike Jesus, per:forned his.supposed mirracles by natural rathen than Egpqr-
naturaL IIEaIS (ttre LafEs bein8 the iole prenogatir,,e offihffi:ristian nessiilif,
Fffies tfrat Apollonius claired nothing beyond th futt"r insigfrt into natr:re tlran
ottrens had; a kncruledge of the'fated and inr,n:Eble lanvs to whjch it is ccnfomed,
of tlre hidden spnings -cn which it npr,es. He brrcqght a secnet f:nom the East and
r:sed it; and ttrougfi he pnofessed to be favcrred, and in a nennen taugfito by good
spi:ritsr yet he certainly neferr"ed no part of his pcx^ien to a Sup:reme l:telligence.rt
by Catholie writers, is an admissicn fatal to
tl:eir" cr.In case, sincre by adnitting the ientity of thre histor:ical Apollcnius
and the flijrthical Jesus, ttre ccrnlusion is evident that the latten is an imita-
tion of t}e fonner, and not vice rersa).
-3-
or tlr99e_ wlich ccnsi&red in conrnrrion with the po^rery and prin-
Ther:r'gic vir'.tr:es,
cipfel of natr-re, W"ou high ih the'eeaLe 6f $rEhagorean ercellencei and to them
it u6s that'he asei.bed hli extrHordinary gift. By tenpenate livingi it tm's
Ure mina was endcxoed with anpler. ana-nore e:,aIted facultles than it other'-
"ria,
ffiglpossessed; pErtld< mone fully-of the nature of tlre cne Ltrriiersal Soul, was
gifte'd yith pqopfietiC inspiration, and a kind of jnluiti\E perception of secret
ltrre. phenorenal ane the stonies told of Apollcnius eausing his accusatio.n
to disappe"o f** the tablets of cne of his aoir:sens befote Tigellinus; of his
drandng his 1eg ort of the fettens to shcw Damis tlrat he was not rea1Iy a-
prison5n tho,t$ ctrajned in the dtngeons of Dcn,itian; anq of lris disappear:1nB
horn the tr:iUftraf of this erperonr-ccrneming which-it is related that pr:ior to
his disappeararce befors Domitian, Apollcnir-rs said, ttl$ soul you cannot talce.
You carrnot e\ien take rny body, fcr'thtu shalt not slay ne, since I teIL thee I am
not rpntal,tt whereupon-ne vinisfred fuom thre cor-rE, much i:o the disnay of Dornitian.
Apoll-onius rerypeared socn afEen to Damis arid Enetrir.s who were thsr in
a ca\E at Dicacarchil. !,lhen they asked him hcxu he accomplished the m:irecle, he
rep1ied trlrnagjne wha.t YA: wiIL, flying goat or vrings of wax e><cepted, .so lcng
as you ascniS" it to the intenvention-of a divjne escont. tt Theneafter:r_ we alle
told, all fteece flodced to see him and belier,ed hjm to be divine, bfr he ne'ver
nade the least parade about the rnatten of his escape.
'Tt is :related ttrat Ar:relian had ccrp to aof::esolution and had Pyllically^
ttut Apollcnius of
AecfareJ hi"-i"i;i:.*J, to aenrofish ttre city Tlana, but
Conceming .Apollcnitrsts
-l^lhile evocation of tr:e spi::it of Adrille?r Q. fo{cwqB
legend srrvirrei. tr.rar,eling nea:: the coast of Auboerr -Apollcnius nelated
to-hmis and his conpanions how he eloked the spinit of ActriJ-les to whcnr he
offerred the fo3.to,ring prayer, '?O Achi}les nost of nar*cind declare that ycu a:re
dead. BuE I cannot Igr=-witn thenr, nor can $d:agoras, my sPinitual anceston.
ff then, we hold U:e {nrUr, sho..l to us youti o,ur for:m...and attest yorr existence.rr
Theneupcn a sligfrt earthquake shool< the neigfrborhood and Adrilles, whom
Apollcnius -t *oe r&ognizedr- appeared. epoltcnius asked him five qr.easticn:s,
ana to all of tlrese he nepl1ed inforrmqively; then he vanished with a flash of
surrrrer Lightling
Car,dirral Nernnren, in his r"Apollonius of Tlranatr, writes as follcrrs conoerning
t}e rnlnacles of Apollcnius:
tt$ol1cnius is said to hare been arr incan"nation of flre God Frcteus; his
bir'&r wis annornoed Dy ttre falling of a fl:r.a:derbolt and a chorus of svans; his
deatlr signaf ized by a wondenful voice calling him up to hearpn; and aften death
he appeared to, a yorrth to convince him of the iilrnoutality of the sou1. He is
reported to have }a:cr^nr the Janguage of birds; to harre er.oked ttre spir.it of
Achi11es, to have dislodged d &nrcrr fnolr a boy; to havre detected an Enpusa who
was seducing a youth int5 na":riage; when br:orgfrt befor:re Tigellinius, to hanre
ear"sed the vrritjng of tlre indictnent to vanjsh from ttre papen; when irnpr:iscn:ed
by Demitian, to harre miraculously :released himself fuom his fetters; to harre
discorrened ttre soul of Arnasis in the body of a lion; to har,re cured a you*r
attadced by hy&aophobia, v'fiom he prrnonced to be ttre l'Iysian. fn declaring renf s
ttrougfrts ard distart events, he indulged npst 1ilenal1y, adopting a b'rvity
efrrich seened beconrirrg tJ:e dignity of his ctraracten, r^friIe it secr"rred his pre-
diction fum ttre possibility of an entire failue. Ilon instance: he garre pr.e-
vio.rs intireticn of lrlerots nan3c&r escape frq:n }ightling, foretold the shorE
:=igns of hjs su@essolrs, informed Vespasian at Alexandr:ia of fl:e burning of ttre
Capitol, pneaicted the violent deali: of Titus by a r.elatire, discorered a }ano$r-
ledge oi ttre pr:ivate history of his Ep5rptiar Er&, fonesatr lfre r^rrreclc of a ship
he had inba:nked in, and tJ:e e><ecution of a Glician Proprlacton. His predistion
of the Propractonrs nrin was con\ieyed in ttrese wor:ds ttO that pa:rticulal. dryt,
ttrat is, of e>ecution, He pnedicted ttre stprt r:eigns of the empercns'in his
saying tJrat rany Thebans wouLd suocged Nerc. tE must ncrt omit iris f.irst pre-
dicting and ther: removing pestilence at Ephesue, the best autilenticdted of his
prcfessed mitecles, as being attested by ttre enectirrg of a statr.e to him in
consequenc. He is said to har,e put an end to the rmlady by conrnanding an aged
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rIEn to be stcned, whom he pointed o:t as its auftror, and whom vrhen the stones
were remo\,ed was fotnd dranged into the shape of a dog.tt
With tl:e e:<eeptign of the nythical ,.Tesus, no person in history has so neny
miracles assocj.ated with his biognaphy as ryoilcnius of IVana. lnl foUo^ring -
typical quotation fiom an e.ncyclopedia illGtrates fl:e point:
rrHe
was a zealous follcwen of the doctr-ines of ffihagorrns. He trareled
!|r"",r$, Asia to Nireveh and Babylcn, thenee to lndia iun n5, at the Cor-rt of King
Phnaotes, he net far:chus, the p-rincipal Bnalrrnn. t,ilren epoifcnius r.etur:ned fnom
this pilgrim6er his fane as a wise nen r^as greatly increased; the people re-
grded h-im as a worlcen of mimcles and a divine being, and pninoes hrere glad to
errterfain him at ttreir cour:ts.
ItHe hinself seens to ha',e cl-ained iasi$rt into futwity, rrathen than ttre
pq,rer of working mi::acles. Yet in bnB it was claimed tlrat he rraised a yoirng
ginl fnom the dead.
rTIe was aoquitted of treascn by
Ner"o, hcause the jnd:ictnent had vanished
fum tJ:e papen. Aften e>rtensire trrarreIs, in Spajn, Italy, Greece and Ethiopia,
he was acctsed of having taken pa:rt in ar insurr.ection against Domitian. He
appeared before the Tl"ibr-ura1, but soo: n[rracr.flor:s1y vanished.
r(iltirmtely he appears to har,e seftIed in Ephesu.s, urhere he cpered a
$fthagorean Sctrool, and continr-ed his teactring urtil he died, neanly cne hr:ndred
yea:rs old. rr
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for-ue bocks cn Judici.al Astrolory, and a ll"eatise on Sacnifice.
tThe inhabitants of [iana built a tenple to thEin Apollcsdus afEen his
passing; tr.is statr:e hils epeated jn sever.al tenrples; and the Enpenon Hadrian
coll-ected as rrEny of his r^ar-i.tings as hd possii:1y ccr-[d, anri kept them veny
select, and in his srper:b palace at Ant.i-rrm, witli a re::e br:t sna1-l bmk of flris
philosopherts ccncerning the Onacle of Thophcnius. This little book was to be
seen at Antium dr-uning the life of Phr-ilostnatus; non d.id any er-uniosity whatever
nenden tluis sna1l tcxnin so fanpus'as did fl:is nar:e and e:<trraor&inary bod< of
Apolloniu^s
t'It is
repo::Eed that a wise prirce of the Indians, weIL skiJ-led in nagic,
rnade seven ::jngs of tl:e seven planets, which he besto^red upcn Apollcnim, one
of vrhich he wore ever1z day, by which he always maintained ttre health and vigor.r
of his yorrttr, and lived to a very adrranced a&.tt
nay sunranize Apollonius's miracles, which::ival and eren st.upass thcse
We
atbibuted to Jesus, as folloos:
He is said to have been the son of god, Pnoteus, or rather an incamation
of him.
IIis birth hES announced by the follcr^ring of a t:ur:den bolt and a d:onr,s of
swans.
-B-
Tigellinius, the pnefect of Neno.
,:
tihen impnisoned by Domitian, he minaculously r.eleased himself foom his
fettens and d:isappeared fnom the tribural, cnly to neappean to his disciples
at Puteolo, whithen he had before sent on Damis.
He possessed telepathic and clairnoyant pcr^reras, could read thouglrts and
see at a riistance. He also had pcr^len of ptecognition.
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figure jn western history during the past two thorsand years.. And since all
learnirrg and records of antiquity, cnly a few centr::ries ago, were in tlre harG
of the chr-undrnen, r^re can well urder.stand why tJrey nerien perroitted kno^tedge of
Apollonius, his life and teachings, to pass cn to the rnodern wonld.
We shallpresent Philostratusts biography of ApolScniw in an abr:idge(
ncru
fcnnrb tryying a&rere as closely as possibLe to its or-iginal spirit and style;
to
while eljminating tie details of an ottrerwise voluminous wor-k, so ilEking it mor"e
:readabIe and aeessible to the public
-10-
bir,th i/ras approactrirrg, his mother was warned in a dream to wal}< out into the
neadcx,.r and p1uck the flcwers; and jn due cou:se she carre tlrer.e and hen nBids
attended to the flover:s, scattering thermeh,es o\En the readcr^r, wh.ile she fe1I
asleep lyrng cn the gass. I}rere-upon the shrans who fed in ttre neadoo set up a
dance arcu:d hen as she s1ept, dnd lifting tlreir wings, as they are wont !o do,
cr:ied orrt aloud aIL at once; fon there was sone-what of a br.e-ze blcr^dng in the
neadcvr. At ttre sourd of ttreir: song, she leqed up and bore hen ehiId. The
people of the cor-ntry say that jr:st at tJ.e mcnent of his birth; a thlnderbolt
seenred about to fall to eanttr and ttren rcse up in the ain and .risappearned aloft,
by which the gods indicated the great distinction to which ttre saBP was to at-
tah, and hinted in advance hcnr he was to tnanscend all things r:pon earttr and
app::oadr fl:e gods.
lpollcnile was a'\Ery nernrkabLe chitd, who d'isplayed much PcrJen-of meror:y
and str.engt} of ttrorgfrt; ire spoke ptte Attic and vras notewortJ:y fon his beanty.
Irflren he wIs fourteen-year:s ota, nG fathen bnouglrt him to Tansr.rs in Cilicia
r^frene he took jnstrnrction frcm a Phoenician Teachei:, Euttrydennrs. Thougfr he was
attactred to his teachen, he fotrrd ttre atrflrsphere of t}e city har"sh and -'t lpTr-
and urrsuited to a philoscphic life, so he rirtirea wittr hjs teacher to the neigfr-
boring city of Aegle, where he found a peace congenial to one uho would be a
philoscphen, and fore he fctnd a terple of Aesculapius, whete he cane jr,
tact rdth teacher:s of var.ious philosophic cu1ts, the folIcn^rcr's of Plato and "$r-
0:rrysippus and the peripatetic- philoscpher.s. Aiollonius atEended to tfre dis-
ccn:rses- of Elicr:onrsl U,rt was nret aqbacted by the teachings of lyflngonas, to
which he applied hinself with unspeakable ardour.
His teactren of ttre $flhagonean system, Eu:<enus by nare, was noE- a \El]y-
se::iou.s perscn, nor cne who pnacticed in his condurct ttre phiJgso$ry_ he tarrgltt,
fon he v,is a siarre of his Ueify and appetites, and ncde1}ld himself r:por Epicur'us.
This ran lcnerv the pr"ineiples o? pyUr"ili"" jupt as panrcts l<rrcivr vfiat they learn
fuom nen, fon they- nay be trained to nove ttrein tcngtes in a certain nnnnen, brrt
know not what ttrey say. Iiler.ertheless Apollcniris studied r.nder him fon trro yea::s,
aften which he foirsooi< hiq brft rot urlcindly, fon he pensuaded his fathen to
pnesent him with a villa outside the tcrnrr, whene there uret= ten&n graorres and
ior:ntains, ed said to hom: tTrlcr^r you ILr,e ttrene you. oin life--I propose to
Iirre acoorOing to the norrals of qyinagcras.rr :hG ne spolce when cnly six,teen
years of age
Eu:enus rea'lized that fuollcnir.:s was devoted to a lofty ideaI, and asked
him at what point he wor:Id Uegin it. Apollcn"ius answered:
I'At the point at whj.ctr physicians begin, fon t:rey, by pr::ring the. bo-h,e'l:q of
flrei:r patienG, pre\rent sore flombeing i11 it a11, a:d heal others.il 4ndhav-
i"*.ia CG-h" declined to Lire upca:r a flesh diet, cn the grrcr-rrd ttrat it was
-gross;
u'r61earr, and also it maOe t}re ruind so he pantoc*< cnlV of dr:ied fzuits and
vegetabies, fon he said ttrat al} tf,E fnits.of tire earth are clean. And of wjne
he"said ttrit it $ra,s a clean drink because it is yielded to nen by so well-dores-
ticated a plant as the vine; brrt he decla:red that it andangered the nental ba1-
ance and daricened, as wit:r m,rd, cLearness of mild. After: having.ptnrgad.his.in-
ter:ion ly sueh Ai6t, he toolc to walking vrithotrt shoes and clad hfurse.lf in linen
rainentr- aeefining to *"ur arry animal froduct; and he l,et his hair gncrur 1cn-g and
1irred ii-, tte Ten^pie. And ttre-pecple r6r:nd about the Tenple wene stn:d< with
admiretion fon trirq and it was- that tire god Aesculapiug cqe day said to
; pA;i t it-r,. ,ir Oufighted to lnre ApoILcniG as witress of his ctures
"t*imed of
UrL sicX; and such was hi5 repr:taticrn tf,at ttre Cilicians and all ttre people
tthlhithen
around flodced io Regae to viiit trim. lbnce the Cilician prno'urerb:
-l-1-
runnest thou? Is it to see d:re stnipling?tt Such was the saying ttrat arcse abouE
him, and it gained tJ:e distincEion of becoming a prrcr,erb.
' Erren the God'of tJ.e tenple regarded him so favorably tlrat when an Assyrim
youth suffering fnom ttre results of intempeuance cane to the tenple, the Uivinity
sent him to Apollcnius to be healed. D-re to luamious livjng and fuirking, he
strffered frcm dropsy, and finding his pleasr:nre in dnrrkennessr'tod< no care to
&17 rp his natady. Her. therefore, went to Apollcniw and said: t$lhat is ttrere
in yor:r wisdon ttrat T can profit by, fon Sesculapius bids ne consult you.tt And
he replied: 'T advise yorl of what, rnder the circurstances wjJ-l be nrcst rraluable
to you; fon I sqppose you want to get we1I.tt tYes, by Zerr.sril answered tJre othen,
trf want ttre health'that Aesculapius pr:omises, but never gives.tt t[lushrrr said
Apollcnir:s, 'tfon he gives to those who desire it, but you do thingF that inri-
tate and aggravate yol.r disease, for you give yourself up to l.r:xuryr.and you
accunulate delicate viands upo:r ycu:r waten'logged ard wom-orrt stcrnach, and, as
it were, droke waten r^rith a flood of nud.tt Fallcrnjng Apollcniusts advioe regard-
ing diet, the youth vlas nestored to health.
One dayApolloniw saw a flood of blood upcn tlre al.tarr'with u'iqlins r:id
cut uPq it, induairrg Egqptian bu}ls and gr"eat hogs, sone of which r,rere cut r4>.
Apollctrius lear-ned f:rcm tlre p:riests that cne of the wealthiest anong ttre CiIi-
cians offened these as wetl as ofrien sacrifices greater than had eGn been re-
ceived in the'tenple. Aften considening the casE, Apollcnius advised the pniests
to hare nothing at all to do with the nen, saying ttrat he was seelcing to bnibe
tlem, rather than seeking favor:: of tle God. The lattbr appeared at night to
ttre priest and conrmnded the mar to &part wittr all his polsessions, fon tne
beneficence of a, gd capot be bougfrt wittr mcney-.
The blauty of tlre youthf,-r1 body of Apollonius becane a tenptation to tlre
nrlen of Cllicia, a ruffian'r+ho'wae adAicted to infanpirs forms of passion. He
cane to the tenple-uurden tJ.e pnete>rt of saeifieing to t}e God, anb besougfrt
Ipollcnius to be tr-is nediato:r on the gr:or.lrd of npoltonius ts reputation of-stanA-
itg in the good gnaces of the Di\/jnity. ttlh]<e tte God f-:riendly to [Ert'pled he.
Brrt Apollcnius answered, t\rllry should you need that, if you are an hcnesl nnn?
The Gods Btadly accept honest persons without any rnediator. tt tBut, tt said the
gotqm$r Itthe God has pubJicly 'shcr^n fanrcun to you. r' Apollcnius answer=d,
ttThtis is only'so because rrirtue neconnended
rne to hirq a;d because f have nnde
virtue ny life, so has he teceirzed ne as senrant and iriencl; let virtr:e with
you also be a sufficient introdr:ction to the Divinity.tf Seeking to intimidate
trim, Apollcnir:s, nrith a fiere glanoe, said: fyou are rEd, you icum.rr The
crthen, not cnly fla:red up at these words, btrE thneatened to ctrt off his head,
vfte::9at Apollonir:s laugfred at lulm and erj.ed out Ioud, 't[Ia, such and suc]r a day,tt
And it was cnly thrree days laten (the day .goUcnir:s-predicted) vfren the nrffian
was. e:ecuted by ttre officer:s of justice.
VJhen ,Apo11oni-us hea:rd of the death of his fathen, he hurrried hone, and with
his o,m hands bur:ied him near hjs notherts sepulchre. He spent afresh'solre f:ine
a? -Aeg39, and turned-lhe Teryp1e into a Lyceurrand Acadeny, irnking it resor:nd
wittr all scrts gf.phirosophical discr:ssions. The Ia::ge 66tate rrE aiviaed with
his brothgll md Egt-ry9 his prrcpenty up6r rrelatir,res-who wene in want, jeaving
cnly a tr"ifle fon hjrmelf,
It happened that sonebody epressed beforre Apoltcrr-ius adnirration of the
docfi:ires of P5rltragoras who tauglrt trrat t'a nnn shoqild hare no jntercor-u.se ex-
cept with tr-is q,m wife, tt -decIa::jng that tl:is vras intended by grtlagoms fon
others than hirmelf; lre (Apollcnius) was neso},ed neven to i^redlnon*ha'.re trry
mrrnecticnr whateven with wbren. In laying nestraint crr himself he sr-upass6a
-L2-
Sophocles, who cnly said that in rcactring o1d age he had escaped frorn a mad and
crtel masten; but Apoltcnius by dint of virtue and tenperance, net/er eren jn
his youth was so o\Eucore. trlhile still a rer stnipUng, in full enjoynent of
his bodily vigor, he rnastened and garrred control of ttre naddening passion.
0n one occasion, Eu:enes asked Apollorir:s why so noble a ttririken as he and
cne who was rnaster of a diction so fine did not write a bool<. He replied; trT
hare rrot yet kept silenoe.il'biltleterpcn he began a @ur6e of silenoe, thoug[ his
eyes and mind took note of all;hq obsenied, for Apollcruits was ncrted fon his
e:<eptional rernory, which rgmin6d active urtil afLen he readrel tf,q age of a
hr-nrdred years. Iicn firc yeiirs he pr:acticed silenc'e. DEiBg ttris tine the
e>pnession of his eye and tlie grace of hjs gestures had sudr dranq ttrat his
silence alnpst becare an ad&d attnaction; nor dia he inpress cne as-being
gloon{f or lror.ose, bd retained his fcndress of corpany and his cheer:fulness.
fuis pant of his 1ife was ttre nrcst rehill work he lcrevr, fon he often had thingP
to say and corrld not do so; ofEen whsr he was npved and inclined to breal< cnrt in
a rSr.ice to others, he said tohimself: ItBear rp then, ngr heant and tcl:gue.r'
Dring t}e peniod of hjs silence, ApoUonius did scre trare1:ing, il9 wh91
he care cn a city engaged in civil conflI-ct, he would adrrane and shcru hirEelft
and by indicating sorc{trj.ing of his inten&d rebulce by nanuaf gestur"e on by lod<
cn his face, he ilou1d put an end to a'l'l flisorden, and people htrshed ttrei:: roioes,
blushed, ctrecl<ed therrrseh,es, and necorered tJ:eir senses . Orce he care to t}e
city of Aspendus, wtrere ttrere wa,s a famine, because certain r:idr ren had shut
up all tre com and held it fcr eryotr fiom the cor-rrtry. An excited cncwd of
att ages had set trpcn tJ:e governor, and were lightirrg a fire to bum him alirz'e,
believing him to G responijble. fuollcurits tlren went lp to the govemol and
with a sign of his hard asked him what was tfre matterl and he trIst^,ered tl:at he
had 6ne no wnong, but indeed wag urr"cnged guite as nnrch as the populace; butt
he said, he coulE-not get a hea:dng, ApolJ-cn-ius then tumed to ttre bystan&ns'
and beckcned to them tfrat ttre.y m,rsf tisten; and they not cnly held thei:r tcngr:es
f:om wondernent at hrrq buE ttrey laid thcj bnands they had kindled on the altars
r.vh-ich wene there. The goremoithen pludced up cou::Lge and said, :Ttris nran and
that rwr, tt and he naned-sevaral, rrare- to blane for the famine whictr tras arisen;
fon they have talcen away ttre com and are keeping it, cne irr cne part of tre
colrtry and anot}en in anothen. tt the infrabitants of Aspendus tlrere-tpon gassed
the word to cne ancithen to neke for ttrese nents q6tates, but Apollotius srgreo
with his head that ttrey sho:ld do no suctr thjng, b$t rethen surnicn tlpse who
wo:e to blarc and obtai-n the om frcm them with ttrein ccnsent. And nrhen, aften
a vftri-Ie the guilty pa:rUies arived, he neanly bndce out in speech agaTg! -ttren'r,
so rnrch was f,e af?e-ctea by tlre tears of tlre Lno,rd; fon the vronen arrd childnen
fuafl e'l'l flocked toget}er, asrd the old nen were gn6aning artd nrening as if ttrey
were cn ttre point of $dng from hu'rger. Hcruer.aen, he rnespected his rpw of silence
and w:pte cr the board- tfrE fo:fir^rin[ inaictnent of t]re oifender"s, 4va+g it to
tlre gwernor who read it aloud: trApoltcnius to.ttte corndealer"s of Aspendus,
tfre Ear:tfr is notJ.er of us aIL, fon ihe is jr.ust; but you, because you are fll,lst
harie pretended tiat she is yorr nptirer alcne; and ifl you do not stopr- I will not
penmi-t you to rernain rpgn hen.tt They r,relp so tenrified by these words t}at they
filled the market-place with corn and the city nevived.
Aften ttris period of silence, he r^rent to the temple of 4po11o in Asrtioch.
Hene he begar to teactr ptrblicly, and when he was minded to ccn',e1se, he_}vgide$
frequented"and disorOe::fy'regi6ns, and resorted to nor"e solenn places, fiving in
suctr terryles as were not shuf tip; and said itwas not the rEbbb he rvantedr but
real ren. Aften ttris beginning 6f his ptrblic mirristry he speqrt nnrh tirre in
prriffiig
rnr-ious tenptre-s, the-rites. i{e lorred to ccnrerrse with t}re priests
-1-3-
ear:Ly fl:e .nprning, Ifor, !r he said, ttit is ^at }he tfue qf da^In that v'e must
in
o*origl" with th;'Cd;.n. He gener,.uy spdcq in sqple wondsr,arrciding rheto:ri-c
.na poefuyr.hol-ding oon*ru"-r.rot cnly witt,'rr:r. edrrated and refinedr but errerr
At sr.runise, {poI}oniu^s
-tf.=. perfofired eertain nites by himsetf, which he com-
m-rricaiea'cnly to who ilad djsciplinea ttreisehes pV_a four: Yearst spell
of sircrce; ina dtring tlre rest of th-e day, if he happened to be in a Greek
city:,f,e w6ufa call tfre piests together and tatk aborrt ttre gods; and'wou1d
corGct them if they handepaqtgd f-::om ttre traditional folrns. If he'for-rrd ttre
:rites to be banbarofu ana pa:ufianl he would find out whc fornded ttrem, alA cs1
uhat @easion they wgre esial'Iished, and having learrred flre scrt of cult it
r,e.s, he rould rrEk; suggestions, h .us" ne couLd thirk of qnV improvenent tPon
th"rn, ana tfren tre would go in qr-:est of tris follcr,rers -and bid them ask any ques-
tioni tbe/ Iiked. FophE saidit r,a.s tfie duty.of ttre philosophei's of his school
to hold..r,re"". at the earliest da.,m witfi trl gods, Uirf faten irr- tf,." day to' ,
discuss huran affains. And having answened aJ-t $,re qriestions which tris conpan-
ions ad&essed to himr when he had enougfr of thej-:: seiety, he would ::ise and'
give hinself, r:p fon ttre nest to haranguing tte general ptrblic, nor hcrerer
Ueforrc mid-dayl and as fan as possibG a.bout nocn: And i^fren tre thougNrt he.had
enouglr of sd'ccs1\Ersaticns, lie woulQ be arointed and rubbed, and'then fling
frjrnself into cold brater, for-he called hot baths the olcl age of IIEn.
At ttris tjne
rle Apoltorrir-r,s
Apollorrir-r,s began distant volrage'to India, to
beean to thin]< of a distant'rnqfage
visit ttre sagas thsne who atre ciitea Bnahna4s; and on the way he hcped-to-visit
the }bgi vfio-dnlell in Babylcn and to study their 1ore. He annotlraed ttl hiis i.rr-
tention to his folIcxnrer"s, who wene seven in nr-urben, saying to ttrem, harre
taken the gods into coursel and har,e told you ttrein decision; and f har.e rnade
fuial of you to see if you are strong enougfr to un&rtake the sane things as
uglself . Since tlienefor6 you are so iofr aia effe*inater' I vr"ish you rery- good
health and that you. rrBy. go 6r with yor-nl philoeopkry; but f must depart r^frrithen
wisdomand tl're gAds fela-ne.". Having saia tris-he quifted Antioch witlr two
attendants, vfio-be-1cr-lged tg his fathenrs house, o-ne'of them a bhortlrahd wniten
and .the olhen, a calligpaphist.
: t :
Reaching the ancient city of llirrerreh, he fouurd there a statue of Io, the
daughten of Inachr:s. V,Ihile staying ttrere, he net Ninevite, Damis-, rd:o 3oined
h:im as a ppil and becare ttre cgrryanion of his wanderings abndad and renained
his aisciple faitlfi:I1y to ttre end of his life. Danis t'Let us Bo 6rr
4pottonius, lhou follouing God, and f thee; besides, l will'be "riqi useful as a guide
for f la:lcpi aIL the languages'.of tire cor.rrtrlr.rr rtArld frrr said Apollcrrius, ttl&
good firiend, urdenstard aI[ languages, tJ:ou$-r f neren learned a single clle.rr
Idhile passing ttrnougfr l"bsopcrEamia, ttrey were stcpped:at. tlre toll gate and
the officerrs asked v*rat he brougfrt wittr luim. Apollcnitrs'ansvuered: rT am taking
w'ith re tenperence, justiee, virlrre, continerrce, rralouf, ard discipfile.''t
Passing beycnd Et,esiphon, Apollonir-rs and iris conpanion were.seized by soi-
diers and hrougfit to the Satnry at ttre \Er1/ rrDrrent he was prepar:ing to'learre his
tent. Ttre Satrap said:
tI[
ftllhence do you co[re to us, and who sent ycu?tt And AF-
ollonius replied: harire Fefrt nysel! to see v,fiet]rqr I carr rnalce nen of you,
whethen you like it or not. i V'lherr asked a secqrd tirre who he was ,to oone tres-
f
passing Uke ttrat over the kingts countr5l, Apollorirb replied: ttAU the ear.ttr
is mine and f harire' the nigfrt to go all oren it ana fl:rough it. tt trltrenerpcn t}re
crfhen said: trl will tortue you; if you dontt ens-ler ny questions.rt 'rtA1d I
hoperrr$tas the repIy, t''Ihat you do it with youn cr^rn hands, so.tfrat'you'may
-14-
in a whine of entreat5l: ttBV the gods, who a::e you?tt and Apollcnius replied:
trsince you asked ne civilly this tirne and noE so rudetry as ,before, listen, I
will te11 you who I am: I arn'Apo11cnir.:s of Tlana, and ry road leads re to 1te
king of India.tr rr0 divirre ApolLca:iusrttneplied the Satrrap Hrg, t\np have heard
of you a lcrrg tim ago, and in favoun of so wise a rrBn as you, f would, I an
sune, step off ry golden tJrr"one, and send yor-ue party to Indla, each of you
notrrted cn a earel. And I myself no^r jnvite you to be my gr:est, and I beg to
p::esent you witr these trneasut:es. tt And at this nonent he pointed out a store
of gold to him and said: rTa]<e as rrErny handfuls as you 1ike, fill yor.r hands
not cnce, but ten tjrres.lr
Wkren Apollonius refused the mcney, the crther said: tWe1l, at any rate you
wil1 take sore of the Babylon wine in which the king pledges, his ten Satraps.
Talce a jan of it, with sore roast stea]<s of bacon and venison and sone real atd
bread and anything else you J:ike. .Fon ttre noad aften trfu, fon neny sta&s,
leads thnougfr villages which are ill-stocked witJ: pnovisions.r' And lrere he
caugfit hinself up and said: ttO):! ye gods, wtrat harre I done? For I harre heard
thaa ttris nan ne\En eats the flesir of-animals, norl drinlcs wine, and here I am
inviting hirn to dine in a gnoss and ignonant nannen. r' t'[^tre11, tt said lpo]-loniuqt
t\rou can offer ne a lighten r=past ana give ne bnead and &ied f::uits.rr rT will-
give you, tt said fhe othen, rrleavened bread and pa.1m dates. And I t^riJl sttpp1y
you wLtfr-riegetables, $re best which the gardens-of Tignis afford." rWellrtt said
Apollcrrius, the wiLd her-bs which gncvr free a::e nicer than those wtr-ich ane forced
and artificial.tt i.eavjng hj:q Apollcn-ius said: rsty erce11ent fe1Icn, dcn't
keep yorr good nenners to arother tine, brrt begin with them.'l
War-ned by a vision, he wort to a colony of Er",etr-ians wlp had been colcnized
stilt being nraltneated by thein
serrenal hr.u'rd:red year6 before, but who wene
neiglrbons. He thr:s becane familia:n with their condition, &d was later able to
procutne a rLitigation of their suffer"ings,by a decree of t:e king of Babylon as
ttre only present he wor:ld accept f:rom ttre kjng.
0n entering Babylon, he r"efi:sed to do neverence to the inagas of the kitg;
and when this r.as hougflt to tlre ears of the gorremors, tJrey cited him before
them and asked why he despised the king' Aporlcarir:s rePlied ttrat he had not
scomed the kingr-but would do so "if 6n *"ti"g his acqr.ajntance f find hjm to be
neithe:n honorable non good. rt !'Ihen asked vd:rat pr.esents he b:ougfit to hirq lpol-
Icnits replied: ,tOoqrage and justice.r' Asked vfrettren he said that he brougftt
ttrem becatrse the king tadceO them, he ansurened, 'r\hy, only tJ:at he nay learn to
r:se them, if he has tlrem. rr
Apollcnir:.s was brcugfit before ttre kirrg, and cn the way, wh:ile enteling tlre
regnificent pa1ae, ne Afa not erren lool< at it, but discor-rsed with Damis about
the nanes oicertain hyrn:s of tbner. The king was in the act of saeificing a
wlrite horse, and invited Apollcnius to take pa:t. Apollcnius nefl:sedr ccntent-
ing hinself irr ti"rrowing a handful of frenlcincense jnto t}e finer.saying.-' rtO _
thSu Swr, send me as far o\rer the earth as jn ry pleasr.ne and thine, &d rIBy I
nalce the ce of good rnen, and ner,er trean anyttring of bad onesr or tJ:ey
of re.rf He-tlren quittea tfre scene of sacrn'ifice so as not to be present at the
shedding of blood.
king said to Apollcnir:s that he br-rs rrpre pleased and &Iigfited with his
Ttre
amival ttran if he had ad&d to his cfr,iln possessions the r^ealth of Persia and
India; and added that Apollcnirs mlst be his guest an<l share wifir nim his royal
noof, to wtr:ictr Apollonim remarked: 'Er-1ppeing, 0 king, ttrat you cale to niy
courtry of Tlana and I invited ybu to live vftere f 1ive, would you care to do so?rr
rVhy no, tt ansrnrer-ed t}te king, Itr-u:1ess I had a horse to live in ttrat was big enougfi
to aeconupdate not only uy-escort and bodyguad, but nyself as we1l, in a hand-
sore manner.rf rrllenrrt said the ottrer, rrI rnay use the same.a:ngr.rnent to you; fon
if I am hor-r,sed above ny :rarrl<, I shall be il-1 at ease, fon srrperfluity distnesses
wise IIEn rrore than &ficiercy distr''esses you. Let ne therefore be entertained
by sone pr:ivate person who has the sane rreans as nyself, ild f will visit you as
often as you like.tr trDo you yer&iseIf :require nothing?fi asked ttre king. tYes,
he said, tI[ need dr:ied frtrits and bread, for t]rat is a nepast which deligfits ne
and wtr-ictr I find magnificent.tt
One day the king was goi-ng to hurt t:e arrinrals in the part<s in wtr:lch werre
kept Lions, bears, and leopmds, and he asked Apollcnii:s to aceompary him crr
the chase. Ttre latter repJied: 'You hare fongotren, O king, that I ne\Er attend
you, even when you are sacrrificing. 'And npreover, it is no plea"sr-ure to ne to
attack arrinals that harre' been iIl-tr.eated and enslaved in violation of tlreir
nature.tt And the king asked ldm what was tire npst stable and seo:re way of :
BOOK TWO
TRAVELS
O: canels furnished by ttre khg, ard led by gr.u&s, Apollcn-ius and Damis
passed on thrrcugfr l&dia to the ilimar-aya l,ijurtains, whicfr Urey inngined to be a
branctr of tlre Caucasus. They passed by n"rry f?iendly tribes who offered ttren,
as tlrey apprcached, r,u"ine rade out of palm dates and honey, md steaks fum ttre
flesh of Licu:E and lecpa:rds. Ourrtnarelers aicepted er,eryfhing e>rcept the
-l-6-
flesh, and then started off fon'India to the east. lrlhen hj.s conpanion offened
luim tlre wine, Apollcnius refused, though he did nq! .lisslEde his-corpanions
from d:rinlcing, saying that abstjnence nay not benefit tlrerq as it woutd be ex-
ceptional, Yet it rrculd profit hinself as being tlre recogniaed, established nule
of-his life rby vintr.e of the covenant I nede with Philosopf,y frrom ny ear'.liest
childhood. "
Crcssing the fndr-rs, they carc to Eaxila, the capital of India. When intro-
duced into tlre kingts presence-ctramber, they for.rrd it so riery sinple that Apol-
lcnius gnebted the king as a philosophen and asked whettrer such sinplicity was
ttre nrle of the land, on if the king hinself had inboduced it? The king ans-
wered that he had stiI1 sirplified tlre ah=ad remarkable tr"aditional sinplicity,
inasmudr as, ttrouglr he possessed nore than any otlren hrrran bfog, yet he ree&d
Iittle--his great lnssessions he'consi&r.ed ttre praperty of his-fuiends. Fol
t:is speech ApoJ-Iouiw re\Erencd the king Phrraotes, and al-I his 1:ife nefenred
to him as an e:olpIe cn rcderation. Apollouius also asked hjm aborrt his diet,
and he replied: 'T drjnk jr-rst as rnrdr wine as I pouur jn }ibaticn to the Sun;
and wtrateret I take in ttre chase I grrre othe::s to eat, for f am satisfied with
flre e:ercise I get. But rr5/ c,r^rr neal, consists of rregetables and of the pittr arrd
frtdt of dab pa1ns, and of all ttat a r,e1l-waEned gar@rr yields in tlre way of
fi-ui,t. And a gr.eat deal of fnrit is yielded to re by ttre tnees I cultivate with
these hatds. r trltren Apollorrirls heard this he was nore than pleased, and kept
g3ancing at Damis. '
l'loticning the gualcd to with&ra^r, the king care up to Apollonius and as]<ed
hjm whethen he corrld invite him as his grrest. rtHou so?r' asked ttre latren. rBe-
callse,It the king rcplied, , ttI regard you Els ny sr4nrior, for" wisdorn is rnone of
the kingly quaUty about it. r' the king then shcr,,ed him his baflring p1ace, which
I47as a pool in a ga:rden, ftd by n-rnrlng shams, cold and drinkable, and cnr each
side wers e:<ercising places, where he was accustcned'to e:<ercise before bathing.
Aften having bathed, ttre king led Apollcrrius into his banqueting chamber, with
w:reaLhs cn tJrein heads. At the nea1, the king nelated to Apollcnitrs the qual-
ifications a:r Indiar yorrf}r must har,e-to .ta]<e .p tf,. study of philoso$ly. He was
tested as to whettren he had a good nem@, wlrether he was abetemious in eating
and fuinlrdng, wtreathen he was neithq: bomtful nor irmrodest, and had led a Pur
Iife. AfEe:r this test only vlas a yorrth a&nitted to ttre teachings of tlre Brah-
rrEns. At the c16e of ,tlre banquet, there arose a h5rnrr acconpanied by flute-
playing.
Ttre ne>ct norning before da,m ttre king entered into ttre r"oqn alotted to Apol-
lonir.rs e>rpeding to iind him sleeping lightly, ttfcr', tt said he, thater^-drjriker:s
sleep indeed, but with a Liglrt sleep whidr as one mi$rt say, rests cnr the eyes
but not in ttre soul. rt When the king asked Apollcnius to neke hirn a rember^ of
h:is rreligious brotherhood, ApoltcniG ansvrened that too serious attainnents in
a king often becone cxaggerated; and uslaIly lead to offense vrith ttre people--
ffi'jich fon a public nan girres nise to urpleasant circurstanes.
Wtren ready to learlre, the king garre ApolJ-cnius a letten to farchus, th
leaden of the Brahlnans Apollcnius had cbne to visit, whictr nead as follo^rs:
ttKing Phrraotes to Iarctrus his nasten and to his conpanions, dl hail:
ttApollcnits, vrisest of nen, 5rct accorrrts you stil1 wjsen ttran himself, and
is com to leam you. Ione. Send him away therefore when he knonrc a}l that you
-assr.rreO
loow yor-useh/es, tlrat notrting of you:r teachings will penish, fon in qi-d-
cour:sl and renqT he ercelLs all nenl And 1et him also see t}re throne cn which
-77-
T sat, vrhen your: FatJ:en Ina::chus, bestonred cn IIE the kingdon. -And his tofollorere
too deserve eonuendaLion cnr ttreii. devoticn to such a.rEster'. Far^eriell 'yo.W-
self and yorlr crcrtPanions.rr ,,.
. BOOK IHRffi
TTIE BMTIMANS
The Bralumns rresided beycnd ttre Garges cn a nor-rrtain whjch miglt be conpared
to tlre Acrcpolis of Attrens, nising focnr a rnJ-ley wittr :rodcs aFl.rtd atsandsLIIIrI)It'
silence,
wfrich t ga""*11y i,ia-Uy'efouOs] Hene dnrelt the sages_in clarrress
""
;;"r"i;i;g",,*,y tpi"iGigiits, suctr as fo::esigfrt. fn .Irt?T yearE Apollcnius
deseni-hd-them as foIlcx^rs: 'T saw the Indian Brehnans who lire cq.I the ear'l*t
arrd not on 1tre ila ciiadel r^rithout for+iticaticns; without',properayr- ard
"""th;
yet in posseiision of-aLl things.r' Ttre Indiars fear: these peog1e mPTe ttnrl tttlY
lo tfreir o,6 kingr.. beca.rse tfre fing hinself to whom, the Land_ is sr:bject ecmsults
ttrem about ereffiing that he has Io say * 9o, just-as.people send to an
jndicate-to -who
or=.f" of a goOj and"t}e sages him-what it,is e>rpedient fon him to
&, and v*rat is ire><pedient.
Apollcuiius was gneeted by ttre sages, who Ied hj-rn to ttrein ch-ief, Iarchus,
who addrcssed him in-Greek, and much to bis surpr:ise, asked fon his letten;
aftn whictr he r=cotnted jrr &taiI all the erents of lpolloniusls past life.
Apollorrius was astorrrrded at'this and asked frlnhcr^r,he care to such }rtowIedga.
farehus replied: ItAnd you too are oorrE to,shal:e.in this r,risdom, bgt ycu qqe rot
yet ar adept.tt tWiIL you teactr nE, thanril said the ofl:er, tt+[ t]rjs wisdcnr?tt
itcertainlyr rf lda.s fl:e neply, trfor ttris is r.riser than to hide it.
After conpleting ttrein rites, Apollcr:ius was invited to sit dcr"a'r cc'I a seat
on which Phraoies fohtenly sat, and to csrverse with far"ehus, who'said, ttAsk
whateven you like fon you find yor-unself ammg people who l.rrcr^r evelArttling. !f
Apollonius asked hirn if he Imew hjrnself a1so, to which he rneplied: rWe ],cnour
eve4rthing just because we begjn by }<oo^ring ourselves; for no cne of rs would
Ue aAmitted to this .philosopht urless he first knew hirseLf .rr Apollonius asked
wlrom they corsi&r ttrernselies to be, to whietr fa:rchus ans'toer:ed: '$le oonsiden
ourselres to be Gods.tt ttt{fuyllf asked Apollonius. lBecauserrr sajd ttre othet,
t\oe a:re good mn.rt Th-is rcp1y stlrck @ollurits as displaying sltrh trained good
sense ttrat he sr:bsequently nentioned it to Dcnritian in h:Ls clefense of h:imself,
-L8-
In answer to ttre qriestion of ApqEcldirs as to ho^r nany elenents the:re are,
Iarchus repl;iedthat ther"e a::e,five. trlnd how can the:= be a fiftrrtt said
Apollcrrir-c, ltalongside of waten and ain ard earth and.fire?rt rtThere is tl:e etherrr
replied t:e otherr. i\,rtdch we must regard a,s the stuff of v,ftich gods are nade;
fe just as all ror-Eal seatr::res irrhale ttre ai-n, so do inmoftal and divjne natr-ues
intale the ethen.r'
Ittene arrived to t.tre sages a hronEn j-n behalf of hen child vrl:o was possessed
by an evil spir:it, whlch Iarctrus drove out. thsr therne amived a nen who was
lare, and aften nassaging his 1imb, he imnediately reeorered his rpr'igfrt gait.
Arrd anottren rrErn had had his eyes puE ouE, and he vent away hay:5rg r:ecoraered tle
sigfrt of boti of them. Yet arother rrErn had his hand paralyzedr' ild left thein
prsence in fr:IL pesession of tr:d liirb.
Apollcruius teturned hom not ttre way he had colte, but by the ocean, the
strip passing the nprrths of fl:e IndLrs and Patala. They sailed to Clpans and _ _
Ien:ded at Piphos, where therre was the statue of Aphr"odite. Apo3-lcrrir-rs narllelled
at tlre s5rrbotic @nstlruction of the sarre, and gavL the p:riests mtch instnrticn:
with regard to the ritua-l of tle terp3e, He ttren sailed to Iccdar -where he
excited-rnrh a&niration and no UtEle esteem arnculg aIL loraars of wisdom.
BooK FOUR
:,,
TI{E FIRST LABOUSS TN GP.EECE
Ttre fi::st djscotrrse then utrich he &}irered was to the Ephesiars firom ttre
platfo::m of ttreir temple, and its tcrre was not ttrat of the Socnratic school, fon
ire dissuaded tlrem fncur otf,er: pr:rsuits and urged ttrem to devote thenselr,es to
philosophy alcne, and to fil1. Ephesr:s witfr real study nathen than wit} idleness
and amogance such as he fotnd mrnd him ttrere. tlis ottren discor::rses he de-
livered &rO"r' t]1e trees and i;r t]rese he dealt vdth fl:e qr:estion of cormr.nisn,
and taugfrt that the hea:rers should stpport each cthen and o^In all in _conmcn.
Then he-rade a tour of the rest of Icniar, regulating ttrei:: serreral affairs_, .and
from tirre to tine r"ecofluending in his aiicouise whaleter was sa].utory for his
audiences.
tb fourd tlre Sm5rrreans devoted to study, and he e>trorted them to pensevene
in this courlse, encouuraging them to pay none altention.to ttrenselr,es than to
the exterior oi ttreir city. For buildings relrE:in staticaray, but er:ltr.red nen
wiIL spnead the neputation of the city, wfrifg tr"arreIing. Ox seeing lhat thene
*ere pititical divi.sions in the city Apollonius recomllEnded good discord,-not
care that should bear ft.uit of civil rer, but praiseworthy contest as to who
could do ttrei.n duty by, on g1\E the besE advice to the city go\,mnent.
-19-
It ms one gf the last days of the Elausinian mystenies, th day of the
Epidar-urians. The amival 6f ApolLonius cneated such a stir that nany cardidates
fon the l'lnteries neglecLed thJil fi onden to'see sorettring of hirn. 0n hearing
of this Apollonius e*rorted the latten to return to.the Mysteries; and in onden
to pensuade ttrem, decla:red that with them he would also see]< initiation. But
tJre Hieroptrant nefused hirn admittance cn the grumd that he rnas a ragiciar, to
vf,:rich Apollcmius answered, tfI care to be jnitiated by a nan wiser ttran I, but
I see f lqrcw ncu:e aborrt ttre },tyster^ies ttran you do.tt He then philosophized about
the nigfrt IIEr]nen of offening saoifices to the Gods, but was intemupted by lhe
laugfrten of a sybar.'c youtr, orrt of whom ApoS-Ionir.is due a &non, leaving him
nodest, gentler'and neady to philosophize.l He fi-trhen corrected the DiqTsiac
dances and ttre gfaaiatorial gares befote he left fon Ttressaly.
It was in Corinth ttrat Denretrius the philosophe sent one of his disciples
to Apollonius to learn of him, as of a ligfit gneaten than hinself. Vrlhen Apol-
lcnius $ras c,r1 his r,ray up to Olynrpia, sone envoy$ of the lacedaercnians net him
and asked him to visit ttrein city; cn seeing that Sparta had degenenated, he
nestorred the old orstoms; tJ.e vn:estling gnorrrds were cnce rprne filled with the
youtJ:r, and the @mrpn neals were nestoned; ttre hair-pllckers tsene chased out,
and beards again were wonl.
So ttrey entened ttre gates of Rone, and souglrt lodging in an inn nearby.
By the da^ar of the nex[ day, Telesinus, crre of tJre ccnsuls, had,Apollcnius
caI.led befor= him to inquine of his teaclrings, dth which he was nurdr impnessed,
and garae Apollonius per.mission to d^re11 jn the temples, and Apollcnius tnaraeled
arnourd f:reely foorn one to ttre othen, as the spinit'mor,ed hinr, the aresult of
his discolrses about neligion va.s trat ttre Gods r^rere wotrshipped with nore z.eal,
and ttrat ren f1.oclced to tl:e terples whq:e he vlas, jn the belief that by dojng
so they would obhin an jnrease of divine blessings.
Shortly before his departr.ae from Rone Apollcurius penforred a deed which
attrracted ruldr notiee. A yourg bnide died cn ttre day of he rnmiage. Apol-
lonius net ttre finereJ- prrccession, stcpped it, asked for her narlE, spoJce to her
in a lcnr tcne of voice, and caused her" to becone reanirnated, The large surn that
hen nelatives offerred Apoltonir.rs as a rernrard, he added to the ginlts ranriage
dcx^rry. Damis is not sr:re whethen ttre girl had been entirely dead cur cnly in a
fuance; in arry case, by his touch, she was gr-ven back 1ife, to the,joy of her:-
self and the whole city.
BOOK FI\E
SECOND I4BOUM TI'J GRffiG
Apollonius and tr:is disciples left Rore to travel tfrnorgfr Spain. the
-20-
qov?InoT of Baetica wap very arrxious' tq ha\re a .con\Ersation with him, tJrouglr
Apollonius said that his ccnversation mrst seem tedious to anycne uul a pfrifoso-
P.hen. they met and no one lancx,rs what, was said,- thougfi Damis irazarUs the opinion
that ttrey forre'd ? plot togethen against Nero. Fon if,ree days ttrey org.ge'O in
pr:ivate _con\iersations and cn leaving the gorerrror, Rpot1cniG said, "FInjwel1, md
9o PI fonge! Vindex.'r The neaning of this is as follcnvs: Irihsr Nero was singing
in Achaea, Vindex is said to harae Stir'red up against hjrn the nations of the wEst.
At Rhodes he saw a young nnn who suddenly cane jnto possession of gneat
wealth and built hirlself a house which he pnoudly ixlsisted to shcn^r Apollcnius.
The lafrel asked how mueh he spent qr tr-is Lducation and how mudr cn ihe house.
Ihe arswer^ hES, nottring or hirrrself and cn the house tuelve talents, or tvdce
that anq:nt. lllr'lhat is the purpose of the house?ir rTo be splendid-abo& for ny
bdYr that nen may admi::e rne on accourt of rtD/ riches.t' ttgul tetl re--v,#rictr'ar:e
betten able to talce ca:ne of riches, t}re cultuned or the urcultured?tt As the
youth rerm.ined silent, Apollcnius said: rTt vrould alnpst seem as if it r^:as not
you wto cnined the horrse, but as if the house ouned you.',
talhen Apollonius appnoached A1exandr"ia, which had from far loved him, and
yearned e:ceedingly fon his presen@, tlre crcxuds that net hirn were rery great.
ft happened that just as he was enter"irrg ttre gates of tJ.e city, he r^ras met ny
the sad prcoession of ten cr-iminals being e>ecuted. He, stated th.at cne of ttrem
vas irnrocent, and aften eig[t were ki11eI, ttrer.e annirrcd a r:ider i"rit]r a par:dcn
fon cne of tJrem, nalred Pha-::ion, who, r,,E.s iru:ocent. Ihis deed earned fon epot-
lonius great re\Er.erne.
Determiruing to go to the inner:nost of Egqpt, Apo[o.nius left behind him
twenty of h:is disciptes, vnto were friglrtened-at the- dangers and pr"ivations' of
the journey; and wittr ten of his disciples he started for ttre L$pen Ni1e.
BOOK SIX
\IISIT TO TE G1'I\NI6OPHISTS
The little party went up fl:re I'lile to the r,ery confines of Ettriq>ia wher-e
dnrell the rlalced fgsrptian philosopherrs, l.,mourr as G\rynrosoprhists. lnltrerrasked to
e><pIain his philosophy of Iife, .Apollcrrius spdce as fo1lc,r^rs: tT discerned a
centain sublimity in thu discipline of P5rthagoras, ad how a certain secrnet
wisdom enabled hirn to knctr, not crrly who he ilas frirnself, buE aLso who he had
been; md f saw he appnoached the altar.s in ptu:ity, dnd suffer.ed not his be11y
to be polluted by pantalcing of ttre flesh of anirnals; and thrat he kept his body
pure of all garnents woven of &ad anirnal rrefuse; and that he was the fir:st of
uankind to nestrain his tcngue, inr,enting a discipline of silence @scribed in
the pnove:$ial phrase, r8n ox sits on, it.t f also saw tlrat his philosophical
system was in othen respectF orecular and true. So I nan to enb::ace tr-is teach-
ings.
I'I beheld the ineffable forrn of r.,risdom which 1o:rg ago conquered d:e soul
of $rthagorras; and she stood, I,rnay teIL you, not ancng the nany, brrt kept her-
self aparrL and in silerce; and when she saw that'f nEnged not ngrself wittr the
rst, thougfi a,s yet f ]arew not what were hen war:es, she. said: rYou:g nun, I am
ra:pleasirrg and a laQy fi:lJ- of sorror^rs; for, if anyorle betakes hirnself to my
abode, he rrlrst of his cnm ctroice put avl.ay all dishes which contain the flesh of
living aninals, and he nnrst fonget wine, nor nnke nruddy wittr the cup of wisdom
which is set in ttre souls of those that &ink no wine, non shall blanket keep
him raar:m, non wool shom from a living animal. But I a11cx^r him shoes of bank,
-21-
and he rnr,st sleep anywhere,and' aryhcn^r, dd if l.ifih'd try \Dtaries yielding to
sensual pleasweir'trjharre p::ecipi-ces to'whictr justice'that waits rpcn yigdcnr ^
camies tf,em ana rses thenr,oienl and I am so harsh,to those who neke choice of
ny discipline that I hare bits ready ,to nestrain lheir' tong\tes. Btrt learn fuom
# oAr*t i.ewards you shall .reap Uy enaur-jrr,g aII this: Terryenarrce and ju-stice,
r-ursougfrt a1d at once, and tlre faeulty to r:egard no IIEn with enq7, dlrd to !e .
d*.6d UV tyralts rittrun than cr:jag6 to th6m, and to have'you::.hurbLe 'offer:ings
appealr swLeten to the gods than the offer.inp of t:ose who pou:r out before them
tlre blood of bulls; And whor you are pure I will grarrt you tJ:e faculty of
fo:relq:pwledBe, and f wiU so fiU youn eyes wittr :iglrt .that you shall distingui-sh
a gd, and recognize a heno, ard detect and put to share ttre shadcr"ry phantors
which dlsguGe tl:erseIrres in the form of nen. t This was the life f 'drose, ye
wise of ttre Egptials; it was a sound choice and in ttre spirit of Plrthagora's,
and in nalcing-it I neithen deceiried myself, norl was &ceired; fcnr I hare becone
all that a trihr"ileophen should'beeone, ed all that she prrcmised to bestct^r lryon
the philosopher, ttrat is mine. For" I harre studied pnof,or.undly flre prcblem'of
the nise of the art and wtrence it draws'its fi::st pr.inciples; and I have'real-
ized ttrat it beJongs to nen of transcendent r"eligior-rs grfts, who have tJ:orougftly
investigated tJ:e natr-ue of the soul, the well-spr:ings of whose'existenee lie
bad< in the irnrortal- and in the wrbegolten.rt
i The ndced Egrptian philoscpher.s, I,rrcrnrn as the Q6moeophists, adhetred to a
sinple and natr:na1 rpde of }iving. They e>plained this to Apollcnius as fdllorrs:
tTt is sufficient fon the sage to aUstain f:rcm eating all:f1esh of, living ani-
na1s, and fum ttre r.oving desires which mourt r-p into tre sq:l tluougft t}e eyes,
and frcm enly which ends by teactring injr:stice to hand and wiII, and tlrat trut}r
stands not in need of rninacle-rmlge::ing and sinisten arts; tl
Nihis, fl:re yourrgest of the Glnncsophist philosophers, caile and invited
Apollonius to a ccnversation in a gnoove. Apollonius reslnnded by setting forth
the nequi:enents of tl:e Sffiagorean philosophy, irsisting mudr cn the br"idling
of the tcngue and othen austerities. He said; ttff hcx^lever, those who have
i.rrdertaken this npde of }ife sha1l show thienselr,es persistent, ttrjs is the result
of it which f can pr"omise to them: Wise'condust ana innate justice, with enly
tcx,rards ncne; to be none temible to ty:.ants tJran they can eler be to you; to be
nore welcone to the Gods witl: sma]-l saer-ifices ttran ti:ose who shed t]-e blood of
oxen. Thus pwified shal1 ry disciple aflain foresigfrt; and his eyes shall be
so filled with rays of light tlrat he sha11 r.ecognize e'en when they assrme hr.nran
form.rt '[,fl:en he readred t]:re sages of fndia, said Apollonius, he had a feeling
such as ttre Attreniarn e4erienced whsr tlre tragedies of Aeschyltrs were for the
first tire nep:resented: - r?For I san ren who a^left cn tlre earth, but t:ey did not
}irre on it; tlrey wer surror-rrded by vn'Ils, withotit wa11s; and tJ:orgfr poor pos-
sessed a]] things.rr ltrespesiar, the oldest of ttre G5mnoscphist$r, v,a.s st::rrk with
the poabr and spinituality of his philoscphy. lhe nest of them seened in sone
way sturrrdd by the vigom:s and f}ent djsi'ourse rohich they listened'to; and
the yor-ngest of tlrcm, Nilur,s, leapt fuom ttre'grornd in adlrirration, and passing
orren to .@Ilonius shook harrds witJl him and besouglrt hjm to tel1 him about the
interyiews which he had wittr the fnrliars.
Itrey ptr-ilosophized and then negnetfi.llIy sa-id farertell to'eaetr ot'rer, fima-
sion and Nih:s leading thre litrle panEy tp tle Nile. 'They tnar,eled dourrwards
to RtJriopia, and thsr-netr.lrned to Ale><andria.
-22-
BOOK SEVM{
Daur,is stants this bock wittr an accornt of the ranrer in which philmcphe::s
aeted when altacked by an irrespcnsible tfrennical ponrer, to shcnr tJ:e rrnrm=r. jn
which Apollonir:s dealt with Donritiar, t'sJ as to con[uen hiln, nattrer tkran to be
conqumed by hin,It testing cnly or the divinely natunal digrity of a wortJ,ry
chazracter, ursuppot-ted by stpernatu:ral rerietration. It was tlnranny orren'the
whole lorcum racnld'that Apollcnius battled against. Wfrat he said, he said @enly
and r.rrafrraid. Non did he indrlge his feelings in personalities, confining him-
self to solenn declanations of pr:i:rciple, ttre apptication to cunrent errents he
always left to infer"ence, For instance, when news came to Ephesr:s tl:at bmitian
had e><ecuted three unchaste Vestal Virgins, he c::ied or-rt before tJ:e asserbled
nultitude, I'O Helios, nayest ttrou aLso-be fneed fnom having to beirold the r.rrjust
m:nder.s with which ttre wonld is filled at p:resentlt'
','TIre circr-ustenrces which led to ApoJ-lcrriusts difficulties wittr Donritian were
as folloos. Domitian was inforrned fl:at Ne::va, Gnfihrs and Rr:fiis r*ere pr.edicted
to be destirred to becore eandidates fon erperor. Ccnsequently, Domitiar ban-
ished theur--Nenva,being sent to Tarentum. Orce Apollorius was ,teaching by thre
barks of t}re nirer }bles in Smyrna, and desiring to inpr.ess his hear"ens wittr the
powera of fate, said: tlfhe rnm destined to reign after thee, thougfr thou ki1l
him, will nesuscitate.?' None urderstood to vfiich of tlre tJr:ee Apollcnius r"e-
fenred; but Etphrates inforned Donritiarr about Apolloniris; and ttre emperon ac-
condingly pnoposed to call Apollonius to account fon his secret eonunr-u'rications
with these three rren, as he had kept tip fuiengly relations with them.
hitrile Domitian was'planning this, Apo11o:ius, by his fcresigfrt, becarm
al^,are of Domitianrs pIas. Apollonius then nade a tr:ip to tr.is fi:iend Demetrius,
who was in exile in ftafy. They went to tlre fOrrren coLrrby-seat of Clcero; and
bnetnius p$ceeded to tel.l Apollonius ttre exacE changes advarrced against him--
that he had been tlre pnine rrD\En of tlre anbition of three exiled inpenial
aspirrants, And the fact tlrat he had come to Italy befor"e receiving notification
tltat he was warted only would incr",ease the strspieion of the tynant that the irir-
putation of 'magie was corcect. knetrius advised him to take, vffrile it was yet
time, cu-re of d:e strips in the harbor and flee to s'one distant foneign nation,
but Apollonir:s nefused for tLre'fotr-lo^ring r"easons. First, he did not p:opee to
be u:tnre to his fuiends, jn betrqging thein confidence in hirrF-jnasmudr as to
withdrew oneself fucnr justice would be to condenn cneself. Seoondly, shoul-d he
f1ee, he would do sonettring r.rrworthy of his better se1f, and ncrwhere could he
pr..ay with a elea:r ccnscience.
Eretrir:.s sadly .asserrted to these pr:inciples; and invitea to stay a few
days with lLirn, but l-est he cast needless suspicion cnr hjs friend, he rnetumed
to Dalris and said: tWe har,e nrany tines before faced dargen together; but it is
yet tine fon you to stay here and avoid this ser.ious cr"isiso if you are afrraid. tt
fTlct^r could IrIr
r:eplled Danis with tear"s, rfafter what f head thee say today
about tlte conmr-nity of danger"s, and the faithfulress we o^re cun fifiends.'r tYou
are r"igfrt, tt said Apo1*loniris, r?@re witJ: me. But before you do so ehange yourl
Pythagorean garnents f,or usual cnes, lest this differerae of garnents br"ing you
also into needless difficulties.tt So Damis c.tranged his gafirents, not out of
ecrniardliness but cut of obedience and wisdom.
Onr the third day the str-ip reached the npubh of the Tiben, where Apollonius
-23-
was ret his friend, Aeliaru-us, who at that: tin'e ttreld the sword of thg enPeP
by
cr;rt he r^as praefect of the pnaetorium. In fact, befgre Apollcmir-r,s arnired he
arrested hjm- in order to speak'wittr hjrn. 4pollonius e>qptained to him that he
had not fied, as he could easily'ahve dcne, ih cr&r not to cau,se punishnent to
his fuiends ixr frts account, and becarr,se of his or.n laclc of self-ccnsistency
should he flee
Aelianr.s told ApolJ-cnir-r.s ttrat the Enpercrts firarc of mind tcmarrds him was
as that of a nrarr v*ro seel<s to pr.rrish wittrorrt adequate rcasc[1 fon doing so; Buch
purishnent would gire mmitian a 1ega1 prete>t to readr Nerva. The main accu-
sation against ApolJcnius was that'he encou::aged l'lervats aspirations to the
thnore. t'Ttry speech rust not betnay any scorn of the enper"or3,It said. AeJ-lanr:s
to fpollcnius. As socn as he was ccrrfident'that Apollcnius was preParbd fotl
theworst; and wor:Id not lose conpeure even r.n:&n ttre serer:est tr'i.aIs, he
said fa:eweIl tendenly; artd a.ssr-uning egpp' he told tl:e gua:rd to watctr Apollcn-
ius rntil ttre Brperrcn cal}ed fon him.
ttre priscrr, he imreaiatety synpathized witi the
Idhen Apollonir-r,s entered
discor:naged nen a:rcurd him, lrrd addressed them fincrn tine to tine e>*orfing fltsn
to rlismiss fear which cnly increased their suffer:ings, ild to have patience -and
endu:arce. He told ttrem ttrat the nost ncble npn had at sone tine on arrotren
been imprisoned and ill-used, this.speech so r"aised their spi:rits ttrat:rerry
eied thei:: tears, and felt relier,ed of their trcubles wh:ile ApolLonius stayed
. BOOK EIGII
APOII.ONIUS 'S TRTLMPTWIT TEFESISE BETORE
TIA}T AI\TD DISAPPEARA{CE
!,Iiren Apolloniw was ushened jnto ttre Empenonrs pneserce, the latten was
just sacnificing to Alherre, md lodcing bads^rards he was sr:rpr:ised at the sight
of ttre strange figure. He cried out rAelianusr ycu hare' intnoduaed here a God. rf
fuo1-Iorir"rs r"epIied, trThsr Athene has not yet lifted from your eyes the misE
that you rflght discer-n Gods from mn.rt
ilArrd: tr retoted Dcmitian, thonr is it with you, that you ccnsiden ry worst
enemies yo.rn gods?tr
ItAfldr vfrat enmity could there ever be betr,een you and Phrcates and lardnr,s,
whom alone f consi&r worttry of lire rane of gods?rt repJ.ied Apo'llcnir-r,s
tfDigr.ess not to tJre sages of India, but speak to re of Newa, ard of ttre
onparr"iors of his gurlt, tt said the Enper-on
-?4-
'Tf you &sine to discover what I ]srcxa. of the natten, Li.slen; fon why
should I hide it fror:r you?tr was ttre arsoer.
Apollonir:s was sent baclc to, pnison. Damis was hear-.fbrdcen, and seeing no
salvation, said; tro Tlaniar, whalwill happen to us--shall roe not be kilIed?
hltren will you be set free?tr
divine S,rthagc,na,s, do trgtr defgnd ne rpcs:t ttrese rcounts; for. r^Ie -arc pq !P$t our"
of wtr-ich I am
trial for a rfe-6f-Li.-ot *fli.fr,t]:orrwast the diseoreren;;and fon ry{ll$:--
tf* n nUf. p.tfi"ut,. Fon tire earth, ny pr:in-ce, glow-s ever5rd:ring
brute want notm-ng,
ald t;:ose wiro are p,leased to lir,e ,at peace with the creation
flrmts,
fo:: sone fnrits thly can cull frcm thl eardr, "cithet.s they win fncm,hen
it
icr' sfte is'ttre nr:rse of nen, as suits the seascns; but !h*"'ren, as t"g::e
in
Aeaf' to the cries of npthern,earth, wtret ttreir ].rriie against hen children
order to get thenselrlres dress and food, He:re then is-sonetfring wtrich the
B::aturans of India thermelres ccndentred, eu:rd whj-ch ttiey huglrt ttre nalced sages of
Egrpt also to and f:"om ttrem $d:agorras
-jrtefooun tool< his t-u1e of life, and |e
,J"-tt. first of "o.rOu*;
the Hel-lenes who had e with the'EgpEians. And it
was his, nrte to pve up and leare henranimals to lhe earth; Uyt aff.thr+.gs whidl
=[u gr*i, i',u au8:.*a, ,"o pure and r.rrdefiled, and ate of_t]rem aeorTCingly;
becaGe tJrey were best adapteb to notrish both body and sou1._ But the garnents
-ren
whictr npst wear rnade of tf,e hi&s of dead aninals, he declared to bq inpune;
.iia irit""ff :n linen, and on fte sam6 pringrples had his shes
"r'ta """orOi"eiy
woven.of byblul. . And,wtrat we::e tlre advantages which he deriredrfnom such
purity? lhny, ard before aI1,,the pr:ivilege-of ::ecognizing his" cr^m sou1. ;
I
ttf hare then told you who was fl:e begetten of ry wisdorn, and f hare shcx^m
that it is no,discorrenyof fly o^m, but an-inhe::itarce coIIEto r,e fgomangther.
'I judp 'mke :rt pant- of
And as fcr nySelf, tfrough lb nol ccndern on those whq
their: ltrrurSr to .Ccqrsune-.flre ::ed-plurnaged bird, 'or:-the for,vls of Phasis ot' -tJre : ,
land of tfie Phaeones, r,ffrich are fattened up fon t}:ein banquets'by,thqse whqgeit
deny thrermelrres nottring to thein bellies, ana tfrough I have-ne\,el? yet brougftt
an Lccusation agaipst anyore, because tl:ey'br:y'fish fon thein'tables at greate:r
ppices than grcrrA seignerals er,er- gave for threin Ocr"inttt'ian ,ctrange::s? 'anq Foq$h
i irare nerren-gmdgad 5nycrre his pr:rpIe garnerrts nor his soft rainent and_Pgnqir;
y3;iar tissr:esl-yef f arn accr-eed and put-or ny tr-ia1, 0 ye gods, because I indulge
in asphodel and dessert of &r'ied fruits and pu:s &Iicacies of that kiJrd.
is e\ren r$/ node of dless protected fiem their calurr'nies, ,fon the
ilNor:
accuser is to steal eren that off my back, becatrse it has srrch vast va}= for
wizards. &rd )Et aparE from my ccrrtention abor:t the r.r.se of Living anirnals ard
Iifeless things, aclording as h9 lses cne on the ottren 9! "hi.h I r.egad a IIEUI
as inpure otr,purcl in q*rat tuay is linen belter" than wool? Was not the-laf,te::
taken fr"cnn ttre back of tl:e gentlest of aniaals; of a creatu:re belored of the
gds, who do not disdajn ttrenselves to be shepher.ds, and, by ?eus, who-o:ee held
Ifre ifeece to be wo:rrhy of a golden for:rn, if it vras'nea1ly a gd ttrat did so,
and if it be rrot a nele story? &I ttre crther hand Linsr is grovn and so^fr any-
where, and there is no talk of gold in ccnnection wit]l it. Nerrertheless, becan:se
it is not plrrc)ced f?om .ttre bad< of a living aninal, tlre Indians regard it as
pure, and so do ttre Egyptians, 4d I myself and Plrthagor"as cn tJ:js account lrave
Lacptea as oun garb wlrin r^re are discou:rsing on p:raying or of,fering sac::ifice.
Ard it is a pu::J substance tndr which to sleep of, a night, fo:: those who lirre as
I do, drearns br"ing the truest of their :ra',etrations.
trl-et us ne><t defend ourselrres frcm tlre attacl< occasioned by the hair wh:ldr
we forner'ly t.rore, fon cne of the counts of tJ:e accusation tr.u:ns upon the squalo:
ther.eof. Bgt,si:reIy lhe Egptiar is not entit'lpd to judge ne for this but
-26-
rafl:)en the darrdies with thein yellor and well-corbed locks, who seek by reans
of them to inflane ttre heants of tfieir lo.rers and the mistresses of their revels.
Let them ccngratulate and corryljment ttremsehies 14)cn thei:: loclcs and cn tlre
n5rr-rh which d:rips foom ttrem; but thirk ne everghj::rg that is urattraetirei and
if a lorer of anyttring, of abstention fr"om lore. For f am inclined to address
ttrem thw: 0 ye poor, urretches, & not falsely accuse an institution of ttre
Dorians, fon the wea::ing of yor::: hain lcng has, core dcrm finom the lacaedenpn-
ians who affected it in-ttre pe:riod nhen tfrey leached the heigfit of their nrtlitary
fare; and a king of Sparta, Leon:idas, r^rore his hai:: lgng in tdcen of his brane.ry,
and in onden to appear dignified to his friends, yet tefu.bIe to his enemies.
For these reasons Spata \^iiears hen hair long no less in his honor ttran in that
-of Lycr:rgus and of Ophitus. And Iet eiery sage be ca:refilI that ttre irrcn }<rrife
does not tordr his hain, fo:r it is inpious to apply it thereto; so fan forrlh as
in his head a:e all the-sp:rings of hG senses, ;d atl ffis intuiticns, and it
is ttre soulrae f:rom which fris pr.ayer.s issue fortfr and 'last his speech, the inter*
pteter: of his wis&m. And whereas Enpedccles fastened a fillet of deep purple
a:rq:nd his hain, and walked proudly about the streets of the Hellenes, corpos-
ing hynns to prnve that he had pasied ft"cro hr-unarrity and was becone a god; f cnly
liean ry hain dishevelled, errd f har,e nelef nee&d to sing such hynns about it,
yet am hailed before the }a,r cou::ts a$ a criminal. Ind what shall I say of
Enpedocles?
tBd, Iet us say no niore about ny hain, fon it has been cut off, and tie
aesusation has been fo::estalled by ti:e sane hatned which inspires the ne:rt.
count, a m.rch rnore sex"ious one fr"omwh-ich I must not ,defend nyself. Fon it is
one calculated to fill not only your nV prince, but Zer-rs hinself witJ: appre-
hension. For he decla:res that nen regard rre as a gd, and that ttrme urho have
been thunderstnid< and rencered start<-mad by ngTself pnoclaim ttris tenet jn
public.?' fn answerl to this accusation, epoitonius said: "Any rwr who is cor-
sidened good is calLed by,ttrat nare.rf
rs answers wene spdcen so sincerely that he was rer^rarded by the
Apollonir-r,s
aeclanu.tion of the people, fan J.ouden than were custornary in the i"u'per-ial
ecurt-noom. Ocnritian was ccnred by ttris, and hastily said, !!I absolrie tree; yet
stay hene tlat I nay question thee firrther.t' But Aporlcnius declared that ttrjs
was hardly just, and demanding fr"eedom, disappeared out of the court-nmm.
Apollcnius reached out his ha'rd to shcx^r ttrat he was no appa::ition, where-
upon they feII cn his neck and kissed him. He &claned he had &fended hirrself
and conquered; that this defense had ta]<en place cnly a few hourrs agc.
fn the no::njng ,Apollcrrius declared tl:at it r^ras his purryqse to take ship
for Greece; but Deretrius thou$rt it too dangenous a joumey, as being too
pr:b1ic. Br.rt Apollcnius iinsisted ttrat if the whole earth reaLly r+irl'belcng to
tJ:e tyrent it was betten to die in the light tJ:an to lire in cbscr.unity.
4pol1onir:.s vent to 0lynpia to the tenple of Zeu^s. Here rrwry carc to see
him from all par-ls of Gneeee. Ille mrst conb:adictory rurror.s had spnead abnoad
-27-
abotrt his fate and ttror-r.sends floclced to see him again. BuE what rnade uost peopLe
alnost re\Erence him as a god was the quiet way in which he spdce about his ex-
periences in Rom, witiout-tlre least boastfulness. He spent forty days'in ttre
terple in ccnver:sation and gogd deeds.
Little by little a'l'l his fornen rlisciples gatlrered arq:nd hinr out of all
Ionia, forrning.a sect of Apollonians, as they"cane to be called. Even xhetor:ic
stood wittr them in ilI-repute, and they ccnfined'tlenselves to publicly asking
thei:r naster- guestions wnLcn he nerer laifea to answer wisely and we1I.
I,'Ihen some rade it an acclsation agEinst him that he made it his practice
to go into tlre desert out of the way of officials and ttre miliatry gorreirror.s,
he ansr,ered that he did so in orden that the wolrres and bears shorlld not fall
upcn the flod<. Fon dr;zing his RonBn itpr..isorurent he had becone ccnrvinced tlrat
the public nen of his d4g beeane rich so easily, and so played rpcn the hopes
and fears of the people, that he preferred tJ:at his disciples should have noth-
ing to do wittr t}em.
AfEen a two yeal.sr stay in He]]as, ApoILcniLE r,rent to foria, staying rost
of the tine in Ephesurs and SnSrma, going whereren he was neaIIy vfrnted, bles-
and being blessed.
"fog,
Ttre nsrnen of Dornitianf s death uras seen by gpollon:ius in Ephesus, and he
a4nouqed it to ttre crowd to whom he happened to Le preaching. They were at
first inqredulous, brrt vfien ccnfilgration amired, wonshippea frim af1 tfre nore.
A rsrnttr laten, v*ren Nenra was safe. cn the imperial throne, he invited
Apollonir-e to help him nu1e, btrt Apollcnius kindly but fi::m1y refused, with a
nat:ren cbscure e)cuse. And indeed Nerva nrled cnrly cne yeaJa and foun 'ntrnths,
Yet not to harrc ttre appearance of neglecting a tnre fi:iend and wor{try rrrler,
he urote him a lcng letlen ful1 oJ the lvortJriest advice
Idhen about a hqrdred yearis of age, Apollonius r+as at t}re heig[t of his
vigon; hib pcn^rer.s wer= not r,uealco-nedr-onhis rnind drIled, He then &eided to
neti:re to obscurity, drd then Damis had a premonition ttrat he wouLd ncrE see his
beloved l"{asten again, after" vfiich Apollcnius sent him away, so ttrat he may pass
away unseen.
Chapten V.
tYe Sages of Egpt, vrhat Prodicus shows tlre youthfirl Hercules, to hanre
done, when ttre choice was offered to himr' has been vividly desc:ribed to yor:
wittr philosophical penetnation, bffi it dods not apply to re. I harre not cone
here'to'ccnsult you'cn the ehoicb'of a p1-an of life, for long ago I chose fe
nyself tJ:e plar whidr rnost appealed to ne. Being ttre oldest here ercept
Ihespesio, I night nathen be the cne to select a system of ph-ilosophy for all
of you, if I had not already nade youls choice. I do not hesitate to sr:bm:it to
youn judgnent the con=ctress of my choie, by explaining to you tJrose doc=
tnjnes wtr-ich a:re ttre best f har,e even discorered. f fomd seneltring srrbline
in tl:e teadrings of $rthagoras, that througfr his innen conscious:ess he knew
hinself as he was, and also l<rrew r.rho he had been; and that he cane to tl:e
altars pLre; anrd ttrat he kept his body r.rrdefiled by aninral'food and elean of
any elcithing denived f:rom nontal creatures; and that fir"st of all nen he or.i-
ginatea ttre precEie of taciturnity by curbing his tongr:e as if he.Irad set
an ox upcrr it; and ttrat in e\Ery way he had established a sq.nd and inspined
system of prilosophy.
tWheneforre f hastened to embrace his pr.inciples; not selecting cne of two
systers, as you llrge re to do, nost e)celLent Ttrespesio, fon philosophy spnead
befone re all he:: theor:ies of ever:y kind, eactr arrrayed in its o,rt atFrracfions,
and she connended ne to e>a.ntine them all, and to rake ny selection wiflr cane.
AlI of threm were so deeply and divinely beautiful t}at eadr of tlrem night daz-
z1e anycrre; but I fi:<ed rt5/ eyds intentty cn each cne, and ttrey ttremseltes en-
eouraged re by dna^ring ne tcrrlarrC them a:d ponrisirrg ne r^trat ttrey would gire.
One of t:em sajd ttrat withort arry effort of mine she would pou:r out on rE .u:I
srdless stneam of delight, Another pnomised peace aften shliving, Ancrther
that she would mirrgle toiJ with jcy. Everywhene glittered pleasuses, dlld a loose
-29-
r"eip to appetites, srd a hand outstretched vrith niches, and no withholding of
the eyes, brrt lores and desi:=s and a'l'l such tenptations vlere laid befole rre.
rrBut ttre:re hras cne of them v,iho dennnded for" henself the r.ejection of a1.1
ttrat, and she was bold and sharry-tcngr"red, and elbowed all the rest aside. fJt
hen I recognized the uautterable vision of tiat wisdom by r.,fiich $rthagcrras in
tr-is day had been entlu-dled. She did not stand encwded with thre crfho:s, burt
apart md mute, &d when she saw that I did not yield to thain indr-rcenents,
and did not 5let lcrrow her.s, she said; tYouurg rnan, I am di-stasteful, ard filled
with pr.ivations; Tlc reactr ngl abode, you nust elecf to shur e\Ery ialfe set with
aniJlal food, and to forget wine entirely, tlrat you nay ncrt ckrud tlre goblet of
wisdom which is porre& Fon the rlind; of total abstainer"s; nor wiIL you wish
for- any blanket, no:: fo:r wool shorn from living things, thcnrgh f do a]l.sir yeu
ba:rk sanda'ls, 6rld vfiaterrer- couch rny happen. ff I sfioufd find you enslar,red by
ltrsts, I hare abysses in hrfrictr justice, ttre senrant of lcncx,lledge, will fuirrc
and tJ:Inrst you; and I am so ::igid to ttrose who devote thenselGs to ne that f
even harrc FgF rcady fon tlreir tongr:es. Learn fum ne no,,r wtet rewards shal1 be
youns if yor endrse so fa:r. lnstfuEtirre selfccntrol; tprightress; enw of ncnel
to terrify tyralts instead of sr.rl:mitting to trem; to hJre yor-ur sfuple sacrifices
segm no::e aeeltable to the gods than the shedding of br:l.ls t blood for them by
crEhers; and wtrsr you shall harre becone purified, i wjl-1 irpart to you the know-
ledge of futur-e eraents; and I lcnoo tlre demi-gods, &d e>ercise those shadcr,4y
phantons v'h-lch assurie ttre sh4es of ren.' tris is why I chose ttrat way of
_living, ye Sages of Egpt, and having sh:ictIy folfcnrea it ur&n tfre grddanoe of
PSrthagoras, I hare neitlren deluded cr[hers, nor been nyself &luded. For I hare
beeo,e what one shorld be who devotes hinself to t}at philosophy, ed I trave
cbtained el'l those rewarrds which she prcmised ne as hei aiseilre.
t'In neditating on ttre orlgin of afL and the begirndngs wherce it care, I
tnaeed it to nen rnost &ep1y imbued witlr ]crowledge of tfre-go6s, &d who hai
best e>rplored the ?@1, whoee spr.ings of being ar:e tfre eternal-and tlre r-rrbegoften.
This &sct'iption did not seem to fii thre Atlrenians, for ttrey har.re eorrnrpted-
those teadrings of Plato on the soul which he deljiered to ihem r^dttr suctr
inspired wisdoq and fl:ey have adopted views cn the subjeet nhich ane opposed to
his and nob aI[ solnd. So f. oest about fon whateven cilr or race of nen- ttre::e
4+t be, ancng uftom not here and there a rrEln, but all o-f ev"4, age would thirk
alike about tt,re. soul.
tfIhe pleasr-me &r^ir,ed fnom philcsophy, urden ttre system established by
Pythagona.s, ?rd g}fted witl:r such divinatisr as tlre Ir:diars pnactieed before
$rthagonas, is not transitory, but inending and incalculabG. trrJherefore f feel
tfiat f have not pa.rd too deanly for: my devotion to that well-rcu:rded philosophy,
which t}re Indian Sages wheel orrt, aftLr mor-rrting it suitably cn a loftf,r and
diwine pedestal. Hcur just ny adnrination fon thEm is, and nUz estimte of tfrein
wisdcrirr.and ttrein blesiednesi; it is now time to teli you I found ttrem to be
rnen livlng cn the earth and yet not on tlre earth, aefenaed withort walIs,
Possessj-ng nottringr_yet having the wealth of all-the upr:ld. ff tr am spq;kiog --"
e| Ti9'r!s, it 1g al1ooable by ttre phi}osophy of qrrhagor"as, p"fiit"
niddles because he fotnd tliert they encourrage tacitirrniiy. io,r "rr:"i,
yourselres became
tne liq9ip1es ard rrpLroldens of grttrggolEsr-vrhen you adopted the-docfi:ires of
thre fndians. Long ago you wele Indians, ioo, but beirgashaned of ttre reason
foz' which tlre angen yg."- land dor,e you flitfren, you"wished to be thougfrt
anything ratheq than"fEthiopiam coning fircrn Indiai ,-a yo., aia all you could to
disguise ttrat fact.
-30-
ItSo far as tlre Su: is ccncemed, ild the Tndian Sagest traditional ways of
worshipping hurL and hcr^r he nay prefer to be worshippeal fet those qr:estions
setttre ttremselves. Eartfi-gods lorze pits and ca\Em-ce:renonies; br:t the Sr.lrrs
chariot is ttre ain, and ttrcse who seek to adore him nightly should be raised
abwe tlre grou:d v*ren ttrey sing and sholld float with the god abo\E tiie earth,
scrnething we raculd all ljke to do, but only the Indian Sages can. t'
Speal<ing to his disciples aboLrt his intention to take the ship ,to Rore to
reet openly any charga nade agairst hrjrn by Nerc, nather ttrar lie lcjw in sore
distant pant oi tlre nrryir.e as-his disciplLs wanted hjm to do, Ipollcnius said:
tT-et
not any cne thful< it foolish so to ventr::ne alcng a path which urany
philcsophera are fleeing fron, fon jn fre finst p1ace, I do not esteem any
hurpn agerlcy so forraidablq that a wise rrErn can e\Er be terrnified by it; atq it,
the sec&ra phee, 1 would not urge upcn you flre pr-u:suit of brraraery urless it
were attended with dengen. rt
Aften dr,elJing upor thq fenocity and bnrtr.Iity of }Iero, ccntrasting.him
with sarzage arlirrgls w?ricfr cotfld scnetines be tamed and npltified by coa<ing and
flaltery, -whereas Nero v,as cnly noused to gr"eaten cruelty than before by those
who stroked,him, Apollonius cortinued:
ttlf, hcxoe\Er, any one is disposed to dread Nero for ttrese reaso.ns, and is
'for: him to
led abnuptly to firresalce philosophy, ccnceiving ti'r,qt it is not safe
flx,,art hLs ivif tempen, f6t nim i.r,iru tfat the quality of inspiring fean rreal1y
belcngs to those who ane der,oted to tenprirance and laisdom, because they a:re -su3e
of nivine sr.:cccnr. But 1et tr-im s:ap his fingers at tlre thneats of the pro.rd
and insolent, as he would at those of drtm]<en nene fon we r"egard tlrese sunnely as
daft and senseless, but not as formidable.rl
Appea'ling to Enetr..ius to prerent Apollcnius from going to Rone to face
DomitGi and foet cerEain eatlr, his aisciple, Damis, said: I'Apollonius is 1n
lorre vrith death, and I sa'iI wittr him as his nival; but I kncr^I about it,
and as I can speal< aE pr"esent cnly of ,uf,:rat f do ]orot, I wiJ.l ""Qj"q
say it for his
salce. efri-tcscphy wiIL- sufftn no great lcss by ny death, for f am 1.ike ,th -
squi:re of sone- valiant nsr-at-arms, vfiose cnly honor is tlrat he follonrs sudr a
heno. But if any cnq slays tlre }hster, and tyrents are swift to n'41<e orrt a oase
to destroy, a mcnunent rmy well be erected to connenorate ttre douinfall of
philmophy, fon she will hare lost jn him ttre greatest philoso$ren of all.
imy * ei,ytus and lbletus are enlisted againsi uso with accusgtions * 9*ty
sidL agai.;rst ttre firiends of @ollcnius, cha:rging cne with-snriling when the
IXasten-jrurcigfrea aga-inst tyraryry, and nore, and ancther wittr going-away pleased
with what ne*had treara. I beliere tlrat a n'nn should be ready to die fon ttre
sake of philosophy a.s fon thoee altar.s and hones and torbs, fon whidt many
fanc41s heroes hare gladly Jaid dcr"rn their. Iiries; but neittren I, non anyone else
who lores philosophy and Apollcrrius, sircr.ild die fon the pr.upose of dealing her
so np::Eal a blow as lhat.rr
To Denetr"itrsts entreaties not to go to Rore to face tl'.e tyrant Dnritian and
eenEain death, Apollonius said:
-31-
t[tre ]aw obliges us to die fon liberty, and natr.re ondajns that ve should
die fon olr panents, our fi:iends, or or.rn drildren. AI1 men ate bourd by-ttese
duties. BW a higfrer dtrty is faia upcn the sap; he must die fon his pninciples
and the truth he holds dearen than 1ife. ft G not ttre law flra! lays ttris choice
upo: it, it is not natrre; it is tlre strength and counage of his cwn soul.
Ihough fire or sword threaten hfuL it wil1 not orercqre his nesolutibn or force
him tfre slilfrtest false]rood; but he wilI guard the seo:ets of cthenrs liles and
all that has been entnusted to h:is honor as religiously as the secrets of ini-
tiation. And I }rrow more t]lar other lEtor fon I kncx,r t]rat of all that I ]<nc[nl, I
],rrcro some things fon tlre gmd, scne foo ttre wise, sorrE fon nyself, sone fon the
bds, but naugfrt for \rrrarrts.
trAgain, I thirk ttrat a wise man does nothing alone or by himself; no thor.ght
of tr-is is so secret but tint he has hinse}f as witrress to it. Arrd whethen ttre
fanols sqring t}mou tlryselft be from Apo11o on frcm sore sage who leamt it to
krrcr^, hirnself-and prcclaimed it as a good fon all, f think ttre wise nran who kno^rs
hfume1f and has hi,s ovnr spi^r:it in ccrrstant conradrisl'rip, to fight at his r:iglt
hand, will neittren cringe at what the vtrlgan fear, non dare . to do what most rert
do withor.rt the slightest share. t'
Arrottrer and fuller tnanslation and accou:t of lpollcnius rs speectr to Ene-
tnius neads as follous:
rA wise nen rnight die for: the motives you hare nentioned, and mlght a fool
as weIL. The laws connsrd us to die fon liberty. Natur:e decnees tlrat we die
for family ard filiends srd lorred ones. rNature and lar^r enlist the senvice of all
nen; natur"e as vo}.nrteens; 1aw as conscripts. It is the philosopherts pr:ivilege
to die frn his ccnvictions, for ttre pr:inclpks r^rhich he has ttrought out for hinr-
self; and to do so withcut any eonpulsion of lavr on persr-rasion of nature, actua-
ted so1e1y by his cwn crcnstancy and faith. ff any attempt shall be nade to des-
tuoy ttrose beliefs, fire ot: aJ{e rnay faIL on the philosophen, yet ncne of such
a:rgunents shal-l overcre hi:n on fonce hjm to a lying recantation. ' What he has
proved }".*itl hold fa,st to, as resolutely as to flre I'iysteries into which he has
been initiated.
trf]q1o\.{ a great deal. abouE men, }o:oring e,'erythit g a" f &, but all that I
do know relates partly to good nen, parEly to wise men, pa:rt1y to ngzself, parlly
to tJ:e godS, but nothing to tyrants. You nny neadily see ttrat I have not cone
hene inccnside:rate1y. f fean no danger to ny cr^rn perscn, foi I cculd not be
sl"ain by tyrenny er,en if f were wilIing; but I urdenstand the nisl< by action in-
volves for" those fniends of mirre, and whether the'tlnmnt dtooses to nel<e re out
their: too1, I uri11 take vfiidreren pa:rt he assigns ren.' ff I should fail in ng/
duty to them by showihg nyself eithen reluctant, 'or slack in tfending-Fg **",
whal vrould ncnoralte ren ihjnf< of ne? hiho wou13 ncrE be justified in kil1irlg ne,
f on p].aying:fa:se to t}e f:dends fon whqn all nry prEryers to the gods have been
offeredt I-wil1 shor you t}rat I could not possibly escape tlre inputation of
treaetrery if f drd so.
tlllrlrants harre two nethods. Sone e><ecuLe accused persons r,ritJrorrt a t:rial,
and scrne cnly aften sentence. The first a:re like swift-footed and poincing
beasts, the second a::e fullen ones and sluggish. That bottr are sa\rage is obvjous
to al l t*ro take Neno as an e><anple of the violent and hasty kirxd, and Tiber:ius
as cne of those who ILe in wait. Irlero slew his victims witnofi warning; Ttberius
held them lqrg in horrcn of deattr before it fe1I. Ttre wor.se tlnrants, in my
opinion, are those rnfto hide behind a pretense of legality and of :egula:rly pro-
notnced, but urjust, sentences. They do nottring outside tlre forns of 1aw, but
-32-
ttey eondemt as srrely-as those,who slay withort a triaI, while they gire the
nanB of justiee to ttrein lcng-d:rawncut tengedrce. Thein-w:retctred uictims, Uec-
ause they are exeerrted pr.muant to a sentence: QJ rbbed of ttrat pcpulan synr
Pathy which should be spnead ljke a parl orien-those who die urjustly.
?[[ see t]rat ttre ,outward shq^r of ttris present tyrenny is 1a^r-abiding, brrt
its action seeIIE to re a nrckery of just5ci. It fii:st ccurdenns nen in Idvanae,
and tlren sulmors ttrem to trial, as if their fate had not al:neady been decided.
The nen ccrrvicted by,ttre judgrent nendered in srnh a trial rmy protest th,at the
judee has rnrds:ed him by decidirg agafnst the evidence; but :.9 f,e fails to
apPear fon trial, how can he avoid seeming to confess his g1ilt by &fault?
ttln th-is emergeney, ttre fate of ttrose noble fitiends of mine depends entj-rely
upon IIE. If I abandqr their defense as r,ueIl as lry onm, wtrat plaoe cn eErttr r^rctrld
gatt re abso}rtion? Stppcse I thorgfrt this advie sourd whidr you hare giren ne
and f aeted or it, ard r,y firiends wer,e put to deat: in coursequence, what pr]ris
fol_? Pnospercus voliage could f put up, aften nraking suctr an extribitjon of my=
self? Whene would I land? To whom woula I fl-ee? I suprpose that it would be
recessary to erpatniate nyself fipm every place in the Roren erpire and to beta]<e
n5rself to fuiends living quite out of:sigfrt, like Phmctes, on the king of
Babylor, on the godlike lardras, on,the noble Thespesio. But, rS/ dear frienq
if f should go to tlre Eth:iopians, fon instancre, wtrat could I say to Thespesio?
ff I said noth:ing to him about what f had dcne, I worrld show n5rself a liar, or:
nathen a slarae. If I did rentune to tell hdrrL I would have to say sonrething like
this: tltrespesio, I find in myself ncne of those qualities which Euphretes
falsely attr:ibuted to ne. He told ne that f was a bragga-nt, and a sorcerer, con-
ceited enougfr to thirk that f }mevr as muctr as tJre Indian Sages; but I am nottring
of all that, nottring but a betnayen and nnrderen of my friends, Erld ttrere is no
faith in ne. Sudr am f, and f have core to you to be crrct,aned with ttre cr.cn.m of
vir'[ue, if ttrere is cne, fon havjng so o'verturned ttre greatest houses in Rone,
ttrat rpne will live in ttrem er,ernpre ltt
tT see that you blush to hear that, Denetr:ius. T)qi then to irTEgine Ph:raotes,
and ry fleeing into India to a nrar like him. Hor^r could I face hjm? WhaE ercuse
could I rnake to him, fon deserting trem? Shorld I ccnfess that at ny first
visit to tr-im f had been an hcn:onable ren, ready to d:ie fon ny fuiends, but since
then I had alLoued you to per:sr:ade rfie to discard as wor'lJrless this n'ost godlike
of hr-unan qualities? If f went to larachtrs, he would not even ask, but just as
Aeolus in ancient days cu:der:ed tllysses to quit his island as an outcast, fon
malcing wrong r:.se of his gift of good roeathen, so Iarchus would drirae ne fr.om his
hill with tlre accusation-tlrat I had desecrated ttre cup of Tarrtalus, fon tlrey
e>pect e\ErI/ nan who stoq>s his head to that to shane the dangens of his fuiends.
rT lmcw hcrr,r skillful 3ou a:re in turning sharp cornera in debate, Denetrir:s,
and so you seem about to suggest sonething like this to ne: fDr noE go to any
of those nen, but to sone other with whom you hare no aqr:aintance, and then your
ftight wjl-1 tum t out well, fon you will corcern yourself npre easily where you
a:re not lcrro,'rr. It us see then what nerit ttris idea has, and what is my opin:ion
of it. I thirk ttrat no pluilcsophen Llres isolated, or to hinself alo:e, and
that no solitude can be irnaglned jn which he wil-I not at least be ccnscious of
hinself. VJhettren tl:at hmor-is Delphic inscription care fuom Apollo direct, or3
througfr some rren who l<nevr himself well and therrefcare laid dol,rrr that nrle for
everycne else.
ItI thirr< that nar wise who ]<rrcr,.rs hfurself; and who has his conscience to srrp-
port him, so that he neithen fear"s what terrifies the cr:cn^rd, non dares to do what
-33-
others a:re not aEhared of doing. Slares of tyrurrhy do not hesitate somtircs to
sasifice to it tlrei:: dearest h:i"rrds,'dreading wtrat they should not fean, and
da:ring to do v*rat they ou$rt to shur. Philceoihy d99s nqt_Perrnit such errors,
for: i{ fcIlo^rs the Deiphi6 inscription, ana thit irnxim of Er.:nipi&s as we11,
,fti.f, siys ttrat nenprsl slays ttre nran who neditates upcn tris_&ines. Oonsci-ence
brouglrt hre spectres of the-I\ries bbfca:e Orestest-eyesr_rh*" he r,ared'abouL
sjrr In slaying his rpther. The mind &cides what is to be dcne, _but ttre con-
science cheers the nan with scng and apprcval through e\Ery tenple, every-vrl-
Iage, every abiding place of gols and ren, and sootttes his s19ep yte.rq?fof
br[rrpng f,i-m a rrel5dious c]roir fun the l"arrd of dreams. But if t]re mindrs foot-
ing i1iis into foulness, ccnscience &es not aIlo^l the nen to loo]< othels oo-1d1y
in-the i.ce, nor to speal< with clea3 roie; a1q it shuts him cut frcrn teroPles
and fi:rom prayer:rs. Ildoes not eraen let him lift his hands to the ir*g"t of-the
gods, lut froias ttrem donrr, as tlie law holds do^m ttu'eatening fists. It exiles
fiim Fr"on erry gat]rer^ing of nen. It terrifies his sleep so-t]rat eve4rtJring he
::enenbers to iraG seer, 6n head on said dtrring the day it gives him bacl< in airy
d:=ans, turning \ragte and fancied te:rors into sorething neaf ana horrible. I
ttrirk ihat Lra':re icr^, e>p'lainsd cleanly, ard withr rrsrifest truth, hotl ccnscience
r*ould scourag3 rle if I wene false to those fniends, wlrettren tlre ren I fled to
knew re not. I will not be false to myself either, but I will gfapple urith tJle
tyrant, naking my ot,Jn tfiat saying of good o1dHonen, rTfar"s is inpar"tial,rt
-34-
DISOOUreES OF AFOLLONII.E WI{n{ ARRESTED
BY DOMITIATI
To a spy who cane to 4poIlorit:s rs ceIL, attempting to nake him say sorething
dercgatory of the erpero'r who inprisoned hin5 Apollcnius, peroeiving ttre sruue,
said, rtS gmd rEn, you rray say of tuim anytiring you 1jke, fon I shal1 not infcvrm
on you; but if f have any criticism of the Enperor. to rnake, f sha11 rna]<e it to
his face. rt
VJh*r Apollonius ente::ed the palace as Domitian was corpleting a saorifice
to Athene, the erry)eron, armzed at his appearance, e:c1ained, tt4elianr-rs, you have
bnougfrt ne a divinityl I'
Quite at tr"is ea,se, Apollcnius seized on the e:<clanmtion to say: ttO Enper.or,
I hare suBpeed trat Athene had prorided fon you jn the same way t}at she once
did for: Dionedes at 1by, uflren she cleared ft.cm his eyes thaL mist wluidr du1ls
-35-
oLu"rprtal Sight, so that he rray discem gods 9s vrell as rnst. But evidently she
1"" your-f* if she had, you woutd kncn her
y.t ,Itnd.*n ifr"t *if fumjntroduce
".t
betten, a,a nnreorer., you roould not figrrres of nen arnong the statues
of the gods . rr
The enperon asked: t\l]hen was the mist taken fron yor-r Yes: philccpher?tt
ttl',h'rts forrEr-rres are pivoted, O Enperror, and a day is ttre span of.ttreinhap-
-has
piness.
-tfl"V Ahas what I cnce had, inA e what A-had, ard-no! -e\En while having
fr"".it not. In view of that, 0 Enperonl Biw-o\Er banishnentsr_gire or,en
Uriashea; tr:eatlphilosophy as you'wi11, fon if-it-is eldryr- it wjl1 tqJ<? "o
harrn; but'wipe avriy nenti tears, forncr,r f:rcnr flle is-lands^of t|" sear^ and fa::-
logder fun ihe"malnknd, csnes'the echo of lanentations frsn tens of thousands,
GOl *fto* has cause t6 fanent. Ihese woes wittrout nunben have thein onigin
"f
in tlre:trrgues of inforrrers, wl.to rrake you suspect evels/cne' o Empenon, arrd rrnke
everyorrS guspect you. ot
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AD\TICE TO EMPEROBS TIII,IS AIVD \ESPASIAI{
Thotrgfi ttrey had all fhs best intelLects of the Ronen Enpire to consult, the
Enpenors Vespa,sian and Titus were in t}re tnbit of asking Apollcnirsts advice cn
affair:s of state, because he was v,risen than nrost nen.
To Titr:s, afEer h:i.s stppression of the Jew"ish jnsr.rtsction by ccnqr.re::ing
Jemsalemr afEer he nefir^sed the ciulc cFCBro offer.ed.hin by neigfrboring cities
fon his nilitany exploits, nciE wishing to be hcnorcd fcr ic'rs Inrolving blood-
shed, Apollcruius wrote:
lhnrer:eas you hare nefused to be prcclained for: slecss in ruan, and fon shed-
ding ttre blood of yotr enemies; I nyself ass:i,gr to you t}re cncr,in of terperence
afld rnde:etion becar:se yol thorrcugfrly urdenstand what &eds real1y rer^it a cr3crtrn.r'
To this Titus neplied: ItOn my cx^n beha$, I thank you no less ttran, on be-
half of rry fathen, and f wi'Il not for^get yotr kindress. Fon alttrough f have
captuned ,Jen:salerq you harae capti.:::ed ne.rt
- AfEen b*ing made empenon at Rcme, and t:ougfrt to hare eamed it Uy those
vidories, Titus hTent hithen to be asseiated with his fattren in ttre gor,emnent
of the empire. Before going he ssrt for Apollonius to neet hirn at Argos, fon he
tttorght ttrat er,en a short ccnfgnence lvittr him would be va}.:able; and sr his an-
:riraI he enbraced him saying:
"19 fattren has wnitten ne a fi:I} accomt, how he nade you his advisen.
Here is the letten, in wlr:iclr he cal1s you h:is benefacton, ed sEfs:tlrat you have
nnde o:r family r,*rat we are. Now at thrirty,years of age f harae been given.tJ:e
sane renk as my si:*y-year-old fatlren, and he has sun'fircned ne to nu1e, when f am
not su3e that f harae yet learned to obey. f fear that I am urdertaking mcre
thar I should. "
faying his hand on Titusts nedc, the ro.rscles.of which stod q-rt li]ce an
athletets, Apollonius asked: ttldtro wilt conpel the br:t]- to sr:bmit so powerful a
neck to tlre yolce?
rrHe bnougfit trc up as a calfr tr said Titr-rs, neaning his fathen, and that he
toould cbey only ttre nnn who had trrained him to obedience f-:rom boyhood.
Apollcn:ir:s replied: ttf nejoice to see you witiing to dey your father.
Even ttrose dtro harre not been born his sons submit gladly to his :?u1e. f nejoice,
too, that you are to honcr his palae by residence tJ:re:e, where you yor:r"self
wiIL be hononed with him. Fon whren youth arui age weild the scepfre jointly,
what l5rne on flute can rnake srrh sweet and blended harrmny? The qr:alities of ,
the olden nan supplenent those of the youngen, so that age wi11,be inrrigor:ated
and youth will be nestnained.tr
Apollonius replled:
tYou ask none than f ca:i teIl you, fon tJ:re art of n-rJ-ing is rnanrs tr-ighest
ftnction and carrot be connnrricated, buE if you will fo}lcrnr t}ese suggestions
I tldrr}< you will be doing nigfrtly. Do not reekcn as youn wealttr r^frat you keep
l-eked in yo-ur stnongpox. }'hat betten is that ttran so many heaps of sand? Non
the nevenues e:*acted f:rom yor:r sr:bjects, who usually weep when they pay thein
ta:<es; fon gold coined fnom tear:s is corntenfeit and tr:anished. Yor: will enjoy
tl:e tn-est i^realth of pnines r,iren you help the needyo dnd pr.otect tle pnoperty
of the well-to-do. Bewa:rd of yorr arbitr:ary pcr^reri, so that you may r:se it as
Iittle as nay be. b not lop off tfre iuigh and outstanding ea::s of grain, ac-
cornding to tlre pernicior-s,advice of A::istot1e, but nather do arnray with disaf-
fection, as ycu r,ould weed out thistles f:rom a comfield. krspire fea:r in ccn-
spirators: not so much by inflicting punishnents as by being ready and able to
do so- Obey the }ar yor:::self, O ftrperun. You w:iIL enact lpre rodenate laws if
yorr also are to cbserre 1ilem. Worship ttre gods er,en rrore ttran you har,e dcne
hitherto, fon ttrey have granted you much, and you are asking mr.rch. Act ljke tJ-e
erpenor in a'11 mattens affectiag ttre enpirc, but }ike a pnivate citizen in your.
penscnal affains. f need not uiarn you against dice and d:nin]< and wcren, fon it
is well kncr,,n that even in your youth you cared fon ncne of 'ttrese t]tingg. they
te11 ne that you har,e tr,ro sons of e><ceJ-l.ent disposition, 0 Ery>errcr'. Restnain
ttrem carefualy, fon ttris rnisdcings will all be rnputed to y<ru. You should e'sen
-38-
r,E1n them that you will not leare tlrem tl:re enpi-:re, if ttrey do not contintre to be
good and hononal1e, fon so they will consi&n the thrcne not as thein nightful
fre::itage, but as a-reward for thein virrBr"e. The luxiry which has beore natu::-
alired-iir Rone -- and ttrerc is a great,&al of it -- should be abated gnadr-n^Ily,
in ny opinion; fon it is hand to reform a whol-e city suddenly. You must ::egulate
theii" taste by degrees, @rrecting sone Eralprs pr:blicIy, and.ottrers in secr:et.
C\:rb the pretLnsions oi the free&ren and slares whom possession of tlre thrnone
will b*in-g about you, so ttrat the gr.eater ttre Inaster whom ttrey serte, tlt hurb-
1en we uai rmf. tlreii disposition,- As to ttre pnefects tffro go to t}re vanious
prcvi-rrces, f wilI speal< of those whom you perscnally aprpoint, fon of cotrse you
iriff choose tlrein gralifj".tions t"ritfr reference to ttr.it nespcnsi.bilities; but
of those vdro obtain pnovinces by 1ot; scrne of whcnr I tfr1rr}< shor.rld be sent whete
their, lot ind:icates, when tJ:ey are IikeIy to be of ser:vie to lhe peoplgs whom
they dmw, tfrose who speal< er6et to gorem Greeks, and ttrose vrho speak latin-]o
gol,ern pecple r:sing thit :arrguqge. f wiff teJ-I you r,*ry this oc_cnrrs to re. tdhen
i r.aas iir flUpca:esft a man was fiovernon of Greece who ]<new no Greek, and-tte _
6"eeks could not u'rderstard vfral he said. He was mistlrder.stood and he mlsunder-
stood them corrstantly; and his cornsello::s and rnagistrrates -yho sa! with hj-rn to
try eases r-rsed to seij f,:is decisions, r:sing the governo: Iike a slave, Tltese
sulgestions aJ.e .a11 ttrat one to;ne at tfr:J tire, O mper:on. Tf I thiril( of any-
ti,iig e1se, we perhaps ney harre anothen conference. Ast nc&I as befits the crcwn,
1-est youn sr:bjects thirk you are too inactirell
tyou have reduced Greece to slavery, they te}1 ne, and in doing so you
think yoqr.self betten ttran Xercces, not arrra:re that you are v.,orse ttran Nero. Fon
whel NL:ro had ras at tris rrercy, he yielded to entreaty. Neto, ttre harpist, f:reed
tlre &eeks, btrt you, the statesnen, hare enslaved them. Since you hate the
fueeks so mrrch tLat-you hatre ctranged them fuom f:ee ren into slaves, t^rhy do you
desire ny conperricrrship? FarewelL.rl
-39-
il. WRIM}'GS OF APOLTONIIJS
bJhen a rere yotrth, Apollcrrius spolce as follcr,,ls to the priests of tlre temple
-40-
of Aesculapir.rs, aE Aegae, oncemjng prayer: I'Sjnce ttren the gods lcrow aIL
hhg", I 1fiirk ttrat one who enters-the temple wittr a riglrt ccnscience within
him should pnqf thus:
ttGirre Es y ggds, vffrat is ry due.
Dad.s adds tJrat cne of his rost general pmyers was rrfuant Er ye P&,
to harre little and to need naugfit.tf
Apollonius is neported to have said, iThe Gods are ry advisens and I can
brrt rely cn thein @ursels.rt ._
"Naugfrt would he wean ttrat cane from a dead beast, nor torrch a nprsel of a
t]ring that cnce had life, non offtr it in sacr:ifiee; ner fon him to stain witfr
blood the altars; but hcney-calces and incense, and the senvice of his song went
upward fuon the nan unto the Gcds, fon well lre l<new ttrat they would talce sucLt
gfts far rrather flran the oen jn'ttreinhrndreds with ttre lcrife. Forhe, in
sootfr, held c6r\rere witJ: the eoe ana lgarned frcrn.them how they were pleased
wittr ren and hcr,u displeased, and thence as well as drew his natunellore.rt
Eo Ephorra, Apollonius said, rTt is henoic not to err; but noble to a&rrit
onets ernor.tt Another: tr,arrslation reads:
tflt is possible foa: nen not to 1leke nistakes, but it requi:res ncbLe nen
to adcrpwledge ttrey har,e nEde them.
-41-
In a leften to his bnother, Apollonius w::ote:
.
ttlhat wonder, then, while the rest of nenlcind ttri* ne godlikg, ild sop-
even a gd, nV ** alcne hitherto ignores ne, foq who-se sake, especial-
1y, I wlsfr6a to distjnguGh ryself, when not eren to Your TY brctrite:r, as I
"o,rrlry
pl"*{*, has it beco# clear-how much I ercel this :race of n'en, in rV doctrine
and ]jfe .
rr :
-42-
And r[,.]hat, do you supposee " said the official, trthat he &es not already
possess them?r'
ttlf he possesses tirem, I wiJ-l teactr him ho^r to use flrem, " was the quid<
reply. '
Irrltrile he accepts thnt his flyfl:agprean religion seelcs to attain fusight into
the frrtr.r:re by rerelations frcm the gods -- only given, he contends, b tltose who
ale pure in life -- Ipoltcnils a'ls6 clains fon ttre $rthago:ea:s, as Iamblidrus
did afternrads, the'pesessior of a scientific r"eligion. Anong the acquisitions
a student rcives froin a fyth,agorear teactren, .Apollonius nentions rnathenatics
61fl sprl-ioal ScienCe c
Shor^ring his scierrtifie trend of mind, which alvays sougfrt a natr.r:ral ex-
planation of phenonena (including srpposed emi::aclesrt), ratl:en ttran seeking a
sr4>ernaEr:m.1 cne, af CaEma, the story was told Apo1lcnir.r.s that T5apho is bourd
there and ttrat f:om luim arises ttre fir.e of Aetra. Apollorrius too]< ttre occasion
to lead his d:isciples to a scientific e:planation of r,olcaric er:uptions as due
to a mixhrre of bitr.uren and sr:lphu:r blcr^rx l.pcn by subtemrean vrinds in the
crevices of ttre earth. Also, v'rhen in Spain, he e>plaired the tides of the eean
as due to subnarine winds given or-rE at each side of the ocean bed..
-43-
rI[ ever^ nerenben nry I'hsters, End journey througlr the wonld teadring \,ftrat I
have leamed f-:rom them, " said Apollonius.
Wtr-i1e cbser:rring a three-nested vressel leare tlre harbour, wittr its sailcn:s
engaged,in differen{ tasks fo:n ta}<jng it orrt to sea, fuollcrrius delivened tl:e
followirrg discou:rse on the advantages of consnrnism to the peopJb of Smyrna:
rYonr cbsenre ttre clew of that shipr'h*, of ttrem who ane garslen ary
getting jnto slciffs, ild ottrer.s are hauHng in"*= the anchors grd maldng them fast,
and others arne setting the sails to cabh the wind, arrd otler:s ar"e loolcourts at
stern and bov. If arry of ttrem alJ siould fail in his duty, or penform it un-
skiIlfuIlye the vassel will sail badly, and the crew r^rilI seem as darrgercug !o,
hen safety as a storur; but if they are- emulous of eaefr cthe:r, ard each stniGs
not to,be,outdole by.ttre next rEn, the ship wiIL fi4{ good }ra:rbors; and her
r,.ftole voyage wiIL sLem to be made r.p of fair r,eathen and farror^ing winds, so that
thein'ori searenship r"LiU r1Eke themthirk ttrey are r,r.Ider Nepturefs protection.rt
A yourg nen $dro entirrely laelced instmction hinself, was teaching birds
to taLk lilce nerr, and to wfriltle lil<e f}.rtes; and in order to train tlrem he
kept ttrem, in fris'house. Apollcnius orr ne"ting him asked hirn what his occr-pa-
tion was, whereupcn he began to te1l of his nigntingales gpd blacl<birds, ftd
what good talkers his cr-r:rIews wete, and in doing so bdtnayed his orn rno.rltuled
speech, urtil Apoltonir:s said to hjm;
,tr thirk you are spoiling your birds by not letting ttrem use ttreir nTr-rra1
notes, rvhich alre eweeten tfran-any musical instnrrent can iruitater and at the.
sane iire you are nuking ttrme prpils of ycur:s stamer, fon you are the wonst
speaken irGreece yoursEl-f. .fubglng by ytur conpanions, and youtr-sr-mno.rrdings,
yo-ng rrEn, you are- cnre of ttre lu<urlous r.ich, ana if so, you a:re in a fain r,ray
to f&e yo$ prcperty. Blackrrailer:s suck hctrey from srih re+_?s Your by it-.
sercing it" of Ulein poisonotrs tcngues. Of ratrat uqe will ygur passion
"iint
fon bilds be thd?. AIl the-sca:gs of yor.rr nightingales r.rill not help y-ou to
ward off tl:ose inportr"rrate sivafns. You nnrst punp your prcperEy ovef therq 9nd
thrcw gold to tfreir like sops to Cenebenrs, and so do again, and ^gein, to shr.rt
ttrein nouthsr' until yo.r wiU- be bnought to hurger and want.
Ycu should faee tl:e othen way, and change yorar nucde of life-, if you oloPq
not find yo:nse1f soon fleeced of yorar r^leaIth, &d Living in srrh Uorcn!:l-lh1t
youL birG rrourn nather, t)rgn iing. The way to preGnt suctr a donfall is
"iff Efrcry city has a claSs of sen }rrrorn as setroolnnstens, whose^ac-
not difficult.
quaintance you trare yet to form. If you give ttrem a Iifrle of your ncney, -it
tiiff b::ing Vo" :." a brcat
-If dea1, for ttrey wiff teach you lire easily-acquir:ed -art
of public"sfurLing. I had seen you in yom bqftood, f r^ould hav'e advised
yorto lcrock at tie door"s of philccpfrers and scphisb, and to fcrtify yolln
6state witl: errcrTf kind of ],rrooledge;-but thot4h you are tog o1d fon such an
edr.eation n*r, yo., can at least Gain t9 sped< fon yor:r'se1f. Equipled 4th "
higfien eAroatioi:, you would hare been Uke a forrnidable hea'qr-arred wamror;
UuE Uy learruing itis acconpli.shrent you wiLL at least acqgl-l the wealnns _of
an archer or a singe", ardyou wiJJ-'lmite blacknailers Uke ttre snealcing-dogs
they are.tt The young ran propr:Iy appl=ci^ated ttris advicer.ga\,e !P wasting
his-tine on birOi, da .ngig"?i maiteG, througfr r^fiom both his rnind and his
tongr:e roere polished.
-45-
P.EPFIIIA}CI OF A SELi.ER OF ]MIS
After spending the r^rinter in visiting the temp}es of Gr"eece, Apollorirs
planned a voyage in Egpt in the spring, and aften he had critieized narry short-
iourings, ana nad d.\En adviee to rnarry iitiesr'and had bestcxoed IIEny conmrnda-
tions, he went to thehrar-bon of Piraeus. There was a ship with sails ready to
sail fon Icrria, but the cha:rterer would not al]cw him to go aboard, as he had
hircd the entire' rressel fon his crirn purpose. i,lhen Apollonius asked hi.rn what
eargo he was taking he neplied:
rfrmges of tlre gcds for lonia, sone made of gold *U *r" and scre of
gold and ivory. rr
tlDo ycl'r intend to dedieate them to ,the godsr on r^frat?rr asked .Apo11cnius.
The oLher replied: rT\trot f , bd to seI} them b those who wi1-[ dedicate
tlem.rr
Apollcnir-rs asked: 't'AI you afxraid that r^e wilI nob the ship of your images
rt5/ good nan?rr
Wtren askedby Telesinus, t't'Jhat praryer do you ralce when you approach ttre
altans?fr Sollonius nepl-ied: I'f pray tlat justiae rray p:revail; ttrat tfre fa,s
be not trensgnessed; that wise nen nay be kept poor., *a that everyone else
may be rich but honest.rl
-46-
Telesinus asked:
t'Do yott beliere, then, vfien you asl< such gneat boons, that yorr pr"ayen wiJ.1
be granted ?rr
ttBy Zeus,
Ysrt' said Apoltcnir.e, ItA1l tlose supplications ar ircluded in
one Fayer, fo car r.eaching the altas, f pray ttrus:
t'0 ye pds, gi\e re r*tnt is suitable fe nel So, if I am a good nan, I
shall obtain even rpre tlnn I ha,e said; but if tlre gods nate rre among the bad,
they will ar,,and re the opposite; nor liould I blane them if. Urey adjudged ne
'evi1,
desenving of when I myself !s not good. rr
nWou1d t}ey nct neaeir,e ne cmdially ttren, without yorr raniting to ttem to
do so?'l
ftBy Zeus, nolit replied the eorsul, Itfon tlat is nV fu:ction, to issr:e such
psamits.rt
-47-
APOLLCD{IIE SAVES T}IE IJTE OF AI{ IIU.IOCENT
I"lqI{ FROM E}ECUrIO'I
haising continence, while hcnoring 1ove, as against the kiJ-ling out of the
latten, Apollonius spdce as fol1cr^rs to a yout]r who was sacnificing to Venus:
,:
I'let us awa:ld the uneath of self:ccurtr"ol to tiris boy, nafl:en ttnn to
Theseus ts son Hippolybus; fon lore nev'ela tempted him, 'end no Ctpid rnade merry
wi-fh him, so that he was of boor"ish and r.onsoftened natrae. But this lad her.e,
thougfr he aclqro,iledges his devotion to the goddess, was not overcone by his
tenptress, ild has kept aloof fncrn hen, d::eading the wrrath of thre goddess her*
self if he should srrcunb to a forbiaden love. I,Jlien a nnr: hates arry god as
ltippolytus did Venr:s, I & not thjrk his aetion desenres the honored nare of
self-control, fon the essence of self-contnol is neverence fon aIL gods, as $Ie
see in AtJ:ens, vdrere altans a-ne ereded erren to r:rrlsrcr^m g>ds.tt
A na'd dog had bitten a boy, ccnstr:ainin[ 'hirn ttrereby to act in aI[ ways
like a dog, barking and howling, and going cn all fours, using luis hands as IEws
to rtrr about. He had suffered fnon this rmdrress fon ttrirty days. Apollcnir:s
gar,ae ordens ttrat the dog which was the or.igin of ttre nglady should be. Looked
fon, after descnibing the exact appealnanc of the dog and vrhere he was. [r'lhen
ttre dog was bnougfit, it erotched whinpening at Apol-loriusrs feet, ']ike a sup-
pliant at an a1tan, and he sootl:ed and pafted it, keeping the boy at his side
alL the tire. Then he said:
'rThe soul of Telephr:,s the Mysian has entered jnto this lad, and tlre Fates
-48-
ordain tlre sare affLictions to him.i' Then he ordered the dog to lick the bitten
pIace, so ttrat tle biten rd$t in tur^n becorne ttre healen. Ihe boy at once
tur"ned to his fathen, and neeogirized his mothen, and spcke to his boyfuiends,
and drank of tlre Qyen:s niren. Non did Apollcflius neglect tlre dog, fon afEen
praying to tlre niren on its behalf, he led it dcross the stream. When it
reached tlre cittren $ide, the dog stood o: ttre ban]< and bar.ked, whidr nnd dogs
never do, and it tiid back its ears and wagged its tail, becarrse it fett well
apin. rr(ftVfaten,js the cr.ure fcr nabies, if ttre rabid anisal ean be br.ougfrt to
face itr .ccrrnented Philostratus, who added, rfSLEh deeds ttre l{asten did, for
cities and for terrples, with the people and fcur tlre sicJ<, for t}e dead, fon the
wise and the sinple, ild fon nulers who chose himas thejr advisen in virtue.rt)
-49-
GIAPTER 6.
A rmnt s priwte correspordence reveals tr:is true chaacter: rr:ne than any-
th-ing else hJ nay wnite; trrd so tlre follcx^ring e:tuacts wtdch sr:nvived finorn
,{poltonirr.sts extensirre correspcnr&nce should be parEicularly interesting in-
n6vealing ttre sr:blimity of hii elraracten, whictr was htman and at $re sane time
godlike,
1.--TO EUPHRATES
You have visited the cornbries that 1ie betr,een rrp ar.l ftaly, begirnring
fum Syr"ia, parading yourself jn the so-.called nq,ral cities. And you had a
philosophents dor"rblet aII tJ:e tine, and a lorg whr:ite beard, but besides ttrat,
nothing. And nor^r how cones it ttrat you are netuning by sea with a firIL ea:rgo
of siJ.rrer, of goId, of rrases of all sorts, of eniaroider.ed minent, of erery
otJ:en sor-t of ornament, not to mentjon orerweening pnide, and boastir and
r:nlrappinessl What aa:r'go is this, and r.vhat the pur-por"L of threse sbange pun-
ctrases? Zeno nerren purchased but dried fruits.
IV.--TO THE SA}TE
You wculd need }itt1e for your ser\Ents, if orly they were serlrants of a
philosopher. Nay, you should not eren thjnf< of pu:chasing nore than you real.Iy
viarrt, especially as you ineu:. sor,e ill-fane thereby. But sjnce you have orce
rnade ttre mistalce, the next best thing would be if you rmde as much haste as
possi"ble to gile a,Ey scllle of vihat you harre to ottrer.s. You wilI ret:ain both
yotr father-land and you:: friends.
V.--TO THE SAI.{E
Ther"e is no need hencefortlr fon.any inrnate of nis garden, on follcr,,er of
his-sdrool, to plead the rerit of cne of fl:re discou::ses of fpicr.:rus which.is
entitled: l'AboLrt Pleasune.tt Fon a genuir:re advocate thereof has tuu:ned up in
the Porrh itself, But if..by uay. of ccnfiedictionr you should bnirrg out f:e
le$unres and terets of Ctrysippus, let ne point out to you a cettain passage in
the Enperonts correspcndence, nanely this: rEr:phrrates has taken rrDney of me
and has talcen it a seccnd tirne. Ncn^r fuicunus would never ha\E taken it. f'
f
\TJ.--TO T}IE SATIE
I
I late1y asked sqne nich nen if tlrey feten srrh biffien feelings. Anrd ttrey
answered: tTio^l can we do otherr^lise?tt So I asked ttrem what was the reEson for
the duuess, and ttrey blaned ttrein Wealth. But you, my pool. wretctr, only
acquired you:: wealth yesterday,
\TII.-TO TTIE SA}E
As soon as you harie :reactred Aegae in yor:n hurtlr, and dischanged youn ship
tlene, -vou have to neturrr again posttraste to lta1y, where you must fawn as
usual upon the sid<, the o1d nen and worren, orphans, ridr nen, dandies, Ilidas,
Getae. Fon ttrey say thaf a nerchant must let out every r:eef. Fon nyself, I
would rathen clear out tlre salt-cellar: of ttre hone of Tlemis.
\E]I..-TO THE SAI"E
Pe:rhaps thren you wor-rld like to drraw up a little indietrent of ne? f only
wish you had tJle plud< to do so. And you would be able to :repeat tlrese hack-
neyed and cbvioLls accusations: ttApollcnius rrftenly decUnes to talce a bath.rf
Yes, and vfiatts rore, he neven quits his horse and tales care never to soil his
feet. ttYou nerirars see him noving any part of his person.tt Yes, fon he ne\En
,ncves anytJ:ing exeept his.sor:l, ItHe'vrearq his hair long on hj-s head.rr VJell,
and so does ttre He1lere, beoause he is a HeILene and not a barbanian. rrHe wears
linen rainent. Yes, for $tis.purest ga::b is tlrat of priests. rrHe pnactices
divination.'r Yes, fon nerry are the tirings we kncw not, and ttrene is no ottren
raay of foreseeing anything that is going to happen. ttBut such pnactioes ar:e not
conscnant with philosoph.rr NeraerttreLess ttrey benefit tJ:e deity, rrand lloliec,\rer,
he ea,ses the flesh of its agcnies and a11ays suffering. r' You miglrt equally
bning tlr.is ehange against Asclepius. r![Ie eats aIcne.'r Yes, and the r"est of the
rronld feed. tTIe rr.ses few worrls and cn few ecasions.rr Yes, fon he has a faculty
of holding his torgue altogethen, tlHe abstairs ftrom all- flesh and fiom eating
any animal food.t' That is sr-ure1y a prcof of his hurenity. ff you teII ret
Euph:rates, that yor have put these cor-urts into yor-u: jndisrnerrt, you will prcbably
add ttre follcr^dng as well: ilIf thene had been any doing, he vrould har,e talcen
mcney as f harze, ild pnesents, and civil pronotions. rr If thq:e had been urney
going, he r,ould harre taken it. ttNayi but he would har,e ta]<en it fon his corfltry. rr
Yes, but ttrat is not crrets corntry which krcws not what it hatn.
TO T}IE SAI.E:
The Pensians call those wtro ha'.re t}re divire faculty (on are god-Iike) nagi.
A rmgrrs, ttren, is crre wtuc is a rninister: of the go&, or cne who has by natwg
goalike faculiies. You alre no uuigSus, but reject tre gods (i.e., a.re an atheist).
-51-
TO TI{E SAT"IE.
I hare been asked by rany people cn rrEny occasions, ,!Y it is tlrat I have
ne\rer been sent for to Itafy;- or., ii I was sent fon, why I did not cone th-itlren,
like nygelf and su:rdry ottrer-people. Noit,r to the first question'I sha]I gire no
answen, lest sone sfrolfA thjrrk tirat I knew the reEISon, whereas I an not inten-
ested io l.rnor.l it; but as ::ega:rds the seccnd qr:estion, why need I say mo:re thaJ}
tfiat I wor-rId ratlaen have been sent fop than go? Farer'rel-I.
TO IT]E SA},IE.
Plato has said that tnre vi:tue necognizes no naster. And supposing anycne I
,
fails to hcurou:: this ansr^,er and del,igfrt therein, and instead of doing so se11s
hirrself fon filthy 1u@, I say ttrat he but gires hinse}F rnny nesters.
TO IIIE SAI.,IE.
You thi::r]< it you:r duty to ca'l'l phiJ-osopher^s who follctr P5fthagoras rnagiejans,
and likewiss a'lss those whb foLo^r Olryners.' fon rV cr^ilr part, I tlink that tlose
whc fol]or^l no rnatten whom, ouglrt to be calIed nagicjans, if only they ar-e
deternrined to be divine ard jGt nen.
IX..-TO DICilI.
Sone people ask ttre question'why I h"F left off giving lecbu:es to large
audieqces. I-et all l<now tJren, who may be j-nterested to Ln'lerstand sdch netter.S.
No diseou::ses can be neal1y usefi:l, unless if it be single, it'be also delire::ed
to a single perscn. 'Anyone tl:err who discourses in any oths: IIEnnen is rnotivated
by vairr glory to diseour"se.
}.C.--TO THE G{IEF COUNCf,LI.ORS OF CAESAREA
Ibnts first need is of gods for errerything and abor,e crrer:ything; thelT_
second of ities; fon next after the gods, we must honour ,-,tr citj.es; and if we
a.re rrEn of sense, we p::efen or-r citiesr vrelfar.e. I'ior,v if yours w,ere only cne
city of rerry, instead of being, as it is, the gneatest jn Palestirre, ercelting
-ttiere
al]- crthere in size ard in laws, and in institutions and in the wanlike
virtues of ancestor.s, and see nor:e in the a:rts and namer"s of Ped@r I should
sti1} see reascn to admire and lrcnor::: youn city m)re than all others, and so
would every nan vd:o has any serrse. By ccrnmcn neport, ttr-is would be tl reascn
for preferrlng pr.r' city & a conpariscn of it with the nn of cities. But
wheneven a city leads the way in paying hono.rn to a single individual, and that
one who js a sbangan, ard ccrrEs fuom afa:: off, seeing tlrat it is a city which
hcrror:ns him, what ean ttre individra.J. do by way of netttrn, and what wortlry
nepaynent of yorrrself is possible? this perhaps and ncne o'then: That if he is
a rurn beloved of tlre gods by reason of sone natr.r:ra-1 endcr,rrent, 'he should pray
that ttre city ney obtain all blessings, and ttrat his prrayen EEIy h granted.
-52-
This Ishal-l ne\En cease to do in yor:r: behalf, fon I am pleased to see ttre
IlBnners of Hellenism r"erealing thei:: oin exellence and doing it by neans of
pubI1c inscr:niptions. Brrt as apaffoniOes, the son of AphrodGiusrii a young rrBn
of firn, and constant cttanacten, ard wo.rthy to bean youn na[e, I shall srdear,on
to rrendern him of use to you in e\Ery panticula:r, witJ: tlre hetrp of sone good
fortune
}CT.--T'O ITIE O{IEF MUNCIUORS OF SELEUCTA
ffiratever city is so vrel1 affected as yours both tcr,rarrds the gods and tqniard
a such nen as ar worttry of acceptation, is both blessed in itself, and contr."ibutes
t
to ttte ercellence of tJrose in rvhose favon it bea:rs witness. Itor^, thouglr it is
I
not difficult to lead the way in displaying gnaceful gmd-wilI, indeed it is
ttre ncblest of hunnn acts, it is yet not easy to requir"e it: any it is alto-
gathen enpossible to find a tnre equivalent,
-for I irnagine tlrat what in tixre
sequence is secqrd, can never in natu:e be first. Ocnseqr:ently, f am obliged
to ask hearen to r.ewald you who hare shcr^m yor-nnselves not m1y tty supe:rior"s in
abjlity, but also in deeds. Iicr no nnn could pmsibly nise to such adrie'enents
as yolus. It is a fr-urther pnoof of yor.r gnacior:s good-will tcra:rds nre that you
also wish re to visit you, as I would pray to have visited you aheady. Yonr
envcys a:e ttre ,rDre precious to ne, becarse they ar^e already ny friends, I mean
Hienon}rrus and Zenon.
j
Sbaton has irdeed passed aoay frrom arrong nen ahd has left upcn earth all
that he had of nonta1ity; but we who are here, sti11 tn&ngoing pr.lrisfurent, h
other worrds, stiJ-l living, ougfit to have sone concern fon his affains. &re of
us t}en must do cne ttring, ancthen another, ard it is cun dLrty'to do it now
nathen tlran laten; fe if in the past 9e wer sor,e of us knovm as his relations,
ard sone of us nerely as his friends, ncr^r is the tine to shcxnr r.rith all sincer:ity
that we are realIy such, ron must vre &1ay doing or-r' drty to an indefinite
future, sr:pposing these nanesneart arything. I-nyself, hcrrne'ren, arn &sirctis in
tJ:is natterrto be especially yorr fniend; and ttrerefone, I urder"talce to bring up
nyself Ale:<arrden who was hjs son by Seleucis, and to impa:rt to him rID/ cr.Jn
education. And f shculd certainly have giren him nprrey also, who am besto^ring
what is so rrnrch nxrre important, if it were niglrt that he should rneceive it'
}NTJIT.--TO TTIE SAI'18
Henaclitr.rs ttre natrral ptr-ilosophen used to say that nmr is by nattre ir*
national. Inlel1, if ttris be tlrje, as it is hre, then let arycne hide his faoe
who vainly and idly is held in nepuEe.
xrx,--To scoFEt,IAi{us, THE soPr[sT.
In aIL therrc are fi\ite charraste::s in rrational discor-nrse: the philoso$ter,
the idsto:rian, the advrcate, the writen of epistles, tlte ccnuentaton. And when
these general'charactens hare been settled, there emerges afresh in sequence of
dig,ity, fir:st he who is peculiar by reason of his <r,m faculties of natrrre, _and
tjrere t6nes second he whois an irnitaton of the best, supposing he be one of
tlrose who lad< natr-raI endcn^mtsnt. But the best is bottr difficult to appraise;
consequently his cn^m character is none fiLting fon each ren to assure, so fan
fontr as it is also nor^e lasting.
tra
. )O(.--T0 DCMITIAI'I (Ronen Enperon)
, ff -fon and you hare
you har,e po^reu, it, tlren it would be wel] if you also ae-
-of to have_ prrdelrce, brf !o lack
quired piudence. iupposing you pooeTr You-
would have been G nueE poler; fon ttre on6 of these stands jn need
of ttre othen, just
"q,r"-ffy
as the eye needs }ight and Light, the eye.
}frI.--TO THE SA},IE
It wer",e best you should hold almf from ba::barians and no't Pine to rule
them; fon it is not nigfit tlnt they being bar&ariarrs should find irr you a I
benefaston. ,
a
)o{rr.--T0 LBBol{Ax.
You shorld tny tp be poor as an individual, bd to be r^ich as a nerben of
hunanity.
eail. --To cf,TR0 .
$rthagoras has declaned that thre divjnest ttring vre hrave is tlre hea]ing er:rt.
But if ttre-divinest thing is the healing art, t:en we must ta]<e ea:re of the soul
as well as of ttre body; Ior sure1y a :iiing &".trr" carrrot be in solnd health,
if in ::espect of its Lr-igfrest elerent it be diseased.
}CCV.--TO T1IE P}SITM]TS OF THE
OLY}IPIC GA}{ES A}TD TO THE EIJANS.
You invite ne to altend tlre ganes,of Olynpia and have sent re enracys to
that effect. And I would eone to-be a spectato:r of yor:r physical r'ivah"ies,
if it did not invcke abandoning the greater alena of nprrbal struggle.
K(V.--TO TI]E PELOPOM,IESIA}JS.
The seccnd phase of you:r r.elations l^rith one another were the 0lynpie Gane-s;
and thougfr in the finst phase you were fnankly enemles, in thjs seccnd you sti1I
were not fi:iends.
}CflTIII.--TO THE KING OT THE SCY$IIAI$S.
Festivals lead to epidemics: fon altlrouglr they rrefiresh ren aften their.
toi1, they pnomote gluttory.
}Cfr.--TO T}E ROI{A,I.I QUAESTORS.
You hold the iriglrest office of tlre rea1m. ff then you understand how to
go@mr vltry are the cities incessantly declining i.rrden yorn r"egine? But if you
& not r-unde:rstand, you cu$rt fir"st to learn, and then to golrem.
-54-
: r }Oofi.-.TO TT{E PROCI.]RA|ORS Or ASIA.
I,'flrat is the use of cutrting off bnanches of wiJ-d trees whose grcx,rH: des
harm when you lea'e the roots alore?
It is no use deccrating youn city wittr statues and elabonate pictr-ures and
prcnenades and theat:es, wrless ttrere is good sense 1her"e as well and law. Fon
allhougfi good sense and 1aw nay accompany these, they are not the sane thing.
}OOfirI.--TO T}IE I'IEI ESIANS.
Youn dxitdren la& fatlreri youn youttr lacl< old rrEni your wires, husbands;
yolll3 husbands, nrlens; your nrlers, 1a^m; youn 1aas, philosophers; youn phj.l-
osophers, gods; your gods, faith, Yor.r. anoestors vlere good ,ren; your present
estate jou nay well loathe.
>OO([V.-.TO TTIE WISE }MI IN IrIE MISELIM
f have been in Arge and Phocis and Iocris and jn Sicycn and in igara,
and aften holding prblic lectr:res in the past in ttrese places, f hare ceased to
do so any rlDne. !trlry so? ff anyone asks ne ttre neason, I must reply to you and
to ttre I'hrses in t::e words of ttre poet: rf hare been trazred into a barba:rian, "
ncrt rrby lorg sojor-rning orrtside Hellasrrt brrt by lcng sojouming in her midst.
}OQ(V.-.TO I{ESTTAEUS .
Vi-ntue and r^real-th are witJl r.ts rpst cpposed to crre anothen; fon a dimin-
ution of the care leads to an ircrease of ttre oEhen, and an increase to a dimin-
trtion. Hcr^r then can bcrEh at cnce be uritred in the safip rrEn, e:<cept in the im-
agination of fools who take vuealth e\,en fon virLue? Do not then aIIQs, rnen her"e
to m:isr.ndenstand ne so pnofotndly, ne pernrit ttrem to csrsider ne nich rathen
ttran a philosophen. For I accornt it most disgmcefUl that I should be held to
EarcI abne.d in seandr of noney, when tlrer.e a::e sone who, in orde:r to lea'e a
nonr-urent of ttrer:nsehres, harc not-erren enbraced vi:Cte
ff any brjnthian asks, v,frat did the fattren of Bassu.s die of, ereryone,
citizen and sojornten in the land aljke, wiJ-1 &DSWr: By poison. And'this
wretch wept as he foI-lcryed his fatherrs bien.
)OO$III.--T'O I}IE FEOPTE OF SARDIS.
You ata.:rd no pnizes fon good qualities, fon what good qualities have you?
But if you wet inclined to ccrnpete fon ttre first prize in vice, you wolrld all
win at cnce. lalhro is it that says srrh things alout the people of Sardis?
trtr
The people of Sardis tlrersehes. Fon of tre people there, no cne is the friend
of anothen, to the exEent of denying out of good-wi1l tJ:re ncst nonstrcus changes.
iOCfiX.--TO TlE SA}G PEOPIE
the very nares of yor:r social onder:s ane disgusting; witress the bdda:ri
and the Xr-r'isitar-uri. These are tlre finst nafies you guie yor.:n chil&en, and you
are Irr}<y to be wortlry of ttem.
}C,.--TO lHE SAME PEOPTE
Coddari, and Xr-risitauri. And hou are you going to call youn daugfitens and I
youL wives? Fon ttrey too belcng to the sare castes and are IIDre forwand than t
youmselves. a
Othen nen negand re as the eqtral of the gods, and some of them e\En a,s a
god; but rntil rrow ry cr^m country alcnre ignores me, r$/ country for which in
panticulan f harre striren to be distinguished. hlhat wonden is t}ene in this?
For not even on you rr5, b:othen, as I penceire, has it clea::ly davmed that I am
superion to nost nen, both in my language and in'ny cla-naster. Fon othennrise
hoi^r eould ]lou judge re so harshly as to need to be r.ernin&d at all of matEe:rs
abcut which, as about no othez.s, e\ien the dullest pensons are Ilkely to nesent
instnrction, to wit about corntrlr and br"etJrren? Nerer:theless you must be awale
ttrat it is a noble thing to negard the w-hole eanth as youn cor.rrtry and al.l nren
as youn brethren and fuiends, seeing tJ:at tlrey a::e the fanrjly of cne God, ttrat
they are of cne rurture, and that ther"e is a conrrarnion of eadr and all in speech,
so long only as he is a rrEn. But tlrene is, it must be a&n:itted a kinship whidr
orerr-nides philosophicaf theory, dod a familiarity which affracts to itself
ever5rthing that shares it. So the Odysseus of Honen, as they relate, did not
pnefen er,en inuxrr,tality, when a goddess offer.ed it, to fthiea. And fon rV cr^In
part I noti.ce tlrene is not a single bind that will sleep ar,'ay fucrn its oon nest,
-56-
and thougfr fishernen nay <hnage the tenants of the deep fron ttreir lair, yet
they will return ur1ess ttrey-ane o\Ercome. As fon wiia basts, neitrr." ir*ge"
nor sateity in&rces ttrem tonenrain outside their no:es. -A,.,4 #" is one of fhese
c:reatules that natune hattr so produed, er,ren ttrough he bear ttre nare of sage,
fon wlpm alL the er,eayttrlng else] brrt'can nerer? eFtr up df6ne
:Ttll IrEy_
tris eyes ttre sepulctrres oi -sypi_ly
f,G- father:s.
XLV.--TO liIE SAI',IE.
I . ff that
vjrrced
philosophy be the rnost piecious thing in existence, and if we are con-
we g* p^ttif*ot'rer"sl we canot rlghtly be
I to hate or.r
brethlenr -and that for a nea: anO itr.ir-.*1 oEu"oi1. fcan"it-appears
""ppor"a oun misurder-
a
"F.dirg is on tlre point of morey; and that is sorettrlng wiri;h r^;e tnied to des-
pise, even before r^re Uecane plrilGo$r"*;-"rra the:efore-it is nore }ikefy o,a
neascnable that you should guspect ie of'having neglected to rr=it yo,, tilu-
truBl, because you ni.ght tldrr< re boastful, ti,ihk re over*hr-urb1e; and botJ:r
of ttrese t}ings are gqEILy arrroying no Leisas-to
to prettuen ttran to f:risrds. Ncr^r,
!*?ygo, I have the infornation lo [i.rae yor. ff 'hearen should perhaps eonsent,
f wil1, aften neeting ny f:riends in-Hrodes, shortly depart therrce and netuam to
you tcr^ards ttre end of spning.
}o,W.-TO GORIIJS.
thgV telt ne ttrat Hestiaew has been urrongad by yor-rself in spite of yor-r
having been tris friend, if inrr.ed you are U:e Fr:iena lrf an1rru. g;ruo fl'r-enr-
P fu$*, lest you find yourself in conflict not witr the senblance of a nan,
br:t with the reality. ]V,gneetings to your son, Ar^istocleides, who rnay f pray,
never resenrble yor::rself. And yet you, as a young llan, r^:ere beyond nbpr:oach.
You cqnnard ne to retr-rn to you, and I cbey. For tJre greatest corplfunent
a city cat Pay to cne of its cr"m citizens is to recalI hjm In onder: to do him
honour. And Guring the,whole tine, tl:at f have been away from youn city, I hare
*ltloygh it rmy be pnesunphrors to sey so, .slriren to win fo: !rou, Ey my =o-
journing +ryoad, gpqd farc and nam ana gooa-r^riIl and ttre f-nisrAsnip of ai"tin-
guished cities, ana eqr:ally of distinguiSf,ea ner,. erd if you ner"it a stiII
wrsen ,r,-d hi$tun ccnsi&r."ation, it is only nyselj and rS/ cr{n natr:ral gifts which
are capable of an effont inrrclving so nnrch ability and seniousness. Fa::erue11.
}3,UIIT. --TO DIOTTMI.IS .
You rslce a mistdce in sulpeing that f want anything eitlren f:ncm yor.unself,
!. vrith whorn f harre.;ner,en had anytting-in ccnrncnr, on fiom else liice you, or
undel like circunstaces. But in fact, e\En i.f,at f harc "ipoay
l>rpeirded crr any oUjict
qcndrr_ive t9 Vour welfare has been ircorsidenable. f sha}l be best pleased,
a
the:refore, if you aocept ny kindness without inctaring any eleense yo"unself.
Fon in no othertray but this sha11 f netain ny p:irciftes-intict. nna that this
is ny wgY, and ltris my attitude tcwalds all nenr, you Lan leam fion ttre nest of
the citizens rotro have aeepted 116/ kindrress, as ofben they stood in need thereof,
but who have neven been asked to rake ary :retum. Do not then talce it amiss,
if f have nebtrked ny se:sant as he desenrred, fon having in the finst j-nstance
accepted anything, and if he at cnce handed bad< to Lysias youls friend, and also
a f:liend of ny curt, what he receir,ed, because he did not kncxnr personally any of
youll serrrants whom you had left behind. Br.rE that tJrere are two aeor.urts of ne
qurrent, and th,at tJrey will continue to circulate eren in the futLre, need f be
-57-
swlprised? For: it is.inevitable jn the case of errerycrre.at 111 grgltrnent-h *y
,ayl ttrat ther.e shotrld be contnadictory acorgrts of him in cinculation. It was
so witfr grthagonas, with 0rpher"is, with Plato, .and with socrates; 1ot only were
contrradiciry"statenents n:a& aboiJt ttrem, but"tl:rey rvere ernbodies jn wr"iting as
weLL, and wa need not be sraryr,ised seeing ihat even concer"njng God hirmelf
nenti accou:ts differ: fron dle anottrer. Hover,en, good nen by a sorrt of natr-ral
iffinlty wiIL accept thre truth, just as bad nen wjjl accept the opposite, gnd.
we cn atfonA to laugfr at sueh p6opb, I nean the word sort. Thris much cnly it
is r:igfrt fo:: tlre nprent to inpness upcn you aborrE nyself, that even the.g9$.!1ve
spolcei of re as of a divine l6n, nodorly on many occa,sions to private-i,4iviq-
rn1s, bgt also in prrblic. f sfraU ifroO< you if I speak rpne or more higfrly of \
nyself. f pray fcr yor-ur good healttr I
a
}O-tX .--1O PHEFUCIAI{US .
I am rrery deligfted with the letrers..whictr you harae sent re, for they ne-
veal nu-ch inti-nacy ana reminiseence of riy family; and I am sure that you a:re nost
arDrious to be seen by ne; I shal-L therefcnre v+git you as socn as possible-,
wkrerefor"e pJ-ease rernain at hore. And you shali com/erse wiltr me, vfien I hqve
amiried at yotr residence, in pr"eferen-ce to any of yor-r othen frierrds and'
'
Even the nost wise grthagcras blonged to the class of &niigodsl put you
stil1 seem to re.,to be rrfter.ly nemote fton philo$Y, and fr"om t::tre science,
on you would neither abuse that great nen, no:: persist in hating cer"tain of
those who foLlo^r hj-m. You should tum to scnettring else ncx,r. Fon Ityou hare
inissed yo-r cuert in philmo$y, fhon have you hit it offt' befre:: tlmn Pandartrs,
when he afu'ed at lbnelaus, in tJre episode of tlre violation of oaths.
There are those who rebrrke you for having talcen money fnom ttre Enperor.
There rvould be nothing absund in yor::: ejrrg so, where it is not clean that you
have ta]<en nrney ,=raiAs fon your philoso$y on so neriy occasions and on strh
a lage sca1e, and from So many persons, and fnom people whom you had got to
bel.ieve that you were a ph:ilmophrer, ,
If anyone con\,etlses with a $fthago:ear, and asks what bo"nP and how neDy he
sha1l derive f:om hirn, f shor:ld nyseG answer as foalcxus: he will acquine leg-
jslative scierce, geolretr5r, astrcnony, aritf$etic, icncxrleflge of harnrcny and
nusic, and of the physiciarrs art, godliJie divination in all its brandres; and
the still betten gmlities of nagnarrimity, grealness of sou1, mlgnrficence, con-
stancy, revterence, lmcroledp, Fnd not r1e.re opinion of the P&, direct cog-
nisance of demi-gods and not nere .faith, friendship witli bfit, indepen&nee of
spinit, assiduity, fuugality; limitation of needs, quidsregs of movenent, quick-
ness in bnea*ring, e>cellence of eolcur, health, @urage, irnortality. And
fuolr you, Euphnates, what hane,yo::r colrparions cbtained t]rat lfiey can keep?
Strrely no rpre t}an the e><cellerne wh:i-dr you pesess yowself.
uIrI.--ci,AUDItE, TO TTIE SmIAIE Or WAIIA
Fa:re'ye
UIV.--APOLi.OM6, TO TTIE CEI'ISORS Of ROME"
Ereryflring wtren
old age fon ermy nEn, after which he nenrainettr no mor3. I-et
"*.yr-urra-tfti""ir
not thenefcr^e the 1oss 5f thy wife-in tjre. flcxoen of hen_age gierre tlee beyond
reasure, non, because srch a tfring a" Oe4r i? ofr-i-rn[gine ttrat ]jfe is
i@"i"i- ih;i=t;-"rt*n'ii is artoE"trer: jnferionin "p$.1ttre eyes of cne r"efl-ects'
in^ttre comn<rl ac-
Ibice ttryseLf then ttre brotren of &re that-is a ptr-ilosol*ren,
."pt"C6"-;i td;-;,-;J i" pa*icrr:ar ' a Pithlsore_an and Apollorrirls: and
nestcre ttre foruen estate or tiry r,cusdhold. roi: ir-ve had found 6rything to
ur"* i" *rv ror#r *ift; ;; *i'glt reasonqbry eryec! t]-ee to.shilk frcnrtoher anothen
rnion; brrt inasnnrh as sne was ionsistently holy-and Pqf- ?nd-attaclred
husband a,a tf,erefore wor5Sy of-t;;-;&*1u, ,iru.t snbufa 1*d-ris to ee99t tlat
a secondwife sfroufa-r,oC*!.n'U:i frE"f Tiyr'she r'lould be in arl was Pnobability be
not fol-
;";;;;Ad i; G*; in virtue by tJre ra&'ttrat t-,:qt^rould pry*cessolr
goften ,roryn"r,ged by neglect of i't"" **ooy. And I Pray- ttree ser-iously to
,
C)cesus lost the enpine of t-he Lydians by e:rossing tfrg -rirer Halys ' Hehewas
pyre,
ta]<en ;}i;, n"-rar lo;:i i" ct *in=, fie *as^ s6t_-,-pcn t].e tridr;raised
i! appea:ed
sai.r the fire 1it end the flanes-rislng aloft. Fb-was sar,red, -for
t
tLrat he was hcuq.red ard valued UV-UrE goa. What then 9ng-uep?.
This rmn' yop
;-d;;; td; ki,',g, t{ro had"suffered sobecane
;;.S"ift"4 jnvited much t}rat he deser,red not to
suffer, was to the table of f,it enemy' and hi," adviser and well-
rtii f-iU1ful f-riend. But you, in Vctrr nelations wittr youn penrents, youll
"i=h;;, try"le1s'
r"i*td", }tins"ett atir titu"snen' evirree nothing*d_ryd}::.ff1'V'
-b"t
"rrildr"";-5.r"
f"pl"*bH fr*;e.llrie fratr.ea, ild worse tfrin tris, -*lr9-1Y
Ygharre made yot-reelves fratefl:li by neitlrer crossing lhe HalVs, noll reea\Ang
ancng yor.rrqelves anyone frrm ou{:sjAe. Arrd yet eartf, bears you hen fruit '
L\[I.-_T'O CERTAIN TEABNIED PUBLTCf,STS I
:
Lieht is the pyesence of fire, uiithout wfri.cfr it would not be' Now fine is
-59-
itselfan affection and what wher:r-rrto it cones is of counse bumt up. But liglrt
can only supply its o.a: radiane to oi-a: eyes, on condition of using not force
to them, but persr.rasion. Speech therefore in its tum, r.esenDles, in its cne
aspct, fi:e whidr is the affection, &d in its othen, t:e radianoe which is
light. And I pnay that the lattenvhieh is betten nay be mine, u:less indeed
that which I speak of is beyond tle readr of my prayer.
L\TIIT.--TO VAI,ERIUS. ON II.S{OKTAIJTY.
in truttr a thing neit&en cores into being at any ti:re non is desbroyed. BuE it g
is cnly apparent at one tjme and laten on invisible, ltre forrer odng to the den-
sity of its mater-iaI, and ttre latten by reascn of the ligfilrress on tenuity of
the essene, whictr howerren renBins alroays the sane and i5 cnly subject to dif-
fer:ences of rcr,enent and state. For ttris is necessa:nily tlre ctra:ractenistic of
ctrange caused not carly by anyttring otrtside, but by a conrersicn of the whole into
tlre par:tsr ed by a ::ehrrn of the pa:-ts into 11.e whoIe, dr.:e to the oneness of tlre
r.u:i'uerse. But if sonecne asks: l,ihat is this, v#rich is at cne tine visible and
at another jnvisibh, ffi it pnesents itself in ttre sare or in different objects?
It ney be answered t:at it is draracter-istic of each of tlre ser,e::al generla of
things here, when it is fuII, to be apparent to us because of the r=sistance of
its density to ou:: senses, brrt to be r:nseen in case it is emptied of its ratten
by zeason of its tenuity, the latter being perfcrce shed abrroad and flcr^ring
atuay fucm t}e eternal neasr.lre which ccnfjnes it; aUeit the reEISure itsef is
ne\ier cneated ncr destrcyed.
lfiry is it ttren ltrat'ernon has passed unrefuted on suchr a scale? the reason
is that sone imagtne that they haire thenselr,es actirely brougfrt about r^hat t]rey
have nenely suffered and e>perienced, because ttrey do not urdenstand that a child
bnought into flre wonld by parents is not begotren by its prents, any rpr than
what gnows by neans of the earEh gr<x,'rs out of dre earth; non are phenonenal rodi-
fications on affections of nefter properties of the individrnl trjrg, hlt it is
nather the case tJ-at each individr.ral thinges affections are:p:rcp_erties of a
sing1e plrenonenon. 4urd tlris si-ngIe phenonenon cannot be r"ightly spoken of on
charractenized except we narrE it the fir:st essence. For ttris alone is agent.and
patient, nddng itself all things r.urto a-11 and fl:rcnr$ aIL. God etemalr, which
in so fa:r as it takes cn the narEs and per"son of individua'ls forfeits its pculiar
ctrarracten to its pr.ejudice. Novr this is of lesser inportance; what is of greater
is ttris, ttrat sone are apt to rueep so socn as e\Er God arises out of markind, by
ne::e change of plaae and not of nahrre. BuE in very tnurth of things, r^e should
not lanent anotlrerts death, but pr:ize and rererence it, And the higfiest and
cnly befifting honotr you can pay to death is to r.esign r.rrto God him that was
herne and ccntinr.re to'nrle as befcre oren tJ.e hurinn beings enttsted to your care.
You dishca:alr your"self if you improve less througfr youn judgnent than by lapse
of tine, seeing ttrat tjrne alleviates ttre sotnohrs erren of the wic]<ed. Higlr eom- !
rand is the nost inportant of ttrjngs; and he will best srroeed jn the rncst
inportant office who lras first learned to gorrem himself. And r,frat piety rpre-
oven is ttre:e in depnecatirrg that whictr has happened by tJ.e r,riJ-l of God? If
ttrene is a: order of r.eality, aDd ttrene is, and if &d resides over it, the just
rIEn will not desir:ra to deprecate his blessings; fcr srrh conduct savours of
a"a:nice and violates tirat ca:der; but he will-considen that vfiat happens is for
tlre best. Gc fo::r,.land ttren and heal yourself, dispense justice and ccnsole the
wnetched; so wiIL you wipe away tlents tears. You rnust not prefen yor.r pr'ivate
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welfare to ttre pr.rblie, but the ptblic. to Snlr+n private. And thinl< what nennen of
consolation js offered you; the entine province has npurred witi you fon ttre
loss of your son. Reward those who trare grieved wittr you, and you will fa:r
soonen newand them by eeasing to mourn ttran by ccnf:-ning you:rself in your house.
tYou have no f-:riends?rt But you trave a son, rt\,lnratr ltre one who is just dead
(you wilI ask)?rt tYesr fl wiJ.l be ttre neply of aIL wlro reflect, t'for ttrat vihich
exists is nct lost, but exists by the rery fact that it wiJ-l be fo:=ren. O?
toculd you angue that which has no exjstence cofies into being? But ttcx^r can t:at
be without tie destnrction of ttrat which is?" 4nothen rd#t say ttnt you are
inpiors and r.rrjr.nt, Iryious tcxsa::ds God. Viould you iJ:en learn what &ath is?
Send and sLay ne the sonerrt I hare rrtre:ed these wo::ds, and rnLess you car clottre
' them afresh with fllesh: you hare tlrere ard then nade ne super:ior to ycunself.
T
!
a You have abwrdant tine, you have a wife who is sensible, dew'ted to her
husband; you are you::self sourd in body, talce fircrn yoin"self whateven Iacks. 0:e
of the ancient bnnns, in orden to uphold tlre law and on&r of his state, slew
his oon son, and indeed slew him after crcrnining him. You ane a gor,ernon of
fifty cities and ncblest of ttre Ronens; yet tJris pnesent hr-rrpr.r of yor.rs is suchr
as to pr:event you firom affording a stable governnent eriien to yor::l howehold, not
to speal< of cities and provines. If Apollonirs wele w-ith you, he would have
persuaded Fabulla not to rpurn.
If you wer:e not of a pqfing ,lisposition, you would not be laying dom the
lavl in other pecple's affairs; nor as sovereign; nor in krdia r*ould you be play-
ing the judge fon Babylcnians. Fcr hcx^r cane you to know anything about my
people? But just recently you l:ave na& an attempt upon r$/ kJngdom, by trying
to cajole ne wittr yor:n letters and by insinuating into ngr realm the r,leil of
philan,ttrrcpy youn cryJrx aggressive designs. BLrf you wiJ-1 not strceed at all for
you eannot deceive rrE on talce ne in.
LX.-.TO EUPHMTES.
Arnchar.sis ttre Sqfthian r"la,s a sagei but if he was a Scytldan, then it was
becawe he was a Scxrth:ian.
LXII. --TIiE LACEDAEI"IOIIAI.TS TCI APOLLONIUS.
a
V'le send you this ccpy of a deeree ccrrferrring hcncu: uPcn yourself, which we
harre sealed with fl:re pr:blic sea1, for yor::r recognition thereof.
rThe deq:ee of the Lacedaenrcnians, according to ttre resolution tdcen by
thei:r serrate on t}e l{ction of .findarus
rTt was resolved by flre go\Ernrent and pecple to nake Apollonius the $rtha-
gorean a citizen and to bestcxnr r:pon him the rigfrt to possess land and hotses.
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set up arr inscnjbed irage, painted and na& of brcnze,
And rve harze also
to conr
**or=t fris-vir"t'les.-'For this is the wiy'in which our fat}ers did hcncur to
a way of life
all hare chosen
mod nen; fon they r.egarded as Sons of Lytrrgus who
Irr accordun e with the pi'l'l of the gods.rl
thqn as Lacerlaersrians . I
e
i.XIV.--TCI T}IE SAI'{8.
You invitg ne again and .gni.r to refom'r yor lars and yor-r youth. Ncru the
city of Solon dces noE invite ne. Rererence Lycurgus.
I)(1/.--TO TTIOSE OT THE EPHESIANS ViHO
FREQUH{TED T}lE TE}'lPi,E 0r ARrEMrs.
Ttrere is cone from LIeIL", n*, who was a HeILene by mce; and thou$r he
was not a1 Attrenian on indeed a"native of }bga::ar Yet he had a betrei: nane, and
was intent upon nulcing his hone togetlrer with you:r god&ss: So I rocuLd have
v" *":.gl # r*," pllce where I dn stay r,rithout c5ntracting a need of pr:r:i-
ficatory-rites, thougfr I always r:en'e.irl inside
LX\[I.--IO ffiil SA]'t' PERSO:'iS
Yorin terple is thr:rcr^n open to all whro.would sacrifjce. o:: offen Prctyers-r on
sing h5rnns, tb suppliants, tb Hel1enes, barba:rians, f:ree nen, to slaves. Yout"
law-is-trenscendeirtaffy Oivine. I ouid reeogtLze the tokens of Zeus and of
i-eto, if these were alcne.
An earlJ:qual<e has shaken youlr land, as has often happened with the ou:tnies
of nany ciEher-people. But as tt'e misfoitt"u:res which ttre}.suffered wer.e u:avoid-
abIe, io ttrey L>friOiteO towads one anothen feelings of pity and not of hatred. l
You alore hare hu::Ied against the gods bottr missjles and fi::e and against such
gods as people in eithei case nn:st hare, both after da, ga:r and befcare it. Nay
npre, when a distinguished philceopher of Hellenjc nace has often wa:ned you
publie1y of the disasten in store fon you, and had fonetold the ea:rthqr:akes that
have happene4 him, when the god achnlly shock youlr land, you began to accuse
daily of having bror:gfrt it aboirt. AIas, for yor::: public folly; and yet youL
forefatle:rrs nanre was Ttrales
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I.}GX.-.TO T}TE TRALLTAI{S.
leny fncln all parts, sone fcr one reason and sore fon ancittrer, flock to ne
bottl_youlg and oId. I ttren sear the riatrre of each individr:al and-his rrErnnere,
* cleelY as I ca:, and f nnrl< his disposition touards his cr^m city, to see
whettren it is just on ttre rerense; but intif this day, I do not firr-d-that I
cculd pnefen to you lballians either Lydiars, or Arctraeans or lcuriarrs, or even
the people of ancient HeILas, the natires of-Thrl:ii, on CYotct:ra, o: Tarentr.rn on
any ofl:er of the peoples of ftaly ycnden who ane caifea happy, 6r of ary ottren
ra@s. Vlhat then is the reason, why, so rnrch approving of yarselrres, I yet do
not talce uP, r$/ residene aronEJ so exeLlent a pe-ople, atU:ougf, I am oi ycur cr^rn
1
race? I will teI1 you cn sore other occasion;-but at p:resenf f harie crrly tjne
i to praise you and say hor much supe:rior ane ny leading citizens in vjntr:L and in
t speech to those of othe:r cities and still nore to thoie ancng'whom ttiey have been.
As Flato says in his tfureuss you are tlre descendarts of Athenians, ttrough
thSy lare.e->peJ-led f?om Attica the- goddess ycu'har,e in ccrnnrn with them, who-is
called Neith by you, but Athene by them. Ihey luve oeased to by Heller:es, and
ryhy tley hare cee?ed to be, f wjJ-1 teJ-l you. No wise and aged nnn is an Athen-
iun; fon no Atheni.an erJer grer^r a fulI be"ard, sine you n"irci saw cne of them r^rith
any at aIL. the ffatteren is at thein doors, ttre sycophant stands before thein
gatelr ttre pirp even befone ilein lcng walIs, tt" prn site in fircnt of ltr.rrych:ia
and in fipnt of the Piraer:s; as,.for" tlie goddess, sfre has noE erren Sr.urium left
to hen.
Oun fattrer Apollonius had the nane of Menodotus thrice oven in his pedigree,
t but 5ou wish to style yor.u:self crrce and for all Lucretir.r.s or Lrrpercr:s. Of which
of these are you ttre &scendarrt? It is a disgnace to havre a personrs narre with-
out also having his countenarce.
{
DOflI].--TO TIIE SA}{E.
I am fan away by Godrs wiJ.l frnon ny country, but I always polden in ny rnind
ny cityrs affairs. Ttre genereation of those who wcrr the fir:st hcnoun hastens to
its end and in futLune it wiJ.l be a reigrr of chiLden, ild a little laten cn of
babes. Here ttren is what v;e har,e to fean, lest the state go'erned by youth
shottld go wrong; but you need not fear, fon or::r Iir,'es are o\m.
-6 3-
IJOfiV..-TO ]}lE STOICS.
Bassus vns beautiful, brrt stanving; althougfr his sire had plenty of naney.
Accordingly he began by fleeing to }bgana with one of his lorers so-called, and
who vas one of his pinps as weIL; fon both the cne lot and the other wer"e in
need of food and roney fon the jor.rrney. then he fled thence and trarrred up in
S5nnia. thene tre pretty yorfh net wittr a larm welcomi fnom Er.rptrates and fucmr
Elnyone else who like Errptrnates was jn need of the latest beauty, and as ready
out of nene negard fon tlrat sage to choose fon hirmelf so odd an ideal.
DCW.--TO TT{E PEOPLE OF SARDTS.
I
Ttre sca: of A1yafres was urable to sa\re his own city and had no resources r
1eft, tltougfi he was a king, and his nare was Cr.oesus. WeIL, I wculd Like to I
lcrow what sort of licn you have put yor-r tnrst in, that you should have enbnaced
this buceless vnr am)ng youorsehres, childr"en, and yor:rths aI[ a]jke, full-grov,nn
mg1 an{ a8ed, la.Y'even naidens and wcnen? O:re wou1d suppose that your:s was a
91ty of tlre hinyes ratre:: ttran of Deneten. Fo'n this gliO"ss is a Iorren of man-
kind, and r worrld kncw what a1l this spleen of yours ii about.
UO$rI.--IO T}IE SA},IE PEBSO{S.
The soul whictr does not ta]<e bor:ble to tnain ttre body to be self-suffic-
ing is not able to nake itself content with litrle.
TJCC{.--TO TrIE SA},IE PERSON.
}bn of light and leading use fewest rucrds; for" if babbler^s felt as mrrh
annoyance as they infrict, tJrey would not be so long-winaed.
IJOCfl ,--TO 1}TS DISfiPLES.
Sinpnides u,sed to say ttrat he had neven had cause to nepent of being silent,
thougfr he had often repented of having spd<en
-64-
DOOCI.--TO TI{E SAI,IE FEBSONS.
Most nEn are apt to palliate ttreir cr^in offenses, as they ar:e to condenn
them in crthrer people.
DOOGX.--TO DAI\trAI.IS .
You m.rst not fael envious of anyone; fof while good ren desenrue what they
have, the bad lire badly even if they ar^e probperous.
XCTT.--TO DIOI\IYSTUS.
-65-
XCV.--TO CORNELTANUS.
Life is short fon the man who des weIL, but for hir.r that is rnlrr)<y it is I.
long.
XCW . --T'O DEI'IOCRATES .
&re who shor,'rs exeessirre arger orlen srnall offenses prerents the offender
fron riistinguishing, when he has offended in lesser things, and when in greate::.
XC\[I..-TO LYCUS. a
I
It is not pove::ty that is disgraceful by nature, but poverty d-re to a dis- T
graceful lteason is a rep::oach. !