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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/35460-0.txt b/35460-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..67d8480 --- /dev/null +++ b/35460-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4433 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Apollonius of Tyana, the +Philosopher-Reformer of , by George Robert Stowe Mead + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Apollonius of Tyana, the Philosopher-Reformer of the First Century A.D. + +Author: George Robert Stowe Mead + +Release Date: March 2, 2011 [EBook #35460] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APOLLONIUS OF TYANA *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Turgut Dincer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + + APOLLONIUS OF TYANA + + THE PHILOSOPHER-REFORMER + OF THE FIRST CENTURY A.D. + + A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE ONLY EXISTING + RECORD OF HIS LIFE WITH SOME ACCOUNT + OF THE WAR OF OPINION CONCERNING HIM + AND AN INTRODUCTION ON THE RELIGIOUS + ASSOCIATIONS AND BROTHERHOODS OF THE + TIMES AND THE POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF + INDIAN THOUGHT ON GREECE--BY G. R. S. + MEAD, B.A., M.R.A.S. + + + LONDON AND BENARES + THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY + 1901 + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + + SECTION PAGE + + I. INTRODUCTORY 1 + + II. THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND COMMUNITIES + OF THE FIRST CENTURY 9 + + III. INDIA AND GREECE 17 + + IV. THE APOLLONIUS OF EARLY OPINION 28 + + V. TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, AND LITERATURE 42 + + VI. THE BIOGRAPHER OF APOLLONIUS 53 + + VII. EARLY LIFE 65 + + VIII. THE TRAVELS OF APOLLONIUS 73 + + IX. IN THE SHRINES OF THE TEMPLES AND THE + RETREATS OF RELIGION 82 + + X. THE GYMNOSOPHISTS OF UPPER EGYPT 99 + + XI. APOLLONIUS AND THE RULERS OF THE EMPIRE 106 + + XII. APOLLONIUS THE PROPHET AND WONDER-WORKER 110 + + XIII. HIS MODE OF LIFE 119 + + XIV. HIMSELF AND HIS CIRCLE 126 + + XV. FROM HIS SAYINGS AND SERMONS 132 + + XVI. FROM HIS LETTERS 145 + + XVII. THE WRITINGS OF APOLLONIUS 153 + + XVIII. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 156 + + + + +APOLLONIUS OF TYANA. + + +SECTION I. + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +To the student of the origins of Christianity there is naturally no +period of Western history of greater interest and importance than the +first century of our era; and yet how little comparatively is known +about it of a really definite and reliable nature. If it be a subject of +lasting regret that no non-Christian writer of the first century had +sufficient intuition of the future to record even a line of information +concerning the birth and growth of what was to be the religion of the +Western world, equally disappointing is it to find so little definite +information of the general social and religious conditions of the time. +The rulers and the wars of the Empire seem to have formed the chief +interest of the historiographers of the succeeding century, and even in +this department of political history, though the public acts of the +Emperors may be fairly well known, for we can check them by records and +inscriptions, when we come to their private acts and motives we find +ourselves no longer on the ground of history, but for the most part in +the atmosphere of prejudice, scandal, and speculation. The political +acts of Emperors and their officers, however, can at best throw but a +dim side-light on the general social conditions of the time, while they +shed no light at all on the religious conditions, except so far as these +in any particular contacted the domain of politics. As well might we +seek to reconstruct a picture of the religious life of the time from +Imperial acts and rescripts, as endeavour to glean any idea of the +intimate religion of this country from a perusal of statute books or +reports of Parliamentary debates. + +The Roman histories so-called, to which we have so far been accustomed, +cannot help us in the reconstruction of a picture of the environment +into which, on the one hand, Paul led the new faith in Asia Minor, +Greece, and Rome; and in which, on the other, it already found itself in +the districts bordering on the south-east of the Mediterranean. It is +only by piecing together laboriously isolated scraps of information and +fragments of inscriptions, that we become aware of the existence of the +life of a world of religious associations and private cults which +existed at this period. Not that even so we have any very direct +information of what went on in these associations, guilds, and +brotherhoods; but we have sufficient evidence to make us keenly regret +the absence of further knowledge. + +Difficult as this field is to till, it is exceedingly fertile in +interest, and it is to be regretted that comparatively so little work +has as yet been done in it; and that, as is so frequently the case, the +work which has been done is, for the most part, not accessible to the +English reader. What work has been done on this special subject may be +seen from the bibliographical note appended to this essay, in which is +given a list of books and articles treating of the religious +associations among the Greeks and Romans. But if we seek to obtain a +general view of the condition of religious affairs in the first century +we find ourselves without a reliable guide; for of works dealing with +this particular subject there are few, and from them we learn little +that does not immediately concern, or is thought to concern, +Christianity; whereas, it is just the state of the non-Christian +religious world about which, in the present case, we desire to be +informed. + +If, for instance, the reader turn to works of general history, such as +Merivale’s History of the Romans under the Empire (London; last ed. +1865), he will find, it is true, in chap. iv., a description of the +state of religion up to the death of Nero, but he will be little wiser +for perusing it. If he turn to Hermann Schiller’s Geschichte der +römischen Kaiserreichs unter der Regierung des Nero (Berlin; 1872), he +will find much reason for discarding the vulgar opinions about the +monstrous crimes imputed to Nero, as indeed he might do by reading in +English G. H. Lewes’ article “Was Nero a Monster?” (Cornhill Magazine; +July, 1863)--and he will also find (bk. IV. chap. iii.) a general view +of the religion and philosophy of the time which is far more intelligent +than that of Merivale’s; but all is still very vague and unsatisfactory, +and we feel ourselves still outside the intimate life of the +philosophers and religionists of the first century. + +If, again, he turn to the latest writers of Church history who have +treated this particular question, he will find that they are occupied +entirely with the contact of the Christian Church with the Roman Empire, +and only incidentally give us any information of the nature of which we +are in search. On this special ground C. J. Neumann, in his careful +study Der römische Staat und die allgemeine Kirche bis auf Diocletian +(Leipzig; 1890), is interesting; while Prof. W. M. Ramsay, in The Church +in the Roman Empire before A.D. 170 (London; 1893), is extraordinary, +for he endeavours to interpret Roman history by the New Testament +documents, the dates of the majority of which are so hotly disputed. + +But, you may say, what has all this to do with Apollonius of Tyana? The +answer is simple: Apollonius lived in the first century; his work lay +precisely among these religious associations, colleges, and guilds. A +knowledge of them and their nature would give us the natural environment +of a great part of his life; and information as to their condition in +the first century would perhaps help us the better to understand some of +the reasons for the task which he attempted. + +If, however, it were only the life and endeavours of Apollonius which +would be illuminated by this knowledge, we could understand why so +little effort has been spent in this direction; for the character of the +Tyanean, as we shall see, has since the fourth century been regarded +with little favour even by the few, while the many have been taught to +look upon our philosopher not only as a charlatan, but even as an +anti-Christ. But when it is just a knowledge of these religious +associations and orders which would throw a flood of light on the +earliest evolution of Christianity, not only with regard to the Pauline +communities, but also with regard to those schools which were +subsequently condemned as heretical, it is astonishing that we have had +no more satisfactory work done on the subject. + +It may be said, however, that this information is not forthcoming simply +because it is unprocurable. To a large extent this is true; +nevertheless, a great deal more could be done than has as yet been +attempted, and the results of research in special directions and in the +byways of history could be combined, so that the non-specialist could +obtain some general idea of the religious conditions of the times, and +so be less inclined to join in the now stereotyped condemnation of all +non-Jewish or non-Christian moral and religious effort in the Roman +Empire of the first century. + +But the reader may retort: Things social and religious in those days +must have been in a very parlous state, for, as this essay shows, +Apollonius himself spent the major part of his life in trying to reform +the institutions and cults of the Empire. To this we answer: No doubt +there was much to reform, and when is there not? But it would not only +be not generous, but distinctly mischievous for us to judge our fellows +of those days solely by the lofty standard of an ideal morality, or even +to scale them against the weight of our own supposed virtues and +knowledge. Our point is not that there was nothing to reform, far from +that, but that the wholesale accusations of depravity brought against +the times will not bear impartial investigation. On the contrary, there +was much good material ready to be worked up in many ways, and if there +had not been, how could there among other things have been any +Christianity? + +The Roman Empire was at the zenith of its power, and had there not been +many admirable administrators and men of worth in the governing caste, +such a political consummation could never have been reached and +maintained. Moreover, as ever previously in the ancient world, religious +liberty was guaranteed, and where we find persecution, as in the reigns +of Nero and Domitian, it must be set down to political and not to +theological reasons. Setting aside the disputed question of the +persecution of the Christians under Domitian, the Neronian persecution +was directed against those whom the Imperial power regarded as Jewish +political revolutionaries. So, too, when we find the philosophers +imprisoned or banished from Rome during these two reigns, it was not +because they were philosophers, but because the ideal of some of them +was the restoration of the Republic, and this rendered them obnoxious to +the charge not only of being political malcontents, but also of actively +plotting against the Emperor’s _majestas_. Apollonius, however, was +throughout a warm supporter of monarchical rule. When, then, we hear of +the philosophers being banished from Rome or being cast into prison, we +must remember that this was not a wholesale persecution of philosophy +throughout the Empire; and when we say that some of them desired to +restore the Republic, we should remember that the vast majority of them +refrained from politics, and especially was this the case with the +disciples of the religio-philosophical schools. + + + + +SECTION II. + +THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND COMMUNITIES OF THE FIRST CENTURY. + + +In the domain of religion it is quite true that the state cults and +national institutions throughout the Empire were almost without +exception in a parlous state, and it is to be noticed that Apollonius +devoted much time and labour to reviving and purifying them. Indeed, +their strength had long left the general state-institutions of religion, +where all was now perfunctory; but so far from there being no religious +life in the land, in proportion as the official cultus and ancestral +institutions afforded no real satisfaction to their religious needs, the +more earnestly did the people devote themselves to private cults, and +eagerly baptised themselves in all that flood of religious enthusiasm +which flowed in with ever increasing volume from the East. Indubitably +in all this fermentation there were many excesses, according to our +present notions of religious decorum, and also grievous abuses; but at +the same time in it many found due satisfaction for their religious +emotions, and, if we except those cults which were distinctly vicious, +we have to a large extent before us in popular circles the spectacle of +what, in their last analysis, are similar phenomena to those enthusiasms +which in our own day may be frequently witnessed among such sects as the +Shakers or Ranters, and at the general revival meetings of the +uninstructed. + +It is not, however, to be thought that the private cults and the doings +of the religious associations were all of this nature or confined to +this class; far from it. There were religious brotherhoods, communities, +and clubs--_thiasi_, _erani_, and _orgeōnes_--of all sorts and +conditions. There were also mutual benefit societies, burial clubs, and +dining companies, the prototypes of our present-day Masonic bodies, +Oddfellows, and the rest. These religious associations were not only +private in the sense that they were not maintained by the State, but +also for the most part they were private in the sense that what they did +was kept secret, and this is perhaps the main reason why we have so +defective a record of them. + +Among them are to be numbered not only the lower forms of mystery-cultus +of various kinds, but also the greater ones, such as the Phrygian, +Bacchic, Isiac, and Mithriac Mysteries, which were spread everywhere +throughout the Empire. The famous Eleusinia were, however, still under +the ægis of the State, but though so famous were, as a state-cultus, far +more perfunctory. + +It is, moreover, not to be thought that the great types of +mystery-cultus above mentioned were uniform even among themselves. There +were not only various degrees and grades within them, but also in all +probability many forms of each line of tradition, good, bad, and +indifferent. For instance, we know that it was considered _de rigueur_ +for every respectable citizen of Athens to be initiated into the +Eleusinia, and therefore the tests could not have been very stringent; +whereas in the most recent work on the subject, De Apuleio Isiacorum +Mysteriorum Teste (Leyden; 1900), Dr. K. H. E. De Jong shows that in one +form of the Isiac Mysteries the candidate was invited to initiation by +means of dream; that is to say, he had to be psychically impressionable +before his acceptance. + +Here, then, we have a vast intermediate ground for religious exercise +between the most popular and undisciplined forms of private cults and +the highest forms, which could only be approached through the discipline +and training of the philosophic life. The higher side of these +mystery-institutions aroused the enthusiasm of all that was best in +antiquity, and unstinted praise was given to one or another form of them +by the greatest thinkers and writers of Greece and Rome; so that we +cannot but think that here the instructed found that satisfaction for +their religious needs which was necessary not only for those who could +not rise into the keen air of pure reason, but also for those who had +climbed so high upon the heights of reason that they could catch a +glimpse of the other side. The official cults were notoriously unable to +give them this satisfaction, and were only tolerated by the instructed +as an aid for the people and a means of preserving the traditional life +of the city or state. + +By common consent the most virtuous livers of Greece were the members of +the Pythagorean schools, both men and women. After the death of their +founder the Pythagoreans seem to have gradually blended with the Orphic +communities, and the “Orphic life” was the recognised term for a life of +purity and self-denial. We also know that the Orphics, and therefore the +Pythagoreans, were actively engaged in the reformation, or even the +entire reforming, of the Baccho-Eleusinian rites; they seem to have +brought back the pure side of the Bacchic cult with their reinstitution +or reimportation of the Iacchic mysteries, and it is very evident that +such stern livers and deep thinkers could not have been contented with a +low form of cult. Their influence also spread far and wide in general +Bacchic circles, so that we find Euripides putting the following words +into the mouth of a chorus of Bacchic initiates: “Clad in white robes I +speed me from the genesis of mortal men, and never more approach the +vase of death, for I have done with eating food that ever housed a +soul.”[1] Such words could well be put into the mouth of a Brāhman or +Buddhist ascetic, eager to escape from the bonds of Saṃsāra; and such +men cannot therefore justly be classed together indiscriminately with +ribald revellers--the general mind-picture of a Bacchic company. + +But, some one may say, Euripides and the Pythagoreans and Orphics are no +evidence for the first century; whatever good there may have been in +such schools and communities, it had ceased long before. On the +contrary, the evidence is all against this objection. Philo, writing +about 25 A.D., tells us that in his day numerous groups of men, who in +all respects led this life of religion, who abandoned their property, +retired from the world and devoted themselves entirely to the search for +wisdom and the cultivation of virtue, were scattered far and wide +throughout the world. In his treatise, On the Contemplative Life, he +writes: “This natural class of men is to be found in many parts of the +inhabited world, both the Grecian and non-Grecian world, sharing in the +perfect good. In Egypt there are crowds of them in every province, or +nome as they call it, and especially round Alexandria.” This is a most +important statement, for if there were so many devoted to the religious +life at this time, it follows that the age was not one of unmixed +depravity. + +It is not, however, to be thought that these communities were all of an +exactly similar nature, or of one and the same origin, least of all that +they were all Therapeut or Essene. We have only to remember the various +lines of descent of the doctrines held by the innumerable schools +classed together as Gnostic, as sketched in my recent work, Fragments of +a Faith Forgotten, and to turn to the beautiful treatises of the +Hermetic schools, to persuade us that in the first century the striving +after the religious and philosophic life was wide-spread and various. + +We are not, however, among those who believe that the origin of the +Therapeut communities of Philo and of the Essenes of Philo and Josephus +is to be traced to Orphic and Pythagorean influence. The question of +precise origin is as yet beyond the power of historical research, and +we are not of those who would exaggerate one element of the mass into a +universal source. But when we remember the existence of all these so +widely scattered communities in the first century, when we study the +imperfect but important record of the very numerous schools and +brotherhoods of a like nature which came into intimate contact with +Christianity in its origins, we cannot but feel that there was the +leaven of a strong religious life working in many parts of the Empire. + +Our great difficulty is that these communities, brotherhoods, and +associations kept themselves apart, and with rare exceptions left no +records of their intimate practices and beliefs, or if they left any it +has been destroyed or lost. For the most part then we have to rely upon +general indications of a very superficial character. But this imperfect +record is no justification for us to deny or ignore their existence and +the intensity of their endeavours; and a history which purports to paint +a picture of the times is utterly insufficient so long as it omits this +most vital subject from its canvas. + +Among such surroundings as these Apollonius moved; but how little does +his biographer seem to have been aware of the fact! Philostratus has a +rhetorician’s appreciation of a philosophical court life, but no +feeling for the life of religion. It is only indirectly that the Life of +Apollonius, as it is now depicted, can throw any light on these most +interesting communities, but even an occasional side-light is precious +where all is in such obscurity. Were it but possible to enter into the +living memory of Apollonius, and see with his eyes the things he saw +when he lived nineteen hundred years ago, what an enormously interesting +page of the world’s history could be recovered! He not only traversed +all the countries where the new faith was taking root, but he lived for +years in most of them, and was intimately acquainted with numbers of +mystic communities in Egypt, Arabia, and Syria. Surely he must have +visited some of the earliest Christian communities as well, must even +have conversed with some of the “disciples of the Lord”! And yet no word +is breathed of this, not one single scrap of information on these points +do we glean from what is recorded of him. Surely he must have met with +Paul, if not elsewhere, then at Rome, in 66, when he had to leave +because of the edict of banishment against the philosophers, the very +year according to some when Paul was beheaded! + + + + +SECTION III. + +INDIA AND GREECE. + + +There is, however, another reason why Apollonius is of importance to us. +He was an enthusiastic admirer of the wisdom of India. Here again a +subject of wide interest opens up. What influences, if any, had +Brāhmanism and Buddhism on Western thought in these early years? It is +strongly asserted by some that they had great influence; it is as +strongly denied by others that they had any influence at all. It is, +therefore, apparent that there is no really indisputable evidence on the +subject. + +Just as some would ascribe the constitution of the Essene and Therapeut +communities to Pythagorean influence, so others would ascribe their +origin to Buddhist propaganda; and not only would they trace this +influence in the Essene tenets and practices, but they would even refer +the general teaching of the Christ to a Buddhist source in a Jewish +monotheistic setting. Not only so, but some would have it that two +centuries before the direct general contact of Greece with India, +brought about by the conquests of Alexander, India through Pythagoras +strongly and lastingly influenced all subsequent Greek thought. + +The question can certainly not be settled by hasty affirmation or +denial; it requires not only a wide knowledge of general history and a +minute study of scattered and imperfect indications of thought and +practice, but also a fine appreciation of the correct value of indirect +evidence, for of direct testimony there is none of a really decisive +nature. To such high qualifications we can make no pretension, and our +highest ambition is simply to give a few very general indications of the +nature of the subject. + +It is plainly asserted by the ancient Greeks that Pythagoras went to +India, but as the statement is made by Neo-Pythagorean and Neo-Platonic +writers subsequent to the time of Apollonius, it is objected that the +travels of the Tyanean suggested not only this item in the biography of +the great Samian but several others, or even that Apollonius himself in +his Life of Pythagoras was father of the rumour. The close resemblance, +however, between many of the features of Pythagorean discipline and +doctrine and Indo-Aryan thought and practice, make us hesitate entirely +to reject the possibility of Pythagoras having visited ancient +Āryāvarta. + +And even if we cannot go so far as to entertain the possibility of +direct personal contact, there has to be taken into consideration the +fact that Pherecydes, the master of Pythagoras, may have been acquainted +with some of the main ideas of Vaidic lore. Pherecydes taught at +Ephesus, but was himself most probably a Persian, and it is quite +credible that a learned Asiatic, teaching a mystic philosophy and basing +his doctrine upon the idea of rebirth, may have had some indirect, if +not direct, knowledge of Indo-Aryan thought. + +Persia must have been even at this time in close contact with India, for +about the date of the death of Pythagoras, in the reign of Dareius, son +of Hystaspes, at the end of the sixth and beginning of the fifth century +before our era, we hear of the expedition of the Persian general Scylax +down the Indus, and learn from Herodotus that in this reign India (that +is the Punjāb) formed the twentieth satrapy of the Persian monarchy. +Moreover, Indian troops were among the hosts of Xerxes; they invaded +Thessaly and fought at Platæa. + +From the time of Alexander onwards there was direct and constant contact +between Āryāvarta and the kingdoms of the successors of the +world-conqueror, and many Greeks wrote about this land of mystery; but +in all that has come down to us we look in vain for anything but the +vaguest indications of what the “philosophers” of India systematically +thought. + +That the Brāhmans would at this time have permitted their sacred books +to be read by the Yavanas (Ionians, the general name for Greeks in +Indian records) is contrary to all we know of their history. The Yavanas +were Mlechchhas, outside the pale of the Āryas, and all they could glean +of the jealously guarded Brahmā-vidyā or theosophy must have depended +solely upon outside observation. But the dominant religious activity at +this time in India was Buddhist, and it is to this protest against the +rigid distinctions of caste and race made by Brāhmanical pride, and to +the startling novelty of an enthusiastic religious propaganda among all +classes and races in India, and outside India to all nations, that we +must look for the most direct contact of thought between India and +Greece. + +For instance, in the middle of the third century B.C., we know from +Asoka’s thirteenth edict, that this Buddhist Emperor of India, the +Constantine of the East, sent missionaries to Antiochus II. of Syria, +Ptolemy II. of Egypt, Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, Magas of Cyrene, +and Alexander II. of Epirus. When, in a land of such imperfect records, +the evidence on the side of India is so clear and indubitable, all the +more extraordinary is it that we have no direct testimony on our side of +so great a missionary activity. Although, then, merely because of the +absence of all direct information from Greek sources, it is very unsafe +to generalize, nevertheless from our general knowledge of the times it +is not illegitimate to conclude that no great public stir could have +been made by these pioneers of the Dharma in the West. In every +probability these Buddhist Bhikṣhus produced no effect on the rulers or +on the people. But was their mission entirely abortive; and did Buddhist +missionary enterprise westwards cease with them? + +The answer to this question, as it seems to us, is hidden in the +obscurity of the religious communities. We cannot, however, go so far as +to agree with those who would cut the gordian knot by asserting +dogmatically that the ascetic communities in Syria and Egypt were +founded by these Buddhist propagandists. Already even in Greece itself +were not only Pythagorean but even prior to them Orphic communities, for +even on this ground we believe that Pythagoras rather developed what he +found already existing, than that he established something entirely new. +And if they were found in Greece, much more then is it reasonable to +suppose that such communities already existed in Syria, Arabia, and +Egypt, whose populations were given far more to religious exercises than +the sceptical and laughter-loving Greeks. + +It is, however, credible that in such communities, if anywhere, Buddhist +propaganda would find an appreciative and attentive audience; but even +so it is remarkable that they have left no distinctly direct trace of +their influence. Nevertheless, both by the sea way and by the great +caravan route there was an ever open line of communication between India +and the Empire of the successors of Alexander; and it is even +permissible to speculate, that if we could recover a catalogue of the +great Alexandrian library, for instance, we should perchance find that +in it Indian MSS. were to be found among the other rolls and parchments +of the scriptures of the nations. + +Indeed, there are phrases in the oldest treatises of the Trismegistic +Hermetic literature which can be so closely paralleled with phrases in +the Upaniṣhads and in the Bhagavad Gītā, that one is almost tempted to +believe that the writers had some acquaintance with the general contents +of these Brāhmanical scriptures. The Trismegistic literature had its +genesis in Egypt, and its earliest deposit must be dated at least in the +first century A.D., if it cannot even be pushed back earlier. Even more +striking is the similarity between the lofty mystic metaphysic of the +Gnostic doctor Basilides, who lived at the end of the first and +beginning of the second century A.D., and Vedāntic ideas. Moreover, both +the Hermetic and the Basilidean schools and their immediate predecessors +were devoted to a stern self-discipline and deep philosophical study +which would make them welcome eagerly any philosopher or mystic student +who might come from the far East. + +But even so, we are not of those who by their own self-imposed +limitations of possibility are condemned to find some direct physical +contact to account for a similarity of ideas or even of phrasing. +Granting, for instance, that there is much resemblance between the +teachings of the Dharma of the Buddha and of the Gospel of the Christ, +and that the same spirit of love and gentleness pervades them both, +still there is no necessity to look for the reason of this resemblance +to purely physical transmission. And so for other schools and other +teachers; like conditions will produce similar phenomena; like effort +and like aspiration will produce similar ideas, similar experience, and +similar response. And this we believe to be the case in no general way, +but that it is all very definitely ordered from within by the servants +of the real guardians of things religious in this world. + +We are, then, not compelled to lay so much stress on the question of +physical transmission, or to be seeking even to find proof of copying. +The human mind in its various degrees is much the same in all climes and +ages, and its inner experience has a common ground into which seed may +be sown, as it is tilled and cleared of weeds. The good seed comes all +from the same granary, and those who sow it pay no attention to the +man-made outer distinctions of race and creed. + +However difficult, therefore, it may be to prove, from unquestionably +historical statements, any direct influence of Indian thought on the +conceptions and practices of some of these religious communities and +philosophic schools of the Græco-Roman Empire, and although in any +particular case similarity of ideas need not necessarily be assigned to +direct physical transmission, nevertheless the highest probability, if +not the greatest assurance, remains that even prior to the days of +Apollonius there was some private knowledge in Greece of the general +ideas of the Vedānta and Dharma; while in the case of Apollonius +himself, even if we discount nine-tenths of what is related of him, his +one idea seems to have been to spread abroad among the religious +brotherhoods and institutions of the Empire some portion of the wisdom +which he brought back with him from India. + +When, then, we find at the end of the first and during the first half +of the second century, among such mystic associations as the Hermetic +and Gnostic schools, ideas which strongly remind us of the theosophy of +the Upaniṣhads or the reasoned ethics of the Suttas, we have always to +take into consideration not only the high probability of Apollonius +having visited such schools, but also the possibility of his having +discoursed at length therein on the Indian wisdom. Not only so, but the +memory of his influence may have lingered for long in such circles, for +do we not find Plotinus, the coryphæus of Neo-Platonism, as it is +called, so enamoured with what he had heard of the wisdom of India at +Alexandria, that in 242 he started off with the ill-starred expedition +of Gordian to the East in the hope of reaching that land of philosophy? +With the failure of the expedition and assassination of the Emperor, +however, he had to return, for ever disappointed of his hope. + +It is not, however, to be thought that Apollonius set out to make a +propaganda of Indian philosophy in the same way that the ordinary +missionary sets forth to preach his conception of the Gospel. By no +means; Apollonius seems to have endeavoured to help his hearers, whoever +they might be, in the way best suited to each of them. He did not begin +by telling them that what they believed was utterly false and +soul-destroying, and that their eternal welfare depended upon their +instantly adopting his own special scheme of salvation; he simply +endeavoured to purge and further explain what they already believed and +practised. That some strong power supported him in his ceaseless +activity, and in his almost world-wide task, is not so difficult of +belief; and it is a question of deep interest for those who strive to +peer through the mists of appearance, to speculate how that not only a +Paul but also an Apollonius was aided and directed in his task from +within. + +The day, however, has not yet dawned when it will be possible for the +general mind in the West to approach the question with such freedom from +prejudice, as to bear the thought that, seen from within, not only Paul +but also Apollonius may well have been a “disciple of the Lord” in the +true sense of the words; and that too although on the surface of things +their tasks seem in many ways so dissimilar, and even, to theological +preconceptions, entirely antagonistic. + +Fortunately, however, even to-day there is an ever-growing number of +thinking people who will not only not be shocked by such a belief, but +who will receive it with joy as the herald of the dawning of a true sun +of righteousness, which will do more to illumine the manifold ways of +the religion of our common humanity than all the self-righteousness of +any particular body of exclusive religionists. + +It is, then, in this atmosphere of charity and tolerance that we would +ask the reader to approach the consideration of Apollonius and his +doings, and not only the life and deeds of an Apollonius, but also of +all those who have striven to help their fellows the world over. + + + + +SECTION IV. + +THE APOLLONIUS OF EARLY OPINION. + + +Apollonius of Tyana[2] was the most famous philosopher of the +Græco-Roman world of the first century, and devoted the major part of +his long life to the purification of the many cults of the Empire and to +the instruction of the ministers and priests of its religions. With the +exception of the Christ no more interesting personage appears upon the +stage of Western history in these early years. Many and various and +ofttimes mutually contradictory are the opinions which have been held +about Apollonius, for the account of his life which has come down to us +is in the guise of a romantic story rather than in the form of a plain +history. And this is perhaps to some extent to be expected, for +Apollonius, besides his public teaching, had a life apart, a life into +which even his favourite disciple does not enter. He journeys into the +most distant lands, and is lost to the world for years; he enters the +shrines of the most sacred temples and the inner circles of the most +exclusive communities, and what he says or does therein remains a +mystery, or serves only as an opportunity for the weaving of some +fantastic story by those who did not understand. + +The following study will be simply an attempt to put before the reader a +brief sketch of the problem which the records and traditions of the life +of the famous Tyanean present; but before we deal with the Life of +Apollonius, written by Flavius Philostratus at the beginning of the +third century, we must give the reader a brief account of the references +to Apollonius among the classical writers and the Church Fathers, and a +short sketch of the literature of the subject in more recent times, and +of the varying fortunes of the war of opinion concerning his life in the +last four centuries. + +First, then, with regard to the references in classical and patristic +authors. Lucian, the witty writer of the first half of the second +century, makes the subject of one of his satires the pupil of a disciple +of Apollonius, of one of those who were acquainted with “all the +tragedy”[3] of his life. And Appuleius, a contemporary of Lucian, +classes Apollonius with Moses and Zoroaster, and other famous Magi of +antiquity.[4] + +About the same period, in a work entitled Quæstiones et Responsiones ad +Orthodoxos, formerly attributed to Justin Martyr, who flourished in the +second quarter of the second century, we find the following interesting +statement: + +“Question 24: If God is the maker and master of creation, how do the +consecrated objects[5] of Apollonius have power in the [various] orders +of that creation? For, _as we see_, they check the fury of the waves and +the power of the winds and the inroads of vermin and attacks of wild +beasts.”[6] + +Dion Cassius in his history,[7] which he wrote A.D. 211-222, states that +Caracalla (Emp. 211-216) honoured the memory of Apollonius with a chapel +or monument (_heroum_). + +It was just at this time (216) that Philostratus composed his Life of +Apollonius, at the request of Domna Julia, Caracalla’s mother, and it is +with this document principally that we shall have to deal in the sequel. + +Lampridius, who flourished about the middle of the third century, +further informs us that Alexander Severus (Emp. 222-235) placed the +statue of Apollonius in his _lararium_ together with those of Christ, +Abraham, and Orpheus.[8] + +Vopiscus, writing in the last decade of the third century, tells us that +Aurelian (Emp. 270-275) vowed a temple to Apollonius, of whom he had +seen a vision when besieging Tyana. Vopiscus speaks of the Tyanean as “a +sage of the most wide-spread renown and authority, an ancient +philosopher, and a true friend of the Gods,” nay, as a manifestation of +deity. “For what among men,” exclaims the historian, “was more holy, +what more worthy of reverence, what more venerable, what more god-like +than he? He, it was, who gave life to the dead. He, it was, who did and +said so many things beyond the power of men.”[9] So enthusiastic is +Vopiscus about Apollonius, that he promises, if he lives, to write a +short account of his life in Latin, so that his deeds and words may be +on the tongue of all, for as yet the only accounts are in Greek.[10] +Vopiscus, however, did not fulfil his promise, but we learn that about +this date both Soterichus[11] and Nichomachus wrote Lives of our +philosopher, and shortly afterwards Tascius Victorianus, working on the +papers of Nichomachus,[12] also composed a Life. None of these Lives, +however, have reached us. + +It was just at this period also, namely, in the last years of the third +century and the first years of the fourth, that Porphyry and Iamblichus +composed their treatises on Pythagoras and his school; both mention +Apollonius as one of their authorities, and it is probable that the +first 30 sections of Iamblichus are taken from Apollonius.[13] + +We now come to an incident which hurled the character of Apollonius into +the arena of Christian polemics, where it has been tossed about until +the present day. Hierocles, successively governor of Palmyra, Bithynia, +and Alexandria, and a philosopher, about the year 305 wrote a criticism +on the claims of the Christians, in two books, called A Truthful +Address to the Christians, or more shortly The Truth-lover. He seems to +have based himself for the most part on the previous works of Celsus and +Porphyry,[14] but introduced a new subject of controversy by opposing +the wonderful works of Apollonius to the claims of the Christians to +exclusive right in “miracles” as proof of the divinity of their Master. +In this part of his treatise Hierocles used Philostratus’ Life of +Apollonius. + +To this pertinent criticism of Hierocles Eusebius of Cæsarea immediately +replied in a treatise still extant, entitled Contra Hieroclem.[15] +Eusebius admits that Apollonius was a wise and virtuous man, but denies +that there is sufficient proof that the wonderful things ascribed to him +ever took place; and even if they did take place, they were the work of +“dæmons,” and not of God. The treatise of Eusebius is interesting; he +severely scrutinises the statements in Philostratus, and shows himself +possessed of a first rate critical faculty. Had he only used the same +faculty on the documents of the Church, of which he was the first +historian, posterity would have owed him an eternal debt of gratitude. +But Eusebius, like so many other apologists, could only see one side; +justice, when anything touching Christianity was called into question, +was a stranger to his mind, and he would have considered it blasphemy to +use his critical faculty on the documents which relate the “miracles” of +Jesus. Still the problem of “miracle” was the same, as Hierocles pointed +out, and remains the same to this day. + +After the controversy reincarnated again in the sixteenth century, and +when the hypothesis of the “Devil” as the prime-mover in all “miracles” +but those of the Church lost its hold with the progress of scientific +thought, the nature of the wonders related in the Life of Apollonius was +still so great a difficulty that it gave rise to a new hypothesis of +plagiarism. The life of Apollonius was a Pagan plagiarism of the life of +Jesus. But Eusebius and the Fathers who followed him had no suspicion of +this; they lived in times when such an assertion could have been easily +refuted. There is not a word in Philostratus to show he had any +acquaintance with the life of Jesus, and fascinating as Baur’s +“tendency-writing” theory is to many, we can only say that as a +plagiarist of the Gospel story Philostratus is a conspicuous failure. +Philostratus writes the history of a good and wise man, a man with a +mission of teaching, clothed in the wonder stories preserved in the +memory and embellished by the imagination of fond posterity, but not the +drama of incarnate Deity as the fulfilment of world-prophecy. + +Lactantius, writing about 315, also attacked the treatise of Hierocles, +who seems to have put forward some very pertinent criticisms; for the +Church Father says that he enumerates so many of their Christian inner +teachings (_intima_) that sometimes he would seem to have at one time +undergone the same training (_disciplina_). But it is in vain, says +Lactantius, that Hierocles endeavours to show that Apollonius performed +similar or even greater deeds than Jesus, for Christians do not believe +that Christ is God because he did wonderful things, but because all the +things wrought in him were those which were announced by the +prophets.[16] And in taking this ground Lactantius saw far more clearly +than Eusebius the weakness of the proof from “miracle.” + +Arnobius, the teacher of Lactantius, however, writing at the end of the +third century, before the controversy, in referring to Apollonius +simply classes him among Magi, such as Zoroaster and others mentioned in +the passage of Appuleius to which we have already referred.[17] + +But even after the controversy there is a wide difference of opinion +among the Fathers, for although at the end of the fourth century John +Chrysostom with great bitterness calls Apollonius a deceiver and +evil-doer, and declares that the whole of the incidents in his life are +unqualified fiction,[18] Jerome, on the contrary, at the very same date, +takes almost a favourable view, for, after perusing Philostratus, he +writes that Apollonius found everywhere something to learn and something +whereby he might become a better man.[19] At the beginning of the fifth +century also Augustine, while ridiculing any attempt at comparison +between Apollonius and Jesus, says that the character of the Tyanean was +“far superior” to that ascribed to Jove, in respect of virtue.[20] + +About the same date also we find Isidorus of Pelusium, who died in 450, +bluntly denying that there is any truth in the claim made by “certain,” +whom he does not further specify, that Apollonius of Tyana “consecrated +many spots in many parts of the world for the safety of the +inhabitants.”[21] It is instructive to compare the denial of Isidorus +with the passage we have already quoted from Pseudo-Justin. The writer +of Questions and Answers to the Orthodox in the second century could not +dispose of the question by a blunt denial; he had to admit it and argue +the case on other grounds--namely, the agency of the Devil. Nor can the +argument of the Fathers, that Apollonius used magic to bring about his +results, while the untaught Christians could perform healing wonders by +a single word,[22] be accepted as valid by the unprejudiced critic, for +there is no evidence to support the contention that Apollonius employed +such methods for his wonder-workings; on the contrary, both Apollonius +himself and his biographer Philostratus strenuously repudiate the charge +of magic brought against him. + +On the other hand, a few years later, Sidonius Apollinaris, Bishop of +Claremont, speaks in the highest terms of Apollonius. Sidonius +translated the Life of Apollonius into Latin for Leon, the councillor of +King Euric, and in writing to his friend he says: “Read the life of a +man who (religion apart) resembles you in many things; a man sought out +by the rich, yet who never sought for riches; who loved wisdom and +despised gold; a man frugal in the midst of feastings, clad in linen in +the midst of those clothed in purple, austere in the midst of luxury.... +In fine, to speak plainly, perchance no historian will find in ancient +times a philosopher whose life is equal to that of Apollonius.”[23] + +Thus we see that even among the Church Fathers opinions were divided; +while among the philosophers themselves the praise of Apollonius was +unstinted. + +For Ammianus Marcellinus, “the last subject of Rome who composed a +profane history in the Latin language,” and the friend of Julian the +philosopher-emperor, refers to the Tyanean as “that most renowned +philosopher”;[24] while a few years later Eunapius, the pupil of +Chrysanthius, one of the teachers of Julian, writing in the last years +of the fourth century, says that Apollonius was more than a +philosopher; he was “a middle term, as it were, between gods and +men.”[25] Not only was Apollonius an adherent of the Pythagorean +philosophy, but “he fully exemplified the more divine and practical side +in it.” In fact Philostratus should have called his biography “The +Sojourning of a God among Men.”[26] This seemingly wildly exaggerated +estimate may perhaps receive explanation in the fact that Eunapius +belonged to a school which knew the nature of the attainments ascribed +to Apollonius. + +Indeed, “as late as the fifth century we find one Volusian, a proconsul +of Africa, descended from an old Roman family and still strongly +attached to the religion of his ancestors, almost worshipping Apollonius +of Tyana as a supernatural being.”[27] + +Even after the downfall of philosophy we find Cassiodorus, who spent +the last years of his long life in a monastery, speaking of Apollonius +as the “renowned philosopher.”[28] So also among Byzantine writers, the +monk George Syncellus, in the eighth century, refers several times to +our philosopher, and not only without the slightest adverse criticism, +but he declares that he was the first and most remarkable of all the +illustrious people who appeared under the Empire.[29] Tzetzes also, the +critic and grammarian, calls Apollonius “all-wise and a fore-knower of +all things.”[30] + +And though the monk Xiphilinus, in the eleventh century, in a note to +his abridgment of the history of Dion Cassius, calls Apollonius a clever +juggler and magician,[31] nevertheless Cedrenus in the same century +bestows on Apollonius the not uncomplimentary title of an “adept +Pythagorean philosopher,”[32] and relates several instances of the +efficacy of his powers in Byzantium. In fact, if we can believe +Nicetas, as late as the thirteenth century there were at Byzantium +certain bronze doors, formerly consecrated by Apollonius, which had to +be melted down because they had become an object of superstition even +for the Christians themselves.[33] + +Had the work of Philostratus disappeared with the rest of the Lives, the +above would be all that we should have known about Apollonius.[34] +Little enough, it is true, concerning so distinguished a character, yet +ample enough to show that, with the exception of theological prejudice, +the suffrages of antiquity were all on the side of our philosopher. + + + + +SECTION V. + +TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, AND LITERATURE. + + +We will now turn to the texts, translations, and general literature of +the subject in more recent times. Apollonius returned to the memory of +the world, after the oblivion of the dark ages, with evil auspices. From +the very beginning the old Hierocles-Eusebius controversy was revived, +and the whole subject was at once taken out of the calm region of +philosophy and history and hurled once more into the stormy arena of +religious bitterness and prejudice. For long Aldus hesitated to print +the text of Philostratus, and only finally did so (in 1501) with the +text of Eusebius as an appendix, so that, as he piously phrases it, “the +antidote might accompany the poison.” Together with it appeared a Latin +translation by the Florentine Rinucci.[35] + +In addition to the Latin version the sixteenth century also produced an +Italian[36] and French translation.[37] + +The _editio princeps_ of Aldus was superseded a century later by the +edition of Morel,[38] which in its turn was followed a century still +later by that of Olearius.[39] Nearly a century and a half later again +the text of Olearius was superseded by that of Kayser (the first +critical text), whose work in its last edition contains the latest +critical apparatus.[40] All information with regard to the MSS. will be +found in Kayser’s Latin Prefaces. + +We shall now attempt to give some idea of the general literature on the +subject, so that the reader may be able to note some of the varying +fortunes of the war of opinion in the bibliographical indications. And +if the general reader should be impatient of the matter and eager to get +to something of greater interest, he can easily omit its perusal; while +if he be a lover of the mystic way, and does not take delight in +wrangling controversy, he may at least sympathise with the writer, who +has been compelled to look through the works of the last century and a +good round dozen of those of the previous centuries, before he could +venture on an opinion of his own with a clear conscience. + +Sectarian prejudice against Apollonius characterises nearly every +opinion prior to the nineteenth century.[41] Of books distinctly +dedicated to the subject the works of the Abbé Dupin[42] and of de +Tillemont[43] are bitter attacks on the Philosopher of Tyana in defence +of the monopoly of Christian miracles; while those of the Abbé +Houtteville[44] and Lüderwald[45] are less violent, though on the same +lines. A pseudonymous writer, however, of the eighteenth century strikes +out a somewhat different line by classing together the miracles of the +Jesuits and other Monastic Orders with those of Apollonius, and dubbing +them all spurious, while maintaining the sole authenticity of those of +Jesus.[46] + +Nevertheless, Bacon and Voltaire speak of Apollonius in the highest +terms,[47] and even a century before the latter the English Deist, +Charles Blount,[48] raised his voice against the universal obloquy +poured upon the character of the Tyanean; his work, however, was +speedily suppressed. + +In the midst of this war about miracles in the eighteenth century it is +pleasant to remark the short treatise of Herzog, who endeavours to give +a sketch of the philosophy and religious life of Apollonius,[49] but, +alas! there were no followers of so liberal an example in this century +of strife. + +So far then for the earlier literature of the subject. Frankly none of +it is worth reading; the problem could not be calmly considered in such +a period. It started on the false ground of the Hierocles-Eusebius +controversy, which was but an incident (for wonder-working is common to +all great teachers and not peculiar to Apollonius or Jesus), and was +embittered by the rise of Encyclopædism and the rationalism of the +Revolution period. Not that the miracle-controversy ceased even in the +last century; it does not, however, any longer obscure the whole +horizon, and the sun of a calmer judgment may be seen breaking through +the mist. + +In order to make the rest of our summary clearer we append at the end of +this essay the titles of the works which have appeared since the +beginning of the nineteenth century, in chronological order. + +A glance over this list will show that the last century has produced an +English (Berwick’s), an Italian (Lancetti’s), a French (Chassang’s), and +two German translations (Jacobs’ and Baltzer’s).[50] The Rev. E. +Berwick’s translation is the only English version; in his Preface the +author, while asserting the falsity of the miraculous element in the +Life, says that the rest of the work deserves careful attention. No harm +will accrue to the Christian religion by its perusal, for there are no +allusions to the Life of Christ in it, and the miracles are based on +those ascribed to Pythagoras. + +This is certainly a healthier standpoint than that of the traditional +theological controversy, which, unfortunately, however, was revived +again by the great authority of Baur, who saw in a number of the early +documents of the Christian era (notably the canonical Acts) +tendency-writings of but slight historical content, representing the +changing fortunes of schools and parties and not the actual histories of +individuals. The Life of Apollonius was one of these tendency-writings; +its object was to put forward a view opposed to Christianity in favour +of philosophy. Baur thus divorced the whole subject from its historical +standpoint and attributed to Philostratus an elaborate scheme of which +he was entirely innocent. Baur’s view was largely adopted by Zeller in +his Philosophie der Griechen (v. 140), and by Réville in Holland. + +This “Christusbild” theory (carried by a few extremists to the point of +denying that Apollonius ever existed) has had a great vogue among +writers on the subject, especially compilers of encyclopædia articles; +it is at any rate a wider issue than the traditional miracle-wrangle, +which was again revived in all its ancient narrowness by Newman, who +only uses Apollonius as an excuse for a dissertation on orthodox +miracles, to which he devotes eighteen pages out of the twenty-five of +his treatise. Noack also follows Baur, and to some extent Pettersch, +though he takes the subject onto the ground of philosophy; while +Mönckeberg, pastor of St. Nicolai in Hamburg, though striving to be fair +to Apollonius, ends his chatty dissertation with an outburst of orthodox +praises of Jesus, praises which we by no means grudge, but which are +entirely out of place in such a subject. + +The development of the Jesus-Apollonius miracle-controversy into the +Jesus-against-Apollonius and even Christ-against-Anti-Christ battle, +fought out with relays of lusty champions on the one side against a +feeble protest at best on the other, is a painful spectacle to +contemplate. How sadly must Jesus and Apollonius have looked upon, and +still look upon, this bitter and useless strife over their saintly +persons. Why should posterity set their memories one against the other? +Did they oppose one another in life? Did even their biographers do so +after their deaths? Why then could not the controversy have ceased with +Eusebius? For Lactantius frankly admits the point brought forward by +Hierocles (to exemplify which Hierocles only referred to Apollonius as +one instance out of many)--that “miracles” do not prove divinity. We +rest our claims, says Lactantius, _not_ on miracles, but on the +fulfilment of prophecy.[51] Had this more sensible position been revived +instead of that of Eusebius, the problem of Apollonius would have been +considered in its natural historical environment four hundred years ago, +and much ink and paper would have been saved. + +With the progress of the critical method, however, opinion has at length +partly recovered its balance, and it is pleasant to be able to turn to +works which have rescued the subject from theological obscurantism and +placed it in the open field of historical and critical research. The two +volumes of the independent thinker, Legrand d’Aussy, which appeared at +the very beginning of the last century, are, for the time, remarkably +free from prejudice, and are a praiseworthy attempt at historical +impartiality, but criticism was still young at this period. Kayser, +though he does not go thoroughly into the matter, decides that the +account of Philostratus is purely a “_fabularis narratio_” but is well +opposed by I. Müller, who contends for a strong element of history as a +background. But by far the best sifting of the sources is that of +Jessen.[52] Priaulx’s study deals solely with the Indian episode and is +of no critical value for the estimation of the sources. Of all previous +studies, however, the works of Chassang and Baltzer are the most +generally intelligent, for both writers are aware of the possibilities +of psychic science, though mostly from the insufficient standpoint of +spiritistic phenomena. + +As for Tredwell’s somewhat pretentious volume which, being in English, +is accessible to the general reader, it is largely reactionary, and is +used as a cover for adverse criticism of the Christian origins from a +Secularist standpoint which denies at the outset the possibility of +“miracle” in any meaning of the word. A mass of well-known +numismatological and other matter, which is entirely irrelevant, but +which seems to be new and surprising to the author, is introduced, and a +map is prefixed to the title-page purporting to give the itineraries of +Apollonius, but having little reference to the text of Philostratus. +Indeed, nowhere does Tredwell show that he is working on the text +itself, and the subject in his hands is but an excuse for a rambling +dissertation on the first century in general from his own standpoint. + +This is all regrettable, for with the exception of Berwick’s +translation, which is almost unprocurable, we have nothing of value in +English for the general reader,[53] except Sinnett’s short sketch, +which is descriptive rather than critical or explanatory. + +So far then for the history of the Apollonius of opinion; we will now +turn to the Apollonius of Philostratus, and attempt if possible to +discover some traces of the man as he was in history, and the nature of +his life and work. + + + + +SECTION VI. + +THE BIOGRAPHER OF APOLLONIUS. + + +Flavius Philostratus, the writer of the only Life of Apollonius which +has come down to us,[54] was a distinguished man of letters who lived in +the last quarter of the second and the first half of the third century +(_cir._ 175-245 A.D.). He formed one of the circle of famous writers and +thinkers gathered round the philosopher-empress,[55] Julia Domna, who +was the guiding spirit of the Empire during the reigns of her husband +Septimius Severus and her son Caracalla. All three members of the +imperial family were students of occult science, and the age was +preeminently one in which the occult arts, good and bad, were a passion. +Thus the sceptical Gibbon, in his sketch of Severus and his famous +consort, writes: + +“Like most of the Africans, Severus was passionately addicted to the +vain studies of magic and divination, deeply versed in the +interpretation of dreams and omens, and perfectly acquainted with the +science of judicial astrology, which in almost every age except the +present, has maintained its dominion over the mind of man. He had lost +his first wife whilst he was governor of the Lionnese Gaul. In the +choice of a second, he sought only to connect himself with some +favourite of fortune; and as soon as he had discovered that a young lady +of Emesa in Syria had _a royal nativity_[56] he solicited and obtained +her hand. Julia Domna[57] (for that was her name) deserved all that the +stars could promise her. She possessed, even in an advanced age,[58] the +attractions of beauty, and united to a lively imagination a firmness of +mind, and strength of judgment, seldom bestowed on her sex. Her amiable +qualities never made any deep impression on the dark and jealous temper +of her husband,[59] but in her son’s reign, she administered the +principal affairs of the Empire with a prudence that supported his +authority, and with a moderation that sometimes corrected his wild +extravagances. Julia applied herself to letters and philosophy with some +success, and with the most splendid reputation. She was the patroness of +every art, and the friend of every man of genius.”[60] + +We thus see, even from Gibbon’s somewhat grudging estimate, that Domna +Julia was a woman of remarkable character, whose outer acts give +evidence of an inner purpose, and whose private life has not been +written. It was at her request that Philostratus wrote the Life of +Apollonius, and it was she who supplied him with certain MSS. that were +in her possession, as a basis; for the beautiful daughter of Bassianus, +priest of the sun at Emesa, was an ardent collector of books from every +part of the world, especially of the MSS. of philosophers and of +memoranda and biographical notes relating to the famous students of the +inner nature of things. + +That Philostratus was the best man to whom to entrust so important a +task, is doubtful. It is true that he was a skilled stylist and a +practised man of letters, an art critic and an ardent antiquarian, as we +may see from his other works; but he was a sophist rather than a +philosopher, and though an enthusiastic admirer of Pythagoras and his +school, was so from a distance, regarding it rather through a +wonder-loving atmosphere of curiosity and the embellishments of a lively +imagination than from a personal acquaintance with its discipline, or a +practical knowledge of those hidden forces of the soul with which its +adepts dealt. We have, therefore, to expect a sketch of the appearance +of a thing by one outside, rather than an exposition of the thing itself +from one within. + +The following is Philostratus’ account of the sources from which he +derived his information concerning Apollonius:[61] + +“I have collected my materials partly from the cities which loved him, +partly from the temples whose rites and regulations he restored from +their former state of neglect, partly from what others have said about +him, and partly from his own letters.[62] More detailed information I +procured as follows. Damis was a man of some education who formerly used +to live in the ancient city of Ninus.[63] He became a disciple of +Apollonius and recorded his travels, in which he says he himself took +part, and also the views, sayings, and predictions of his master. A +member of Damis’ family brought the Empress Julia the note-books[64] +containing these memoirs, which up to that time had not been known of. +As I was one of the circle of this princess, who was a lover and +patroness of all literary productions, she ordered me to rewrite these +sketches and improve their form of expression, for though the Ninevite +expressed himself clearly, his style was far from correct. I also have +had access to a book by Maximus[65] of Ægæ which contained all +Apollonius’ doings at Ægæ.[66] There is also a will written by +Apollonius, from which we can learn how he almost deified +philosophy.[67] As to the four books of Mœragenes[68] on Apollonius they +do not deserve attention, for he knows nothing of most of the facts of +his life” (i. 2, 3). + +These are the sources to which Philostratus was indebted for his +information, sources which are unfortunately no longer accessible to us, +except perhaps a few letters. Nor did Philostratus spare any pains to +gather information on the subject, for in his concluding words (viii. +31), he tells us that he has himself travelled into most parts of the +“world” and everywhere met with the “inspired sayings”[69] of +Apollonius, and that he was especially well acquainted with the temple +dedicated to the memory of our philosopher at Tyana and founded at the +imperial expense (“for the emperors had judged him not unworthy of like +honours with themselves"), whose priests, it is to be presumed, had got +together as much information as they could concerning Apollonius. + +A thoroughly critical analysis of the literary effort of Philostratus, +therefore, would have to take into account all of these factors, and +endeavour to assign each statement to its original source. But even then +the task of the historian would be incomplete, for it is transparently +evident that Philostratus has considerably “embellished” the narrative +with numerous notes and additions of his own and with the composition of +set speeches. + +Now as the ancient writers did not separate their notes from the text, +or indicate them in any distinct fashion, we have to be constantly on +our guard to detect the original sources from the glosses of the +writer.[70] In fact Philostratus is ever taking advantage of the mention +of a name or a subject to display his own knowledge, which is often of a +most legendary and fantastic nature. This is especially the case in his +description of Apollonius’ Indian travels. India at that time and long +afterwards was considered the “end of the world,” and an infinity of the +strangest “travellers’ tales” and mythological fables were in +circulation concerning it. One has only to read the accounts of the +writers on India[71] from the time of Alexander onwards to discover the +source of most of the strange incidents that Philostratus records as +experiences of Apollonius. To take but one instance out of a hundred, +Apollonius had to cross the Caucasus, an indefinite name for the great +system of mountain ranges that bound the northern limits of Āryāvarta. +Prometheus was chained to the Caucasus, so every child had been told for +centuries. Therefore, if Apollonius crossed the Caucasus, he must have +seen those chains. And so it was, Philostratus assures us (ii. 3). Not +only so, but he volunteers the additional information that you could not +tell of what they were made! A perusal of Megasthenes, however, will +speedily reduce the long Philostratian account of the Indian travels of +Apollonius (i. 41-iii. 58) to a very narrow compass, for page after page +is simply padding, picked up from any one of the numerous Indica to +which our widely read author had access.[72] To judge from such writers, +Porus[73] (the Rājāh conquered by Alexander) was the immemorial king of +India. In fact, in speaking of India or any other little-known country, +a writer in these days had to drag in all that popular legend associated +with it or he stood little chance of being listened to. He had to give +his narrative a “local colour,” and this was especially the case in a +technical rhetorical effort like that of Philostratus. + +Again, it was the fashion to insert set speeches and put them in the +mouths of well-known characters on historical occasions, good instances +of which may be seen in Thucydides and the Acts of the Apostles. +Philostratus repeatedly does this. + +But it would be too long to enter into a detailed investigation of the +subject, although the writer has prepared notes on all these points, for +that would be to write a volume and not a sketch. Only a few points are +therefore set down, to warn the student to be ever on his guard to sift +out Philostratus from his sources.[74] + +But though we must be keenly alive to the importance of a thoroughly +critical attitude where definite facts of history are concerned, we +should be as keenly on our guard against judging everything from the +standpoint of modern preconceptions. There is but one religious +literature of antiquity that has ever been treated with real sympathy in +the West, and that is the Judæo-Christian; in that alone have men been +trained to feel at home, and all in antiquity that treats of religion +in a different mode to the Jewish or Christian way, is felt to be +strange, and, if obscure or extraordinary, to be even repulsive. The +sayings and doings of the Jewish prophets, of Jesus, and of the +Apostles, are related with reverence, embellished with the greatest +beauties of diction, and illumined with the best thought of the age; +while the sayings and doings of other prophets and teachers have been +for the most part subjected to the most unsympathetic criticism, in +which no attempt is made to understand their standpoint. Had even-handed +justice been dealt out all round, the world to-day would have been +richer in sympathy, in wide-mindedness, in comprehension of nature, +humanity, and God, in brief, in soul-experience. + +Therefore, in reading the Life of Apollonius let us remember that we +have to look at it through the eyes of a Greek, and not through those of +a Jew or a Protestant. The Many in their proper sphere must be for us as +authentic a manifestation of the Divine as the One or the All, for +indeed the “Gods” exist in spite of commandment and creed. The Saints +and Martyrs and Angels have seemingly taken the places of the Heroes and +Dæmons and Gods, but the change of name and change of view-point among +men affect but little the unchangeable facts. To sense the facts of +universal religion under the ever-changing names which men bestow upon +them, and then to enter with full sympathy and comprehension into the +hopes and fears of every phase of the religious mind--to read, as it +were, the past lives of our own souls--is a most difficult task. But +until we can put ourselves understandingly in the places of others, we +can never see more than one side of the Infinite Life of God. A student +of comparative religion must not be afraid of terms; he must not shudder +when he meets with “polytheism,” or draw back in horror when he +encounters “dualism,” or feel an increased satisfaction when he falls in +with “monotheism”; he must not feel awe when he pronounces the name of +Yahweh and contempt when he utters the name of Zeus; he must not picture +a satyr when he reads the word “dæmon,” and imagine a winged dream of +beauty when he pronounces the word “angel.” For him heresy and orthodoxy +must not exist; he sees only his own soul slowly working out its own +experience, looking at life from every possible view-point, so that +haply at last he may see the whole, and having seen the whole, may +become at one with God. + +To Apollonius the mere fashion of a man’s faith was unessential; he was +at home in all lands, among all cults. He had a helpful word for all, +an intimate knowledge of the particular way of each of them, which +enabled him to restore them to health. Such men are rare; the records of +such men are precious, and require the embellishments of no rhetorician. + +Let us then, first of all, try to recover the outline of the early +external life and of the travels of Apollonius shorn of Philostratus’ +embellishments, and then endeavour to consider the nature of his +mission, the manner of the philosophy which he so dearly loved and which +was to him his religion, and last, if possible, the way of his inner +life. + + + + +SECTION VII. + +EARLY LIFE. + + +Apollonius was born[75] at Tyana, a city in the south of Cappadocia, +somewhen in the early years of the Christian era. His parents were of +ancient family and considerable fortune (i. 4). At an early age he gave +signs of a very powerful memory and studious disposition, and was +remarkable for his beauty. At the age of fourteen he was sent to Tarsus, +a famous centre of learning of the time, to complete his studies. But +mere rhetoric and style and the life of the “schools” were little suited +to his serious disposition, and he speedily left for Ægæ, a town on the +sea-coast east of Tarsus. Here he found surroundings more suitable to +his needs, and plunged with ardour into the study of philosophy. He +became intimate with the priests of the temple of Æsculapius, where +cures were still wrought, and enjoyed the society and instruction of +pupils and teachers of the Platonic, Stoic, Peripatetic, and Epicurean +schools of philosophy; but though he studied all these systems of +thought with attention, it was the lessons of the Pythagorean school +upon which he seized with an extraordinary depth of comprehension,[76] +and that, too, although his teacher, Euxenus, was but a parrot of the +doctrines and not a practiser of the discipline. But such parrotting was +not enough for the eager spirit of Apollonius; his extraordinary +“memory,” which infused life into the dull utterances of his tutor, +urged him on, and at the age of sixteen “he soared into the Pythagorean +life, winged by some greater one.”[77] Nevertheless he retained his +affection for the man who had told him of the way, and rewarded him +handsomely (i. 7). + +When Euxenus asked him how he would begin his new mode of life he +replied: “As doctors purge their patients.” Hence he refused to touch +anything that had animal life in it, on the ground that it densified the +mind and rendered it impure. He considered that the only pure form of +food was what the earth produced, fruits and vegetables. He also +abstained from wine, for though it was made from fruit, “it rendered +turbid the æther[78] in the soul” and “destroyed the composure of the +mind.” Moreover, he went barefoot, let his hair grow long, and wore +nothing but linen. He now lived in the temple, to the admiration of the +priests and with the express approval of Æsculapius,[79] and he rapidly +became so famous for his asceticism and pious life, that a saying[80] of +the Cilicians about him became a proverb (i. 8). + +At the age of twenty his father died (his mother having died some years +before) leaving a considerable fortune, which Apollonius was to share +with his elder brother, a wild and dissolute youth of twenty-three. +Being still a minor, Apollonius continued to reside at Ægæ, where the +temple of Æsculapius had now become a busy centre of study, and echoed +from one end to the other with the sound of lofty philosophical +discourses. On coming of age he returned to Tyana to endeavour to rescue +his brother from his vicious life. His brother had apparently exhausted +his legal share of the property, and Apollonius at once made over half +of his own portion to him, and by his gentle admonitions restored him +to his manhood. In fact he seems to have devoted his time to setting in +order the affairs of the family, for he distributed the rest of his +patrimony among certain of his relatives, and kept for himself but a +bare pittance; he required but little, he said, and should never marry +(i. 13). + +He now took the vow of silence for five years, for he was determined not +to write on philosophy until he had passed through this wholesome +discipline. These five years were passed mostly in Pamphylia and +Cilicia, and though he spent much time in study, he did not immure +himself in a community or monastery but kept moving about and travelling +from city to city. The temptations to break his self-imposed vow were +enormous. His strange appearance drew everyone’s attention, the +laughter-loving populace made the silent philosopher the butt of their +unscrupulous wit, and all the protection he had against their scurrility +and misconceptions was the dignity of his mien and the glance of eyes +that now could see both past and future. Many a time he was on the verge +of bursting out against some exceptional insult or lying gossip, but +ever he restrained himself with the words: “Heart, patient be, and thou, +my tongue, be still”[81] (i. 14). + +Yet even this stern repression of the common mode of speech did not +prevent his good doing. Even at this early age he had begun to correct +abuses. With eyes and hands and motions of the head, he made his meaning +understood, and on one occasion, at Aspendus in Pamphylia, prevented a +serious corn riot by silencing the crowd with his commanding gestures +and then writing what he had to say on his tablets (i. 15). + +So far, apparently, Philostratus has been dependent upon the account of +Maximus of Ægæ, or perhaps only up to the time of Apollonius’ quitting +Ægæ. There is now a considerable gap in the narrative, and two short +chapters of vague generalities (i. 16, 17) are all that Philostratus can +produce as the record of some fifteen or twenty[82] years, until Damis’ +notes begin. + +After the five years of silence, we find Apollonius at Antioch, but this +seems to be only an incident in a long round of travel and work, and it +is probable that Philostratus brings Antioch into prominence merely +because what little he had learnt of this period of Apollonius’ life, he +picked up in this much-frequented city. + +Even from Philostratus himself we learn incidentally later on (i. 20; +iv. 38) that Apollonius had spent some time among the Arabians, and had +been instructed by them. And by Arabia we are to understand the country +south of Palestine, which was at this period a regular hot-bed of mystic +communities. The spots he visited were in out-of-the-way places, where +the spirit of holiness lingered, and not the crowded and disturbed +cities, for the subject of his conversation, he said, required “_men_ +and not people.”[83] He spent his time in travelling from one to another +of these temples, shrines, and communities; from which we may conclude +that there was some kind of a common freemasonry, as it were, among +them, of the nature of initiation, which opened the door of hospitality +to him. + +But wherever he went, he always held to a certain regular division of +the day. At sun-rise he practised certain religious exercises alone, the +nature of which he communicated only to those who had passed through the +discipline of a “four years’” (? five years’) silence. He then conversed +with the temple priests or the heads of the community, according as he +was staying in a Greek or non-Greek temple with public rites, or in a +community with a discipline peculiar to itself apart from the public +cult.[84] + +He thus endeavoured to bring back the public cults to the purity of +their ancient traditions, and to suggest improvements in the practices +of the private brotherhoods. The most important part of his work was +with those who were following the inner life, and who already looked +upon Apollonius as a teacher of the hidden way. To these his comrades +(ἑταίρους) and pupils (ὁμιλητάς), he devoted much attention, being ever +ready to answer their questions and give advice and instruction. Not +however that he neglected the people; it was his invariable custom to +teach them, but always after mid-day; for those who lived the inner +life,[85] he said, should on day’s dawning enter the presence of the +Gods,[86] then spend the time till mid-day in giving and receiving +instruction in holy things, and not till after noon devote themselves to +human affairs. That is to say, the morning was devoted by Apollonius to +the divine science, and the afternoon to instruction in ethics and +practical life. After the day’s work he bathed in cold water, as did so +many of the mystics of the time in those lands, notably the Essenes and +Therapeuts (i. 16). + +“After these things,” says Philostratus, as vaguely as the writer of a +gospel narrative, Apollonius determined to visit the Brachmanes and +Sarmanes.[87] What induced our philosopher to make so long and dangerous +a journey nowhere appears from Philostratus, who simply says that +Apollonius thought it a good thing for a young man[88] to travel. It is +abundantly evident, however, that Apollonius never travelled merely for +the sake of travelling. What he does he does with a distinct purpose. +And his guides on this occasion, as he assures his disciples who tried +to dissuade him from his endeavour and refused to accompany him, were +wisdom and his inner monitor (dæmon). “Since ye are faint-hearted,” says +the solitary pilgrim, “I bid you farewell. As for myself I must go +whithersoever wisdom and my inner self may lead me. The Gods are my +advisers and I can but rely on their counsels” (i. 18). + + + + +SECTION VIII. + +THE TRAVELS OF APOLLONIUS. + + +And so Apollonius departs from Antioch and journeys on to Ninus, the +relic of the once great Nina or Nineveh. There he meets with Damis, who +becomes his constant companion and faithful disciple. “Let us go +together,” says Damis in words reminding us somewhat of the words of +Ruth. “Thou shalt follow God, and I thee!” (i. 19). + +From this point Philostratus professes to base himself to a great extent +on the narrative of Damis, and before going further, it is necessary to +try to form some estimate of the character of Damis, and discover how +far he was admitted to the real confidence of Apollonius. + +Damis was an enthusiast who loved Apollonius with a passionate +affection. He saw in his master almost a divine being, possessed of +marvellous powers at which he continually wondered, but which he could +never understand. Like Ānanda, the favourite disciple of the Buddha and +his constant companion, Damis advanced but slowly in comprehension of +the real nature of spiritual science; he had ever to remain in the outer +courts of the temples and communities into whose shrines and inner +confidence Apollonius had full access, while he frequently states his +ignorance of his master’s plans and purposes.[89] The additional fact +that he refers to his notes as the “crumbs”[90] from the “feasts of the +Gods” (i. 19), those feasts of which he could for the most part only +learn at secondhand what little Apollonius thought fit to tell him, and +which he doubtless largely misunderstood and clothed in his own +imaginings, would further confirm this view, if any further confirmation +were necessary. But indeed it is very manifest everywhere that Damis was +outside the circle of initiation, and this accounts both for his +wonder-loving point of view and his general superficiality. + +Another fact that comes out prominently from the narrative is his timid +nature.[91] He is continually afraid for himself or for his master; and +even towards the end, when Apollonius is imprisoned by Domitian, it +requires the phenomenal removal of the fetters before his eyes to +assure him that Apollonius is a willing victim. + +Damis loves and wonders; seizes on unimportant detail and exaggerates +it, while he can only report of the really important things what he +fancies to have taken place from a few hints of Apollonius. As his story +advances, it is true it takes on a soberer tint; but what Damis omits, +Philostratus is ever ready to supply from his own store of marvels, if +chance offers. + +Nevertheless, even were we with the scalpel of criticism to cut away +every morsel of flesh from this body of tradition and legend, there +would still remain a skeleton of fact that would still represent +Apollonius and give us some idea of his stature. + +Apollonius was one of the greatest travellers known to antiquity. Among +the countries and places he visited the following are the chief ones +recorded by Philostratus.[92] + +From Ninus (i. 19) Apollonius journeys to Babylon (i. 21), where he +stops one year and eight months (i. 40) and visits surrounding cities +such as Ecbatana, the capital of Media (i. 39); from Babylon to the +Indian frontier no names are mentioned; India was entered in every +probability by the Khaibar Pass (ii. 6),[93] for the first city +mentioned is Taxila (Attock) (ii. 20); and so they make their way across +the tributaries of the Indus (ii. 43) to the valley of the Ganges (iii. +5), and finally arrive at the “monastery of the wise men” (iii. 10), +where Apollonius spends four months (iii. 50). + +This monastery was presumably in Nepāl; it is in the mountains, and the +“city” nearest it is called Paraca. The chaos that Philostratus has made +of Damis’ account, and before him the wonderful transformations Damis +himself wrought in Indian names, are presumably shown in this word. +Paraca is perchance all that Damis could make of Bharata, the general +name of the Ganges valley in which the dominant Āryas were settled. It +is also probable that these wise men were Buddhists, for they dwelt in a +τύρσις, a place that looked like a fort or fortress to Damis. + +I have little doubt that Philostratus could make nothing out of the +geography of India from the names in Damis’ diary; they were all +unfamiliar to him, so that as soon as he has exhausted the few Greek +names known to him from the accounts of the expedition of Alexander, he +wanders in the “ends of the earth,” and can make nothing of it till he +picks up our travellers again on their return journey at the mouth of +the Indus. The salient fact that Apollonius was making for a certain +community, which was his peculiar goal, so impressed the imagination of +Philostratus (and perhaps of Damis before him) that he has described it +as being the only centre of the kind in India. Apollonius went to India +with a purpose and returned from it with a distinct mission;[94] and +perchance his constant inquiries concerning the particular “wise men” +whom he was seeking, led Damis to imagine that they alone were the +“Gymnosophists,” the “naked philosophers” (if we are to take the term in +its literal sense) of popular Greek legend, which ignorantly ascribed to +all the Hindu ascetics the most striking peculiarity of a very small +number. But to return to our itinerary. + +Philostratus embellishes the account of the voyage from the Indus to the +mouth of the Euphrates (iii. 52-58) with the travellers’ tales and +names of islands and cities he has gleaned from the Indica which were +accessible to him, and so we again return to Babylon and familiar +geography with the following itinerary: + +Babylon, Ninus, Antioch, Seleucia, Cyprus; thence to Ionia (iii. 58), +where he spends some time in Asia Minor, especially at Ephesus (iv. 1), +Smyrna (iv. 5), Pergamus (iv. 9), and Troy (iv. 11). Thence Apollonius +crosses over to Lesbos (iv. 13), and subsequently sails for Athens, +where he spends some years in Greece (iv. 17-33) visiting the temples of +Hellas, reforming their rites and instructing the priests (iv. 24). We +next find him in Crete (iv. 34), and subsequently at Rome in the time of +Nero (iv. 36-46). + +In A.D. 66 Nero issued a decree forbidding any philosopher to remain in +Rome, and Apollonius set out for Spain, and landed at Gades, the modern +Cadiz; he seems to have stayed in Spain only a short time (iv. 47); +thence crossed to Africa, and so by sea once more to Sicily, where the +principal cities and temples were visited (v. 11-14). Thence Apollonius +returned to Greece (v. 18), four years having elapsed since his landing +at Athens from Lesbos (v. 19).[95] + +From Piræus our philosopher sails for Chios (v. 21), thence to Rhodes, +and so to Alexandria (v. 24). At Alexandria he spends some time, and has +several interviews with the future Emperor Vespasian (v. 27-41), and +thence he sets out on a long journey up the Nile as far as Ethiopia +beyond the cataracts, where he visits an interesting community of +ascetics called loosely Gymnosophists (vi. 1-27). + +On his return to Alexandria (vi. 28), he was summoned by Titus, who had +just become emperor, to meet him at Tarsus (vi. 29-34). After this +interview he appears to have returned to Egypt, for Philostratus speaks +vaguely of his spending some time in Lower Egypt, and of visits to the +Phœnicians, Cilicians, Ionians, Achæans, and also to Italy (vi. 35). + +Now Vespasian was emperor from 69 to 79, and Titus from 79 to 81. As +Apollonius’ interviews with Vespasian took place shortly before the +beginning of that emperor’s reign, it is reasonable to conclude that a +number of years was spent by our philosopher in his Ethiopian journey, +and that therefore Damis’ account is a most imperfect one. In 81 +Domitian became emperor, and just as Apollonius opposed the follies of +Nero, so did he criticise the acts of Domitian. He accordingly became an +object of suspicion to the emperor; but instead of keeping away from +Rome, he determined to brave the tyrant to his face. Crossing from Egypt +to Greece and taking ship at Corinth, he sailed by way of Sicily to +Puteoli, and thence to the Tiber mouth, and so to Rome (vii. 10-16). +Here Apollonius was tried and acquitted (vii. 17--viii. 10). Sailing +from Puteoli again Apollonius returned to Greece (viii. 15), where he +spent two years (viii. 24). Thence once more he crossed over to Ionia at +the time of the death of Domitian (viii. 25), visiting Smyrna and +Ephesus and other of his favourite haunts. Hereupon he sends away Damis +on some pretext to Rome (viii. 28) and--disappears; that is to say, if +it be allowed to speculate, he undertook yet another journey to the +place which he loved above all others, the “home of the wise men.” + +Now Domitian was killed 96 A.D., and one of the last recorded acts of +Apollonius is his vision of this event at the time of its occurrence. +Therefore the trial of Apollonius at Rome took place somewhere about 93, +and we have a gap of twelve years from his interview with Titus in 81, +which Philostratus can only fill up with a few vague stories and +generalities. + +As to his age at the time of his mysterious disappearance from the +pages of history, Philostratus tells us that Damis says nothing; but +some, he adds, say he was eighty, some ninety, and some even an hundred. + +The estimate of eighty years seems to fit in best with the rest of the +chronological indications, but there is no certainty in the matter with +the present materials at our disposal. + +Such then is the geographical outline, so to say, of the life of +Apollonius, and even the most careless reader of the bare skeleton of +the journeys recorded by Philostratus must be struck by the indomitable +energy of the man, and his power of endurance. + +We will now turn our attention to one or two points of interest +connected with the temples and communities he visited. + + + + +SECTION IX. + +IN THE SHRINES OF THE TEMPLES AND THE RETREATS OF RELIGION. + + +Seeing that the nature of Apollonius’ business with the priests of the +temples and the devotees of the mystic life was necessarily of a most +intimate and secret nature, for in those days it was the invariable +custom to draw a sharp line of demarcation between the inner and outer, +the initiated and the profane, it is not to be expected that we can +learn anything but mere externalities from the Damis-Philostratus +narrative; nevertheless, even these outer indications are of interest. + +The temple of Æsculapius at Ægæ, where Apollonius spent the most +impressionable years of his life, was one of the innumerable hospitals +of Greece, where the healing art was practised on lines totally +different to our present methods. We are at once introduced to an +atmosphere laden with psychic influences, to a centre whither for +centuries patients had flocked to “consult the God.” In order to do so, +it was necessary for them to go through certain preliminary +purifications and follow certain rules given by the priests; they then +passed the night in the shrine and in their sleep instructions were +given them for their healing. This method, no doubt, was only resorted +to when the skill of the priest was exhausted; in any case, the priests +must have been deeply versed in the interpretation of these dreams and +in their rationale. It is also evident that as Apollonius loved to pass +his time in the temple, he must have found there satisfaction for his +spiritual needs, and instruction in the inner science; though doubtless +his own innate powers soon carried him beyond his instructors and marked +him out as the “favourite of the God.” The many cases on record in our +own day of patients in trance or some other psychic condition +prescribing for themselves, will help the student to understand the +innumerable possibilities of healing which were in Greece summed up in +the personification Æsculapius. + +Later on the chief of the Indian sages has a disquisition on Æsculapius +and the healing art put into his mouth (iii. 44), where the whole of +medicine is said to be dependent upon psychic diagnosis and prescience +(μαντεία). + +Finally it may be noticed that it was the invariable custom of patients +on their recovery to record the fact on an _ex-voto_ tablet in the +temple, precisely as is done to-day in Roman Catholic countries.[96] + +On his way to India Apollonius saw a good deal of the Magi at Babylon. +He used to visit them at mid-day and mid-night, but of what transpired +Damis knew nothing, for Apollonius would not permit him to accompany +him, and in answer to his direct questions would only answer: “They are +wise, but not in all things” (i. 26). + +The description of a certain hall, however, to which Apollonius had +access, seems to be a garbled version of the interior of the temple. The +roof was dome-shaped, and the ceiling was covered with “sapphire”; in +this blue heaven were models of the heavenly bodies (“those whom they +regard as Gods”) fashioned in gold, as though moving in the ether. +Moreover from the roof were suspended four golden “Iygges” which the +Magi call the “Tongues of the Gods.” These were winged-wheels or spheres +connected with the idea of Adrasteia (or Fate). Their prototypes are +described imperfectly in the Vision of Ezekiel, and the so-called +Hecatine _strophali_ or _spherulæ_ used in magical practices may have +been degenerate descendants of these “living wheels” or spheres of the +vital elements. The subject is one of intense interest, but hopelessly +incapable of treatment in our present age of scepticism and profound +ignorance of the past. The “Gods” who taught our infant humanity were, +according to occult tradition, from a humanity higher than that at +present evolving on our earth. They gave the impulse, and, when the +earth-children were old enough to stand on their own feet, they +withdrew. But the memory of their deeds and a corrupt and degenerate +form of the mysteries they established has ever lingered in the memory +of myth and legend. Seers have caught obscure glimpses of what they +taught and how they taught it, and the tradition of the Mysteries +preserved some memory of it in its symbols and instruments or engines. +The Iygges of the Magi are said to be a relic of this memory. + +With regard to the Indian sages it is impossible to make out any +consistent story from the fantastic jumble of the Damis-Philostratus +romance. Damis seems to have confused together a mixture of memories and +scraps of gossip without any attempt to distinguish one community or +sect from another, and so produced a blurred daub which Philostratus +would have us regard as a picture of the “hill” and a description of +its “sages.” Damis’ confused memories,[97] however, have little to do +with the actual monastery and its ascetic inhabitants, who were the goal +of Apollonius’ long journey. What Apollonius heard and saw there, +following his invariable custom in such circumstances, he told no one, +not even Damis, except what could be derived from the following +enigmatical sentence: “I saw men dwelling on the earth and yet not on +it, defended on all sides, yet without any defence, and yet possessed of +nothing but what all possess.” These words occur in two passages (iii. +15 and vi. 11), and in both Philostratus adds that Apollonius wrote[98] +and spoke them enigmatically. The meaning of this saying is not +difficult to divine. They were on the earth, but not of the earth, for +their minds were set on things above. They were protected by their +innate spiritual power, of which we have so many instances in Indian +literature; and yet they possessed nothing but what all men possess if +they would but develop the spiritual part of their being. But this +explanation is not simple enough for Philostratus, and so he presses +into service all the memories of Damis, or rather travellers’ tales, +about levitation, magical illusions and the rest. + +The head of the community is called Iarchas, a totally un-Indian name. +The violence done to all foreign names by the Greeks is notorious, and +here we have to reckon with an army of ignorant copyists as well as with +Philostratus and Damis. I would suggest that the name may perhaps be a +corruption of Arhat.[99] + +The main burden of Damis’ narrative insists on the psychic and spiritual +knowledge of the sages. They know what takes place at a distance, they +can tell the past and future, and read the past births of men. + +The messenger sent to meet Apollonius carried what Damis calls a golden +anchor (iii. 11, 17), and if this is an authentic fact, it would suggest +a forerunner of the Tibetan _dorje_, the present degenerate symbol of +the “rod of power,” something like the thunder-bolt wielded by Zeus. +This would also point to a Buddhist community, though it must be +confessed that other indications point equally strongly to Brāhmanical +customs, such as the caste-mark on the forehead of the messenger (iii. +7, 11), the carrying of (bamboo) staves (daṇḍa), letting the hair grow +long, and wearing of turbans (iii. 13). But indeed the whole account is +too confused to permit any hope of extracting historical details. + +Of the nature of Apollonius’ visit we may, however, judge from the +following mysterious letter to his hosts (iii. 51): + +“I came to you by land and ye have given me the sea; nay, rather, by +sharing with me your wisdom ye have given me power to travel through +heaven. These things will I bring back to the mind of the Greeks, and I +will hold converse with you as though ye were present, if it be that I +have not drunk of the cup of Tantalus in vain.” + +It is evident from these cryptic sentences that the “sea” and the “cup +of Tantalus” are identical with the “wisdom” which had been imparted to +Apollonius--the wisdom which he was to bring back once more to the +memory of the Greeks. He thus clearly states that he returned from India +with a distinct mission and with the means to accomplish it, for not +only had he drunk of the ocean of wisdom in that he has learnt the +Brahmā-vidyā from their lips, but he has also learnt how to converse +with them though his body be in Greece and their bodies in India. + +But such a plain meaning--plain at least to every student of occult +nature--was beyond the understanding of Damis or the comprehension of +Philostratus. And it is doubtless the mention of the “cup of +Tantalus”[100] in this letter which suggested the inexhaustible loving +cup episode in iii. 32, and its connection with the mythical fountains +of Bacchus. Damis presses it into service to “explain” the last phrase +in Apollonius’ saying about the sages, namely, that they were “possessed +of nothing but what all possess”--which, however, appears elsewhere in a +changed form, as “possessing nothing, they have the possessions of all +men” (iii. 15).[101] + +On returning to Greece, one of the first shrines Apollonius visited was +that of Aphrodite at Paphos in Cyprus (iii. 58). The greatest external +peculiarity of the Paphian worship of Venus was the representation of +the goddess by a mysterious stone symbol. It seems to have been of the +size of a human being, but shaped like a pine-cone, only of course with +a smooth surface. Paphos was apparently the oldest shrine dedicated to +Venus in Greece. Its mysteries were very ancient, but not indigenous; +they were brought over from the mainland, from what was subsequently +Cilicia, in times of remote antiquity. + +The worship or consultation of the Goddess was by means of prayers and +the “pure flame of fire,” and the temple was a great centre of +divination.[102] + +Apollonius spent some time here and instructed the priests at length +with regard to their sacred rites. + +In Asia Minor he was especially pleased with the temple of Æsculapius at +Pergamus; he healed many of the patients there, and gave instruction in +the proper methods to adopt in order to procure reliable results by +means of the prescriptive dreams. + +At Troy, we are told, Apollonius spent a night alone at the tomb of +Achilles, in former days one of the spots of greatest popular sanctity +in Greece (iv. 11). Why he did so does not transpire, for the fantastic +conversation with the shade of the hero reported by Philostratus (iv. +16) seems to be devoid of any element of likelihood. As, however, +Apollonius made it his business to visit Thessaly shortly afterwards +expressly to urge the Thessalians to renew the old accustomed rites to +the hero (iv. 13), we may suppose that it formed part of his great +effort to restore and purify the old institutions of Hellas, so that, +the accustomed channels being freed, the life might flow more healthily +in the national body. + +Rumour would also have it that Achilles had told Apollonius where he +would find the statue of the hero Palamedes on the coast of Æolia. +Apollonius accordingly restored the statue, and Philostratus tells us he +had seen it with his own eyes on the spot (iv. 13). + +Now this would be a matter of very little interest, were it not that a +great deal is made of Palamedes elsewhere in Philostratus’ narrative. +What it all means is difficult to say with a Damis and Philostratus as +interpreters between ourselves and the silent and enigmatical +Apollonius. + +Palamedes was one of the heroes before Troy, who was fabled to have +invented letters, or to have completed the alphabet of Cadmus.[103] + +Now from two obscure sayings (iv. 13, 33), we glean that our philosopher +looked upon Palamedes as the philosopher-hero of the Trojan period, +although Homer says hardly a word about him. + +Was this, then, the reason why Apollonius was so anxious to restore his +statue? Not altogether so; there appears to have been a more direct +reason. Damis would have it that Apollonius had met Palamedes in India; +that he was at the monastery; that Iarchas had one day pointed out a +young ascetic who could “write without ever learning letters”; and that +this youth had been no other than Palamedes in one of his former +births. Doubtless the sceptic will say: “Of course! Pythagoras was a +reincarnation of the hero Euphorbus who fought at Troy, according to +popular superstition; therefore, naturally, the young Indian was the +reincarnation of the hero Palamedes! The one legend simply begat the +other.” But on this principle, to be consistent, we should expect to +find that it was Apollonius himself and not an unknown Hindu ascetic, +who had been once Palamedes. + +In any case Apollonius restored the rites to Achilles, and erected a +chapel in which he set up the neglected statue of Palamedes.[104] The +heroes of the Trojan period, then, it would seem, had still some +connection with Greece, according to the science of the invisible world +into which Apollonius was initiated. And if the Protestant sceptic can +make nothing of it, at least the Roman Catholic reader may be induced to +suspend his judgment by changing “hero” into “saint.” + +Can it be possible that the attention which Apollonius bestowed upon the +graves and funeral monuments of the mighty dead of Greece may have been +inspired by the circle of ideas which led to the erection of the +innumerable dāgobas and stūpas in Buddhist lands, originally over the +relics of the Buddha, and the subsequent preservation of relics of +arhats and great teachers? + +At Lesbos Apollonius visited the ancient temple of the Orphic mysteries, +which in early years had been a great centre of prophecy and divination. +Here also he was privileged to enter the inner shrine or adytum (iv. +14). + +The Tyanean arrived in Athens at the time of the Eleusinian Mysteries, +and in spite of the festival and rites not only the people but also the +candidates flocked to meet him to the neglect of their religious duties. +Apollonius rebuked them, and himself joined in the necessary preliminary +rites and presented himself for initiation. + +It may, perhaps, surprise the reader to hear that Apollonius, who had +already been initiated into higher privileges than Eleusis could afford, +should present himself for initiation. But the reason is not far to +seek; the Eleusinia constituted one of the intermediate organisations +between the popular cults and the genuine inner circles of instruction. +They preserved one of the traditions of the inner way, even if their +officers for the time being had forgotten what their predecessors had +once known. To restore these ancient rites to their purity, or to +utilise them for their original object, it was necessary to enter within +the precincts of the institution; nothing could be effected from +outside. The thing itself was good, and Apollonius desired to support +the ancient institution by setting the public example of seeking +initiation therein; not that he had anything to gain personally. + +But whether it was that the hierophant of that time was only ignorant, +or whether he was jealous of the great influence of Apollonius, he +refused to admit our philosopher, on the ground that he was a sorcerer +(γόης), and that no one could be initiated who was tainted by +intercourse with evil entities (δαιμόνια). To this charge Apollonius +replied with veiled irony: “You have omitted the most serious charge +that might have been urged against me: to wit, that though I really know +more about the mystic rite than its hierophant, I have come here +pretending to desire initiation from men knowing more than myself.” This +charge would have been true; he had made a pretence. + +Dismayed at these words, frightened at the indignation of the people +aroused by the insult offered to their distinguished guest, and overawed +by the presence of a knowledge which he could no longer deny, the +hierophant begged our philosopher to accept the initiation. But +Apollonius refused. “I will be initiated later on,” he replied; “_he_ +will initiate me.” This is said to have referred to the succeeding +hierophant, who presided when Apollonius was initiated four years later +(iv. 18; v. 19). + +While at Athens Apollonius spoke strongly against the effeminacy of the +Bacchanalia and the barbarities of the gladiatorial combats (iv. 21, +22). + +The temples, mentioned by Philostratus, which Apollonius visited in +Greece, have all the peculiarity of being very ancient; for instance, +Dodona, Delphi, the ancient shrine of Apollo at Abæ in Phocis, the +“caves” of Amphiaraus[105] and Trophonius, and the temple of the Muses +on Helicon. + +When he entered the adyta of these temples for the purpose of +“restoring” the rites, he was accompanied only by the priests, and +certain of his immediate disciples (γνώριμοι). This suggests an +extension to the meaning of the word “restoring” or “reforming,” and +when we read elsewhere of the many spots consecrated by Apollonius, we +cannot but think that part of his work was the reconsecration, and hence +psychic purification, of many of these ancient centres. His main +external work, however, was the giving of instruction, and, as +Philostratus rhetorically phrases it, “bowls of his words were set up +everywhere for the thirsty to drink from” (iv. 24). + +But not only did our philosopher restore the ancient rites of religion, +he also paid much attention to the ancient polities and institutions. +Thus we find him urging with success the Spartans to return to their +ancient mode of life, their athletic exercises, frugal living, and the +discipline of the old Dorian tradition (iv. 27, 31-34); he, moreover, +specially praised the institution of the Olympic Games, the high +standard of which was still maintained (iv. 29), while he recalled the +ancient Amphictionic Council to its duty (iv. 23), and corrected the +abuses of the Panionian assembly (iv. 5). + +In the spring of 66 A.D. he left Greece for Crete, where he seems to +have bestowed most of his time on the sanctuaries of Mount Ida and the +temple of Æsculapius at Lebene (“for as all Asia visits Pergamus so does +all Crete visit Lebene”); but curiously enough he refused to visit the +famous Labyrinth at Gnossus, the ruins of which have just been uncovered +for a sceptical generation, most probably (if it is lawful to speculate) +because it had once been a centre of human sacrifice, and thus pertained +to one of the ancient cults of the left hand. + +In Rome Apollonius continued his work of reforming the temples, and this +with the full sanction of the Pontifex Maximus Telesinus, one of the +consuls for the year 66 A.D., who was also a philosopher and a deep +student of religion (iv. 40). But his stay in the imperial city was +speedily cut short, for in October Nero crowned his persecution of the +philosophers by publishing a decree of banishment against them from +Rome, and both Telesinus (vii. 11) and Apollonius had to leave Italy. + +We next find him in Spain, making his headquarters in the temple of +Hercules at Cadiz. + +On his return to Greece by way of Africa and Sicily (where he spent some +time and visited Ætna), he passed the winter (? of 67 A.D.) at Eleusis, +living in the temple, and in the spring of the following year sailed for +Alexandria, spending some time on the way at Rhodes. The city of +philosophy and eclecticism _par excellence_ received him with open arms +as an old friend. But to reform the public cults of Egypt was a far more +difficult task than any he had previously attempted. His presence in the +temple (? the temple of Serapis) commanded universal respect, everything +about him and every word he uttered seemed to breathe an atmosphere of +wisdom and of “something divine.” The high priest of the temple looked +on in proud disdain. “Who is wise enough,” he mockingly asked, “to +reform the religion of the Egyptians?”--only to be met with the +confident retort of Apollonius: “Any sage who comes from the Indians.” +Here as elsewhere Apollonius set his face against blood-sacrifice, and +tried to substitute instead, as he had attempted elsewhere, the offering +of frankincense modelled in the form of the victim (v. 25). Many abuses +he tried to reform in the manners of the Alexandrians, but upon none was +he more severe than on their wild excitement over horse-racing, which +frequently led to bloodshed (v. 26). + +Apollonius seems to have spent most of the remaining twenty years of his +life in Egypt, but of what he did in the secret shrines of that land of +mystery we can learn nothing from Philostratus, except that on the +protracted journey to Ethiopia up the Nile no city or temple or +community was unvisited, and everywhere there was an interchange of +advice and instruction in sacred things (v. 43). + + + + +SECTION X. + +THE GYMNOSOPHISTS OF UPPER EGYPT. + + +We now come to Apollonius’ visit to the “Gymnosophists” in “Ethiopia,” +which, though the artistic and literary goal of Apollonius’ journey in +Egypt as elaborated by Philostratus, is only a single incident in the +real history of the unrecorded life of our mysterious philosopher in +that ancient land. + +Had Philostratus devoted a chapter or two to the nature of the +practices, discipline, and doctrines of the innumerable ascetic and +mystic communities that honeycombed Egypt and adjacent lands in those +days, he would have earned the boundless gratitude of students of the +origins. But of all this he has no word; and yet he would have us +believe that Damis’ reminiscences were an orderly series of notes of +what actually happened. But in all things it is very apparent that Damis +was rather a _compagnon de voyage_ than an initiated pupil. + +Who then were these mysterious “Gymnosophists,” as they are usually +called, and whence their name? Damis calls them simply the “Naked” +(γυμνοί), and it is very clear that the term is not to be understood as +merely physically naked; indeed, neither to the Indians nor to these +ascetics of uppermost Egypt can the term be applied with appropriateness +in its purely physical meaning, as is apparent from the descriptions of +Damis and Philostratus. A chance sentence that falls from the lips of +one of these ascetics, in giving the story of his life, affords us a +clue to the real meaning of the term. “At the age of fourteen,” he tells +Apollonius, “I resigned my patrimony to those who desired such things, +and _naked_ I sought the _Naked_” (vi. 16).[106] + +This is the very same diction that Philo uses about the Therapeut +communities, which he declares were very numerous in every province of +Egypt and scattered in all lands. We are not, however, to suppose that +these communities were all of the same nature. It is true that Philo +tries to make out that the most pious and the chief of all of them was +_his_ particular community on the southern shore of Lake Mœris, which +was strongly Semitic if not orthodoxly Jewish; and for Philo any +community with a Jewish atmosphere must naturally have been the best. +The peculiarity and main interest of our community, which was at the +other end of the land above the cataracts, was that it had had some +remote connection with India. + +The community is called a φροντιστήριον, in the sense of a place for +meditation, a term used by ecclesiastical writers for a monastery, but +best known to classical students from the humorous use made of it by +Aristophanes, who in The Clouds calls the school of Socrates, a +_phrontistērion_ or “thinking shop.” The collection of _monasteria_ +(ἱερά), presumably caves, shrines, or cells,[107] was situated on a hill +or rising ground not far from the Nile. They were all separated from one +another, dotted about the hill, and ingeniously arranged. There was +hardly a tree in the place, with the exception of a single group of +palms, under whose shade they held their general meetings (vi. 6). + +It is difficult to gather from the set speeches, put into the mouths of +the head of the community and Apollonius (vi. 10-13, 18-22), any precise +details as to the mode of life of these ascetics, beyond the general +indications of an existence of great toil and physical hardship, which +they considered the only means of gaining wisdom. What the nature of +their cult was, if they had one, we are not told, except that at mid-day +the Naked retired to their _monasteria_ (vi. 14). + +The whole tendency of Apollonius’ arguments, however, is to remind the +community of its Eastern origin and its former connection with India, +which it seems to have forgotten. The communities of this particular +kind in southern Egypt and northern Ethiopia dated back presumably some +centuries, and some of them may have been remotely Buddhist, for one of +the younger members of our community who left it to follow Apollonius, +says that he came to join it from the enthusiastic account of the wisdom +of the Indians brought back by his father, who had been captain of a +vessel trading to the East. It was his father who told him that these +“Ethiopians” were from India, and so he had joined them instead of +making the long and perilous journey to the Indus itself (vi. 16). + +If there be any truth in this story it follows that the founders of this +way of life had been Indian ascetics, and if so they must have belonged +to the only propagandising form of Indian religion, namely, the +Buddhist. + +After the impulse had been given, the communities, which were +presumably recruited from generations of Egyptians, Arabs, and +Ethiopians, were probably left entirely to themselves, and so in course +of time forgot their origin, and even perhaps their original rule. Such +speculations are permissible, owing to the _repeated_ assertion of the +original connection between these Gymnosophists and India. The whole +burden of the story is that they were Indians who had forgotten their +origin and fallen away from the wisdom. + +The last incident that Philostratus records with regard to Apollonius +among the shrines and temples is a visit to the famous and very ancient +oracle of Trophonius, near Lebadea, in Bœotia. Apollonius is said to +have spent seven days alone in this mysterious “cave,” and to have +returned with a book full of questions and answers on the subject of +“philosophy” (viii. 19). This book was still, in the time of +Philostratus, in the palace of Hadrian at Antium, together with a number +of letters of Apollonius, and many people used to visit Antium for the +special purpose of seeing it (viii. 19, 20). + +In the hay-bundle of legendary rigmarole solemnly set down by +Philostratus concerning the cave of Trophonius, a small needle of truth +may perhaps be discovered. The “cave” seems to have been a very ancient +temple or shrine, cut in the heart of a hill, to which a number of +underground passages of considerable length led. It had probably been +in ancient times one of the most holy centres of the archaic cult of +Hellas, perhaps even a relic of that Greece of thousands of years B.C., +the only tradition of which, as Plato tells us, was obtained by Solon +from the priests of Saïs. Or it may have been a subterranean shrine of +the same nature as the famous Dictæan cave in Crete which only last year +was brought back to light by the indefatigable labours of Messrs. Evans +and Hogarth. + +As in the case of the travels of Apollonius, so with regard to the +temples and communities which he visited, Philostratus is a most +disappointing _cicerone_. But perhaps he is not to be blamed on this +account, for the most important and most interesting part of Apollonius’ +work was of so intimate a nature, prosecuted as it was among +associations of such jealously-guarded secrecy, that no one outside +their ranks could know anything of it, and those who shared in their +initiation would say nothing. + +It is, therefore, only when Apollonius comes forward to do some public +act that we can get any precise historical trace of him; in every other +case he passes into the sanctuary of a temple or enters the privacy of a +community and is lost to view. + +It may perhaps surprise us that Apollonius, after sacrificing his +private fortune, could nevertheless undertake such long and expensive +travels, but it would seem that he was occasionally supplied with the +necessary monies from the treasuries of the temples (_cf._ viii. 17), +and that everywhere he was freely offered the hospitality of the temple +or community in the place where he happened to be staying. + +In conclusion of the present part of our subject, we may mention the +good service done by Apollonius in driving away certain Chaldæan and +Egyptian charlatans who were making capital out of the fears of the +cities on the left shores of the Hellespont. These cities had suffered +severely from shocks of earthquake, and in their panic placed large sums +of money in the hands of these adventurers (who “trafficked in the +misfortunes of others”), in order that they might perform propitiatory +rites (vi. 41). This taking money for the giving instruction in the +sacred science or for the performance of sacred rites was the most +detestable of crimes to all the true philosophers. + + + + +SECTION XI. + +APOLLONIUS AND THE RULERS OF THE EMPIRE. + + +But not only did Apollonius vivify and reconsecrate the old centres of +religion for some inscrutable reason, and do what he could to help on +the religious life of the time in its multiplex phases, but he took a +decided, though indirect, part in influencing the destinies of the +Empire through the persons of its supreme rulers. + +This influence, however, was invariably of a moral and not of a +political nature. It was brought to bear by means of philosophical +converse and instruction, by word of mouth or letter. Just as Apollonius +on his travels conversed on philosophy, and discoursed on the life of a +wise man and the duties of a wise ruler, with kings,[108] rulers, and +magistrates, so he endeavoured to advise for their good those of the +emperors who would listen to him. + +Vespasian, Titus, and Nerva were all, prior to their elevation to the +purple, friends and admirers of Apollonius, while Nero and Domitian +regarded the philosopher with dismay. + +During Apollonius’ short stay in Rome, in 66 A.D., although he never let +the slightest word escape him that could be construed by the numerous +informers into a treasonable utterance, he was nevertheless brought +before Tigellinus, the infamous favourite of Nero, and subjected to a +severe cross-examination. Apparently up to this time Apollonius, working +for the future, had confined his attention entirely to the reformation +of religion and the restoration of the ancient institutions of the +nations, but the tyrannical conduct of Nero, which gave peace not even +to the most blameless philosophers, at length opened his eyes to a more +immediate evil, which seemed no less than the abrogation of the liberty +of conscience by an irresponsible tyranny. From this time onwards, +therefore, we find him keenly interested in the persons of the +successive emperors. + +Indeed Damis, although he confesses his entire ignorance of the purpose +of Apollonius’ journey to Spain after his expulsion from Rome, would +have it that it was to aid the forthcoming revolt against Nero. He +conjectures this from a three days’ secret interview that Apollonius had +with the Governor of the Province of Bætica, who came to Cadiz +especially to see him, and declares that the last words of Apollonius’ +visitor were: “Farewell, and remember Vindex” (v. 10). + +It is true that almost immediately afterwards the revolt of Vindex, the +Governor of Gaul, broke out, but the whole life and character of +Apollonius is opposed to any idea of political intrigue; on the +contrary, he bravely withstood tyranny and injustice to the face. He was +opposed to the idea of Euphrates, a philosopher of quite a different +stamp, who would have put an end to the monarchy and restored the +republic (v. 33); he believed that government by a monarch was the best +for the Empire, but he desired above all other things to see the “flock +of mankind” led by a “wise and faithful shepherd” (v. 35). + +So that though Apollonius supported Vespasian as long as he worthily +tried to follow out this ideal, he immediately rebuked him to his face +when he deprived the Greek cities of their privileges. “You have +enslaved Greece,” he wrote. “You have reduced a free people to slavery” +(v. 41). Nevertheless, in spite of this rebuke, Vespasian in his last +letter to his son Titus, confesses that they are what they are solely +owing to the good advice of Apollonius (v. 30). + +Equally so he journeyed to Rome to meet Domitian face to face, and +though he was put on trial and every effort made to prove him guilty of +treasonable plotting with Nerva, he could not be convicted of anything +of a political nature. Nerva was a good man, he told the emperor, and no +traitor. Not that Domitian had really any suspicion that Apollonius was +personally plotting against him; he cast him into prison solely in the +hope that he might induce the philosopher to disclose the confidences of +Nerva and other prominent men who were objects of suspicion to him, and +who he imagined had consulted Apollonius on their chances of success. +Apollonius’ business was not with politics, but with the “princes who +asked him for his advice on the subject of virtue” (vi. 43). + + + + +SECTION XII. + +APOLLONIUS THE PROPHET AND WONDER-WORKER. + + +We will now turn our attention for a brief space to that side of +Apollonius’ life which has made him the subject of invincible prejudice. +Apollonius was not only a philosopher, in the sense of being a +theoretical speculator or of being the follower of an ordered mode of +life schooled in the discipline of resignation; he was also a +philosopher in the original Pythagorean meaning of the term--a knower of +Nature’s secrets, who thus could speak as one having authority. + +He knew the hidden things of Nature by sight and not by hearing; for him +the path of philosophy was a life whereby the man himself became an +instrument of knowing. Religion, for Apollonius, was not a faith only, +it was a science. For him the shows of things were but ever-changing +appearances; cults and rites, religions and faiths, were all one to him, +provided the right spirit were behind them. The Tyanean knew no +differences of race or creed; such narrow limitations were not for the +philosopher. + +Beyond all others would he have laughed to hear the word “miracle” +applied to his doings. “Miracle,” in its Christian theological sense, +was an unknown term in antiquity, and is a vestige of superstition +to-day. For though many believe that it is possible by means of the soul +to effect a multitude of things beyond the possibilities of a science +which is confined entirely to the investigation of physical forces, none +but the unthinking believe that there can be any interference in the +working of the laws which Deity has impressed upon Nature--the credo of +Miraculists. + +Most of the recorded wonder-doings of Apollonius are cases of prophecy +or foreseeing; of seeing at a distance and seeing the past; of seeing or +hearing in vision; of healing the sick or curing cases of obsession or +possession. + +Already as a youth, in the temple at Ægæ, Apollonius gave signs of the +possession of the rudiments of this psychic insight; not only did he +sense correctly the nature of the dark past of a rich but unworthy +suppliant who desired the restoration of his eyesight, but he foretold, +though unclearly, the evil end of one who made an attempt upon his +innocence (i. 12). + +On meeting with Damis, his future faithful henchman volunteered his +services for the long journey to India on the ground that he knew the +languages of several of the countries through which they had to pass. +“But I understand them all, though I have learned none of them,” +answered Apollonius, in his usual enigmatical fashion, and added: +“Marvel not that I know all the tongues of men, for I know even what +they never say” (i. 19). And by this he meant simply that he could read +men’s thoughts, not that he could speak all languages. But Damis and +Philostratus cannot understand so simple a fact of psychic experience; +they will have it that he knew not only the language of all men, but +also of birds and beasts (i. 20). + +In his conversation with the Babylonian monarch Vardan, Apollonius +distinctly claims foreknowledge. He says that he is a physician of the +soul and can free the king from the diseases of the mind, not only +because he knows what ought to be done, that is to say the proper +discipline taught in the Pythagorean and similar schools, but also +because he foreknows the nature of the king (i. 32). Indeed we are told +that the subject of foreknowledge (προγνώσεως), of which science (σοφία) +Apollonius was a deep student, was one of the principal topics discussed +by our philosopher and his Indian hosts (iii. 42). + +In fact, as Apollonius tells his philosophical and studious friend the +Roman Consul Telesinus, for him wisdom was a kind of divinizing or +making divine of the whole nature, a sort of perpetual state of +inspiration (θειασμός) (iv. 40). And so we are told that Apollonius was +apprised of all things of this nature by the energy of his dæmonial +nature (δαιμoνίως) (vii. 10). Now for the student of the Pythagorean and +Platonic schools the “dæmon” of a man was what may be called the higher +self, the spiritual side of the soul as distinguished from the purely +human. It is the better part of the man, and when his physical +consciousness is at-oned with this “dweller in heaven,” he has +(according to the highest mystic philosophy of ancient Greece) while +still on earth the powers of those incorporeal intermediate beings +between Gods and men called “dæmons”; a stage higher still, the living +man becomes at-oned with his divine soul, he becomes a God on earth; and +yet a stage higher he becomes at one with the Good and so becomes God. + +Hence we find Apollonius indignantly rejecting the accusation of magic +ignorantly brought against him, an art which achieved its results by +means of compacts with those low entities with which the outermost realm +of inner Nature swarms. Our philosopher repudiated equally the idea of +his being a soothsayer or diviner. With such arts he would have nothing +to do; if ever he uttered anything which savoured of foreknowledge, let +them know it was not by divination in the vulgar sense, but owing to +“that wisdom which God reveals to the wise” (iv. 44). + +The most numerous wonder-doings ascribed to Apollonius are instances +precisely of such foreknowledge or prophecy.[109] It must be confessed +that the utterances recorded are often obscure and enigmatical, but this +is the usual case with such prophecy; for future events are most +frequently either seen in symbolic representations, the meaning of which +is not clear until after the event, or heard in equally enigmatical +sentences. At times, however, we have instances of very precise +foreknowledge, such as the refusal of Apollonius to go on board a vessel +which foundered on the voyage (v. 18). + +The instances of seeing present events at a distance, however--such as +the burning of a temple at Rome, which Apollonius saw while at +Alexandria--are clear enough. Indeed, if people know nothing else of the +Tyanean, they have at least heard how he saw at Ephesus the +assassination of Domitian at Rome at the very moment of its occurrence. + +It was mid-day, to quote from the graphic account of Philostratus, and +Apollonius was in one of the small parks or groves in the suburbs, +engaged in delivering an address on some absorbing topic of philosophy. +“At first he sank his voice as though in some apprehension; he, however, +continued his exposition, but haltingly, and with far less force than +usual, as a man who had some other subject in his mind than that on +which he is speaking; finally he ceased speaking altogether as though he +could not find his words. Then staring fixedly on the ground, he started +forward three or four paces, crying out: ‘Strike the tyrant; strike!’ +And this, not like a man who sees an image in a mirror, but as one with +the actual scene before his eyes, as though he were himself taking part +in it.” + +Turning to his astonished audience he told them what he had seen. But +though they hoped it were true, they refused to believe it, and thought +that Apollonius had taken leave of his senses. But the philosopher +gently answered: You, on your part, are right to suspend your rejoicings +till the news is brought you in the usual fashion; “as for me, I go to +return thanks to the Gods for what I have myself seen” (viii. 26). + +Little wonder, then, if we read, not only of a number of symbolic +dreams, but of their proper interpretation, one of the most important +branches of the esoteric discipline of the school. (See especially i. 23 +and iv. 34.) Nor are we surprised to hear that Apollonius, relying +entirely on his inner knowledge, was instrumental in obtaining the +reprieve of an innocent man at Alexandria, who was on the point of being +executed with a batch of criminals (v. 24). Indeed, he seems to have +known the secret past of many with whom he came in contact (vi. 3, 5). + +The possession of such powers can put but little strain on the belief of +a generation like our own, to which such facts of psychic science are +becoming with every day more familiar. Nor should instances of curing +disease by mesmeric processes astonish us, or even the so-called +“casting out of evil spirits,” if we give credence to the Gospel +narrative and are familiar with the general history of the times in +which such healing of possession and obsession was a commonplace. This, +however, does not condemn us to any endorsement of the fantastic +descriptions of such happenings in which Philostratus indulges. If it be +credible that Apollonius was successful in dealing with obscure mental +cases--cases of obsession and possession--with which our hospitals and +asylums are filled to-day, and which are for the most part beyond the +skill of official science owing to its ignorance of the real agencies at +work, it is equally evident that Damis and Philostratus had little +understanding of the matter, and have given full rein to their +imagination in their narratives. (See ii. 4; iv. 20, 25; v. 42; vi. 27, +43.) Perhaps, however, Philostratus in some instances is only repeating +popular legend, the best case of which is the curing of the plague at +Ephesus which the Tyanean had foretold on so many occasions. Popular +legend would have it that the cause of the plague was traced to an old +beggar man, who was buried under a heap of stones by the infuriated +populace. On Apollonius ordering the stones to be removed, it was found +that what had been a beggar man was now a mad dog foaming at the mouth +(iv. 10)! + +On the contrary, the account of Apollonius’ “restoring to life” a young +girl of noble birth at Rome, is told with great moderation. Our +philosopher seems to have met the funeral procession by chance; +whereupon he suddenly went up to the bier, and, after making some passes +over the maiden, and saying some inaudible words, “waked her out of her +seeming death.” But, says Damis, “whether Apollonius noticed that the +spark of the soul was still alive which her friends had failed to +perceive--they say it was raining lightly and a slight vapour showed on +her face--or whether he made the life in her warm again and so restored +her,” neither himself nor any who were present could say (iv. 45). + +Of a distinctly more phenomenal nature are the stories of Apollonius +causing the writing to disappear from the tablets of one of his accusers +before Tigellinus (iv. 44); of his drawing his leg out of the fetters to +show Damis that he was not really a prisoner though chained in the +dungeons of Domitian (vii. 38); and of his “disappearing” (ἠφανίσθη) +from the tribunal (viii. 5).[110] + +We are not, however, to suppose that Apollonius despised or neglected +the study of physical phenomena in his devotion to the inner science of +things. On the contrary, we have several instances of his rejection of +mythology in favour of a physical explanation of natural phenomena. +Such, for instance, are his explanations of the volcanic activity of +Ætna (v. 14, 17), and of a tidal wave in Crete, the latter being +accompanied with a correct indication of the more immediate result of +the occurrence. In fact an island had been thrown up far out to sea by a +submarine disturbance as was subsequently ascertained (iv. 34). The +explanation of the tides at Cadiz may also be placed in the same +category (v. 2). + + + + +SECTION XIII. + +HIS MODE OF LIFE. + + +We will now present the reader with some general indications of the mode +of life of Apollonius, and the manner of his teaching, of which already +something has been said under the heading “Early Life.” + +Our philosopher was an enthusiastic follower of the Pythagorean +discipline; nay, Philostratus would have us believe that he made more +superhuman efforts to reach wisdom than even the great Samian (i. 2). +The outer forms of this discipline as exemplified in Pythagoras are thus +summed up by our author. + +“Naught would he wear that came from a dead beast, nor touch a morsel of +a thing that once had life, nor offer it in sacrifice; not for him to +stain with blood the altars; but honey-cakes and incense, and the +service of his song went upward from the man unto the Gods, for well he +knew that they would take such gifts far rather than the oxen in their +hundreds with the knife. For he, in sooth, held converse with the Gods +and learned from them how they were pleased with men and how displeased, +and thence as well he drew his nature-lore. As for the rest, he said, +they guessed at the divine, and held opinions on the Gods which proved +each other false; but unto him Apollo’s self did come, confessed, +without disguise,[111] and there did come as well, though unconfessed, +Athena and the Muses, and other Gods whose forms and names mankind did +not yet know.” + +Hence his disciples regarded Pythagoras as an inspired teacher, and +received his rules as laws. “In particular did they keep the rule of +silence regarding the divine science. For they heard within them many +divine and unspeakable things on which it would have been difficult for +them to keep silence, had they not first learned that it was just this +silence which spoke to them” (i. 1). + +Such was the general declaration of the nature of the Pythagorean +discipline by its disciples. But, says Apollonius in his address to the +Gymnosophists, Pythagoras was not the inventor of it. It was the +immemorial wisdom, and Pythagoras himself had learnt it from the +Indians.[112] This wisdom, he continued, had spoken to him in his youth; +she had said: + +“For sense, young sir, I have no charms; my cup is filled with toils +unto the brim. Would anyone embrace my way of life, he must resolve to +banish from his board all food that once bore life, to lose the memory +of wine, and thus no more to wisdom’s cup befoul--the cup that doth +consist of wine-untainted souls. Nor shall wool warm him, nor aught +that’s made from any beast. I give my servants shoes of bast and as they +can to sleep. And if I find them overcome with love’s delights, I’ve +ready pits down into which that justice which doth follow hard on +wisdom’s foot, doth drag and thrust them; indeed, so stern am I to those +who choose my way, that e’en upon their tongues I bind a chain. Now hear +from me what things thou’lt gain, if thou endure. An innate sense of +fitness and of right, and ne’er to feel that any’s lot is better than +thy own; tyrants to strike with fear instead of being a fearsome slave +to tyranny; to have the Gods more greatly bless thy scanty gifts than +those who pour before them blood of bulls. If thou art pure, I’ll give +thee how to know what things will be as well, and fill thy eyes so full +of light, that thou may’st recognise the Gods, the heroes know, and +prove and try the shadowy forms that feign the shapes of men” (vi. 11). + +The whole life of Apollonius shows that he tried to carry out +consistently this rule of life, and the repeated statements that he +would never join in the blood-sacrifices of the popular cults (see +especially i. 24, 31; iv. 11; v. 25), but openly condemned them, show +not only that the Pythagorean school had ever set the example of the +higher way of purer offerings, but that they were not only not condemned +and persecuted as heretics on this account, but were rather regarded as +being of peculiar sanctity, and as following a life superior to that of +ordinary mortals. + +The refraining from the flesh of animals, however, was not simply based +upon ideas of purity, it found additional sanction in the positive love +of the lower kingdoms and the horror of inflicting pain on any living +creature. Thus Apollonius bluntly refused to take any part in the chase, +when invited to do so by his royal host at Babylon. “Sire,” he replied, +“have you forgotten that even when you sacrifice I will not be present? +Much less then would I do these beasts to death, and all the more when +their spirit is broken and they are penned in contrary to their nature” +(i. 38).[113] + +But though Apollonius was an unflinching task-master unto himself, he +did not wish to impose his mode of life on others, even on his personal +friends and companions (provided of course they did not adopt it of +their own free will). Thus he tells Damis that he has no wish to +prohibit him from eating flesh and drinking wine, he simply demands the +right of refraining himself and of defending his conduct if called on to +do so (ii. 7). This is an additional indication that Damis was not a +member of the inner circle of discipline, and the latter fact explains +why so faithful a follower of the person of Apollonius was nevertheless +so much in the dark. + +Not only so, but Apollonius even dissuades the Rājāh Phraotes, his first +host in India, who desired to adopt his strict rule, from doing so, on +the ground that it would estrange him too much from his subjects (ii. +37). + +Three times a day Apollonius prayed and meditated; at daybreak (vi. 10, +18; vii. 31), at mid-day (vii. 10), and at sun-down (viii. 13). This +seems to have been his invariable custom; no matter where he was he +seems to have devoted at least a few moments to silent meditation at +these times. The object of his worship is always said to have been the +“Sun,” that is to say the Lord of our world and its sister worlds, whose +glorious symbol is the orb of day. + +We have already seen in the short sketch devoted to his “Early Life” how +he divided the day and portioned out his time among his different +classes of hearers and inquirers. His style of teaching and speaking was +the opposite of that of a rhetorician or professional orator. There was +no art in his sentences, no striving after effect, no affectation. But +he spoke “as from a tripod,” with such words as “I know,” “Methinks,” +“Why do ye,” “Ye should know.” His sentences were short and compact, and +his words carried conviction with them and fitted the facts. His task, +he declared, was no longer to seek and to question as he had done in his +youth, but to teach what he knew (i. 17). He did not use the dialectic +of the Socratic school, but would have his hearers turn from all else +and give ear to the inner voice of philosophy alone (iv. 2). He drew his +illustrations from any chance occurrence or homely happening (iv. 3; vi. +3, 38), and pressed all into service for the improvement of his +listeners. + +When put on his trial, he would make no preparation for his defence. He +had lived his life as it came from day to day, prepared for death, and +would continue to do so (viii. 30). Moreover it was now his deliberate +choice to challenge death in the cause of philosophy. And so to his old +friend’s repeated solicitations to prepare his defence, he replied: + +“Damis, you seem to lose your wits in face of death, though you have +been so long with me and I have loved philosophy e’en from my +youth;[114] I thought that you were both yourself prepared for death and +knew full well my generalship in this. For just as warriors in the field +have need not only of good courage but also of that generalship which +tells them when to fight, so too must they who wisdom love make careful +study of good times to die, that they may choose the best and not be +done to death all unprepared. That I have chosen best and picked the +moment which suits wisdom best to give death battle--if so it be that +any one should wish to slay me--I’ve proved to other friends when you +were by, nor ever ceased to teach you it alone” (vii. 31). + +The above are some few indications of how our philosopher lived, in fear +of nothing but disloyalty to his high ideal. We will now make mention of +some of his more personal traits, and of some of the names of his +followers. + + + + +SECTION XIV. + +HIMSELF AND HIS CIRCLE. + + +Apollonius is said to have been very beautiful to look upon (i. 7, 12; +iv. 1);[115] but beyond this we have no very definite description of his +person. His manner was ever mild and gentle (i. 36; ii. 22) and modest +(iv. 31; viii. 15), and in this, says Damis, he was more like an Indian +than a Greek (iii. 36); yet occasionally he burst out indignantly +against some special enormity (iv. 30). His mood was often pensive (i. +34), and when not speaking he would remain for long plunged in deep +thought, during which his eyes were steadfastly fixed on the ground (i. +10 et al.). + +Though, as we have seen, he was inflexibly stern with himself, he was +ever ready to make excuses for others; if, on the one hand, he praised +the courage of those few who remained with him at Rome, on the other he +refused to blame for their cowardice the many who had fled (iv. 38). Nor +was his gentleness shown simply by abstention from blame, he was ever +active in positive deeds of compassion (cf. vi. 39). + +One of his little peculiarities was a liking to be addressed as +“Tyanean” (vii. 38), but why this was so we are not told. It can hardly +have been that Apollonius was particularly proud of his birth-place, for +even though he was a great lover of Greece, so that at times you would +call him an enthusiastic patriot, his love for other countries was +quite as pronounced. Apollonius was a citizen of the world, if there has +ever been one, into whose speech the word native-land did not enter, and +a priest of universal religion in whose vocabulary the word sect did not +exist. + +In spite of his extremely ascetic life he was a man of strong physique, +so that even when he had reached the ripe age of four-score years, we +are told, he was sound and healthy in every limb and organ, upright and +perfectly formed. There was also a certain indefinite charm about him +that made him more pleasant to look upon than even the freshness of +youth, and this even though his face was furrowed with wrinkles, just as +the statues in the temple at Tyana represented him in the time of +Philostratus. In fact, says his rhetorical biographer, report sang +higher praises over the charm of Apollonius in his old age than over the +beauty of Alcibiades in his youth (viii. 29). + +In brief, our philosopher seems to have been of a most charming presence +and lovable disposition; nor was his absolute devotion to philosophy of +the nature of the hermit ideal, for he passed his life among men. What +wonder then that he attracted to himself many followers and disciples! +It would have been interesting if Philostratus had told us more about +these “Apollonians,” as they were called (viii. 21), and whether they +constituted a distinct school, or whether they were grouped together in +communities on the Pythagorean model, or whether they were simply +independent students attracted to the most commanding personality of the +times in the domain of philosophy. It is, however, certain that many of +them wore the same dress as himself and followed his mode of life (iv. +39). Repeated mention is also made of their accompanying Apollonius on +his travels (iv. 47; v. 21; viii. 19, 21, 24), sometimes as many as ten +of them at the same time, but none of them were allowed to address +others until they had fulfilled the vow of silence (v. 43). + +The most distinguished of his followers were Musonius, who was +considered the greatest philosopher of the time after the Tyanean, and +who was the special victim of Nero’s tyranny (iv. 44; v. 19; vii. 16), +and Demetrius, “who loved Apollonius” (iv. 25, 42; v. 19; vi. 31; vii. +10; viii. 10). These names are well known to history; of names otherwise +unknown are the Egyptian Dioscorides, who was left behind owing to weak +health on the long journey to Ethiopia (iv. 11, 38; v. 43), Menippus, +whom he had freed from an obsession (iv. 25, 38; v. 43), Phædimus (iv. +11), and Nilus, who joined him from Gymnosophists (v. 10 _sqq._, 28), +and of course Damis, who would have us think that he was always with +him from the time of their meeting at Ninus. + +On the whole we are inclined to think that Apollonius did not establish +any fresh organisation; he made use of those already existing, and his +disciples were those who were attracted to him personally by an +overmastering affection which could only be satisfied by being +continually near him. This much seems certain, that he trained no one to +carry on his task; he came and went, helping and illuminating, but he +handed on no tradition of a definite line, and founded no school to be +continued by successors. Even to his ever faithful companion, when +bidding him farewell for what he knew would be the last time for Damis +on earth, he had no word to say about the work to which he had devoted +his life, but which Damis had never understood. His last words were for +Damis alone, for the man who had loved him, but who had never known him. +It was a promise to come to him if he needed help. “Damis, whenever you +think on high matters in solitary meditation, you shall see me” (viii. +28). + +We will next turn our attention to a consideration of some of the +sayings ascribed to Apollonius and the speeches put into his mouth by +Philostratus. The shorter sayings are in all probability authentically +traditional, but the speeches are for the most part manifestly the +artistic working-up of the rough notes of Damis. In fact, they are +definitely declared to be so; but they are none the less interesting on +this account, and for two reasons. + +In the first place, they honestly avow their nature, and make no claim +of inspiration; they are confessedly human documents which endeavour to +give a literary dress to the traditional body of thought and endeavour +which the life of the philosopher built into the minds of his hearers. +The method was common to antiquity, and the ancient compilers of certain +other series of famous documents would have been struck with amazement +had they been able to see how posterity would divinise their efforts and +regard them as immediately inspired by the source of all wisdom. + +In the second place, although we are not to suppose that we are reading +the actual words of Apollonius, we are nevertheless conscious of being +in immediate contact with the inner atmosphere of the best religious +thought of the Greek mind, and have before our eyes the picture of a +mystic and spiritual fermentation which leavened all strata of society +in the first century of our era. + + + + +SECTION XV. + +FROM HIS SAYINGS AND SERMONS. + + +Apollonius believed in prayer, but how differently from the vulgar. For +him the idea that the Gods could be swayed from the path of rigid +justice by the entreaties of men, was a blasphemy; that the Gods could +be made parties to our selfish hopes and fears was to our philosopher +unthinkable. One thing alone he knew, that the Gods were the ministers +of right and the rigid dispensers of just desert. The common belief, +which has persisted to our own day, that God can be swayed from His +purpose, that compacts could be made with Him or with His ministers, was +entirely abhorrent to Apollonius. Beings with whom such pacts could be +made, who could be swayed and turned, were not Gods but less than men. +And so we find Apollonius as a youth conversing with one of the priests +of Æsculapius as follows: + +“Since then the Gods know all things, I think that one who enters the +temple with a right conscience within him should pray thus: ‘Give me, +ye Gods, what is my due!’” (i. 11). + +And thus again on his long journey to India he prayed at Babylon: “God +of the sun, send thou me o’er the earth so far as e’er ’tis good for +Thee and me; and may I come to know the good, and never know the bad nor +they know me” (i. 31). + +One of his most general prayers, Damis tells us, was to this effect: +“Grant me, ye Gods, to have little and need naught” (i. 34). + +“When you enter the temples, for what do you pray?” asked the Pontifex +Maximus Telesinus of our philosopher. “I pray,” said Apollonius, “that +righteousness may rule, the laws remain unbroken, the wise be poor and +others rich, but honestly” (iv. 40). + +The belief of the philosopher in the grand ideal of having nothing and +yet possessing all things, is exemplified by his reply to the officer +who asked him how he dared enter the dominions of Babylon without +permission. “The whole earth,” said Apollonius, “is mine; and it is +given me to journey through it” (i. 21). + +There are many instances of sums of money being offered to Apollonius +for his services, but he invariably refused them; not only so but his +followers also refused all presents. On the occasion when King Vardan, +with true Oriental generosity, offered them gifts, they turned away; +whereupon Apollonius said: “You see, my hands, though many, are all like +each other.” And when the king asked Apollonius what present he would +bring him back from India, our philosopher replied: “A gift that will +please you, sire. For if my stay there should make me wiser, I shall +come back to you better than I am” (i. 41). + +When they were crossing the great mountains into India a conversation is +said to have taken place between Apollonius and Damis, which presents us +with a good instance of how our philosopher ever used the incidents of +the day to inculcate the higher lessons of life. The question was +concerning the “below” and “above.” Yesterday, said Damis, we were +_below_ in the valley; to-day we are _above_, high on the mountains, not +far distant from heaven. So this is what you mean by “below” and +“above,” said Apollonius gently. Why, of course, impatiently retorted +Damis, if I am in my right mind; what need of such useless questions? +And have you acquired a greater knowledge of the divine nature by being +nearer heaven on the tops of the mountains? continued his master. Do you +think that those who observe the heaven from the mountain heights are +any nearer the understanding of things? Truth to tell, replied Damis, +somewhat crestfallen, I _did_ think I should come down wiser, for I’ve +been up a higher mountain than any of them, but I fear I know no more +than before I ascended it. Nor do other men, replied Apollonius; “such +observations make them see the heavens more blue, the stars more large, +and the sun rise from the night, things known to those who tend the +sheep and goats; but how God doth take thought for human kind, and how +He doth find pleasure in their service, and what is virtue, +righteousness, and common-sense, that neither Athos will reveal to those +who scale his summit nor yet Olympus who stirs the poet’s wonder, unless +it be the soul perceive them; for should the soul when pure and +unalloyed essay such heights, I swear to thee, she wings her flight far +far beyond this lofty Caucasus” (ii. 6). + +So again, when at Thermopylæ his followers were disputing as to which +was the highest ground in Greece, Mt. Œta being then in view. They +happened to be just at the foot of the hill on which the Spartans fell +overwhelmed with arrows. Climbing to the top of it Apollonius cried out: +“And I think _this_ the highest ground, for those who fell here for +freedom’s sake have made it high as Œta and raised it far above a +thousand of Olympuses” (iv. 23). + +Another instance of how Apollonius turned chance happenings to good +account is the following. Once at Ephesus, in one of the covered walks +near the city, he was speaking of sharing our goods with others, and how +we ought mutually to help one another. It chanced that a number of +sparrows were sitting on a tree hard by in perfect silence. Suddenly +another sparrow flew up and began chirping, as though it wanted to tell +the others something. Whereupon the little fellows all set to a-chirping +also, and flew away after the new-comer. Apollonius’ superstitious +audience were greatly struck by this conduct of the sparrows, and +thought it was an augury of some important matter. But the philosopher +continued with his sermon. The sparrow, he said, has invited his friends +to a banquet. A boy slipped down in a lane hard by and spilt some corn +he was carrying in a bowl; he picked up most of it and went away. The +little sparrow, chancing on the scattered grains, immediately flew off +to invite his friends to the feast. + +Thereon most of the crowd went off at a run to see if it were true, and +when they came back shouting and all agog with wonderment, the +philosopher continued: “Ye see what care the sparrows take of one +another, and how happy they are to share with all their goods. And yet +we men do not approve; nay, if we see a man sharing his goods with +other men, we call it wastefulness, extravagance, and by such names, and +dub the men to whom he gives a share, fawners and parasites. What then +is left to us except to shut us up at home like fattening birds, and +gorge our bellies in the dark until we burst with fat?” (iv. 3). + +On another occasion, at Smyrna, Apollonius, seeing a ship getting under +weigh, used the occasion for teaching the people the lesson of +co-operation. “Behold the vessel’s crew!” he said. “How some have manned +the boats, some raise the anchors up and make them fast, some set the +sails to catch the wind, how others yet again look out at bow and stern. +But if a single man should fail to do a single one of these his duties, +or bungle in his seamanship, their sailing will be bad, and they will +have the storm among them. But if they strive in rivalry each with the +other, their only strife being that no man shall seem worse than his +mates, fair havens shall there be for such a ship, and all good weather +and fair voyage crowd in upon it” (iv. 9). + +Again, on another occasion, at Rhodes, Damis asked him if he thought +anything greater than the famous Colossus. “I do,” replied Apollonius; +“the man who walks in wisdom’s guileless paths that give us health” (v. +21). + +There is also a number of instances of witty or sarcastic answers +reported of our philosopher, and indeed, in spite of his generally grave +mood, he not unfrequently rallied his hearers, and sometimes, if we may +say so, chaffed the foolishness out of them (see especially iv. 30). + +Even in times of great danger this characteristic shows itself. A good +instance is his answer to the dangerous question of Tigellinus, “What +think you of Nero?” “I think better of him than you do,” retorted +Apollonius, “for you think he ought to sing, and I think he ought to +keep silence” (iv. 44). + +So again his reproof to a young Crœsus of the period is as witty as it +is wise. “Young sir,” he said, “methinks it is not you who own your +house, but your house you” (v. 22). + +Of the same style also is his answer to a glutton who boasted of his +gluttony. He copied Hercules, he said, who was as famous for the food he +ate as for his labours. + +“Yes,” said Apollonius, “for he was Hercules. But _you_, what virtue +have you, midden-heap? Your only claim to notice is your chance of being +burst” (iv. 23). + +But to turn to more serious occasions. In answer to Vespasian’s earnest +prayer, “Teach me what should a good king do,” Apollonius is said to +have replied somewhat in the following words: + +“You ask me what can not be taught. For kingship is the greatest thing +within a mortal’s reach; it is not taught. Yet will I tell you what if +you will do, you will do well. Count not that wealth which is stored +up--in what is this superior to the sand haphazard heaped? nor that +which comes from men who groan beneath taxation’s heavy weight--for gold +that comes from tears is base and black. You’ll use wealth best of any +king, if you supply the needs of those in want and make their wealth +secure for those with many goods. Be fearful of the power to do whate’er +you please, so will you use it with more prudence. Do not lop off the +ears of corn that show beyond the rest and raise their heads--for +Aristotle is not just in this[116]--but rather weed their disaffection +out like tares from corn, and show yourself a fear to stirrers up of +strife not in ‘I punish you’ but in ‘I _will_ do so.’ Submit yourself to +law, O prince, for you will make the laws with greater wisdom if you do +not despise the law yourself. Pay reverence more than ever to the Gods; +great are the gifts you have received from them, and for great things +you pray.[117] In what concerns the state act as a king; in what +concerns yourself, act as a private man” (v. 36). And so on much in the +same strain, all good advice and showing a deep knowledge of human +affairs. And if we are to suppose that this is merely a rhetorical +exercise of Philostratus and not based on the substance of what +Apollonius said, then we must have a higher opinion of the rhetorician +than the rest of his writings warrant. + +There is an exceedingly interesting Socratic dialogue between +Thespesion, the abbot of the Gymnosophist community, and Apollonius on +the comparative merits of the Greek and Egyptian ways of representing +the Gods. It runs somewhat as follows: + +“What! Are we to think,” said Thespesion, “that the Pheidiases and +Praxiteleses went up to heaven and took impressions of the forms of the +Gods, and so made an art of them, or was it something else that set them +a-modelling?” + +“Yes, something else,” said Apollonius, “something pregnant with +wisdom.” + +“What was that? Surely you cannot say it was anything else but +imitation?” + +“Imagination wrought them--a workman wiser far than imitation; for +imitation only makes what it has seen, whereas imagination makes what it +has never seen, conceiving it with reference to the thing it really is.” + +Imagination, says Apollonius, is one of the most potent faculties, for +it enables us to reach nearer to realities. It is generally supposed +that Greek sculpture was merely a glorification of physical beauty, in +itself quite unspiritual. It was an idealisation of form and features, +limbs and muscles, an empty glorification of the physical with nothing +of course really corresponding to it in the nature of things. But +Apollonius declared it brings us nearer to the real, as Pythagoras and +Plato declared before him, and as all the wiser teach. He meant this +literally, not vaguely and fantastically. He asserted that the types and +ideas of things are the only realities. He meant that between the +imperfection of the earth and the highest divine type of all things, +were grades of increasing perfection. He meant that within each man was +a form of perfection, though of course not yet absolutely perfect. That +the angel in man, his dæmon, was of God-like beauty, the summation of +all the finest features he had ever worn in his many lives on earth. The +Gods, too, belonged to the world of types, of models, of perfections, +the heaven-world. The Greek sculptors had succeeded in getting in +contact with this world, and the faculty they used was imagination. + +This idealisation of form was a worthy way to represent the Gods; but, +says Apollonius, if you set up a hawk or owl or dog in your temples, to +represent Hermes or Athena or Apollo, you may dignify the animals, but +you make the Gods lose dignity. + +To this Thespesion replies that the Egyptians dare not give any precise +form to the Gods; they give them merely symbols to which an occult +meaning is attached. + +Yes, answers Apollonius, but the danger is that the common people +worship these symbols and get unbeautiful ideas of the Gods. The best +thing would be to have no representations at all. For the mind of the +worshipper can form and fashion for himself an image of the object of +his worship better than any art. + +Quite so, retorted Thespesion, and then added mischievously: There was +an old Athenian, by-the-by--no fool--called Socrates, who swore by the +dog and goose as though they were Gods. + +Yes, replied Apollonius, he was no fool. He swore by them not as being +Gods, but in order that he might not swear by the Gods (iv. 19). + +This is a pleasant passage of wit, of Egyptian against Greek, but all +such set arguments must be set down to the rhetorical exercises of +Philostratus rather than to Apollonius, who taught as “one having +authority,” as “from a tripod.” Apollonius, a priest of universal +religion, might have pointed out the good side and the bad side of both +Greek and Egyptian religious art, and certainly taught the higher way of +symbolless worship, but he would not champion one popular cult against +another. In the above speech there is a distinct prejudice against Egypt +and a glorification of Greece, and this occurs in a very marked fashion +in several other speeches. Philostratus was a champion of Greece against +all comers; but Apollonius, we believe, was wiser than his biographer. + +In spite of the artificial literary dress that is given to the longer +discourses of Apollonius, they contain many noble thoughts, as we may +see from the following quotations from the conversations of our +philosopher with his friend Demetrius, who was endeavouring to dissuade +him from braving Domitian at Rome. + +The law, said Apollonius, obliges us to die for liberty, and nature +ordains that we should die for our parents, our friends, or our +children. All men are bound by these duties. But a higher duty is laid +upon the sage; he must die for his principles and the truth he holds +dearer than life. It is not the law that lays this choice upon him, it +is not nature; it is the strength and courage of his own soul. Though +fire or sword threaten him, it will not overcome his resolution or force +from him the slightest falsehood; but he will guard the secrets of +others’ lives and all that has been entrusted to his honour as +religiously as the secrets of initiation. And I know more than other +men, for I know that of all that I know, I know some things for the +good, some for the wise, some for myself, some for the Gods, but naught +for tyrants. + +Again, I think that a wise man does nothing alone or by himself; no +thought of his so secret but that he has himself as witness to it. And +whether the famous saying “know thyself” be from Apollo or from some +sage who learnt to know himself and proclaimed it as a good for all, I +think the wise man who knows himself and has his own spirit in constant +comradeship, to fight at his right hand, will neither cringe at what the +vulgar fear, nor dare to do what most men do without the slightest shame +(vii. 15). + +In the above we have the true philosopher’s contempt for death, and also +the calm knowledge of the initiate, of the comforter and adviser of +others to whom the secrets of their lives have been confessed, that no +tortures can ever unseal his lips. Here, too, we have the full knowledge +of what consciousness is, of the impossibility of hiding the smallest +trace of evil in the inner world; and also the dazzling brilliancy of a +higher ethic which makes the habitual conduct of the crowd appear +surprising--the “that which they do--not with shame.” + + + + +SECTION XVI. + +FROM HIS LETTERS. + + +Apollonius seems to have written many letters to emperors, kings, +philosophers, communities and states, although he was by no means a +“voluminous correspondent”; in fact, the style of his short notes is +exceedingly concise, and they were composed, as Philostratus says, +“after the manner of the Lacedæmonian scytale”[118] (iv. 27 and vii. +35). + +It is evident that Philostratus had access to letters attributed to +Apollonius, for he quotes a number of them,[119] and there seems no +reason to doubt their authenticity. Whence he obtained them he does not +inform us, unless it be that they were the collection made by Hadrian at +Antium (viii. 20). + +That the reader may be able to judge of the style of Apollonius we +append one or two specimens of these letters, or rather notes, for they +are too short to deserve the title of epistles. Here is one to the +magistrates of Sparta: + +“Apollonius to the Ephors, greeting! + +“It is possible for men not to make mistakes, but it requires noble men +to acknowledge they have made them.” + +All of which Apollonius gets into just half as many words in Greek. +Here, again, is an interchange of notes between the two greatest +philosophers of the time, both of whom suffered imprisonment and were in +constant danger of death. + +“Apollonius to Musonius, the philosopher, greeting! + +“I want to go to you, to share speech and roof with you, to be of some +service to you. If you still believe that Hercules once rescued Theseus +from Hades, write what you would have. Farewell!” + +“Musonius to Apollonius, the philosopher, greeting! + +“Good merit shall be stored for you for your good thoughts; what is in +store for me is one who waits his trial and proves his innocence. +Farewell.” + +“Apollonius to Musonius, greeting! + +“Socrates refused to be got out of prison by his friends and went before +the judges. He was put to death. Farewell.” + +“Musonius to Apollonius, the philosopher, greeting! + +“Socrates was put to death because he made no preparation for his +defence. I shall do so. Farewell!” + +However, Musonius, the Stoic, was sent to penal servitude by Nero. + +Here is a note to the Cynic Demetrius, another of our philosopher’s most +devoted friends. + +“Apollonius, the philosopher, to Demetrius, the Dog,[120] greeting! + +“I give thee to Titus, the emperor, to teach him the way of kingship, +and do you in turn give me to speak him true; and be to him all things +but anger. Farewell!” + +In addition to the notes quoted in the text of Philostratus, there is a +collection of ninety-five letters, mostly brief notes, the text of which +is printed in most editions.[121] Nearly all the critics are of opinion +that they are not genuine, but Jowett[122] and others think that some of +them may very well be genuine. + +Here is a specimen or two of these letters. Writing to Euphrates, his +great enemy, that is to say the champion of pure rationalistic ethic +against the science of sacred things, he says: + +17. “The Persians call those who have the divine faculty (or are +god-like) Magi. A Magus, then, is one who is a minister of the Gods, or +one who has by nature the god-like faculty. You are no Magus but reject +the Gods (i.e., are an atheist).” + +Again, in a letter addressed to Criton, we read: + +23. “Pythagoras said that the most divine art was that of healing. And +if the healing art is most divine, it must occupy itself with the soul +as well as with the body; for no creature can be sound so long as the +higher part in it is sickly.” + +Writing to the priests of Delphi against the practice of +blood-sacrifice, he says: + +27. “Heraclitus was a sage, but even he[123] never advised the people of +Ephesus to wash out mud with mud.”[124] + +Again, to some who claimed to be his followers, those “who think +themselves wise,” he writes the reproof: + +43. “If any say he is my disciple, then let him add he keeps himself +apart out of the Baths, he slays no living thing, eats of no flesh, is +free from envy, malice, hatred, calumny, and hostile feelings, but has +his name inscribed among the race of those who’ve won their freedom.” + +Among these letters is found one of some length addressed to Valerius, +probably P. Valerius Asiaticus, consul in A.D. 70. It is a wise letter +of philosophic consolation to enable Valerius to bear the loss of his +son, and runs as follows:[125] + +“There is no death of anyone, but only in appearance, even as there is +no birth of any, save only in seeming. The change from being to becoming +seems to be birth, and the change from becoming to being seems to be +death, but in reality no one is ever born, nor does one ever die. It is +simply a being visible and then invisible; the former through the +density of matter, and the latter because of the subtlety of +being--being which is ever the same, its only change being motion and +rest. For being has this necessary peculiarity, that its change is +brought about by nothing external to itself; but whole becomes parts and +parts become whole in the oneness of the all. And if it be asked: What +is this which sometimes is seen and sometimes not seen, now in the same, +now in the different?--it might be answered: It is the way of everything +here in the world below that when it is filled out with matter it is +visible, owing to the resistance of its density, but is invisible, owing +to its subtlety, when it is rid of matter, though matter still surround +it and flow through it in that immensity of space which hems it in but +knows no birth or death. + +“But why has this false notion [of birth and death] remained so long +without a refutation? Some think that what has happened through them, +they have themselves brought about. They are ignorant that the +individual is brought to birth _through_ parents, not by parents, just +as a thing produced _through_ the earth is not produced _from_ it. The +change which comes to the individual is nothing that is caused by his +visible surroundings, but rather a change in the one thing which is in +every individual. + +“And what other name can we give to it but primal being? ’Tis it alone +that acts and suffers becoming all for all through all, eternal deity, +deprived and wronged of its own self by names and forms. But this is a +less serious thing than that a man should be bewailed, when he has +passed from man to God by change of state and not by the destruction of +his nature. The fact is that so far from mourning death you ought to +honour it and reverence it. The best and fittest way for you to honour +death is now to leave the one who’s gone to God, and set to work to play +the ruler over those left in your charge as you were wont to do. It +would be a disgrace for such a man as you to owe your cure to time and +not to reason, for time makes even common people cease from grief. The +greatest thing is a strong rule, and of the greatest rulers he is best +who first can rule himself. And how is it permissible to wish to change +what has been brought to pass by will of God? If there’s a law in +things, and there _is_ one, and it is God who has appointed it, the +righteous man will have no wish to try to change good things, for such a +wish is selfishness, and counter to the law, but he will think that all +that comes to pass is a good thing. On! heal yourself, give justice to +the wretched and console them; so shall you dry your tears. You should +not set your private woes above your public cares, but rather set your +public cares before your private woes. And see as well what consolation +you already have! The nation sorrows with you for your son. Make some +return to those who weep with you; and this you will more quickly do if +you will cease from tears than if you still persist. Have you not +friends? Why! you have yet another son. Have you not even still the one +that’s gone? You have!--will answer anyone who really thinks. For ‘that +which is’ doth cease not--nay _is_ just for the very fact that it will +be for aye; or else the ‘is not’ is, and how could that be when the ‘is’ +doth never cease to be? + +“Again it will be said you fail in piety to God and are unjust. ’Tis +true. You fail in piety to God, you fail in justice to your boy; nay +more, you fail in piety to him as well. Would’st know what death is? +Then make me dead and send me off to company with death, and if you will +not change the dress you’ve put on it,[126] you will have straightway +made me better than yourself.”[127] + + + + +SECTION XVII. + +THE WRITINGS OF APOLLONIUS. + + +But besides these letters Apollonius also wrote a number of treatises, +of which, however, only one or two fragments have been preserved. These +treatises are as follows: + +_a._ The Mystic Rites or Concerning Sacrifices.[128] This treatise is +mentioned by Philostratus (iii. 41; iv. 19), who tells us that it set +down the proper method of sacrifice to every God, the proper hours of +prayer and offering. It was in wide circulation, and Philostratus had +come across copies of it in many temples and cities, and in the +libraries of philosophers. Several fragments of it have been +preserved,[129] the most important of which is to be found in +Eusebius,[130] and is to this effect: “’Tis best to make no sacrifice to +God at all, no lighting of a fire, no calling Him by any name that men +employ for things of sense. For God is over all, the first; and only +after Him do come the other Gods. For He doth stand in need of naught +e’en from the Gods, much less from us small men--naught that the earth +brings forth, nor any life she nurseth, or even any thing the stainless +air contains. The only fitting sacrifice to God is man’s best reason, +and not the word[131] that comes from out his mouth. + +“We men should ask the best of beings through the best thing in us, for +what is good--I mean by means of mind, for mind needs no material things +to make its prayer. So then, to God, the mighty One, who’s over all, no +sacrifice should ever be lit up.” + +Noack[132] tells us that scholarship is convinced of the genuineness of +this fragment. This book, as we have seen, was widely circulated and +held in the highest respect, and it said that its rules were engraved on +brazen pillars at Byzantium.[133] + +_b._ The Oracles or Concerning Divination, 4 books. Philostratus (iii. +41) seems to think that the full title was Divination of the Stars, and +says that it was based on what Apollonius had learned in India; but the +_kind_ of divination Apollonius wrote about was not the ordinary +astrology, but something which Philostratus considers superior to +ordinary human art in such matters. He had, however, never heard of +anyone possessing a copy of this rare work. + +_c._ The Life of Pythagoras. Porphyry refers to this work,[134] and +Iamblichus quotes a long passage from it.[135] + +_d._ The Will of Apollonius, to which reference has already been made, +in treating of the sources of Philostratus (i. 3). This was written in +the Ionic dialect, and contained a summary of his doctrines. + +A Hymn to Memory is also ascribed to him, and Eudocia speaks of many +other (καὶ ἄλλα πολλά) works. + +We have now indicated for the reader all the information which exists +concerning our philosopher. Was Apollonius, then, a rogue, a trickster, +a charlatan, a fanatic, a misguided enthusiast, or a philosopher, a +reformer, a conscious worker, a true initiate, one of the earth’s great +ones? This each must decide for himself, according to his knowledge or +his ignorance. + +I for my part bless his memory, and would gladly learn from him, as now +he is. + + + + +SECTION XVIII. + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. + + +NINETEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE ON APOLLONIUS. + + Jacobs (F.), Observationes in ... Philostrati Vitam Apollonii + (Jena; 1804), purely philological, for the correction of the + text. + + Legrand d’Aussy (P. J. B.), Vie d’Apollonius de Tyane (Paris; + 1807, 2 vols.). + + Bekker (G. J.), Specimen Variarum Lectionum ... in Philost. + Vitæ App. Librum primum (1808); purely philological. + + Berwick (E.), The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, translated from + the Greek of Philostratus, with Notes and Illustrations + (London; 1809). + + Lancetti (V.), Le Opere dei due Filostrati, Italian trs. + (Milano; 1828-31); in “Coll. degli Ant. Storici Greci + volgarizzati.” + + Jacobs (F.), Philostratus: Leben des Apollonius von Tyana, in + the series “Griechische Prosaiker,” German trs. (Stuttgart; + 1829-32), vols. xlviii., lxvi., cvi., cxi., each containing two + books; a very clumsy arrangement. + + Baur (F. C.), Apollonius von Tyana und Christus oder das + Verhältniss des Pythagoreismus zum Christenthum (Tübingen; + 1832); reprinted from Tübinger Zeitschrift für Theologie. + + Second edition by E. Zeller (Leipzig; 1876), in Drei + Abhandlungen zur Geschichte der alten Philosophie und ihres + Verhältnisses zum Christenthum. + + Kayser and Westermann’s editions as above referred to in + section v. + + Newman (J. H.), “Apollonius Tyanæus--Miracles,” in Smedley’s + Encyclopædia Metropolitana (London; 1845), x. pp. 619-644. + + Noack (L.), “Apollonius von Tyana ein Christusbild des + Heidenthums,” in his magazine Psyche: Populärwissenschaftliche + Zeitschrift für die Kentniss des menschlichen Seelen- und + Geistes-lebens (Leipzig; 1858), Bd. i., Heft ii., pp. 1-24. + + Müller (I. P. E.), Commentatio qua de Philostrati in componenda + Memoria Apoll. Tyan. fide quæritur, I.-III. (Onoldi et + Landavii; 1858-1860). + + Müller (E.), War Apollonius von Tyana ein Weiser oder ein + Betrüger oder ein Schwärmer und Fanatiker? Ein + Culturhistorische Untersuchung (Breslau; 1861, 4to), 56 pp. + + Chassang (A.), Apollonius de Tyane, sa Vie, ses Voyages, ses + Prodiges, par Philostrate, et ses Lettres, trad. du grec. avec + Introd., Notes et Eclaircissements (Paris; 1862), with the + additional title, Le Merveilleux dans l’Antiquité. + + Réville (A.), Apollonius the Pagan Christ of the Third Century + (London; 1866), tr. from the French. The original is not in the + British Museum. + + Priaulx (O. de B.), The Indian Travels of Apollonius of Tyana, + etc. (London; 1873), pp. 1-62. + + Mönckeberg (C.), Apollonius von Tyana, ein Weihnachtsgabe + (Hamburg; 1877), 57 pp. + + Pettersch (C. H.), Apollonius von Tyana der Heiden Heiland, ein + philosophische Studie (Reichenberg; 1879), 23 pp. + + Nielsen (C. L.), Apollonios fra Tyana og Filostrats Beskrivelse + af hans Levnet (Copenhagen; 1879); the Appendix (pp. 167 sqq.) + contains a Danish tr. of Eusebius Contra Hieroclem. + + Baltzer (E.), Apollonius von Tyana, aus den Griech. übersetzt + u. erläutert (Rudolstadt i/ Th.; 1883). + + Jessen (J.), Apollonius von Tyana und sein Biograph + Philostratus (Hamburg; 1885, 4to), 36 pp. + + Tredwell (D. M.), A Sketch of the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, + or the first Ten Decades of our Era (New York; 1886). + + Sinnett (A. P.), “Apollonius of Tyana,” in the Transactions + (No. 32) of the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society + (London; 1898), 32 pp. + +The student may also consult the articles in the usual Dictionaries and +Encyclopædias, none of which, however, demand special mention. P. +Cassel’s learned paper in the Vossische Zeitung of Nov. 24th, 1878, I +have not been able to see. + + +SOME INDICATIONS OF THE LITERATURE ON THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AMONG +THE GREEKS AND ROMANS. + + Böckh (A.), Die Staatshaushaltung der Athener (1st ed. 1817). + For older literature, see i. 416, _n._ + + Van Holst, De Eranis Veterum Græcorum (Leyden; 1832). + + Mommsen (T.), De Collegiis et Sodaliciis Romanorum (Kiel; + 1843). + + Mommsen (T.), “Römische Urkunden, iv.--Die Lex Julia de + Collegiis und die lanuvinische Lex Collegii Salutaris,” art. in + Zeitschr. für geschichtl. Rechtswissenschaft (1850), vol. xv. + 353 sqq. + + Wescher (C.), “Recherches épigraphiques en Grèce, dans + l’Archipel et en Asie Mineure,” arts. in Le Moniteur of Oct. + 20, 23, and 24, 1863. + + Wescher (C.), “Inscriptions de l’Île de Rhodes relatives à des + Sociétés religieuses”; “Notice sur deux Inscriptions de l’Île + de Théra relatives à une Société religieuse”; “Note sur une + Inscription de l’Île de Théra publiée par M. Ross et relative à + une Société religieuse”; arts. in La Revue archéologique + (Paris; new series, 1864), x. 460 sqq.; 1865, xii. 214 sqq.; + 1866, xiii. 245 sqq. + + Foucart (P.), Des Associations religieuses chez les Grecs, + Thiases, Éranes, Orgéons, avec le Texte des Inscriptions + relatives à ces Associations (Paris; 1873). + + Lüders (H. O.), Die dionyschischen Künstler (Berlin; 1873). + + Cohn (M.), Zum römischen Vereinsrecht: Abhandlung aus der + Rechtsgeschichte (Berlin; 1873). Also the notice of it in + Bursian’s Philol. Jaresbericht (1873), ii. 238-304. + + Henzen (G.), Acta Fratrum Arvalium quæ supersunt;... accedunt + Fragmenta Fastorum in Luco Arvalium effossa (Berlin; 1874). + + Heinrici (G.), “Die Christengemeinde Korinths und die + religiösen genossenschaften der Griechen”; “Zur Geschichte der + Anfange paulinischer Gemeinden”; arts. in Zeitschr. für + wissensch. Theol. (Jena, etc.; 1876), pp. 465-526, particularly + pp. 479 sqq.; 1877, pp. 89-130. + + Duruy (V.), “Du Régime municipal dans l’Empire romain,” art. in + La Revue historique (Paris; 1876), pp. 355 sqq.; also his + Histoire des Romanis (Paris; 1843, 1844), i. 149 sqq. + + De Rossi, Roma Sotteranea (Rome; 1877), iii. 37 sqq., and + especially pp. 507 sqq. + + Marquardt (J.), Römische Staatsverwaltung, iii. 131-142, in + vol. vi. of Marquardt and Mommsen’s Handbuch der römischen + Altherthümer (Leipzig; 1878); an excellent summary with + valuable notes, especially the section “Ersatz der Gentes durch + die Sodalitates für fremde Culte.” + + Boissier (G.), La Religion romaine d’Auguste aux Antonins + (Paris; 2nd ed. 1878), ii. 238-304 (1st ed. 1874). + + Hatch (E.), The Organization of the Early Christian Churches: + The Bampton Lectures for 1880 (London; 2nd ed. 1882); see + especially Lecture ii., “Bishops and Deacons,” pp. 26-32: + German ed. Die Gesellschaftsverfassung der christlichen Kirchen + in Althertum (1883), p. 20; see this for additional literature. + + Newmann (K. J.), “θιασῶται Ἰησοῦ,” art. in Jahrbb. für prot. + Theol. (Leipzig, etc.; 1885), pp. 123-125. + + Schürer (E.), A History of the Jewish People in the Time of + Jesus Christ, Eng. tr. (Edinburgh; 1893), Div. ii, vol. ii. pp. + 255 and 300. + + Owen (J.), “On the Organization of the Early Church,” an + Introductory Essay to the English translation of Harnack’s + Sources of the Apostolic Canons (London; 1895). + + Anst (E.), Die Religion der Römer; vol. xiii. Darstellungen aus + dem Gebiete der nichtchristlichen Religionsgeschichte (Münster + i. W.; 1899). + +See also Whiston and Wayte’s art. “Arvales Fratres,” and Moyle’s arts. +“Collegium” and “Universitas,” in Smith, Wayte and Marindin’s Dict. of +Greek and Roman Antiquities (London; 3rd ed. 1890-1891); and also, of +course, the arts. “Collegium” and “Sodalitas” in Pauly’s +Realencyclopädie der classichen Alterthumswissenschaft, though they are +now somewhat out of date. + + + FOOTNOTES + + [1] From a fragment of The Cretans. See Lobeck’s Aglaophamus, + p. 622. + + [2] Pronounced Týǎna, with the accent on the first syllable and + the first a short. + + [3] Alexander sive Pseudomantis, vi. + + [4] De Magia, xc. (ed. Hildebrand, 1842, ii. 614). + + [5] τελέσματα. _Telesma_ was “a consecrated object, turned by + the Arabs into _telsam_ (_talisman_)”; see Liddell and Scott’s + Lexicon, sub voc. + + [6] Justin Martyr, Opera, ed. Otto (2nd ed.; Jena, 1849), iii. + 32. + + [7] Lib. lxxvii. 18. + + [8] Life of Alexander Severus, xxix. + + [9] Life of Aurelian, xxiv. + + [10] “_Quæ qui velit nosse, græcos legat libros qui de ejus + vita conscripti sunt._” These accounts were probably the books + of Maximus, Mœragenes, and Philostratus. + + [11] An Egyptian epic poet, who wrote several poetical + histories in Greek; he flourished in the last decade of the + third century. + + [12] Sidonius Apollinaris, Epp., viii. 3. See also Legrand + d’Aussy, Vie d’Apollonius de Tyane (Paris; 1807), p. xlvii. + + [13] Porphyry, De Vita Pythagoræ, section ii., ed. Kiessling + (Leipzig; 1816). Iamblichus De Vita Pythagorica, chap. xxv., + ed. Kiessling (Leipzig; 1813); see especially K.’s note, pp. 11 + sqq. See also Porphyry, Frag., De Styge, p. 285, ed. Holst. + + [14] See Duchesne on the recently discovered works of Macarius + Magnes (Paris; 1877). + + [15] The most convenient text is by Gaisford (Oxford; 1852), + Eusebii Pamphili contra Hieroclem; it is also printed in a + number of editions of Philostratus. There are two translations + in Latin, one in Italian, one in Danish, all bound up with + Philostratus’ Vita, and one in French printed apart (Discours + d’Eusèbe Evêque de Cesarée touchant les Miracles attribuez par + les Payens à Apollonius de Tyane, tr. by Cousin. Paris; 1584, + 12mo, 135 pp.). + + [16] Lactantius, Divinæ Institutiones, v. 2, 3; ed. Fritsche + (Leipzig; 1842), pp. 233, 236. + + [17] Arnobius, Adversus Nationes, i. 52; ed. Hildebrand (Halle; + 1844), p. 86. The Church Father, however, with that + exclusiveness peculiar to the Judæo-Christian view, omits Moses + from the list of Magi. + + [18] John Chrysostom, Adversus Judæos, v. 3 (p. 631); De + Laudibus Sancti Pauli Apost. Homil., iv. (p. 493 D.; ed. + Montfauc.). + + [19] Hieronymus, Ep. ad Paulinum, 53 (text ap. Kayser, præf. + ix.). + + [20] August., Epp., cxxxviii. Text quoted by Legrand d’Aussy, + op. cit., p. 294. + + [21] Isidorus Pelusiota, Epp., p. 138; ed. J. Billius (Paris; + 1585). + + [22] See Arnobius, loc. cit. + + [23] Sidonius Apollinaris, Epp., viii. 3. Also Fabricius, + Bibliotheca Græca, pp. 549, 565 (ed. Harles). The work of + Sidonius on Apollonius is unfortunately lost. + + [24] _Amplissimus ille philosophus_ (xxiii. 7). See also xxi. + 14; xxiii. 19. + + [25] τι θεῶν τε καὶ ἀνθρώπου μέσον, meaning thereby presumably + one who has reached the grade of being superior to man, but not + yet equal to the gods. This was called by the Greeks the + “dæmonian” order. But the word “dæmon,” owing to sectarian + bitterness, has long been degraded from its former high estate, + and the original idea is now signified in popular language by + the term “angel.” Compare Plato, Symposium, xxiii., πᾶν τὸ + δαιμόνιον μεταξύ ἐστι θεοῦ τε καὶ θνητοῦ, “all that is dæmonian + is between God and man.” + + [26] Eunapius, Vitæ Philosophorum, Proœmium, vi.; ed. + Boissonade (Amsterdam; 1822), p. 3. + + [27] Réville, Apollonius of Tyana (tr. from the French), p. 56 + (London; 1866). I have, however, not been able to discover on + what authority this statement is made. + + [28] _Insignis philosophus_; see his Chronicon, written down to + the year 519. + + [29] In his Chronographia. See Legrand d’Aussy, op. cit., p. + 313. + + [30] Chiliades, ii. 60. + + [31] Cited by Legrand d’Aussy, op. cit., p. 286. + + [32] φιλόσοφος Πυθαγόρειος στοιχειωματικός--Cedrenus, + Compendium Historiarium, i. 346; ed. Bekker. The word which I + have rendered by “adept” signifies one “who has power over the + elements.” + + [33] Legrand d’Aussy, op. cit., p. 308. + + [34] If we except the disputed Letters and a few quotations + from one of Apollonius’ lost writings. + + [35] Philostratus de Vita Apollonii Tyanei Libri Octo, tr. by + A. Rinuccinus, and Eusebius contra Hieroclem, tr. by Z. + Acciolus (Venice; 1501-04, fol.). Rinucci’s translation was + improved by Beroaldus and printed at Lyons (1504?), and again + at Cologne, 1534. + + [36] F. Baldelli, Filostrato Lemnio della Vita di Apollonio + Tianeo (Florence; 1549, 8vo). + + [37] B. de Vignère, Philostrate de la Vie d’Apollonius (Paris; + 1596, 1599, 1611). Blaise de Vignère’s translation was + subsequently corrected by Frédéric Morel and later by Thomas + Artus, Sieur d’Embry, with bombastic notes in which he bitterly + attacks the wonder-workings of Apollonius. A French translation + was also made by Th. Sibilet about 1560, but never published; + the MS. was in the Bibliothèque Imperiale. See Miller, Journal + des Savants, 1849, p. 625, quoted by Chassang, op. infr. cit., + p. iv. + + [38] F. Morellus, Philostrati Lemnii Opera, Gr. and Lat. + (Paris; 1608). + + [39] G. Olearius, Philostratorum quæ supersunt Omnia, Gr. and + Lat. (Leipzig; 1709). + + [40] C. L. Kayser, Flavii Philostrati quæ supersunt, etc. + (Zurich; 1844, 4to). In 1849 A. Westermann also edited a text, + Philostratorum et Callistrati Opera, in Didot’s “Scriptorum + Græcorum Bibliotheca” (Paris; 1849, 8vo). But Kayser brought + out a new edition in 1853 (?), and again a third, with + additional information in the Preface, in the “Bibliotheca + Teubneriana” (Leipzig; 1870). + + [41] For a general summary of opinions prior to 1807, of + writers who mention Apollonius incidentally, see Legrand + d’Aussy, op. cit., ii. pp. 313-327. + + [42] L’Histoire d’Apollone de Tyane convaincue de Fausseté et + d’Imposture (Paris; 1705). + + [43] An Account of the Life of Apollonius Tyaneus (London; + 1702), tr. out of the French, from vol. ii. of Lenain de + Tillemont’s Histoire des Empereurs (2nd ed., Paris; 1720): to + which is added Some Observations upon Apollonius. De + Tillemont’s view is that Apollonius was sent by the Devil to + destroy the work of the Saviour. + + [44] A Critical and Historical Discourse upon the Method of the + Principal Authors who wrote for and against Christianity from + its Beginning (London; 1739), tr. from the French of M. l’Abbé + Houtteville; to which is added a “Dessertation on the Life of + Apollonius Tyanæus, with some Observations on the Platonists of + the Latter School,” pp. 213-254. + + [45] Anti-Hierocles oder Jesus Christus und Apollonius von + Tyana in ihrer grossen Ungleichheit, dargestellt v. J. B. + Lüderwald (Halle; 1793). + + [46] Phileleutherus Helvetius, De Miraculis quæ Pythagoræ, + Apollonio Tyanensi, Francisco Asisio, Dominico, et Ignatio + Lojolæ tribuuntur Libellus (Draci; 1734). + + [47] See Legrand d’Aussy, op. cit., ii. p. 314, where the texts + are given. + + [48] The Two First Books of Philostratus concerning the Life of + Apollonius Tyaneus (London; 1680, fol.). Blount’s notes + (generally ascribed to Lord Herbert) raised such an outcry that + the book was condemned in 1693, and few copies are in + existence. Blount’s notes were, however, translated into French + a century later, in the days of Encyclopædism, and appended to + a French version of the Vita, under the title, Vie d’Apollonius + de Tyane par Philostrate avec les Commentaires donnés en + Anglois par Charles Blount sur les deux Premiers Livres de cet + Ouvrage (Amsterdam; 1779, 4 vols., 8vo), with an ironical + dedication to Pope Clement XIV., signed “Philalethes.” + + [49] Philosophiam Practicam Apollonii Tyanæi in Sciagraphia, + exponit M. Io. Christianus Herzog (Leipzig; 1709); an + academical oration of 20 pp. + + [50] Philostratus is a difficult author to translate, + nevertheless Chassang and Baltzer have succeeded very well with + him; Berwick also is readable, but in most places gives us a + paraphrase rather than a translation and frequently mistakes + the meaning. Chassang’s and Baltzer’s are by far the best + translations. + + [51] This would have at least restored Apollonius to his + natural environment, and confined the question of the divinity + of Jesus to its proper Judæo-Christian ground. + + [52] I am unable to offer any opinion on Nielsen’s book, from + ignorance of Danish, but it has all the appearance of a + careful, scholarly treatise with abundance of references. + + [53] Réville’s Pagan Christ is quite a misrepresentation of the + subject, and Newman’s treatment of the matter renders his + treatise an anachronism for the twentieth century. + + [54] Consisting of eight books written in Greek under the + general title Τὰ ἐς τὸν Τυανέα Ἀπολλώνιον. + + [55] ἡ φιλόσοφος, see art. “Philostratus” in Smith’s Dict. of + Gr. and Rom. Biog. (London; 1870), iii. 327_b._ + + [56] The italics are Gibbon’s. + + [57] More correctly Domna Julia; Domna being not a shortened + form of Domina, but the Syrian name of the empress. + + [58] She died A.D. 217. + + [59] The contrary is held by other historians. + + [60] Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, I. vi + + [61] I use the 1846 and 1870 editions of Kayser’s text + throughout. + + [62] A collection of these letters (but not all of them) had + been in the possession of the Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), + and had been left in his palace at Antium (viii. 20). This + proves the great fame that Apollonius enjoyed shortly after his + disappearance from history, and while he was still a living + memory. It is to be noticed that Hadrian was an enlightened + ruler, a great traveller, a lover of religion, and an initiate + of the Eleusinian Mysteries. + + [63] Nineveh. + + [64] τὰς δέλτους, writing tablets. This suggests that the + account of Damis could not have been very voluminous, although + Philostratus further on asserts its detailed nature (i. 19). + + [65] One of the imperial secretaries of the time, who was + famous for his eloquence, and tutor to Apollonius. + + [66] A town not far from Tarsus. + + [67] ὡς ὑποθειάζων τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ἐγένετο. The term ὑποθειάζων + occurs only in this passage, and I am therefore not quite + certain of its meaning. + + [68] This Life by Mœragenes is casually mentioned by Origenes, + Contra Celsum, vi. 41; ed. Lommatzsch (Berlin; 1841), ii. 373. + + [69] λόγοις δαιμονίοις. + + [70] Seldom is it that we have such a clear indication, for + instance, as in i. 25; “The following is what _I_ have been + able to learn ... about Babylon.” + + [71] See E. A. Schwanbeck, Megasthenis Indica (Bonn; 1846), and + J. W. M’Crindle, Ancient India as described by Megasthenes and + Arrian (Calcutta, Bombay, London; 1877), The Commerce and + Navigation of the Erythræan Sea (1879), Ancient India as + described by Ktesias (1882), Ancient India as described by + Ptolemy (London; 1885), and The Invasion of India by Alexander + the Great (London; 1893, 1896). + + [72] Another good example of this is seen in the disquisition + on elephants which Philostratus takes from Juba’s History of + Libya (ii. 13 and 16). + + [73] Perhaps a title, or the king of the Purus. + + [74] Not that Philostratus makes any disguise of his + embellishments; see, for instance, ii. 17, where he says: “Let + me, however, defer what _I_ have to say on the subject of + serpents, of the manner of hunting which Damis gives a + description.” + + [75] Legends of the wonderful happenings at his birth were in + circulation, and are of the same nature as all such + birth-legends of great people. + + [76] ἀρρήτῳ τινὶ σοφία ξυνέλαβε. + + [77] Sci., than his tutor; namely, the “memory” within him, or + his “dæmon.” + + [78] This æther was presumably the mind-stuff. + + [79] That is to say presumably he was encouraged in his efforts + by those unseen helpers of the temple by whom the cures were + wrought by means of dreams, and help was given psychically and + mesmerically. + + [80] “Where are you hurrying? Are you off to see the youth?” + + [81] Compare Odyssey, xx. 18. + + [82] I am inclined to think, however, that Apollonius was still + a youngish man when he set out on his Indian travels, instead + of being forty-six, as some suppose. But the difficulties of + most of the chronology are insurmountable. + + [83] φήσας οὐκ ἀνθρώπων ἑαυτῷ δεῖν, ἀλλ' ἀνδρῶν. + + [84] ἰδιότροπα. + + [85] τoὺς oὕτω φιλοσοφοῦντας. + + [86] That is to say, presumably, spend the time in silent + meditation. + + [87] That is the Brāhmans and Buddhists. Sarman is the Greek + corruption of the Sanskrit Samaṇa and Pâli Samaṇo, the + technical term for a Buddhist ascetic or monk. The ignorance of + the copyists changed Sarmanes first into Germanes and then into + Hyrcanians! + + [88] This shows that Apollonius was still young, and not + between forty and fifty, as some have asserted. Tredwell (p. + 77) dates the Indian travels as 41-54 A.D. + + [89] See especially iii. 15, 41; v. 5, 10; vii. 10, 13; viii. + 28. + + [90] ἐκφατνίσματα. + + [91] See especially vii. 13, 14, 15, 22, 31. + + [92] The list is full of gaps, so that we cannot suppose that + Damis’ notes were anything like complete records of the + numerous itineraries; not only so, but one is tempted to + believe that whole journeys, in which Damis had no share, are + omitted. + + [93] Here at any rate they came in sight of the giant + mountains, the Imaus (Himavat) or Himālayan Range, where was + the great mountain Meros (Meru). The name of the Hindu Olympus + being changed into Meros in Greek had, ever since Alexander’s + expedition, given rise to the myth that Bacchus was born from + the thigh (_meros_) of Zeus--presumably one of the facts which + led Professor Max Müller to stigmatise the whole of mythology + as a “disease of language.” + + [94] Referring to his instructors he says, “I ever remember my + masters and journey through the world teaching what I have + learned from them” (vi. 18). + + [95] According to some, Apollonius would be now about + sixty-eight years of age. But if he were still young (say + thirty years old or so) when he left for India, he must either + have spent a very long period in that country, or we have a + very imperfect record of his doings in Asia Minor, Greece, + Italy, and Spain, after his return. + + [96] For the most recent study in English on the subject of + Æsculapius see The Cult of Asclepios, by Alice Walton, Ph.D., + in No. III. of The Cornell Studies in Classical Philology + (Ithaca, N.Y.; 1894). + + [97] He evidently wrote the notes of the Indian travels long + after the time at which they were made. + + [98] This shows that Philostratus came across them in some work + or letter of Apollonius, and is therefore independent of Damis’ + account for this particular. + + [99] I--arχas, arχa(t)s, arhat. + + [100] Tantalus is fabled to have stolen the cup of nectar from + the gods; this was the amṛita, the ocean of immortality and + wisdom, of the Indians. + + [101] The words οὐδεν κεκτημένους ἢ τὰ πάντων, which + Philostratus quotes twice in this form, can certainly not be + changed into μηδὲν κεκτημένους τὰ πάντων ἔχειν without doing + unwarrantable violence to their meaning. + + [102] See Tacitus, Historia, ii. 3. + + [103] Berwick, Life of Apollonius, p. 200 _n._ + + [104] He also built a precinct round the tomb of Leonidas at + Thermopylæ (iv. 23). + + [105] A great centre of divination by means of dreams (see ii. + 37). + + [106] The word γυμνός (naked), however, usually means lightly + clad, as, for instance, when a man is said to plough “naked,” + that is with only one garment, and this is evident from the + comparison made between the costume of the Gymnosophists and + that of people in the hot weather at Athens (vi. 6). + + [107] For they had neither huts nor houses, but lived in the + open air. + + [108] He spent, we are told, no less than a year and eight + months with Vardan, King of Babylon, and was the honoured guest + of the Indian Rājāh “Phraotes.” + + [109] See i. 22 (cf. 40), 34; iv. 4, 6, 18 (cf. v. 19), 24, 43; + v. 7, 11, 13, 30, 37; vi. 32; viii. 26. + + [110] This expression is, however, perhaps only to be taken as + rhetorical, for in viii. 8, the incident is referred to in the + simple words “when he departed (ἀπῆλθε) from the tribunal.” + + [111] That is to say not in a “form,” but in his own nature. + + [112] See in this connection L. v. Schroeder, Pythagoras und + die Inder, eine Untersuchung über Herkunft und Abstammung der + pythagoreischen Lehren (Leipzig; 1884). + + [113] This has reference to the preserved hunting parks, or + “paradises,” of the Babylonian monarchs. + + [114] Reading φιλοσόφῳ for φιλοσοφῶν. + + [115] Rathgeber (G.) in his Grossgriechenland und Pythagoras + (Gotha; 1866), a work of marvellous bibliographical industry, + refers to three supposed portraits of Apollonius (p. 621). (i) + In the Campidoglio Museum of the Vatican, Indicazione delle + Sculture (Roma; 1840), p. 68, nos. 75, 76, 77; (ii) in the + Musée Royal Bourbon, described by Michel B. (Naples; 1837), p. + 79, no. 363; (iii) a contorniate reproduced by Visconti. I + cannot trace his first reference, but in a Guide pour le Musée + Royal Bourbon, traduit par C. J. J. (Naples; 1831), I find on + p. 152 that no. 363 is a bust of Apollonius, 2¾ feet high, + carefully executed, with a Zeus-like head, having a beard and + long hair descending onto the shoulders, bound with a deep + fillet. The bust seems to be ancient. I have, however, not been + able to find a reproduction of it. Visconti (E. Q.) in the + atlas of his Iconographie Grecque (Paris; 1808), vol. i. plate + 17, facing p. 68, gives the reproduction of a contorniate, or + medal with a circular border, on one side of which is a head of + Apollonius and the Latin legend APOLLONIVS TEANEVS. This also + represents our philosopher with a beard and long hair; the head + is crowned, and the upper part of the body covered with a tunic + and the philosopher’s cloak. The medal, however, is of very + inferior workmanship, and the portrait is by no means pleasing. + Visconti in his letterpress devotes an angry and contemptuous + paragraph to Apollonius, “ce trop célèbre imposteur,” as he + calls him, based on De Tillemont. + + [116] See Chassang, op. cit., p. 458, for a criticism on this + statement. + + [117] This was before Vespasian became emperor. + + [118] This was a staff, or baton, used as a cypher for writing + dispatches. “A strip of leather was rolled slantwise round it, + on which the dispatches were written lengthwise, so that when + unrolled they were unintelligible; commanders abroad had a + staff of like thickness, round which they rolled their papers, + and so were able to read the dispatches.” (Liddell and Scott’s + Lexicon sub voc.) Hence scytale came to mean generally a + Spartan dispatch, which was characteristically laconic in its + brevity. + + [119] See i. 7, 15, 24, 32; iii. 51; iv. 5, 22, 26, 27, 46; v. + 2, 10, 39, 40, 41; vi. 18, 27, 29, 31, 33; viii. 7, 20, 27, 28. + + [120] I.e., Cynic. + + [121] Chassang (op. cit., pp. 395 sqq.) gives a French + translation of them. + + [122] Art. “Apollonius,” Smith’s Dict. of Class. Biog. + + [123] That is to say, a philosopher of 600 years ago. + + [124] That is to expiate blood-guiltiness with blood-sacrifice. + + [125] Chaignet (A. É.), in his Pythagore et la Philosophie + pythagoricienne (Paris; 1873, 2nd ed. 1874), cites this as a + genuine example of Apollonius’ philosophy. + + [126] That is his idea of death. + + [127] The text of the last sentence is very obscure. + + [128] The full title is given by Eudocia, Ionia; ed. Villoison + (Venet.; 1781), p. 57. + + [129] See Zeller, Phil. d. Griech, v. 127. + + [130] Præparat. Evangel., iv. 12-13; ed. Dindorf (Leipzig; + 1867), i. 176, 177. + + [131] A play on the meanings of λόγος, which signifies both + reason and word. + + [132] Psyche, I. ii. 5. + + [133] Noack, ibid. + + [134] See Noack, Porphr. Vit. Pythag., p. 15. + + [135] Ed. Amstelod., 1707, cc. 254-264. + + +_WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR._ + ++THE PISTIS SOPHIA: A Gnostic Gospel.+ + + (With Extracts from the Books of the Saviour appended). + Originally translated from Greek into Coptic, and now for the + first time Englished from Schwartze’s Latin Version of the + only known Coptic MS., and checked by Amélineau’s French + Version. With an Introduction and Bibliography. 394 pp., large + octavo. Cloth, 7s. 6d. net. + + +_SOME PRESS OPINIONS._ + + “The Pistis Sophia has long been recognised as one of the most + important Gnostic documents we possess, and Mr Mead deserves the + gratitude of students of Church History and of the History of + Christian Thought, for his admirable translation and edition of + this curious Gospel.”--_Glasgow Herald._ + + “Mr Mead has done a service to other than Theosophists by his + translation of the Pistis Sophia. This curious work has not till + lately received the attention which it deserves.... He has prefixed + a short Introduction, which includes an excellent bibliography. + Thus, the English reader is now in a position to judge for himself + of the scientific value of the only Gnostic treatise of any + considerable length which has come down to us.”--_Guardian._ + + “From a scholar’s point of view the work is of value as + illustrating the philosophico-mystical tendencies of the second + century.”--_Record._ + + “Mr Mead deserves thanks for putting in an English dress this + curious document from the early ages of Christian + philosophy.”--_Manchester Guardian._ + + +THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY, + +LONDON AND BENARES. + + ++FRAGMENTS OF A FAITH FORGOTTEN.+ + +Some short Sketches among the Gnostics, mainly of the First Two +Centuries--a Contribution to the Study of Christian Origins based on the +most Recently Discovered Materials. + + +I. Introduction.+--Outlines of the Background of the Gnosis; + Literature and Sources of Gnosticism. + + +II. The Gnosis according to its Foes.+--Gnostic Fragments + recovered from the Polemical Writings of the Church Fathers; + the Gnosis in the Uncanonical Acts. + + +III. The Gnosis according to its Friends.+--Greek Original + Works in Coptic Translation; the Askew, Bruce, and Akhmim + Codices. + +Classified Bibliographies are appended. 630, xxviii. pp., Large Octavo, +Cloth. 10s. 6d. net. + + +SOME PRESS NOTICES. + + “Mr Mead has done his work in a scholarly and painstaking + fashion.”--_The Guardian._ + + “The ordinary student of Christian evidences, if he confines + his reading to the ‘Fathers,’ learns nothing of these opinions + [the so-called Gnostic ‘heresies’] except by way of refutation + and angry condemnation. In Mr Mead’s pages, however, they are + treated with impartiality and candour.... These remarks will + suffice to show the unique character of this volume, and to + indicate that students may find here matter of great service + to the rational interpretation of Christian + thought.”--_Bradford Observer._ + + “The book, Mr Mead explains, is not intended primarily for the + student, but for the general reader, and it certainly should + not be neglected by anyone who is interested in the history of + early Christian thought.”--_The Scotsman._ + + “The work is one of great labour and learning, and deserves + study as a sympathetic estimate of a rather severely-judged + class of heretics.”--_Glasgow Herald._ + + “Written in a clear and elegant style.... The bibliographies + in the volume are of world-wide range, and will be most + valuable to students of theosophy.”--_Asiatic Quarterly._ + + “Mr Mead writes with a precision and clearness on subjects + usually associated with bewildering technicalities and + mystifications. Even the long-suffering ‘general reader’ could + go through this large volume with pleasure. That is a great + deal to say of a book on such a subject.”--_Light._ + + “This striking work will certainly be read not only with the + greatest interest in the select circle of the cultured, but by + that much larger circle of those longing to learn all about + Truth.... May be summed up as an extraordinary clear + exposition of the Gnosis of Saints and the Sages of + philosophic Christianity.”--_The Roman Herald._ + + “Comprehensive, interesting, and scholarly.... The chapters + entitled ‘Some Rough Outlines of the Background of the Gnosis’ + are well written, and they tend to focus the philosophic and + religious movement of the ancient world. There is a very + excellent bibliography.”--_The Spectator._ + + “Mr Mead does us another piece of service by including a + complete copy of the Gnostic _Hymn of the Robe of Glory_ ... + and a handy epitome of the _Pistis Sophia_ is another item for + which the student will be grateful.”--_The Literary Guide._ + + “The author has naturally the interest of a theosophist in + Gnosticism, and approaches the subject accordingly from a + point of view different from our own. But while his point of + view emerges in the course of the volume, this does not affect + the value of his work for those who do not share his special + standpoint.... Mr Mead has at any rate rendered us an + excellent service, and we shall look forward with pleasure to + his future studies.”--_The Primitive Methodist Quarterly._ + +This is the First Attempt that has been made to bring together All the +Existing Sources of Information on the Earliest Christian Philosophers. + + ++SIMON MAGUS: An Essay.+ + + The most complete work on the subject. Quarto. Price: 5s. net. + Wrappers. + ++THE WORLD MYSTERY: Four Essays.+ + + Contents: The World-Soul; The Vestures of the Soul; The Web of + Destiny; True Self-reliance. Octavo. Price: cloth, 3s. 6d. + net. + ++THE THEOSOPHY OF THE GREEKS.+ + ++PLOTINUS.+ + + With an exhaustive Bibliography. Octavo. Price: cloth, 1s. + net. + ++ORPHEUS.+ + + With three Charts and Bibliography. Will serve as an + Introduction to Hellenic Theology. Octavo. Price: cloth, 4s. + 6d. net. + ++THE THEOSOPHY OF THE VEDAS.+ + ++THE UPANIȘHADS: 2 Volumes.+ + + Half Octavo. Paper, 6d.; cloth, 1s. 6d. each net. + + VOLUME I. + + Contains a Translation of the Ĭsha, Kena, Kaṭha, Prashna, Muṇḍakas, + and Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣhads, with a General Preamble, Arguments, and + Notes by G. R. S. Mead and J. C. Chaṭṭopādhyāya (Roy Choudhuri). + + VOLUME II. + + Contains a Translation of the Taittirîya, Aitareya, and + Shvetāshvatara Upaniṣhads, with Arguments and Notes. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Apollonius of Tyana, the +Philosopher-Reformer of , by George Robert Stowe Mead + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APOLLONIUS OF TYANA *** + +***** This file should be named 35460-0.txt or 35460-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/4/6/35460/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Turgut Dincer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/35460-0.zip b/35460-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f09461 --- /dev/null +++ b/35460-0.zip diff --git a/35460-8.txt b/35460-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5fd099 --- /dev/null +++ b/35460-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4445 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Apollonius of Tyana, the +Philosopher-Reformer of the First Century A.D., by George Robert Stowe Mead + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Apollonius of Tyana, the Philosopher-Reformer of the First Century A.D. + +Author: George Robert Stowe Mead + +Release Date: March 2, 2011 [EBook #35460] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APOLLONIUS OF TYANA *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Turgut Dincer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + + + APOLLONIUS OF TYANA + + THE PHILOSOPHER-REFORMER + OF THE FIRST CENTURY A.D. + + A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE ONLY EXISTING + RECORD OF HIS LIFE WITH SOME ACCOUNT + OF THE WAR OF OPINION CONCERNING HIM + AND AN INTRODUCTION ON THE RELIGIOUS + ASSOCIATIONS AND BROTHERHOODS OF THE + TIMES AND THE POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF + INDIAN THOUGHT ON GREECE--BY G. R. S. + MEAD, B.A., M.R.A.S. + + + LONDON AND BENARES + THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY + 1901 + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + + SECTION PAGE + + I. INTRODUCTORY 1 + + II. THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND COMMUNITIES + OF THE FIRST CENTURY 9 + + III. INDIA AND GREECE 17 + + IV. THE APOLLONIUS OF EARLY OPINION 28 + + V. TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, AND LITERATURE 42 + + VI. THE BIOGRAPHER OF APOLLONIUS 53 + + VII. EARLY LIFE 65 + + VIII. THE TRAVELS OF APOLLONIUS 73 + + IX. IN THE SHRINES OF THE TEMPLES AND THE + RETREATS OF RELIGION 82 + + X. THE GYMNOSOPHISTS OF UPPER EGYPT 99 + + XI. APOLLONIUS AND THE RULERS OF THE EMPIRE 106 + + XII. APOLLONIUS THE PROPHET AND WONDER-WORKER 110 + + XIII. HIS MODE OF LIFE 119 + + XIV. HIMSELF AND HIS CIRCLE 126 + + XV. FROM HIS SAYINGS AND SERMONS 132 + + XVI. FROM HIS LETTERS 145 + + XVII. THE WRITINGS OF APOLLONIUS 153 + + XVIII. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 156 + + + + +APOLLONIUS OF TYANA. + + +SECTION I. + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +To the student of the origins of Christianity there is naturally no +period of Western history of greater interest and importance than the +first century of our era; and yet how little comparatively is known +about it of a really definite and reliable nature. If it be a subject of +lasting regret that no non-Christian writer of the first century had +sufficient intuition of the future to record even a line of information +concerning the birth and growth of what was to be the religion of the +Western world, equally disappointing is it to find so little definite +information of the general social and religious conditions of the time. +The rulers and the wars of the Empire seem to have formed the chief +interest of the historiographers of the succeeding century, and even in +this department of political history, though the public acts of the +Emperors may be fairly well known, for we can check them by records and +inscriptions, when we come to their private acts and motives we find +ourselves no longer on the ground of history, but for the most part in +the atmosphere of prejudice, scandal, and speculation. The political +acts of Emperors and their officers, however, can at best throw but a +dim side-light on the general social conditions of the time, while they +shed no light at all on the religious conditions, except so far as these +in any particular contacted the domain of politics. As well might we +seek to reconstruct a picture of the religious life of the time from +Imperial acts and rescripts, as endeavour to glean any idea of the +intimate religion of this country from a perusal of statute books or +reports of Parliamentary debates. + +The Roman histories so-called, to which we have so far been accustomed, +cannot help us in the reconstruction of a picture of the environment +into which, on the one hand, Paul led the new faith in Asia Minor, +Greece, and Rome; and in which, on the other, it already found itself in +the districts bordering on the south-east of the Mediterranean. It is +only by piecing together laboriously isolated scraps of information and +fragments of inscriptions, that we become aware of the existence of the +life of a world of religious associations and private cults which +existed at this period. Not that even so we have any very direct +information of what went on in these associations, guilds, and +brotherhoods; but we have sufficient evidence to make us keenly regret +the absence of further knowledge. + +Difficult as this field is to till, it is exceedingly fertile in +interest, and it is to be regretted that comparatively so little work +has as yet been done in it; and that, as is so frequently the case, the +work which has been done is, for the most part, not accessible to the +English reader. What work has been done on this special subject may be +seen from the bibliographical note appended to this essay, in which is +given a list of books and articles treating of the religious +associations among the Greeks and Romans. But if we seek to obtain a +general view of the condition of religious affairs in the first century +we find ourselves without a reliable guide; for of works dealing with +this particular subject there are few, and from them we learn little +that does not immediately concern, or is thought to concern, +Christianity; whereas, it is just the state of the non-Christian +religious world about which, in the present case, we desire to be +informed. + +If, for instance, the reader turn to works of general history, such as +Merivale's History of the Romans under the Empire (London; last ed. +1865), he will find, it is true, in chap. iv., a description of the +state of religion up to the death of Nero, but he will be little wiser +for perusing it. If he turn to Hermann Schiller's Geschichte der +rmischen Kaiserreichs unter der Regierung des Nero (Berlin; 1872), he +will find much reason for discarding the vulgar opinions about the +monstrous crimes imputed to Nero, as indeed he might do by reading in +English G. H. Lewes' article "Was Nero a Monster?" (Cornhill Magazine; +July, 1863)--and he will also find (bk. IV. chap. iii.) a general view +of the religion and philosophy of the time which is far more intelligent +than that of Merivale's; but all is still very vague and unsatisfactory, +and we feel ourselves still outside the intimate life of the +philosophers and religionists of the first century. + +If, again, he turn to the latest writers of Church history who have +treated this particular question, he will find that they are occupied +entirely with the contact of the Christian Church with the Roman Empire, +and only incidentally give us any information of the nature of which we +are in search. On this special ground C. J. Neumann, in his careful +study Der rmische Staat und die allgemeine Kirche bis auf Diocletian +(Leipzig; 1890), is interesting; while Prof. W. M. Ramsay, in The Church +in the Roman Empire before A.D. 170 (London; 1893), is extraordinary, +for he endeavours to interpret Roman history by the New Testament +documents, the dates of the majority of which are so hotly disputed. + +But, you may say, what has all this to do with Apollonius of Tyana? The +answer is simple: Apollonius lived in the first century; his work lay +precisely among these religious associations, colleges, and guilds. A +knowledge of them and their nature would give us the natural environment +of a great part of his life; and information as to their condition in +the first century would perhaps help us the better to understand some of +the reasons for the task which he attempted. + +If, however, it were only the life and endeavours of Apollonius which +would be illuminated by this knowledge, we could understand why so +little effort has been spent in this direction; for the character of the +Tyanean, as we shall see, has since the fourth century been regarded +with little favour even by the few, while the many have been taught to +look upon our philosopher not only as a charlatan, but even as an +anti-Christ. But when it is just a knowledge of these religious +associations and orders which would throw a flood of light on the +earliest evolution of Christianity, not only with regard to the Pauline +communities, but also with regard to those schools which were +subsequently condemned as heretical, it is astonishing that we have had +no more satisfactory work done on the subject. + +It may be said, however, that this information is not forthcoming simply +because it is unprocurable. To a large extent this is true; +nevertheless, a great deal more could be done than has as yet been +attempted, and the results of research in special directions and in the +byways of history could be combined, so that the non-specialist could +obtain some general idea of the religious conditions of the times, and +so be less inclined to join in the now stereotyped condemnation of all +non-Jewish or non-Christian moral and religious effort in the Roman +Empire of the first century. + +But the reader may retort: Things social and religious in those days +must have been in a very parlous state, for, as this essay shows, +Apollonius himself spent the major part of his life in trying to reform +the institutions and cults of the Empire. To this we answer: No doubt +there was much to reform, and when is there not? But it would not only +be not generous, but distinctly mischievous for us to judge our fellows +of those days solely by the lofty standard of an ideal morality, or even +to scale them against the weight of our own supposed virtues and +knowledge. Our point is not that there was nothing to reform, far from +that, but that the wholesale accusations of depravity brought against +the times will not bear impartial investigation. On the contrary, there +was much good material ready to be worked up in many ways, and if there +had not been, how could there among other things have been any +Christianity? + +The Roman Empire was at the zenith of its power, and had there not been +many admirable administrators and men of worth in the governing caste, +such a political consummation could never have been reached and +maintained. Moreover, as ever previously in the ancient world, religious +liberty was guaranteed, and where we find persecution, as in the reigns +of Nero and Domitian, it must be set down to political and not to +theological reasons. Setting aside the disputed question of the +persecution of the Christians under Domitian, the Neronian persecution +was directed against those whom the Imperial power regarded as Jewish +political revolutionaries. So, too, when we find the philosophers +imprisoned or banished from Rome during these two reigns, it was not +because they were philosophers, but because the ideal of some of them +was the restoration of the Republic, and this rendered them obnoxious to +the charge not only of being political malcontents, but also of actively +plotting against the Emperor's _majestas_. Apollonius, however, was +throughout a warm supporter of monarchical rule. When, then, we hear of +the philosophers being banished from Rome or being cast into prison, we +must remember that this was not a wholesale persecution of philosophy +throughout the Empire; and when we say that some of them desired to +restore the Republic, we should remember that the vast majority of them +refrained from politics, and especially was this the case with the +disciples of the religio-philosophical schools. + + + + +SECTION II. + +THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND COMMUNITIES OF THE FIRST CENTURY. + + +In the domain of religion it is quite true that the state cults and +national institutions throughout the Empire were almost without +exception in a parlous state, and it is to be noticed that Apollonius +devoted much time and labour to reviving and purifying them. Indeed, +their strength had long left the general state-institutions of religion, +where all was now perfunctory; but so far from there being no religious +life in the land, in proportion as the official cultus and ancestral +institutions afforded no real satisfaction to their religious needs, the +more earnestly did the people devote themselves to private cults, and +eagerly baptised themselves in all that flood of religious enthusiasm +which flowed in with ever increasing volume from the East. Indubitably +in all this fermentation there were many excesses, according to our +present notions of religious decorum, and also grievous abuses; but at +the same time in it many found due satisfaction for their religious +emotions, and, if we except those cults which were distinctly vicious, +we have to a large extent before us in popular circles the spectacle of +what, in their last analysis, are similar phenomena to those enthusiasms +which in our own day may be frequently witnessed among such sects as the +Shakers or Ranters, and at the general revival meetings of the +uninstructed. + +It is not, however, to be thought that the private cults and the doings +of the religious associations were all of this nature or confined to +this class; far from it. There were religious brotherhoods, communities, +and clubs--_thiasi_, _erani_, and _orge[=o]nes_--of all sorts and +conditions. There were also mutual benefit societies, burial clubs, and +dining companies, the prototypes of our present-day Masonic bodies, +Oddfellows, and the rest. These religious associations were not only +private in the sense that they were not maintained by the State, but +also for the most part they were private in the sense that what they did +was kept secret, and this is perhaps the main reason why we have so +defective a record of them. + +Among them are to be numbered not only the lower forms of mystery-cultus +of various kinds, but also the greater ones, such as the Phrygian, +Bacchic, Isiac, and Mithriac Mysteries, which were spread everywhere +throughout the Empire. The famous Eleusinia were, however, still under +the gis of the State, but though so famous were, as a state-cultus, far +more perfunctory. + +It is, moreover, not to be thought that the great types of +mystery-cultus above mentioned were uniform even among themselves. There +were not only various degrees and grades within them, but also in all +probability many forms of each line of tradition, good, bad, and +indifferent. For instance, we know that it was considered _de rigueur_ +for every respectable citizen of Athens to be initiated into the +Eleusinia, and therefore the tests could not have been very stringent; +whereas in the most recent work on the subject, De Apuleio Isiacorum +Mysteriorum Teste (Leyden; 1900), Dr. K. H. E. De Jong shows that in one +form of the Isiac Mysteries the candidate was invited to initiation by +means of dream; that is to say, he had to be psychically impressionable +before his acceptance. + +Here, then, we have a vast intermediate ground for religious exercise +between the most popular and undisciplined forms of private cults and +the highest forms, which could only be approached through the discipline +and training of the philosophic life. The higher side of these +mystery-institutions aroused the enthusiasm of all that was best in +antiquity, and unstinted praise was given to one or another form of them +by the greatest thinkers and writers of Greece and Rome; so that we +cannot but think that here the instructed found that satisfaction for +their religious needs which was necessary not only for those who could +not rise into the keen air of pure reason, but also for those who had +climbed so high upon the heights of reason that they could catch a +glimpse of the other side. The official cults were notoriously unable to +give them this satisfaction, and were only tolerated by the instructed +as an aid for the people and a means of preserving the traditional life +of the city or state. + +By common consent the most virtuous livers of Greece were the members of +the Pythagorean schools, both men and women. After the death of their +founder the Pythagoreans seem to have gradually blended with the Orphic +communities, and the "Orphic life" was the recognised term for a life of +purity and self-denial. We also know that the Orphics, and therefore the +Pythagoreans, were actively engaged in the reformation, or even the +entire reforming, of the Baccho-Eleusinian rites; they seem to have +brought back the pure side of the Bacchic cult with their reinstitution +or reimportation of the Iacchic mysteries, and it is very evident that +such stern livers and deep thinkers could not have been contented with a +low form of cult. Their influence also spread far and wide in general +Bacchic circles, so that we find Euripides putting the following words +into the mouth of a chorus of Bacchic initiates: "Clad in white robes I +speed me from the genesis of mortal men, and never more approach the +vase of death, for I have done with eating food that ever housed a +soul."[1] Such words could well be put into the mouth of a Br[=a]hman or +Buddhist ascetic, eager to escape from the bonds of Sa[.m]s[=a]ra and +such men cannot therefore justly be classed together indiscriminately +with ribald revellers--the general mind-picture of a Bacchic company. + +But, some one may say, Euripides and the Pythagoreans and Orphics are no +evidence for the first century; whatever good there may have been in +such schools and communities, it had ceased long before. On the +contrary, the evidence is all against this objection. Philo, writing +about 25 A.D., tells us that in his day numerous groups of men, who in +all respects led this life of religion, who abandoned their property, +retired from the world and devoted themselves entirely to the search for +wisdom and the cultivation of virtue, were scattered far and wide +throughout the world. In his treatise, On the Contemplative Life, he +writes: "This natural class of men is to be found in many parts of the +inhabited world, both the Grecian and non-Grecian world, sharing in the +perfect good. In Egypt there are crowds of them in every province, or +nome as they call it, and especially round Alexandria." This is a most +important statement, for if there were so many devoted to the religious +life at this time, it follows that the age was not one of unmixed +depravity. + +It is not, however, to be thought that these communities were all of an +exactly similar nature, or of one and the same origin, least of all that +they were all Therapeut or Essene. We have only to remember the various +lines of descent of the doctrines held by the innumerable schools +classed together as Gnostic, as sketched in my recent work, Fragments of +a Faith Forgotten, and to turn to the beautiful treatises of the +Hermetic schools, to persuade us that in the first century the striving +after the religious and philosophic life was wide-spread and various. + +We are not, however, among those who believe that the origin of the +Therapeut communities of Philo and of the Essenes of Philo and Josephus +is to be traced to Orphic and Pythagorean influence. The question of +precise origin is as yet beyond the power of historical research, and +we are not of those who would exaggerate one element of the mass into a +universal source. But when we remember the existence of all these so +widely scattered communities in the first century, when we study the +imperfect but important record of the very numerous schools and +brotherhoods of a like nature which came into intimate contact with +Christianity in its origins, we cannot but feel that there was the +leaven of a strong religious life working in many parts of the Empire. + +Our great difficulty is that these communities, brotherhoods, and +associations kept themselves apart, and with rare exceptions left no +records of their intimate practices and beliefs, or if they left any it +has been destroyed or lost. For the most part then we have to rely upon +general indications of a very superficial character. But this imperfect +record is no justification for us to deny or ignore their existence and +the intensity of their endeavours; and a history which purports to paint +a picture of the times is utterly insufficient so long as it omits this +most vital subject from its canvas. + +Among such surroundings as these Apollonius moved; but how little does +his biographer seem to have been aware of the fact! Philostratus has a +rhetorician's appreciation of a philosophical court life, but no +feeling for the life of religion. It is only indirectly that the Life of +Apollonius, as it is now depicted, can throw any light on these most +interesting communities, but even an occasional side-light is precious +where all is in such obscurity. Were it but possible to enter into the +living memory of Apollonius, and see with his eyes the things he saw +when he lived nineteen hundred years ago, what an enormously interesting +page of the world's history could be recovered! He not only traversed +all the countries where the new faith was taking root, but he lived for +years in most of them, and was intimately acquainted with numbers of +mystic communities in Egypt, Arabia, and Syria. Surely he must have +visited some of the earliest Christian communities as well, must even +have conversed with some of the "disciples of the Lord"! And yet no word +is breathed of this, not one single scrap of information on these points +do we glean from what is recorded of him. Surely he must have met with +Paul, if not elsewhere, then at Rome, in 66, when he had to leave +because of the edict of banishment against the philosophers, the very +year according to some when Paul was beheaded! + + + + +SECTION III. + +INDIA AND GREECE. + + +There is, however, another reason why Apollonius is of importance to us. +He was an enthusiastic admirer of the wisdom of India. Here again a +subject of wide interest opens up. What influences, if any, had +Br[=a]hmanism and Buddhism on Western thought in these early years? It +is strongly asserted by some that they had great influence; it is as +strongly denied by others that they had any influence at all. It is, +therefore, apparent that there is no really indisputable evidence on the +subject. + +Just as some would ascribe the constitution of the Essene and Therapeut +communities to Pythagorean influence, so others would ascribe their +origin to Buddhist propaganda; and not only would they trace this +influence in the Essene tenets and practices, but they would even refer +the general teaching of the Christ to a Buddhist source in a Jewish +monotheistic setting. Not only so, but some would have it that two +centuries before the direct general contact of Greece with India, +brought about by the conquests of Alexander, India through Pythagoras +strongly and lastingly influenced all subsequent Greek thought. + +The question can certainly not be settled by hasty affirmation or +denial; it requires not only a wide knowledge of general history and a +minute study of scattered and imperfect indications of thought and +practice, but also a fine appreciation of the correct value of indirect +evidence, for of direct testimony there is none of a really decisive +nature. To such high qualifications we can make no pretension, and our +highest ambition is simply to give a few very general indications of the +nature of the subject. + +It is plainly asserted by the ancient Greeks that Pythagoras went to +India, but as the statement is made by Neo-Pythagorean and Neo-Platonic +writers subsequent to the time of Apollonius, it is objected that the +travels of the Tyanean suggested not only this item in the biography of +the great Samian but several others, or even that Apollonius himself in +his Life of Pythagoras was father of the rumour. The close resemblance, +however, between many of the features of Pythagorean discipline and +doctrine and Indo-Aryan thought and practice, make us hesitate entirely +to reject the possibility of Pythagoras having visited ancient +[=A]ry[=a]varta. + +And even if we cannot go so far as to entertain the possibility of +direct personal contact, there has to be taken into consideration the +fact that Pherecydes, the master of Pythagoras, may have been acquainted +with some of the main ideas of Vaidic lore. Pherecydes taught at +Ephesus, but was himself most probably a Persian, and it is quite +credible that a learned Asiatic, teaching a mystic philosophy and basing +his doctrine upon the idea of rebirth, may have had some indirect, if +not direct, knowledge of Indo-Aryan thought. + +Persia must have been even at this time in close contact with India, for +about the date of the death of Pythagoras, in the reign of Dareius, son +of Hystaspes, at the end of the sixth and beginning of the fifth century +before our era, we hear of the expedition of the Persian general Scylax +down the Indus, and learn from Herodotus that in this reign India (that +is the Punj[=a]b) formed the twentieth satrapy of the Persian monarchy. +Moreover, Indian troops were among the hosts of Xerxes; they invaded +Thessaly and fought at Plata. + +From the time of Alexander onwards there was direct and constant contact +between [=A]ry[=a]varta and the kingdoms of the successors of the +world-conqueror, and many Greeks wrote about this land of mystery; but +in all that has come down to us we look in vain for anything but the +vaguest indications of what the "philosophers" of India systematically +thought. + +That the Br[=a]hmans would at this time have permitted their sacred +books to be read by the Yavanas (Ionians, the general name for Greeks in +Indian records) is contrary to all we know of their history. The Yavanas +were Mlechchhas, outside the pale of the [=A]ryas, and all they could +glean of the jealously guarded Brahm[=a]-vidy[=a] or theosophy must have +depended solely upon outside observation. But the dominant religious +activity at this time in India was Buddhist, and it is to this protest +against the rigid distinctions of caste and race made by Br[=a]hmanical +pride, and to the startling novelty of an enthusiastic religious +propaganda among all classes and races in India, and outside India to +all nations, that we must look for the most direct contact of thought +between India and Greece. + +For instance, in the middle of the third century B.C., we know from +Asoka's thirteenth edict, that this Buddhist Emperor of India, the +Constantine of the East, sent missionaries to Antiochus II. of Syria, +Ptolemy II. of Egypt, Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, Magas of Cyrene, +and Alexander II. of Epirus. When, in a land of such imperfect records, +the evidence on the side of India is so clear and indubitable, all the +more extraordinary is it that we have no direct testimony on our side of +so great a missionary activity. Although, then, merely because of the +absence of all direct information from Greek sources, it is very unsafe +to generalize, nevertheless from our general knowledge of the times it +is not illegitimate to conclude that no great public stir could have +been made by these pioneers of the Dharma in the West. In every +probability these Buddhist Bhik[s.]hus produced no effect on the rulers +or on the people. But was their mission entirely abortive; and did +Buddhist missionary enterprise westwards cease with them? + +The answer to this question, as it seems to us, is hidden in the +obscurity of the religious communities. We cannot, however, go so far as +to agree with those who would cut the gordian knot by asserting +dogmatically that the ascetic communities in Syria and Egypt were +founded by these Buddhist propagandists. Already even in Greece itself +were not only Pythagorean but even prior to them Orphic communities, for +even on this ground we believe that Pythagoras rather developed what he +found already existing, than that he established something entirely new. +And if they were found in Greece, much more then is it reasonable to +suppose that such communities already existed in Syria, Arabia, and +Egypt, whose populations were given far more to religious exercises than +the sceptical and laughter-loving Greeks. + +It is, however, credible that in such communities, if anywhere, Buddhist +propaganda would find an appreciative and attentive audience; but even +so it is remarkable that they have left no distinctly direct trace of +their influence. Nevertheless, both by the sea way and by the great +caravan route there was an ever open line of communication between India +and the Empire of the successors of Alexander; and it is even +permissible to speculate, that if we could recover a catalogue of the +great Alexandrian library, for instance, we should perchance find that +in it Indian MSS. were to be found among the other rolls and parchments +of the scriptures of the nations. + +Indeed, there are phrases in the oldest treatises of the Trismegistic +Hermetic literature which can be so closely paralleled with phrases in +the Upani[s.]hads and in the Bhagavad G[=i]t[=a], that one is almost +tempted to believe that the writers had some acquaintance with the +general contents of these Br[=a]hmanical scriptures. The Trismegistic +literature had its genesis in Egypt, and its earliest deposit must be +dated at least in the first century A.D., if it cannot even be pushed +back earlier. Even more striking is the similarity between the lofty +mystic metaphysic of the Gnostic doctor Basilides, who lived at the end +of the first and beginning of the second century A.D., and Ved[=a]ntic +ideas. Moreover, both the Hermetic and the Basilidean schools and their +immediate predecessors were devoted to a stern self-discipline and deep +philosophical study which would make them welcome eagerly any +philosopher or mystic student who might come from the far East. + +But even so, we are not of those who by their own self-imposed +limitations of possibility are condemned to find some direct physical +contact to account for a similarity of ideas or even of phrasing. +Granting, for instance, that there is much resemblance between the +teachings of the Dharma of the Buddha and of the Gospel of the Christ, +and that the same spirit of love and gentleness pervades them both, +still there is no necessity to look for the reason of this resemblance +to purely physical transmission. And so for other schools and other +teachers; like conditions will produce similar phenomena; like effort +and like aspiration will produce similar ideas, similar experience, and +similar response. And this we believe to be the case in no general way, +but that it is all very definitely ordered from within by the servants +of the real guardians of things religious in this world. + +We are, then, not compelled to lay so much stress on the question of +physical transmission, or to be seeking even to find proof of copying. +The human mind in its various degrees is much the same in all climes and +ages, and its inner experience has a common ground into which seed may +be sown, as it is tilled and cleared of weeds. The good seed comes all +from the same granary, and those who sow it pay no attention to the +man-made outer distinctions of race and creed. + +However difficult, therefore, it may be to prove, from unquestionably +historical statements, any direct influence of Indian thought on the +conceptions and practices of some of these religious communities and +philosophic schools of the Grco-Roman Empire, and although in any +particular case similarity of ideas need not necessarily be assigned to +direct physical transmission, nevertheless the highest probability, if +not the greatest assurance, remains that even prior to the days of +Apollonius there was some private knowledge in Greece of the general +ideas of the Ved[=a]nta and Dharma; while in the case of Apollonius +himself, even if we discount nine-tenths of what is related of him, his +one idea seems to have been to spread abroad among the religious +brotherhoods and institutions of the Empire some portion of the wisdom +which he brought back with him from India. + +When, then, we find at the end of the first and during the first half +of the second century, among such mystic associations as the Hermetic +and Gnostic schools, ideas which strongly remind us of the theosophy of +the Upani[s.]hads or the reasoned ethics of the Suttas, we have always +to take into consideration not only the high probability of Apollonius +having visited such schools, but also the possibility of his having +discoursed at length therein on the Indian wisdom. Not only so, but the +memory of his influence may have lingered for long in such circles, for +do we not find Plotinus, the coryphus of Neo-Platonism, as it is +called, so enamoured with what he had heard of the wisdom of India at +Alexandria, that in 242 he started off with the ill-starred expedition +of Gordian to the East in the hope of reaching that land of philosophy? +With the failure of the expedition and assassination of the Emperor, +however, he had to return, for ever disappointed of his hope. + +It is not, however, to be thought that Apollonius set out to make a +propaganda of Indian philosophy in the same way that the ordinary +missionary sets forth to preach his conception of the Gospel. By no +means; Apollonius seems to have endeavoured to help his hearers, whoever +they might be, in the way best suited to each of them. He did not begin +by telling them that what they believed was utterly false and +soul-destroying, and that their eternal welfare depended upon their +instantly adopting his own special scheme of salvation; he simply +endeavoured to purge and further explain what they already believed and +practised. That some strong power supported him in his ceaseless +activity, and in his almost world-wide task, is not so difficult of +belief; and it is a question of deep interest for those who strive to +peer through the mists of appearance, to speculate how that not only a +Paul but also an Apollonius was aided and directed in his task from +within. + +The day, however, has not yet dawned when it will be possible for the +general mind in the West to approach the question with such freedom from +prejudice, as to bear the thought that, seen from within, not only Paul +but also Apollonius may well have been a "disciple of the Lord" in the +true sense of the words; and that too although on the surface of things +their tasks seem in many ways so dissimilar, and even, to theological +preconceptions, entirely antagonistic. + +Fortunately, however, even to-day there is an ever-growing number of +thinking people who will not only not be shocked by such a belief, but +who will receive it with joy as the herald of the dawning of a true sun +of righteousness, which will do more to illumine the manifold ways of +the religion of our common humanity than all the self-righteousness of +any particular body of exclusive religionists. + +It is, then, in this atmosphere of charity and tolerance that we would +ask the reader to approach the consideration of Apollonius and his +doings, and not only the life and deeds of an Apollonius, but also of +all those who have striven to help their fellows the world over. + + + + +SECTION IV. + +THE APOLLONIUS OF EARLY OPINION. + + +Apollonius of Tyana[2] was the most famous philosopher of the +Grco-Roman world of the first century, and devoted the major part of +his long life to the purification of the many cults of the Empire and to +the instruction of the ministers and priests of its religions. With the +exception of the Christ no more interesting personage appears upon the +stage of Western history in these early years. Many and various and +ofttimes mutually contradictory are the opinions which have been held +about Apollonius, for the account of his life which has come down to us +is in the guise of a romantic story rather than in the form of a plain +history. And this is perhaps to some extent to be expected, for +Apollonius, besides his public teaching, had a life apart, a life into +which even his favourite disciple does not enter. He journeys into the +most distant lands, and is lost to the world for years; he enters the +shrines of the most sacred temples and the inner circles of the most +exclusive communities, and what he says or does therein remains a +mystery, or serves only as an opportunity for the weaving of some +fantastic story by those who did not understand. + +The following study will be simply an attempt to put before the reader a +brief sketch of the problem which the records and traditions of the life +of the famous Tyanean present; but before we deal with the Life of +Apollonius, written by Flavius Philostratus at the beginning of the +third century, we must give the reader a brief account of the references +to Apollonius among the classical writers and the Church Fathers, and a +short sketch of the literature of the subject in more recent times, and +of the varying fortunes of the war of opinion concerning his life in the +last four centuries. + +First, then, with regard to the references in classical and patristic +authors. Lucian, the witty writer of the first half of the second +century, makes the subject of one of his satires the pupil of a disciple +of Apollonius, of one of those who were acquainted with "all the +tragedy"[3] of his life. And Appuleius, a contemporary of Lucian, +classes Apollonius with Moses and Zoroaster, and other famous Magi of +antiquity.[4] + +About the same period, in a work entitled Qustiones et Responsiones ad +Orthodoxos, formerly attributed to Justin Martyr, who flourished in the +second quarter of the second century, we find the following interesting +statement: + +"Question 24: If God is the maker and master of creation, how do the +consecrated objects[5] of Apollonius have power in the [various] orders +of that creation? For, _as we see_, they check the fury of the waves and +the power of the winds and the inroads of vermin and attacks of wild +beasts."[6] + +Dion Cassius in his history,[7] which he wrote A.D. 211-222, states that +Caracalla (Emp. 211-216) honoured the memory of Apollonius with a chapel +or monument (_heroum_). + +It was just at this time (216) that Philostratus composed his Life of +Apollonius, at the request of Domna Julia, Caracalla's mother, and it is +with this document principally that we shall have to deal in the sequel. + +Lampridius, who flourished about the middle of the third century, +further informs us that Alexander Severus (Emp. 222-235) placed the +statue of Apollonius in his _lararium_ together with those of Christ, +Abraham, and Orpheus.[8] + +Vopiscus, writing in the last decade of the third century, tells us that +Aurelian (Emp. 270-275) vowed a temple to Apollonius, of whom he had +seen a vision when besieging Tyana. Vopiscus speaks of the Tyanean as "a +sage of the most wide-spread renown and authority, an ancient +philosopher, and a true friend of the Gods," nay, as a manifestation of +deity. "For what among men," exclaims the historian, "was more holy, +what more worthy of reverence, what more venerable, what more god-like +than he? He, it was, who gave life to the dead. He, it was, who did and +said so many things beyond the power of men."[9] So enthusiastic is +Vopiscus about Apollonius, that he promises, if he lives, to write a +short account of his life in Latin, so that his deeds and words may be +on the tongue of all, for as yet the only accounts are in Greek.[10] +Vopiscus, however, did not fulfil his promise, but we learn that about +this date both Soterichus[11] and Nichomachus wrote Lives of our +philosopher, and shortly afterwards Tascius Victorianus, working on the +papers of Nichomachus,[12] also composed a Life. None of these Lives, +however, have reached us. + +It was just at this period also, namely, in the last years of the third +century and the first years of the fourth, that Porphyry and Iamblichus +composed their treatises on Pythagoras and his school; both mention +Apollonius as one of their authorities, and it is probable that the +first 30 sections of Iamblichus are taken from Apollonius.[13] + +We now come to an incident which hurled the character of Apollonius into +the arena of Christian polemics, where it has been tossed about until +the present day. Hierocles, successively governor of Palmyra, Bithynia, +and Alexandria, and a philosopher, about the year 305 wrote a criticism +on the claims of the Christians, in two books, called A Truthful +Address to the Christians, or more shortly The Truth-lover. He seems to +have based himself for the most part on the previous works of Celsus and +Porphyry,[14] but introduced a new subject of controversy by opposing +the wonderful works of Apollonius to the claims of the Christians to +exclusive right in "miracles" as proof of the divinity of their Master. +In this part of his treatise Hierocles used Philostratus' Life of +Apollonius. + +To this pertinent criticism of Hierocles Eusebius of Csarea immediately +replied in a treatise still extant, entitled Contra Hieroclem.[15] +Eusebius admits that Apollonius was a wise and virtuous man, but denies +that there is sufficient proof that the wonderful things ascribed to him +ever took place; and even if they did take place, they were the work of +"dmons," and not of God. The treatise of Eusebius is interesting; he +severely scrutinises the statements in Philostratus, and shows himself +possessed of a first rate critical faculty. Had he only used the same +faculty on the documents of the Church, of which he was the first +historian, posterity would have owed him an eternal debt of gratitude. +But Eusebius, like so many other apologists, could only see one side; +justice, when anything touching Christianity was called into question, +was a stranger to his mind, and he would have considered it blasphemy to +use his critical faculty on the documents which relate the "miracles" of +Jesus. Still the problem of "miracle" was the same, as Hierocles pointed +out, and remains the same to this day. + +After the controversy reincarnated again in the sixteenth century, and +when the hypothesis of the "Devil" as the prime-mover in all "miracles" +but those of the Church lost its hold with the progress of scientific +thought, the nature of the wonders related in the Life of Apollonius was +still so great a difficulty that it gave rise to a new hypothesis of +plagiarism. The life of Apollonius was a Pagan plagiarism of the life of +Jesus. But Eusebius and the Fathers who followed him had no suspicion of +this; they lived in times when such an assertion could have been easily +refuted. There is not a word in Philostratus to show he had any +acquaintance with the life of Jesus, and fascinating as Baur's +"tendency-writing" theory is to many, we can only say that as a +plagiarist of the Gospel story Philostratus is a conspicuous failure. +Philostratus writes the history of a good and wise man, a man with a +mission of teaching, clothed in the wonder stories preserved in the +memory and embellished by the imagination of fond posterity, but not the +drama of incarnate Deity as the fulfilment of world-prophecy. + +Lactantius, writing about 315, also attacked the treatise of Hierocles, +who seems to have put forward some very pertinent criticisms; for the +Church Father says that he enumerates so many of their Christian inner +teachings (_intima_) that sometimes he would seem to have at one time +undergone the same training (_disciplina_). But it is in vain, says +Lactantius, that Hierocles endeavours to show that Apollonius performed +similar or even greater deeds than Jesus, for Christians do not believe +that Christ is God because he did wonderful things, but because all the +things wrought in him were those which were announced by the +prophets.[16] And in taking this ground Lactantius saw far more clearly +than Eusebius the weakness of the proof from "miracle." + +Arnobius, the teacher of Lactantius, however, writing at the end of the +third century, before the controversy, in referring to Apollonius +simply classes him among Magi, such as Zoroaster and others mentioned in +the passage of Appuleius to which we have already referred.[17] + +But even after the controversy there is a wide difference of opinion +among the Fathers, for although at the end of the fourth century John +Chrysostom with great bitterness calls Apollonius a deceiver and +evil-doer, and declares that the whole of the incidents in his life are +unqualified fiction,[18] Jerome, on the contrary, at the very same date, +takes almost a favourable view, for, after perusing Philostratus, he +writes that Apollonius found everywhere something to learn and something +whereby he might become a better man.[19] At the beginning of the fifth +century also Augustine, while ridiculing any attempt at comparison +between Apollonius and Jesus, says that the character of the Tyanean was +"far superior" to that ascribed to Jove, in respect of virtue.[20] + +About the same date also we find Isidorus of Pelusium, who died in 450, +bluntly denying that there is any truth in the claim made by "certain," +whom he does not further specify, that Apollonius of Tyana "consecrated +many spots in many parts of the world for the safety of the +inhabitants."[21] It is instructive to compare the denial of Isidorus +with the passage we have already quoted from Pseudo-Justin. The writer +of Questions and Answers to the Orthodox in the second century could not +dispose of the question by a blunt denial; he had to admit it and argue +the case on other grounds--namely, the agency of the Devil. Nor can the +argument of the Fathers, that Apollonius used magic to bring about his +results, while the untaught Christians could perform healing wonders by +a single word,[22] be accepted as valid by the unprejudiced critic, for +there is no evidence to support the contention that Apollonius employed +such methods for his wonder-workings; on the contrary, both Apollonius +himself and his biographer Philostratus strenuously repudiate the charge +of magic brought against him. + +On the other hand, a few years later, Sidonius Apollinaris, Bishop of +Claremont, speaks in the highest terms of Apollonius. Sidonius +translated the Life of Apollonius into Latin for Leon, the councillor of +King Euric, and in writing to his friend he says: "Read the life of a +man who (religion apart) resembles you in many things; a man sought out +by the rich, yet who never sought for riches; who loved wisdom and +despised gold; a man frugal in the midst of feastings, clad in linen in +the midst of those clothed in purple, austere in the midst of luxury.... +In fine, to speak plainly, perchance no historian will find in ancient +times a philosopher whose life is equal to that of Apollonius."[23] + +Thus we see that even among the Church Fathers opinions were divided; +while among the philosophers themselves the praise of Apollonius was +unstinted. + +For Ammianus Marcellinus, "the last subject of Rome who composed a +profane history in the Latin language," and the friend of Julian the +philosopher-emperor, refers to the Tyanean as "that most renowned +philosopher";[24] while a few years later Eunapius, the pupil of +Chrysanthius, one of the teachers of Julian, writing in the last years +of the fourth century, says that Apollonius was more than a +philosopher; he was "a middle term, as it were, between gods and +men."[25] Not only was Apollonius an adherent of the Pythagorean +philosophy, but "he fully exemplified the more divine and practical side +in it." In fact Philostratus should have called his biography "The +Sojourning of a God among Men."[26] This seemingly wildly exaggerated +estimate may perhaps receive explanation in the fact that Eunapius +belonged to a school which knew the nature of the attainments ascribed +to Apollonius. + +Indeed, "as late as the fifth century we find one Volusian, a proconsul +of Africa, descended from an old Roman family and still strongly +attached to the religion of his ancestors, almost worshipping Apollonius +of Tyana as a supernatural being."[27] + +Even after the downfall of philosophy we find Cassiodorus, who spent +the last years of his long life in a monastery, speaking of Apollonius +as the "renowned philosopher."[28] So also among Byzantine writers, the +monk George Syncellus, in the eighth century, refers several times to +our philosopher, and not only without the slightest adverse criticism, +but he declares that he was the first and most remarkable of all the +illustrious people who appeared under the Empire.[29] Tzetzes also, the +critic and grammarian, calls Apollonius "all-wise and a fore-knower of +all things."[30] + +And though the monk Xiphilinus, in the eleventh century, in a note to +his abridgment of the history of Dion Cassius, calls Apollonius a clever +juggler and magician,[31] nevertheless Cedrenus in the same century +bestows on Apollonius the not uncomplimentary title of an "adept +Pythagorean philosopher,"[32] and relates several instances of the +efficacy of his powers in Byzantium. In fact, if we can believe +Nicetas, as late as the thirteenth century there were at Byzantium +certain bronze doors, formerly consecrated by Apollonius, which had to +be melted down because they had become an object of superstition even +for the Christians themselves.[33] + +Had the work of Philostratus disappeared with the rest of the Lives, the +above would be all that we should have known about Apollonius.[34] +Little enough, it is true, concerning so distinguished a character, yet +ample enough to show that, with the exception of theological prejudice, +the suffrages of antiquity were all on the side of our philosopher. + + + + +SECTION V. + +TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, AND LITERATURE. + + +We will now turn to the texts, translations, and general literature of +the subject in more recent times. Apollonius returned to the memory of +the world, after the oblivion of the dark ages, with evil auspices. From +the very beginning the old Hierocles-Eusebius controversy was revived, +and the whole subject was at once taken out of the calm region of +philosophy and history and hurled once more into the stormy arena of +religious bitterness and prejudice. For long Aldus hesitated to print +the text of Philostratus, and only finally did so (in 1501) with the +text of Eusebius as an appendix, so that, as he piously phrases it, "the +antidote might accompany the poison." Together with it appeared a Latin +translation by the Florentine Rinucci.[35] + +In addition to the Latin version the sixteenth century also produced an +Italian[36] and French translation.[37] + +The _editio princeps_ of Aldus was superseded a century later by the +edition of Morel,[38] which in its turn was followed a century still +later by that of Olearius.[39] Nearly a century and a half later again +the text of Olearius was superseded by that of Kayser (the first +critical text), whose work in its last edition contains the latest +critical apparatus.[40] All information with regard to the MSS. will be +found in Kayser's Latin Prefaces. + +We shall now attempt to give some idea of the general literature on the +subject, so that the reader may be able to note some of the varying +fortunes of the war of opinion in the bibliographical indications. And +if the general reader should be impatient of the matter and eager to get +to something of greater interest, he can easily omit its perusal; while +if he be a lover of the mystic way, and does not take delight in +wrangling controversy, he may at least sympathise with the writer, who +has been compelled to look through the works of the last century and a +good round dozen of those of the previous centuries, before he could +venture on an opinion of his own with a clear conscience. + +Sectarian prejudice against Apollonius characterises nearly every +opinion prior to the nineteenth century.[41] Of books distinctly +dedicated to the subject the works of the Abb Dupin[42] and of de +Tillemont[43] are bitter attacks on the Philosopher of Tyana in defence +of the monopoly of Christian miracles; while those of the Abb +Houtteville[44] and Lderwald[45] are less violent, though on the same +lines. A pseudonymous writer, however, of the eighteenth century strikes +out a somewhat different line by classing together the miracles of the +Jesuits and other Monastic Orders with those of Apollonius, and dubbing +them all spurious, while maintaining the sole authenticity of those of +Jesus.[46] + +Nevertheless, Bacon and Voltaire speak of Apollonius in the highest +terms,[47] and even a century before the latter the English Deist, +Charles Blount,[48] raised his voice against the universal obloquy +poured upon the character of the Tyanean; his work, however, was +speedily suppressed. + +In the midst of this war about miracles in the eighteenth century it is +pleasant to remark the short treatise of Herzog, who endeavours to give +a sketch of the philosophy and religious life of Apollonius,[49] but, +alas! there were no followers of so liberal an example in this century +of strife. + +So far then for the earlier literature of the subject. Frankly none of +it is worth reading; the problem could not be calmly considered in such +a period. It started on the false ground of the Hierocles-Eusebius +controversy, which was but an incident (for wonder-working is common to +all great teachers and not peculiar to Apollonius or Jesus), and was +embittered by the rise of Encyclopdism and the rationalism of the +Revolution period. Not that the miracle-controversy ceased even in the +last century; it does not, however, any longer obscure the whole +horizon, and the sun of a calmer judgment may be seen breaking through +the mist. + +In order to make the rest of our summary clearer we append at the end of +this essay the titles of the works which have appeared since the +beginning of the nineteenth century, in chronological order. + +A glance over this list will show that the last century has produced an +English (Berwick's), an Italian (Lancetti's), a French (Chassang's), and +two German translations (Jacobs' and Baltzer's).[50] The Rev. E. +Berwick's translation is the only English version; in his Preface the +author, while asserting the falsity of the miraculous element in the +Life, says that the rest of the work deserves careful attention. No harm +will accrue to the Christian religion by its perusal, for there are no +allusions to the Life of Christ in it, and the miracles are based on +those ascribed to Pythagoras. + +This is certainly a healthier standpoint than that of the traditional +theological controversy, which, unfortunately, however, was revived +again by the great authority of Baur, who saw in a number of the early +documents of the Christian era (notably the canonical Acts) +tendency-writings of but slight historical content, representing the +changing fortunes of schools and parties and not the actual histories of +individuals. The Life of Apollonius was one of these tendency-writings; +its object was to put forward a view opposed to Christianity in favour +of philosophy. Baur thus divorced the whole subject from its historical +standpoint and attributed to Philostratus an elaborate scheme of which +he was entirely innocent. Baur's view was largely adopted by Zeller in +his Philosophie der Griechen (v. 140), and by Rville in Holland. + +This "Christusbild" theory (carried by a few extremists to the point of +denying that Apollonius ever existed) has had a great vogue among +writers on the subject, especially compilers of encyclopdia articles; +it is at any rate a wider issue than the traditional miracle-wrangle, +which was again revived in all its ancient narrowness by Newman, who +only uses Apollonius as an excuse for a dissertation on orthodox +miracles, to which he devotes eighteen pages out of the twenty-five of +his treatise. Noack also follows Baur, and to some extent Pettersch, +though he takes the subject onto the ground of philosophy; while +Mnckeberg, pastor of St. Nicolai in Hamburg, though striving to be fair +to Apollonius, ends his chatty dissertation with an outburst of orthodox +praises of Jesus, praises which we by no means grudge, but which are +entirely out of place in such a subject. + +The development of the Jesus-Apollonius miracle-controversy into the +Jesus-against-Apollonius and even Christ-against-Anti-Christ battle, +fought out with relays of lusty champions on the one side against a +feeble protest at best on the other, is a painful spectacle to +contemplate. How sadly must Jesus and Apollonius have looked upon, and +still look upon, this bitter and useless strife over their saintly +persons. Why should posterity set their memories one against the other? +Did they oppose one another in life? Did even their biographers do so +after their deaths? Why then could not the controversy have ceased with +Eusebius? For Lactantius frankly admits the point brought forward by +Hierocles (to exemplify which Hierocles only referred to Apollonius as +one instance out of many)--that "miracles" do not prove divinity. We +rest our claims, says Lactantius, _not_ on miracles, but on the +fulfilment of prophecy.[51] Had this more sensible position been revived +instead of that of Eusebius, the problem of Apollonius would have been +considered in its natural historical environment four hundred years ago, +and much ink and paper would have been saved. + +With the progress of the critical method, however, opinion has at length +partly recovered its balance, and it is pleasant to be able to turn to +works which have rescued the subject from theological obscurantism and +placed it in the open field of historical and critical research. The two +volumes of the independent thinker, Legrand d'Aussy, which appeared at +the very beginning of the last century, are, for the time, remarkably +free from prejudice, and are a praiseworthy attempt at historical +impartiality, but criticism was still young at this period. Kayser, +though he does not go thoroughly into the matter, decides that the +account of Philostratus is purely a "_fabularis narratio_" but is well +opposed by I. Mller, who contends for a strong element of history as a +background. But by far the best sifting of the sources is that of +Jessen.[52] Priaulx's study deals solely with the Indian episode and is +of no critical value for the estimation of the sources. Of all previous +studies, however, the works of Chassang and Baltzer are the most +generally intelligent, for both writers are aware of the possibilities +of psychic science, though mostly from the insufficient standpoint of +spiritistic phenomena. + +As for Tredwell's somewhat pretentious volume which, being in English, +is accessible to the general reader, it is largely reactionary, and is +used as a cover for adverse criticism of the Christian origins from a +Secularist standpoint which denies at the outset the possibility of +"miracle" in any meaning of the word. A mass of well-known +numismatological and other matter, which is entirely irrelevant, but +which seems to be new and surprising to the author, is introduced, and a +map is prefixed to the title-page purporting to give the itineraries of +Apollonius, but having little reference to the text of Philostratus. +Indeed, nowhere does Tredwell show that he is working on the text +itself, and the subject in his hands is but an excuse for a rambling +dissertation on the first century in general from his own standpoint. + +This is all regrettable, for with the exception of Berwick's +translation, which is almost unprocurable, we have nothing of value in +English for the general reader,[53] except Sinnett's short sketch, +which is descriptive rather than critical or explanatory. + +So far then for the history of the Apollonius of opinion; we will now +turn to the Apollonius of Philostratus, and attempt if possible to +discover some traces of the man as he was in history, and the nature of +his life and work. + + + + +SECTION VI. + +THE BIOGRAPHER OF APOLLONIUS. + + +Flavius Philostratus, the writer of the only Life of Apollonius which +has come down to us,[54] was a distinguished man of letters who lived in +the last quarter of the second and the first half of the third century +(_cir._ 175-245 A.D.). He formed one of the circle of famous writers and +thinkers gathered round the philosopher-empress,[55] Julia Domna, who +was the guiding spirit of the Empire during the reigns of her husband +Septimius Severus and her son Caracalla. All three members of the +imperial family were students of occult science, and the age was +preeminently one in which the occult arts, good and bad, were a passion. +Thus the sceptical Gibbon, in his sketch of Severus and his famous +consort, writes: + +"Like most of the Africans, Severus was passionately addicted to the +vain studies of magic and divination, deeply versed in the +interpretation of dreams and omens, and perfectly acquainted with the +science of judicial astrology, which in almost every age except the +present, has maintained its dominion over the mind of man. He had lost +his first wife whilst he was governor of the Lionnese Gaul. In the +choice of a second, he sought only to connect himself with some +favourite of fortune; and as soon as he had discovered that a young lady +of Emesa in Syria had _a royal nativity_[56] he solicited and obtained +her hand. Julia Domna[57] (for that was her name) deserved all that the +stars could promise her. She possessed, even in an advanced age,[58] the +attractions of beauty, and united to a lively imagination a firmness of +mind, and strength of judgment, seldom bestowed on her sex. Her amiable +qualities never made any deep impression on the dark and jealous temper +of her husband,[59] but in her son's reign, she administered the +principal affairs of the Empire with a prudence that supported his +authority, and with a moderation that sometimes corrected his wild +extravagances. Julia applied herself to letters and philosophy with some +success, and with the most splendid reputation. She was the patroness of +every art, and the friend of every man of genius."[60] + +We thus see, even from Gibbon's somewhat grudging estimate, that Domna +Julia was a woman of remarkable character, whose outer acts give +evidence of an inner purpose, and whose private life has not been +written. It was at her request that Philostratus wrote the Life of +Apollonius, and it was she who supplied him with certain MSS. that were +in her possession, as a basis; for the beautiful daughter of Bassianus, +priest of the sun at Emesa, was an ardent collector of books from every +part of the world, especially of the MSS. of philosophers and of +memoranda and biographical notes relating to the famous students of the +inner nature of things. + +That Philostratus was the best man to whom to entrust so important a +task, is doubtful. It is true that he was a skilled stylist and a +practised man of letters, an art critic and an ardent antiquarian, as we +may see from his other works; but he was a sophist rather than a +philosopher, and though an enthusiastic admirer of Pythagoras and his +school, was so from a distance, regarding it rather through a +wonder-loving atmosphere of curiosity and the embellishments of a lively +imagination than from a personal acquaintance with its discipline, or a +practical knowledge of those hidden forces of the soul with which its +adepts dealt. We have, therefore, to expect a sketch of the appearance +of a thing by one outside, rather than an exposition of the thing itself +from one within. + +The following is Philostratus' account of the sources from which he +derived his information concerning Apollonius:[61] + +"I have collected my materials partly from the cities which loved him, +partly from the temples whose rites and regulations he restored from +their former state of neglect, partly from what others have said about +him, and partly from his own letters.[62] More detailed information I +procured as follows. Damis was a man of some education who formerly used +to live in the ancient city of Ninus.[63] He became a disciple of +Apollonius and recorded his travels, in which he says he himself took +part, and also the views, sayings, and predictions of his master. A +member of Damis' family brought the Empress Julia the note-books[64] +containing these memoirs, which up to that time had not been known of. +As I was one of the circle of this princess, who was a lover and +patroness of all literary productions, she ordered me to rewrite these +sketches and improve their form of expression, for though the Ninevite +expressed himself clearly, his style was far from correct. I also have +had access to a book by Maximus[65] of g which contained all +Apollonius' doings at g.[66] There is also a will written by +Apollonius, from which we can learn how he almost deified +philosophy.[67] As to the four books of Moeragenes[68] on Apollonius they +do not deserve attention, for he knows nothing of most of the facts of +his life" (i. 2, 3). + +These are the sources to which Philostratus was indebted for his +information, sources which are unfortunately no longer accessible to us, +except perhaps a few letters. Nor did Philostratus spare any pains to +gather information on the subject, for in his concluding words (viii. +31), he tells us that he has himself travelled into most parts of the +"world" and everywhere met with the "inspired sayings"[69] of +Apollonius, and that he was especially well acquainted with the temple +dedicated to the memory of our philosopher at Tyana and founded at the +imperial expense ("for the emperors had judged him not unworthy of like +honours with themselves"), whose priests, it is to be presumed, had got +together as much information as they could concerning Apollonius. + +A thoroughly critical analysis of the literary effort of Philostratus, +therefore, would have to take into account all of these factors, and +endeavour to assign each statement to its original source. But even then +the task of the historian would be incomplete, for it is transparently +evident that Philostratus has considerably "embellished" the narrative +with numerous notes and additions of his own and with the composition of +set speeches. + +Now as the ancient writers did not separate their notes from the text, +or indicate them in any distinct fashion, we have to be constantly on +our guard to detect the original sources from the glosses of the +writer.[70] In fact Philostratus is ever taking advantage of the mention +of a name or a subject to display his own knowledge, which is often of a +most legendary and fantastic nature. This is especially the case in his +description of Apollonius' Indian travels. India at that time and long +afterwards was considered the "end of the world," and an infinity of the +strangest "travellers' tales" and mythological fables were in +circulation concerning it. One has only to read the accounts of the +writers on India[71] from the time of Alexander onwards to discover the +source of most of the strange incidents that Philostratus records as +experiences of Apollonius. To take but one instance out of a hundred, +Apollonius had to cross the Caucasus, an indefinite name for the great +system of mountain ranges that bound the northern limits of +[=A]ry[=a]varta. Prometheus was chained to the Caucasus, so every child +had been told for centuries. Therefore, if Apollonius crossed the +Caucasus, he must have seen those chains. And so it was, Philostratus +assures us (ii. 3). Not only so, but he volunteers the additional +information that you could not tell of what they were made! A perusal of +Megasthenes, however, will speedily reduce the long Philostratian +account of the Indian travels of Apollonius (i. 41-iii. 58) to a very +narrow compass, for page after page is simply padding, picked up from +any one of the numerous Indica to which our widely read author had +access.[72] To judge from such writers, Porus[73] (the R[=a]j[=a]h +conquered by Alexander) was the immemorial king of India. In fact, in +speaking of India or any other little-known country, a writer in these +days had to drag in all that popular legend associated with it or he +stood little chance of being listened to. He had to give his narrative +a "local colour," and this was especially the case in a technical +rhetorical effort like that of Philostratus. + +Again, it was the fashion to insert set speeches and put them in the +mouths of well-known characters on historical occasions, good instances +of which may be seen in Thucydides and the Acts of the Apostles. +Philostratus repeatedly does this. + +But it would be too long to enter into a detailed investigation of the +subject, although the writer has prepared notes on all these points, for +that would be to write a volume and not a sketch. Only a few points are +therefore set down, to warn the student to be ever on his guard to sift +out Philostratus from his sources.[74] + +But though we must be keenly alive to the importance of a thoroughly +critical attitude where definite facts of history are concerned, we +should be as keenly on our guard against judging everything from the +standpoint of modern preconceptions. There is but one religious +literature of antiquity that has ever been treated with real sympathy in +the West, and that is the Judo-Christian; in that alone have men been +trained to feel at home, and all in antiquity that treats of religion +in a different mode to the Jewish or Christian way, is felt to be +strange, and, if obscure or extraordinary, to be even repulsive. The +sayings and doings of the Jewish prophets, of Jesus, and of the +Apostles, are related with reverence, embellished with the greatest +beauties of diction, and illumined with the best thought of the age; +while the sayings and doings of other prophets and teachers have been +for the most part subjected to the most unsympathetic criticism, in +which no attempt is made to understand their standpoint. Had even-handed +justice been dealt out all round, the world to-day would have been +richer in sympathy, in wide-mindedness, in comprehension of nature, +humanity, and God, in brief, in soul-experience. + +Therefore, in reading the Life of Apollonius let us remember that we +have to look at it through the eyes of a Greek, and not through those of +a Jew or a Protestant. The Many in their proper sphere must be for us as +authentic a manifestation of the Divine as the One or the All, for +indeed the "Gods" exist in spite of commandment and creed. The Saints +and Martyrs and Angels have seemingly taken the places of the Heroes and +Dmons and Gods, but the change of name and change of view-point among +men affect but little the unchangeable facts. To sense the facts of +universal religion under the ever-changing names which men bestow upon +them, and then to enter with full sympathy and comprehension into the +hopes and fears of every phase of the religious mind--to read, as it +were, the past lives of our own souls--is a most difficult task. But +until we can put ourselves understandingly in the places of others, we +can never see more than one side of the Infinite Life of God. A student +of comparative religion must not be afraid of terms; he must not shudder +when he meets with "polytheism," or draw back in horror when he +encounters "dualism," or feel an increased satisfaction when he falls in +with "monotheism"; he must not feel awe when he pronounces the name of +Yahweh and contempt when he utters the name of Zeus; he must not picture +a satyr when he reads the word "dmon," and imagine a winged dream of +beauty when he pronounces the word "angel." For him heresy and orthodoxy +must not exist; he sees only his own soul slowly working out its own +experience, looking at life from every possible view-point, so that +haply at last he may see the whole, and having seen the whole, may +become at one with God. + +To Apollonius the mere fashion of a man's faith was unessential; he was +at home in all lands, among all cults. He had a helpful word for all, +an intimate knowledge of the particular way of each of them, which +enabled him to restore them to health. Such men are rare; the records of +such men are precious, and require the embellishments of no rhetorician. + +Let us then, first of all, try to recover the outline of the early +external life and of the travels of Apollonius shorn of Philostratus' +embellishments, and then endeavour to consider the nature of his +mission, the manner of the philosophy which he so dearly loved and which +was to him his religion, and last, if possible, the way of his inner +life. + + + + +SECTION VII. + +EARLY LIFE. + + +Apollonius was born[75] at Tyana, a city in the south of Cappadocia, +somewhen in the early years of the Christian era. His parents were of +ancient family and considerable fortune (i. 4). At an early age he gave +signs of a very powerful memory and studious disposition, and was +remarkable for his beauty. At the age of fourteen he was sent to Tarsus, +a famous centre of learning of the time, to complete his studies. But +mere rhetoric and style and the life of the "schools" were little suited +to his serious disposition, and he speedily left for g, a town on the +sea-coast east of Tarsus. Here he found surroundings more suitable to +his needs, and plunged with ardour into the study of philosophy. He +became intimate with the priests of the temple of sculapius, where +cures were still wrought, and enjoyed the society and instruction of +pupils and teachers of the Platonic, Stoic, Peripatetic, and Epicurean +schools of philosophy; but though he studied all these systems of +thought with attention, it was the lessons of the Pythagorean school +upon which he seized with an extraordinary depth of comprehension,[76] +and that, too, although his teacher, Euxenus, was but a parrot of the +doctrines and not a practiser of the discipline. But such parrotting was +not enough for the eager spirit of Apollonius; his extraordinary +"memory," which infused life into the dull utterances of his tutor, +urged him on, and at the age of sixteen "he soared into the Pythagorean +life, winged by some greater one."[77] Nevertheless he retained his +affection for the man who had told him of the way, and rewarded him +handsomely (i. 7). + +When Euxenus asked him how he would begin his new mode of life he +replied: "As doctors purge their patients." Hence he refused to touch +anything that had animal life in it, on the ground that it densified the +mind and rendered it impure. He considered that the only pure form of +food was what the earth produced, fruits and vegetables. He also +abstained from wine, for though it was made from fruit, "it rendered +turbid the ther[78] in the soul" and "destroyed the composure of the +mind." Moreover, he went barefoot, let his hair grow long, and wore +nothing but linen. He now lived in the temple, to the admiration of the +priests and with the express approval of sculapius,[79] and he rapidly +became so famous for his asceticism and pious life, that a saying[80] of +the Cilicians about him became a proverb (i. 8). + +At the age of twenty his father died (his mother having died some years +before) leaving a considerable fortune, which Apollonius was to share +with his elder brother, a wild and dissolute youth of twenty-three. +Being still a minor, Apollonius continued to reside at g, where the +temple of sculapius had now become a busy centre of study, and echoed +from one end to the other with the sound of lofty philosophical +discourses. On coming of age he returned to Tyana to endeavour to rescue +his brother from his vicious life. His brother had apparently exhausted +his legal share of the property, and Apollonius at once made over half +of his own portion to him, and by his gentle admonitions restored him +to his manhood. In fact he seems to have devoted his time to setting in +order the affairs of the family, for he distributed the rest of his +patrimony among certain of his relatives, and kept for himself but a +bare pittance; he required but little, he said, and should never marry +(i. 13). + +He now took the vow of silence for five years, for he was determined not +to write on philosophy until he had passed through this wholesome +discipline. These five years were passed mostly in Pamphylia and +Cilicia, and though he spent much time in study, he did not immure +himself in a community or monastery but kept moving about and travelling +from city to city. The temptations to break his self-imposed vow were +enormous. His strange appearance drew everyone's attention, the +laughter-loving populace made the silent philosopher the butt of their +unscrupulous wit, and all the protection he had against their scurrility +and misconceptions was the dignity of his mien and the glance of eyes +that now could see both past and future. Many a time he was on the verge +of bursting out against some exceptional insult or lying gossip, but +ever he restrained himself with the words: "Heart, patient be, and thou, +my tongue, be still"[81] (i. 14). + +Yet even this stern repression of the common mode of speech did not +prevent his good doing. Even at this early age he had begun to correct +abuses. With eyes and hands and motions of the head, he made his meaning +understood, and on one occasion, at Aspendus in Pamphylia, prevented a +serious corn riot by silencing the crowd with his commanding gestures +and then writing what he had to say on his tablets (i. 15). + +So far, apparently, Philostratus has been dependent upon the account of +Maximus of g, or perhaps only up to the time of Apollonius' quitting +g. There is now a considerable gap in the narrative, and two short +chapters of vague generalities (i. 16, 17) are all that Philostratus can +produce as the record of some fifteen or twenty[82] years, until Damis' +notes begin. + +After the five years of silence, we find Apollonius at Antioch, but this +seems to be only an incident in a long round of travel and work, and it +is probable that Philostratus brings Antioch into prominence merely +because what little he had learnt of this period of Apollonius' life, he +picked up in this much-frequented city. + +Even from Philostratus himself we learn incidentally later on (i. 20; +iv. 38) that Apollonius had spent some time among the Arabians, and had +been instructed by them. And by Arabia we are to understand the country +south of Palestine, which was at this period a regular hot-bed of mystic +communities. The spots he visited were in out-of-the-way places, where +the spirit of holiness lingered, and not the crowded and disturbed +cities, for the subject of his conversation, he said, required "_men_ +and not people."[83] He spent his time in travelling from one to another +of these temples, shrines, and communities; from which we may conclude +that there was some kind of a common freemasonry, as it were, among +them, of the nature of initiation, which opened the door of hospitality +to him. + +But wherever he went, he always held to a certain regular division of +the day. At sun-rise he practised certain religious exercises alone, the +nature of which he communicated only to those who had passed through the +discipline of a "four years'" (? five years') silence. He then conversed +with the temple priests or the heads of the community, according as he +was staying in a Greek or non-Greek temple with public rites, or in a +community with a discipline peculiar to itself apart from the public +cult.[84] + +He thus endeavoured to bring back the public cults to the purity of +their ancient traditions, and to suggest improvements in the practices +of the private brotherhoods. The most important part of his work was +with those who were following the inner life, and who already looked +upon Apollonius as a teacher of the hidden way. To these his comrades +([Greek: hetairous]) and pupils ([Greek: homiltas]), he devoted much +attention, being ever ready to answer their questions and give advice +and instruction. Not however that he neglected the people; it was his +invariable custom to teach them, but always after mid-day; for those who +lived the inner life,[85] he said, should on day's dawning enter the +presence of the Gods,[86] then spend the time till mid-day in giving and +receiving instruction in holy things, and not till after noon devote +themselves to human affairs. That is to say, the morning was devoted by +Apollonius to the divine science, and the afternoon to instruction in +ethics and practical life. After the day's work he bathed in cold water, +as did so many of the mystics of the time in those lands, notably the +Essenes and Therapeuts (i. 16). + +"After these things," says Philostratus, as vaguely as the writer of a +gospel narrative, Apollonius determined to visit the Brachmanes and +Sarmanes.[87] What induced our philosopher to make so long and dangerous +a journey nowhere appears from Philostratus, who simply says that +Apollonius thought it a good thing for a young man[88] to travel. It is +abundantly evident, however, that Apollonius never travelled merely for +the sake of travelling. What he does he does with a distinct purpose. +And his guides on this occasion, as he assures his disciples who tried +to dissuade him from his endeavour and refused to accompany him, were +wisdom and his inner monitor (dmon). "Since ye are faint-hearted," says +the solitary pilgrim, "I bid you farewell. As for myself I must go +whithersoever wisdom and my inner self may lead me. The Gods are my +advisers and I can but rely on their counsels" (i. 18). + + + + +SECTION VIII. + +THE TRAVELS OF APOLLONIUS. + + +And so Apollonius departs from Antioch and journeys on to Ninus, the +relic of the once great Nina or Nineveh. There he meets with Damis, who +becomes his constant companion and faithful disciple. "Let us go +together," says Damis in words reminding us somewhat of the words of +Ruth. "Thou shalt follow God, and I thee!" (i. 19). + +From this point Philostratus professes to base himself to a great extent +on the narrative of Damis, and before going further, it is necessary to +try to form some estimate of the character of Damis, and discover how +far he was admitted to the real confidence of Apollonius. + +Damis was an enthusiast who loved Apollonius with a passionate +affection. He saw in his master almost a divine being, possessed of +marvellous powers at which he continually wondered, but which he could +never understand. Like [=A]nanda, the favourite disciple of the Buddha +and his constant companion, Damis advanced but slowly in comprehension +of the real nature of spiritual science; he had ever to remain in the +outer courts of the temples and communities into whose shrines and inner +confidence Apollonius had full access, while he frequently states his +ignorance of his master's plans and purposes.[89] The additional fact +that he refers to his notes as the "crumbs"[90] from the "feasts of the +Gods" (i. 19), those feasts of which he could for the most part only +learn at secondhand what little Apollonius thought fit to tell him, and +which he doubtless largely misunderstood and clothed in his own +imaginings, would further confirm this view, if any further confirmation +were necessary. But indeed it is very manifest everywhere that Damis was +outside the circle of initiation, and this accounts both for his +wonder-loving point of view and his general superficiality. + +Another fact that comes out prominently from the narrative is his timid +nature.[91] He is continually afraid for himself or for his master; and +even towards the end, when Apollonius is imprisoned by Domitian, it +requires the phenomenal removal of the fetters before his eyes to +assure him that Apollonius is a willing victim. + +Damis loves and wonders; seizes on unimportant detail and exaggerates +it, while he can only report of the really important things what he +fancies to have taken place from a few hints of Apollonius. As his story +advances, it is true it takes on a soberer tint; but what Damis omits, +Philostratus is ever ready to supply from his own store of marvels, if +chance offers. + +Nevertheless, even were we with the scalpel of criticism to cut away +every morsel of flesh from this body of tradition and legend, there +would still remain a skeleton of fact that would still represent +Apollonius and give us some idea of his stature. + +Apollonius was one of the greatest travellers known to antiquity. Among +the countries and places he visited the following are the chief ones +recorded by Philostratus.[92] + +From Ninus (i. 19) Apollonius journeys to Babylon (i. 21), where he +stops one year and eight months (i. 40) and visits surrounding cities +such as Ecbatana, the capital of Media (i. 39); from Babylon to the +Indian frontier no names are mentioned; India was entered in every +probability by the Khaibar Pass (ii. 6),[93] for the first city +mentioned is Taxila (Attock) (ii. 20); and so they make their way across +the tributaries of the Indus (ii. 43) to the valley of the Ganges (iii. +5), and finally arrive at the "monastery of the wise men" (iii. 10), +where Apollonius spends four months (iii. 50). + +This monastery was presumably in Nep[=a]l; it is in the mountains, and +the "city" nearest it is called Paraca. The chaos that Philostratus has +made of Damis' account, and before him the wonderful transformations +Damis himself wrought in Indian names, are presumably shown in this +word. Paraca is perchance all that Damis could make of Bharata, the +general name of the Ganges valley in which the dominant [=A]ryas were +settled. It is also probable that these wise men were Buddhists, for +they dwelt in a [Greek: tyrsis], a place that looked like a fort or +fortress to Damis. + +I have little doubt that Philostratus could make nothing out of the +geography of India from the names in Damis' diary; they were all +unfamiliar to him, so that as soon as he has exhausted the few Greek +names known to him from the accounts of the expedition of Alexander, he +wanders in the "ends of the earth," and can make nothing of it till he +picks up our travellers again on their return journey at the mouth of +the Indus. The salient fact that Apollonius was making for a certain +community, which was his peculiar goal, so impressed the imagination of +Philostratus (and perhaps of Damis before him) that he has described it +as being the only centre of the kind in India. Apollonius went to India +with a purpose and returned from it with a distinct mission;[94] and +perchance his constant inquiries concerning the particular "wise men" +whom he was seeking, led Damis to imagine that they alone were the +"Gymnosophists," the "naked philosophers" (if we are to take the term in +its literal sense) of popular Greek legend, which ignorantly ascribed to +all the Hindu ascetics the most striking peculiarity of a very small +number. But to return to our itinerary. + +Philostratus embellishes the account of the voyage from the Indus to the +mouth of the Euphrates (iii. 52-58) with the travellers' tales and +names of islands and cities he has gleaned from the Indica which were +accessible to him, and so we again return to Babylon and familiar +geography with the following itinerary: + +Babylon, Ninus, Antioch, Seleucia, Cyprus; thence to Ionia (iii. 58), +where he spends some time in Asia Minor, especially at Ephesus (iv. 1), +Smyrna (iv. 5), Pergamus (iv. 9), and Troy (iv. 11). Thence Apollonius +crosses over to Lesbos (iv. 13), and subsequently sails for Athens, +where he spends some years in Greece (iv. 17-33) visiting the temples of +Hellas, reforming their rites and instructing the priests (iv. 24). We +next find him in Crete (iv. 34), and subsequently at Rome in the time of +Nero (iv. 36-46). + +In A.D. 66 Nero issued a decree forbidding any philosopher to remain in +Rome, and Apollonius set out for Spain, and landed at Gades, the modern +Cadiz; he seems to have stayed in Spain only a short time (iv. 47); +thence crossed to Africa, and so by sea once more to Sicily, where the +principal cities and temples were visited (v. 11-14). Thence Apollonius +returned to Greece (v. 18), four years having elapsed since his landing +at Athens from Lesbos (v. 19).[95] + +From Pirus our philosopher sails for Chios (v. 21), thence to Rhodes, +and so to Alexandria (v. 24). At Alexandria he spends some time, and has +several interviews with the future Emperor Vespasian (v. 27-41), and +thence he sets out on a long journey up the Nile as far as Ethiopia +beyond the cataracts, where he visits an interesting community of +ascetics called loosely Gymnosophists (vi. 1-27). + +On his return to Alexandria (vi. 28), he was summoned by Titus, who had +just become emperor, to meet him at Tarsus (vi. 29-34). After this +interview he appears to have returned to Egypt, for Philostratus speaks +vaguely of his spending some time in Lower Egypt, and of visits to the +Phoenicians, Cilicians, Ionians, Achans, and also to Italy (vi. 35). + +Now Vespasian was emperor from 69 to 79, and Titus from 79 to 81. As +Apollonius' interviews with Vespasian took place shortly before the +beginning of that emperor's reign, it is reasonable to conclude that a +number of years was spent by our philosopher in his Ethiopian journey, +and that therefore Damis' account is a most imperfect one. In 81 +Domitian became emperor, and just as Apollonius opposed the follies of +Nero, so did he criticise the acts of Domitian. He accordingly became an +object of suspicion to the emperor; but instead of keeping away from +Rome, he determined to brave the tyrant to his face. Crossing from Egypt +to Greece and taking ship at Corinth, he sailed by way of Sicily to +Puteoli, and thence to the Tiber mouth, and so to Rome (vii. 10-16). +Here Apollonius was tried and acquitted (vii. 17--viii. 10). Sailing +from Puteoli again Apollonius returned to Greece (viii. 15), where he +spent two years (viii. 24). Thence once more he crossed over to Ionia at +the time of the death of Domitian (viii. 25), visiting Smyrna and +Ephesus and other of his favourite haunts. Hereupon he sends away Damis +on some pretext to Rome (viii. 28) and--disappears; that is to say, if +it be allowed to speculate, he undertook yet another journey to the +place which he loved above all others, the "home of the wise men." + +Now Domitian was killed 96 A.D., and one of the last recorded acts of +Apollonius is his vision of this event at the time of its occurrence. +Therefore the trial of Apollonius at Rome took place somewhere about 93, +and we have a gap of twelve years from his interview with Titus in 81, +which Philostratus can only fill up with a few vague stories and +generalities. + +As to his age at the time of his mysterious disappearance from the +pages of history, Philostratus tells us that Damis says nothing; but +some, he adds, say he was eighty, some ninety, and some even an hundred. + +The estimate of eighty years seems to fit in best with the rest of the +chronological indications, but there is no certainty in the matter with +the present materials at our disposal. + +Such then is the geographical outline, so to say, of the life of +Apollonius, and even the most careless reader of the bare skeleton of +the journeys recorded by Philostratus must be struck by the indomitable +energy of the man, and his power of endurance. + +We will now turn our attention to one or two points of interest +connected with the temples and communities he visited. + + + + +SECTION IX. + +IN THE SHRINES OF THE TEMPLES AND THE RETREATS OF RELIGION. + + +Seeing that the nature of Apollonius' business with the priests of the +temples and the devotees of the mystic life was necessarily of a most +intimate and secret nature, for in those days it was the invariable +custom to draw a sharp line of demarcation between the inner and outer, +the initiated and the profane, it is not to be expected that we can +learn anything but mere externalities from the Damis-Philostratus +narrative; nevertheless, even these outer indications are of interest. + +The temple of sculapius at g, where Apollonius spent the most +impressionable years of his life, was one of the innumerable hospitals +of Greece, where the healing art was practised on lines totally +different to our present methods. We are at once introduced to an +atmosphere laden with psychic influences, to a centre whither for +centuries patients had flocked to "consult the God." In order to do so, +it was necessary for them to go through certain preliminary +purifications and follow certain rules given by the priests; they then +passed the night in the shrine and in their sleep instructions were +given them for their healing. This method, no doubt, was only resorted +to when the skill of the priest was exhausted; in any case, the priests +must have been deeply versed in the interpretation of these dreams and +in their rationale. It is also evident that as Apollonius loved to pass +his time in the temple, he must have found there satisfaction for his +spiritual needs, and instruction in the inner science; though doubtless +his own innate powers soon carried him beyond his instructors and marked +him out as the "favourite of the God." The many cases on record in our +own day of patients in trance or some other psychic condition +prescribing for themselves, will help the student to understand the +innumerable possibilities of healing which were in Greece summed up in +the personification sculapius. + +Later on the chief of the Indian sages has a disquisition on sculapius +and the healing art put into his mouth (iii. 44), where the whole of +medicine is said to be dependent upon psychic diagnosis and prescience +([Greek: manteia]). + +Finally it may be noticed that it was the invariable custom of patients +on their recovery to record the fact on an _ex-voto_ tablet in the +temple, precisely as is done to-day in Roman Catholic countries.[96] + +On his way to India Apollonius saw a good deal of the Magi at Babylon. +He used to visit them at mid-day and mid-night, but of what transpired +Damis knew nothing, for Apollonius would not permit him to accompany +him, and in answer to his direct questions would only answer: "They are +wise, but not in all things" (i. 26). + +The description of a certain hall, however, to which Apollonius had +access, seems to be a garbled version of the interior of the temple. The +roof was dome-shaped, and the ceiling was covered with "sapphire"; in +this blue heaven were models of the heavenly bodies ("those whom they +regard as Gods") fashioned in gold, as though moving in the ether. +Moreover from the roof were suspended four golden "Iygges" which the +Magi call the "Tongues of the Gods." These were winged-wheels or spheres +connected with the idea of Adrasteia (or Fate). Their prototypes are +described imperfectly in the Vision of Ezekiel, and the so-called +Hecatine _strophali_ or _spherul_ used in magical practices may have +been degenerate descendants of these "living wheels" or spheres of the +vital elements. The subject is one of intense interest, but hopelessly +incapable of treatment in our present age of scepticism and profound +ignorance of the past. The "Gods" who taught our infant humanity were, +according to occult tradition, from a humanity higher than that at +present evolving on our earth. They gave the impulse, and, when the +earth-children were old enough to stand on their own feet, they +withdrew. But the memory of their deeds and a corrupt and degenerate +form of the mysteries they established has ever lingered in the memory +of myth and legend. Seers have caught obscure glimpses of what they +taught and how they taught it, and the tradition of the Mysteries +preserved some memory of it in its symbols and instruments or engines. +The Iygges of the Magi are said to be a relic of this memory. + +With regard to the Indian sages it is impossible to make out any +consistent story from the fantastic jumble of the Damis-Philostratus +romance. Damis seems to have confused together a mixture of memories and +scraps of gossip without any attempt to distinguish one community or +sect from another, and so produced a blurred daub which Philostratus +would have us regard as a picture of the "hill" and a description of +its "sages." Damis' confused memories,[97] however, have little to do +with the actual monastery and its ascetic inhabitants, who were the goal +of Apollonius' long journey. What Apollonius heard and saw there, +following his invariable custom in such circumstances, he told no one, +not even Damis, except what could be derived from the following +enigmatical sentence: "I saw men dwelling on the earth and yet not on +it, defended on all sides, yet without any defence, and yet possessed of +nothing but what all possess." These words occur in two passages (iii. +15 and vi. 11), and in both Philostratus adds that Apollonius wrote[98] +and spoke them enigmatically. The meaning of this saying is not +difficult to divine. They were on the earth, but not of the earth, for +their minds were set on things above. They were protected by their +innate spiritual power, of which we have so many instances in Indian +literature; and yet they possessed nothing but what all men possess if +they would but develop the spiritual part of their being. But this +explanation is not simple enough for Philostratus, and so he presses +into service all the memories of Damis, or rather travellers' tales, +about levitation, magical illusions and the rest. + +The head of the community is called Iarchas, a totally un-Indian name. +The violence done to all foreign names by the Greeks is notorious, and +here we have to reckon with an army of ignorant copyists as well as with +Philostratus and Damis. I would suggest that the name may perhaps be a +corruption of Arhat.[99] + +The main burden of Damis' narrative insists on the psychic and spiritual +knowledge of the sages. They know what takes place at a distance, they +can tell the past and future, and read the past births of men. + +The messenger sent to meet Apollonius carried what Damis calls a golden +anchor (iii. 11, 17), and if this is an authentic fact, it would suggest +a forerunner of the Tibetan _dorje_, the present degenerate symbol of +the "rod of power," something like the thunder-bolt wielded by Zeus. +This would also point to a Buddhist community, though it must be +confessed that other indications point equally strongly to +Br[=a]hmanical customs, such as the caste-mark on the forehead of the +messenger (iii. 7, 11), the carrying of (bamboo) staves (da[n.][d.]a), +letting the hair grow long, and wearing of turbans (iii. 13). But indeed +the whole account is too confused to permit any hope of extracting +historical details. + +Of the nature of Apollonius' visit we may, however, judge from the +following mysterious letter to his hosts (iii. 51): + +"I came to you by land and ye have given me the sea; nay, rather, by +sharing with me your wisdom ye have given me power to travel through +heaven. These things will I bring back to the mind of the Greeks, and I +will hold converse with you as though ye were present, if it be that I +have not drunk of the cup of Tantalus in vain." + +It is evident from these cryptic sentences that the "sea" and the "cup +of Tantalus" are identical with the "wisdom" which had been imparted to +Apollonius--the wisdom which he was to bring back once more to the +memory of the Greeks. He thus clearly states that he returned from India +with a distinct mission and with the means to accomplish it, for not +only had he drunk of the ocean of wisdom in that he has learnt the +Brahm[=a]-vidy[=a] from their lips, but he has also learnt how to +converse with them though his body be in Greece and their bodies in +India. + +But such a plain meaning--plain at least to every student of occult +nature--was beyond the understanding of Damis or the comprehension of +Philostratus. And it is doubtless the mention of the "cup of +Tantalus"[100] in this letter which suggested the inexhaustible loving +cup episode in iii. 32, and its connection with the mythical fountains +of Bacchus. Damis presses it into service to "explain" the last phrase +in Apollonius' saying about the sages, namely, that they were "possessed +of nothing but what all possess"--which, however, appears elsewhere in a +changed form, as "possessing nothing, they have the possessions of all +men" (iii. 15).[101] + +On returning to Greece, one of the first shrines Apollonius visited was +that of Aphrodite at Paphos in Cyprus (iii. 58). The greatest external +peculiarity of the Paphian worship of Venus was the representation of +the goddess by a mysterious stone symbol. It seems to have been of the +size of a human being, but shaped like a pine-cone, only of course with +a smooth surface. Paphos was apparently the oldest shrine dedicated to +Venus in Greece. Its mysteries were very ancient, but not indigenous; +they were brought over from the mainland, from what was subsequently +Cilicia, in times of remote antiquity. + +The worship or consultation of the Goddess was by means of prayers and +the "pure flame of fire," and the temple was a great centre of +divination.[102] + +Apollonius spent some time here and instructed the priests at length +with regard to their sacred rites. + +In Asia Minor he was especially pleased with the temple of sculapius at +Pergamus; he healed many of the patients there, and gave instruction in +the proper methods to adopt in order to procure reliable results by +means of the prescriptive dreams. + +At Troy, we are told, Apollonius spent a night alone at the tomb of +Achilles, in former days one of the spots of greatest popular sanctity +in Greece (iv. 11). Why he did so does not transpire, for the fantastic +conversation with the shade of the hero reported by Philostratus (iv. +16) seems to be devoid of any element of likelihood. As, however, +Apollonius made it his business to visit Thessaly shortly afterwards +expressly to urge the Thessalians to renew the old accustomed rites to +the hero (iv. 13), we may suppose that it formed part of his great +effort to restore and purify the old institutions of Hellas, so that, +the accustomed channels being freed, the life might flow more healthily +in the national body. + +Rumour would also have it that Achilles had told Apollonius where he +would find the statue of the hero Palamedes on the coast of olia. +Apollonius accordingly restored the statue, and Philostratus tells us he +had seen it with his own eyes on the spot (iv. 13). + +Now this would be a matter of very little interest, were it not that a +great deal is made of Palamedes elsewhere in Philostratus' narrative. +What it all means is difficult to say with a Damis and Philostratus as +interpreters between ourselves and the silent and enigmatical +Apollonius. + +Palamedes was one of the heroes before Troy, who was fabled to have +invented letters, or to have completed the alphabet of Cadmus.[103] + +Now from two obscure sayings (iv. 13, 33), we glean that our philosopher +looked upon Palamedes as the philosopher-hero of the Trojan period, +although Homer says hardly a word about him. + +Was this, then, the reason why Apollonius was so anxious to restore his +statue? Not altogether so; there appears to have been a more direct +reason. Damis would have it that Apollonius had met Palamedes in India; +that he was at the monastery; that Iarchas had one day pointed out a +young ascetic who could "write without ever learning letters"; and that +this youth had been no other than Palamedes in one of his former +births. Doubtless the sceptic will say: "Of course! Pythagoras was a +reincarnation of the hero Euphorbus who fought at Troy, according to +popular superstition; therefore, naturally, the young Indian was the +reincarnation of the hero Palamedes! The one legend simply begat the +other." But on this principle, to be consistent, we should expect to +find that it was Apollonius himself and not an unknown Hindu ascetic, +who had been once Palamedes. + +In any case Apollonius restored the rites to Achilles, and erected a +chapel in which he set up the neglected statue of Palamedes.[104] The +heroes of the Trojan period, then, it would seem, had still some +connection with Greece, according to the science of the invisible world +into which Apollonius was initiated. And if the Protestant sceptic can +make nothing of it, at least the Roman Catholic reader may be induced to +suspend his judgment by changing "hero" into "saint." + +Can it be possible that the attention which Apollonius bestowed upon the +graves and funeral monuments of the mighty dead of Greece may have been +inspired by the circle of ideas which led to the erection of the +innumerable d[=a]gobas and st[=u]pas in Buddhist lands, originally over +the relics of the Buddha, and the subsequent preservation of relics of +arhats and great teachers? + +At Lesbos Apollonius visited the ancient temple of the Orphic mysteries, +which in early years had been a great centre of prophecy and divination. +Here also he was privileged to enter the inner shrine or adytum (iv. +14). + +The Tyanean arrived in Athens at the time of the Eleusinian Mysteries, +and in spite of the festival and rites not only the people but also the +candidates flocked to meet him to the neglect of their religious duties. +Apollonius rebuked them, and himself joined in the necessary preliminary +rites and presented himself for initiation. + +It may, perhaps, surprise the reader to hear that Apollonius, who had +already been initiated into higher privileges than Eleusis could afford, +should present himself for initiation. But the reason is not far to +seek; the Eleusinia constituted one of the intermediate organisations +between the popular cults and the genuine inner circles of instruction. +They preserved one of the traditions of the inner way, even if their +officers for the time being had forgotten what their predecessors had +once known. To restore these ancient rites to their purity, or to +utilise them for their original object, it was necessary to enter within +the precincts of the institution; nothing could be effected from +outside. The thing itself was good, and Apollonius desired to support +the ancient institution by setting the public example of seeking +initiation therein; not that he had anything to gain personally. + +But whether it was that the hierophant of that time was only ignorant, +or whether he was jealous of the great influence of Apollonius, he +refused to admit our philosopher, on the ground that he was a sorcerer +([Greek: gos]), and that no one could be initiated who was tainted by +intercourse with evil entities ([Greek: daimonia]). To this charge +Apollonius replied with veiled irony: "You have omitted the most serious +charge that might have been urged against me: to wit, that though I +really know more about the mystic rite than its hierophant, I have come +here pretending to desire initiation from men knowing more than myself." +This charge would have been true; he had made a pretence. + +Dismayed at these words, frightened at the indignation of the people +aroused by the insult offered to their distinguished guest, and overawed +by the presence of a knowledge which he could no longer deny, the +hierophant begged our philosopher to accept the initiation. But +Apollonius refused. "I will be initiated later on," he replied; "_he_ +will initiate me." This is said to have referred to the succeeding +hierophant, who presided when Apollonius was initiated four years later +(iv. 18; v. 19). + +While at Athens Apollonius spoke strongly against the effeminacy of the +Bacchanalia and the barbarities of the gladiatorial combats (iv. 21, +22). + +The temples, mentioned by Philostratus, which Apollonius visited in +Greece, have all the peculiarity of being very ancient; for instance, +Dodona, Delphi, the ancient shrine of Apollo at Ab in Phocis, the +"caves" of Amphiaraus[105] and Trophonius, and the temple of the Muses +on Helicon. + +When he entered the adyta of these temples for the purpose of +"restoring" the rites, he was accompanied only by the priests, and +certain of his immediate disciples ([Greek: gnrimoi]). This suggests an +extension to the meaning of the word "restoring" or "reforming," and +when we read elsewhere of the many spots consecrated by Apollonius, we +cannot but think that part of his work was the reconsecration, and hence +psychic purification, of many of these ancient centres. His main +external work, however, was the giving of instruction, and, as +Philostratus rhetorically phrases it, "bowls of his words were set up +everywhere for the thirsty to drink from" (iv. 24). + +But not only did our philosopher restore the ancient rites of religion, +he also paid much attention to the ancient polities and institutions. +Thus we find him urging with success the Spartans to return to their +ancient mode of life, their athletic exercises, frugal living, and the +discipline of the old Dorian tradition (iv. 27, 31-34); he, moreover, +specially praised the institution of the Olympic Games, the high +standard of which was still maintained (iv. 29), while he recalled the +ancient Amphictionic Council to its duty (iv. 23), and corrected the +abuses of the Panionian assembly (iv. 5). + +In the spring of 66 A.D. he left Greece for Crete, where he seems to +have bestowed most of his time on the sanctuaries of Mount Ida and the +temple of sculapius at Lebene ("for as all Asia visits Pergamus so does +all Crete visit Lebene"); but curiously enough he refused to visit the +famous Labyrinth at Gnossus, the ruins of which have just been uncovered +for a sceptical generation, most probably (if it is lawful to speculate) +because it had once been a centre of human sacrifice, and thus pertained +to one of the ancient cults of the left hand. + +In Rome Apollonius continued his work of reforming the temples, and this +with the full sanction of the Pontifex Maximus Telesinus, one of the +consuls for the year 66 A.D., who was also a philosopher and a deep +student of religion (iv. 40). But his stay in the imperial city was +speedily cut short, for in October Nero crowned his persecution of the +philosophers by publishing a decree of banishment against them from +Rome, and both Telesinus (vii. 11) and Apollonius had to leave Italy. + +We next find him in Spain, making his headquarters in the temple of +Hercules at Cadiz. + +On his return to Greece by way of Africa and Sicily (where he spent some +time and visited tna), he passed the winter (? of 67 A.D.) at Eleusis, +living in the temple, and in the spring of the following year sailed for +Alexandria, spending some time on the way at Rhodes. The city of +philosophy and eclecticism _par excellence_ received him with open arms +as an old friend. But to reform the public cults of Egypt was a far more +difficult task than any he had previously attempted. His presence in the +temple (? the temple of Serapis) commanded universal respect, everything +about him and every word he uttered seemed to breathe an atmosphere of +wisdom and of "something divine." The high priest of the temple looked +on in proud disdain. "Who is wise enough," he mockingly asked, "to +reform the religion of the Egyptians?"--only to be met with the +confident retort of Apollonius: "Any sage who comes from the Indians." +Here as elsewhere Apollonius set his face against blood-sacrifice, and +tried to substitute instead, as he had attempted elsewhere, the offering +of frankincense modelled in the form of the victim (v. 25). Many abuses +he tried to reform in the manners of the Alexandrians, but upon none was +he more severe than on their wild excitement over horse-racing, which +frequently led to bloodshed (v. 26). + +Apollonius seems to have spent most of the remaining twenty years of his +life in Egypt, but of what he did in the secret shrines of that land of +mystery we can learn nothing from Philostratus, except that on the +protracted journey to Ethiopia up the Nile no city or temple or +community was unvisited, and everywhere there was an interchange of +advice and instruction in sacred things (v. 43). + + + + +SECTION X. + +THE GYMNOSOPHISTS OF UPPER EGYPT. + + +We now come to Apollonius' visit to the "Gymnosophists" in "Ethiopia," +which, though the artistic and literary goal of Apollonius' journey in +Egypt as elaborated by Philostratus, is only a single incident in the +real history of the unrecorded life of our mysterious philosopher in +that ancient land. + +Had Philostratus devoted a chapter or two to the nature of the +practices, discipline, and doctrines of the innumerable ascetic and +mystic communities that honeycombed Egypt and adjacent lands in those +days, he would have earned the boundless gratitude of students of the +origins. But of all this he has no word; and yet he would have us +believe that Damis' reminiscences were an orderly series of notes of +what actually happened. But in all things it is very apparent that Damis +was rather a _compagnon de voyage_ than an initiated pupil. + +Who then were these mysterious "Gymnosophists," as they are usually +called, and whence their name? Damis calls them simply the "Naked" +([Greek: gymnoi]), and it is very clear that the term is not to be +understood as merely physically naked; indeed, neither to the Indians +nor to these ascetics of uppermost Egypt can the term be applied with +appropriateness in its purely physical meaning, as is apparent from the +descriptions of Damis and Philostratus. A chance sentence that falls +from the lips of one of these ascetics, in giving the story of his life, +affords us a clue to the real meaning of the term. "At the age of +fourteen," he tells Apollonius, "I resigned my patrimony to those who +desired such things, and _naked_ I sought the _Naked_" (vi. 16).[106] + +This is the very same diction that Philo uses about the Therapeut +communities, which he declares were very numerous in every province of +Egypt and scattered in all lands. We are not, however, to suppose that +these communities were all of the same nature. It is true that Philo +tries to make out that the most pious and the chief of all of them was +_his_ particular community on the southern shore of Lake Moeris, which +was strongly Semitic if not orthodoxly Jewish; and for Philo any +community with a Jewish atmosphere must naturally have been the best. +The peculiarity and main interest of our community, which was at the +other end of the land above the cataracts, was that it had had some +remote connection with India. + +The community is called a [Greek: phrontistrion], in the sense of a +place for meditation, a term used by ecclesiastical writers for a +monastery, but best known to classical students from the humorous use +made of it by Aristophanes, who in The Clouds calls the school of +Socrates, a _phrontist[=e]rion_ or "thinking shop." The collection of +_monasteria_ ([Greek: hiera]), presumably caves, shrines, or cells,[107] +was situated on a hill or rising ground not far from the Nile. They were +all separated from one another, dotted about the hill, and ingeniously +arranged. There was hardly a tree in the place, with the exception of a +single group of palms, under whose shade they held their general +meetings (vi. 6). + +It is difficult to gather from the set speeches, put into the mouths of +the head of the community and Apollonius (vi. 10-13, 18-22), any precise +details as to the mode of life of these ascetics, beyond the general +indications of an existence of great toil and physical hardship, which +they considered the only means of gaining wisdom. What the nature of +their cult was, if they had one, we are not told, except that at mid-day +the Naked retired to their _monasteria_ (vi. 14). + +The whole tendency of Apollonius' arguments, however, is to remind the +community of its Eastern origin and its former connection with India, +which it seems to have forgotten. The communities of this particular +kind in southern Egypt and northern Ethiopia dated back presumably some +centuries, and some of them may have been remotely Buddhist, for one of +the younger members of our community who left it to follow Apollonius, +says that he came to join it from the enthusiastic account of the wisdom +of the Indians brought back by his father, who had been captain of a +vessel trading to the East. It was his father who told him that these +"Ethiopians" were from India, and so he had joined them instead of +making the long and perilous journey to the Indus itself (vi. 16). + +If there be any truth in this story it follows that the founders of this +way of life had been Indian ascetics, and if so they must have belonged +to the only propagandising form of Indian religion, namely, the +Buddhist. + +After the impulse had been given, the communities, which were +presumably recruited from generations of Egyptians, Arabs, and +Ethiopians, were probably left entirely to themselves, and so in course +of time forgot their origin, and even perhaps their original rule. Such +speculations are permissible, owing to the _repeated_ assertion of the +original connection between these Gymnosophists and India. The whole +burden of the story is that they were Indians who had forgotten their +origin and fallen away from the wisdom. + +The last incident that Philostratus records with regard to Apollonius +among the shrines and temples is a visit to the famous and very ancient +oracle of Trophonius, near Lebadea, in Boeotia. Apollonius is said to +have spent seven days alone in this mysterious "cave," and to have +returned with a book full of questions and answers on the subject of +"philosophy" (viii. 19). This book was still, in the time of +Philostratus, in the palace of Hadrian at Antium, together with a number +of letters of Apollonius, and many people used to visit Antium for the +special purpose of seeing it (viii. 19, 20). + +In the hay-bundle of legendary rigmarole solemnly set down by +Philostratus concerning the cave of Trophonius, a small needle of truth +may perhaps be discovered. The "cave" seems to have been a very ancient +temple or shrine, cut in the heart of a hill, to which a number of +underground passages of considerable length led. It had probably been +in ancient times one of the most holy centres of the archaic cult of +Hellas, perhaps even a relic of that Greece of thousands of years B.C., +the only tradition of which, as Plato tells us, was obtained by Solon +from the priests of Sas. Or it may have been a subterranean shrine of +the same nature as the famous Dictan cave in Crete which only last year +was brought back to light by the indefatigable labours of Messrs. Evans +and Hogarth. + +As in the case of the travels of Apollonius, so with regard to the +temples and communities which he visited, Philostratus is a most +disappointing _cicerone_. But perhaps he is not to be blamed on this +account, for the most important and most interesting part of Apollonius' +work was of so intimate a nature, prosecuted as it was among +associations of such jealously-guarded secrecy, that no one outside +their ranks could know anything of it, and those who shared in their +initiation would say nothing. + +It is, therefore, only when Apollonius comes forward to do some public +act that we can get any precise historical trace of him; in every other +case he passes into the sanctuary of a temple or enters the privacy of a +community and is lost to view. + +It may perhaps surprise us that Apollonius, after sacrificing his +private fortune, could nevertheless undertake such long and expensive +travels, but it would seem that he was occasionally supplied with the +necessary monies from the treasuries of the temples (_cf._ viii. 17), +and that everywhere he was freely offered the hospitality of the temple +or community in the place where he happened to be staying. + +In conclusion of the present part of our subject, we may mention the +good service done by Apollonius in driving away certain Chaldan and +Egyptian charlatans who were making capital out of the fears of the +cities on the left shores of the Hellespont. These cities had suffered +severely from shocks of earthquake, and in their panic placed large sums +of money in the hands of these adventurers (who "trafficked in the +misfortunes of others"), in order that they might perform propitiatory +rites (vi. 41). This taking money for the giving instruction in the +sacred science or for the performance of sacred rites was the most +detestable of crimes to all the true philosophers. + + + + +SECTION XI. + +APOLLONIUS AND THE RULERS OF THE EMPIRE. + + +But not only did Apollonius vivify and reconsecrate the old centres of +religion for some inscrutable reason, and do what he could to help on +the religious life of the time in its multiplex phases, but he took a +decided, though indirect, part in influencing the destinies of the +Empire through the persons of its supreme rulers. + +This influence, however, was invariably of a moral and not of a +political nature. It was brought to bear by means of philosophical +converse and instruction, by word of mouth or letter. Just as Apollonius +on his travels conversed on philosophy, and discoursed on the life of a +wise man and the duties of a wise ruler, with kings,[108] rulers, and +magistrates, so he endeavoured to advise for their good those of the +emperors who would listen to him. + +Vespasian, Titus, and Nerva were all, prior to their elevation to the +purple, friends and admirers of Apollonius, while Nero and Domitian +regarded the philosopher with dismay. + +During Apollonius' short stay in Rome, in 66 A.D., although he never let +the slightest word escape him that could be construed by the numerous +informers into a treasonable utterance, he was nevertheless brought +before Tigellinus, the infamous favourite of Nero, and subjected to a +severe cross-examination. Apparently up to this time Apollonius, working +for the future, had confined his attention entirely to the reformation +of religion and the restoration of the ancient institutions of the +nations, but the tyrannical conduct of Nero, which gave peace not even +to the most blameless philosophers, at length opened his eyes to a more +immediate evil, which seemed no less than the abrogation of the liberty +of conscience by an irresponsible tyranny. From this time onwards, +therefore, we find him keenly interested in the persons of the +successive emperors. + +Indeed Damis, although he confesses his entire ignorance of the purpose +of Apollonius' journey to Spain after his expulsion from Rome, would +have it that it was to aid the forthcoming revolt against Nero. He +conjectures this from a three days' secret interview that Apollonius had +with the Governor of the Province of Btica, who came to Cadiz +especially to see him, and declares that the last words of Apollonius' +visitor were: "Farewell, and remember Vindex" (v. 10). + +It is true that almost immediately afterwards the revolt of Vindex, the +Governor of Gaul, broke out, but the whole life and character of +Apollonius is opposed to any idea of political intrigue; on the +contrary, he bravely withstood tyranny and injustice to the face. He was +opposed to the idea of Euphrates, a philosopher of quite a different +stamp, who would have put an end to the monarchy and restored the +republic (v. 33); he believed that government by a monarch was the best +for the Empire, but he desired above all other things to see the "flock +of mankind" led by a "wise and faithful shepherd" (v. 35). + +So that though Apollonius supported Vespasian as long as he worthily +tried to follow out this ideal, he immediately rebuked him to his face +when he deprived the Greek cities of their privileges. "You have +enslaved Greece," he wrote. "You have reduced a free people to slavery" +(v. 41). Nevertheless, in spite of this rebuke, Vespasian in his last +letter to his son Titus, confesses that they are what they are solely +owing to the good advice of Apollonius (v. 30). + +Equally so he journeyed to Rome to meet Domitian face to face, and +though he was put on trial and every effort made to prove him guilty of +treasonable plotting with Nerva, he could not be convicted of anything +of a political nature. Nerva was a good man, he told the emperor, and no +traitor. Not that Domitian had really any suspicion that Apollonius was +personally plotting against him; he cast him into prison solely in the +hope that he might induce the philosopher to disclose the confidences of +Nerva and other prominent men who were objects of suspicion to him, and +who he imagined had consulted Apollonius on their chances of success. +Apollonius' business was not with politics, but with the "princes who +asked him for his advice on the subject of virtue" (vi. 43). + + + + +SECTION XII. + +APOLLONIUS THE PROPHET AND WONDER-WORKER. + + +We will now turn our attention for a brief space to that side of +Apollonius' life which has made him the subject of invincible prejudice. +Apollonius was not only a philosopher, in the sense of being a +theoretical speculator or of being the follower of an ordered mode of +life schooled in the discipline of resignation; he was also a +philosopher in the original Pythagorean meaning of the term--a knower of +Nature's secrets, who thus could speak as one having authority. + +He knew the hidden things of Nature by sight and not by hearing; for him +the path of philosophy was a life whereby the man himself became an +instrument of knowing. Religion, for Apollonius, was not a faith only, +it was a science. For him the shows of things were but ever-changing +appearances; cults and rites, religions and faiths, were all one to him, +provided the right spirit were behind them. The Tyanean knew no +differences of race or creed; such narrow limitations were not for the +philosopher. + +Beyond all others would he have laughed to hear the word "miracle" +applied to his doings. "Miracle," in its Christian theological sense, +was an unknown term in antiquity, and is a vestige of superstition +to-day. For though many believe that it is possible by means of the soul +to effect a multitude of things beyond the possibilities of a science +which is confined entirely to the investigation of physical forces, none +but the unthinking believe that there can be any interference in the +working of the laws which Deity has impressed upon Nature--the credo of +Miraculists. + +Most of the recorded wonder-doings of Apollonius are cases of prophecy +or foreseeing; of seeing at a distance and seeing the past; of seeing or +hearing in vision; of healing the sick or curing cases of obsession or +possession. + +Already as a youth, in the temple at g, Apollonius gave signs of the +possession of the rudiments of this psychic insight; not only did he +sense correctly the nature of the dark past of a rich but unworthy +suppliant who desired the restoration of his eyesight, but he foretold, +though unclearly, the evil end of one who made an attempt upon his +innocence (i. 12). + +On meeting with Damis, his future faithful henchman volunteered his +services for the long journey to India on the ground that he knew the +languages of several of the countries through which they had to pass. +"But I understand them all, though I have learned none of them," +answered Apollonius, in his usual enigmatical fashion, and added: +"Marvel not that I know all the tongues of men, for I know even what +they never say" (i. 19). And by this he meant simply that he could read +men's thoughts, not that he could speak all languages. But Damis and +Philostratus cannot understand so simple a fact of psychic experience; +they will have it that he knew not only the language of all men, but +also of birds and beasts (i. 20). + +In his conversation with the Babylonian monarch Vardan, Apollonius +distinctly claims foreknowledge. He says that he is a physician of the +soul and can free the king from the diseases of the mind, not only +because he knows what ought to be done, that is to say the proper +discipline taught in the Pythagorean and similar schools, but also +because he foreknows the nature of the king (i. 32). Indeed we are told +that the subject of foreknowledge ([Greek: prognses]), of which +science ([Greek: sophia]) Apollonius was a deep student, was one of the +principal topics discussed by our philosopher and his Indian hosts (iii. +42). + +In fact, as Apollonius tells his philosophical and studious friend the +Roman Consul Telesinus, for him wisdom was a kind of divinizing or +making divine of the whole nature, a sort of perpetual state of +inspiration ([Greek: theiasmos]) (iv. 40). And so we are told that +Apollonius was apprised of all things of this nature by the energy of +his dmonial nature ([Greek: daimonis]) (vii. 10). Now for the student +of the Pythagorean and Platonic schools the "dmon" of a man was what +may be called the higher self, the spiritual side of the soul as +distinguished from the purely human. It is the better part of the man, +and when his physical consciousness is at-oned with this "dweller in +heaven," he has (according to the highest mystic philosophy of ancient +Greece) while still on earth the powers of those incorporeal +intermediate beings between Gods and men called "dmons"; a stage higher +still, the living man becomes at-oned with his divine soul, he becomes a +God on earth; and yet a stage higher he becomes at one with the Good and +so becomes God. + +Hence we find Apollonius indignantly rejecting the accusation of magic +ignorantly brought against him, an art which achieved its results by +means of compacts with those low entities with which the outermost realm +of inner Nature swarms. Our philosopher repudiated equally the idea of +his being a soothsayer or diviner. With such arts he would have nothing +to do; if ever he uttered anything which savoured of foreknowledge, let +them know it was not by divination in the vulgar sense, but owing to +"that wisdom which God reveals to the wise" (iv. 44). + +The most numerous wonder-doings ascribed to Apollonius are instances +precisely of such foreknowledge or prophecy.[109] It must be confessed +that the utterances recorded are often obscure and enigmatical, but this +is the usual case with such prophecy; for future events are most +frequently either seen in symbolic representations, the meaning of which +is not clear until after the event, or heard in equally enigmatical +sentences. At times, however, we have instances of very precise +foreknowledge, such as the refusal of Apollonius to go on board a vessel +which foundered on the voyage (v. 18). + +The instances of seeing present events at a distance, however--such as +the burning of a temple at Rome, which Apollonius saw while at +Alexandria--are clear enough. Indeed, if people know nothing else of the +Tyanean, they have at least heard how he saw at Ephesus the +assassination of Domitian at Rome at the very moment of its occurrence. + +It was mid-day, to quote from the graphic account of Philostratus, and +Apollonius was in one of the small parks or groves in the suburbs, +engaged in delivering an address on some absorbing topic of philosophy. +"At first he sank his voice as though in some apprehension; he, however, +continued his exposition, but haltingly, and with far less force than +usual, as a man who had some other subject in his mind than that on +which he is speaking; finally he ceased speaking altogether as though he +could not find his words. Then staring fixedly on the ground, he started +forward three or four paces, crying out: 'Strike the tyrant; strike!' +And this, not like a man who sees an image in a mirror, but as one with +the actual scene before his eyes, as though he were himself taking part +in it." + +Turning to his astonished audience he told them what he had seen. But +though they hoped it were true, they refused to believe it, and thought +that Apollonius had taken leave of his senses. But the philosopher +gently answered: You, on your part, are right to suspend your rejoicings +till the news is brought you in the usual fashion; "as for me, I go to +return thanks to the Gods for what I have myself seen" (viii. 26). + +Little wonder, then, if we read, not only of a number of symbolic +dreams, but of their proper interpretation, one of the most important +branches of the esoteric discipline of the school. (See especially i. 23 +and iv. 34.) Nor are we surprised to hear that Apollonius, relying +entirely on his inner knowledge, was instrumental in obtaining the +reprieve of an innocent man at Alexandria, who was on the point of being +executed with a batch of criminals (v. 24). Indeed, he seems to have +known the secret past of many with whom he came in contact (vi. 3, 5). + +The possession of such powers can put but little strain on the belief of +a generation like our own, to which such facts of psychic science are +becoming with every day more familiar. Nor should instances of curing +disease by mesmeric processes astonish us, or even the so-called +"casting out of evil spirits," if we give credence to the Gospel +narrative and are familiar with the general history of the times in +which such healing of possession and obsession was a commonplace. This, +however, does not condemn us to any endorsement of the fantastic +descriptions of such happenings in which Philostratus indulges. If it be +credible that Apollonius was successful in dealing with obscure mental +cases--cases of obsession and possession--with which our hospitals and +asylums are filled to-day, and which are for the most part beyond the +skill of official science owing to its ignorance of the real agencies at +work, it is equally evident that Damis and Philostratus had little +understanding of the matter, and have given full rein to their +imagination in their narratives. (See ii. 4; iv. 20, 25; v. 42; vi. 27, +43.) Perhaps, however, Philostratus in some instances is only repeating +popular legend, the best case of which is the curing of the plague at +Ephesus which the Tyanean had foretold on so many occasions. Popular +legend would have it that the cause of the plague was traced to an old +beggar man, who was buried under a heap of stones by the infuriated +populace. On Apollonius ordering the stones to be removed, it was found +that what had been a beggar man was now a mad dog foaming at the mouth +(iv. 10)! + +On the contrary, the account of Apollonius' "restoring to life" a young +girl of noble birth at Rome, is told with great moderation. Our +philosopher seems to have met the funeral procession by chance; +whereupon he suddenly went up to the bier, and, after making some passes +over the maiden, and saying some inaudible words, "waked her out of her +seeming death." But, says Damis, "whether Apollonius noticed that the +spark of the soul was still alive which her friends had failed to +perceive--they say it was raining lightly and a slight vapour showed on +her face--or whether he made the life in her warm again and so restored +her," neither himself nor any who were present could say (iv. 45). + +Of a distinctly more phenomenal nature are the stories of Apollonius +causing the writing to disappear from the tablets of one of his accusers +before Tigellinus (iv. 44); of his drawing his leg out of the fetters to +show Damis that he was not really a prisoner though chained in the +dungeons of Domitian (vii. 38); and of his "disappearing" ([Greek: +phanisth]) from the tribunal (viii. 5).[110] + +We are not, however, to suppose that Apollonius despised or neglected +the study of physical phenomena in his devotion to the inner science of +things. On the contrary, we have several instances of his rejection of +mythology in favour of a physical explanation of natural phenomena. +Such, for instance, are his explanations of the volcanic activity of +tna (v. 14, 17), and of a tidal wave in Crete, the latter being +accompanied with a correct indication of the more immediate result of +the occurrence. In fact an island had been thrown up far out to sea by a +submarine disturbance as was subsequently ascertained (iv. 34). The +explanation of the tides at Cadiz may also be placed in the same +category (v. 2). + + + + +SECTION XIII. + +HIS MODE OF LIFE. + + +We will now present the reader with some general indications of the mode +of life of Apollonius, and the manner of his teaching, of which already +something has been said under the heading "Early Life." + +Our philosopher was an enthusiastic follower of the Pythagorean +discipline; nay, Philostratus would have us believe that he made more +superhuman efforts to reach wisdom than even the great Samian (i. 2). +The outer forms of this discipline as exemplified in Pythagoras are thus +summed up by our author. + +"Naught would he wear that came from a dead beast, nor touch a morsel of +a thing that once had life, nor offer it in sacrifice; not for him to +stain with blood the altars; but honey-cakes and incense, and the +service of his song went upward from the man unto the Gods, for well he +knew that they would take such gifts far rather than the oxen in their +hundreds with the knife. For he, in sooth, held converse with the Gods +and learned from them how they were pleased with men and how displeased, +and thence as well he drew his nature-lore. As for the rest, he said, +they guessed at the divine, and held opinions on the Gods which proved +each other false; but unto him Apollo's self did come, confessed, +without disguise,[111] and there did come as well, though unconfessed, +Athena and the Muses, and other Gods whose forms and names mankind did +not yet know." + +Hence his disciples regarded Pythagoras as an inspired teacher, and +received his rules as laws. "In particular did they keep the rule of +silence regarding the divine science. For they heard within them many +divine and unspeakable things on which it would have been difficult for +them to keep silence, had they not first learned that it was just this +silence which spoke to them" (i. 1). + +Such was the general declaration of the nature of the Pythagorean +discipline by its disciples. But, says Apollonius in his address to the +Gymnosophists, Pythagoras was not the inventor of it. It was the +immemorial wisdom, and Pythagoras himself had learnt it from the +Indians.[112] This wisdom, he continued, had spoken to him in his youth; +she had said: + +"For sense, young sir, I have no charms; my cup is filled with toils +unto the brim. Would anyone embrace my way of life, he must resolve to +banish from his board all food that once bore life, to lose the memory +of wine, and thus no more to wisdom's cup befoul--the cup that doth +consist of wine-untainted souls. Nor shall wool warm him, nor aught +that's made from any beast. I give my servants shoes of bast and as they +can to sleep. And if I find them overcome with love's delights, I've +ready pits down into which that justice which doth follow hard on +wisdom's foot, doth drag and thrust them; indeed, so stern am I to those +who choose my way, that e'en upon their tongues I bind a chain. Now hear +from me what things thou'lt gain, if thou endure. An innate sense of +fitness and of right, and ne'er to feel that any's lot is better than +thy own; tyrants to strike with fear instead of being a fearsome slave +to tyranny; to have the Gods more greatly bless thy scanty gifts than +those who pour before them blood of bulls. If thou art pure, I'll give +thee how to know what things will be as well, and fill thy eyes so full +of light, that thou may'st recognise the Gods, the heroes know, and +prove and try the shadowy forms that feign the shapes of men" (vi. 11). + +The whole life of Apollonius shows that he tried to carry out +consistently this rule of life, and the repeated statements that he +would never join in the blood-sacrifices of the popular cults (see +especially i. 24, 31; iv. 11; v. 25), but openly condemned them, show +not only that the Pythagorean school had ever set the example of the +higher way of purer offerings, but that they were not only not condemned +and persecuted as heretics on this account, but were rather regarded as +being of peculiar sanctity, and as following a life superior to that of +ordinary mortals. + +The refraining from the flesh of animals, however, was not simply based +upon ideas of purity, it found additional sanction in the positive love +of the lower kingdoms and the horror of inflicting pain on any living +creature. Thus Apollonius bluntly refused to take any part in the chase, +when invited to do so by his royal host at Babylon. "Sire," he replied, +"have you forgotten that even when you sacrifice I will not be present? +Much less then would I do these beasts to death, and all the more when +their spirit is broken and they are penned in contrary to their nature" +(i. 38).[113] + +But though Apollonius was an unflinching task-master unto himself, he +did not wish to impose his mode of life on others, even on his personal +friends and companions (provided of course they did not adopt it of +their own free will). Thus he tells Damis that he has no wish to +prohibit him from eating flesh and drinking wine, he simply demands the +right of refraining himself and of defending his conduct if called on to +do so (ii. 7). This is an additional indication that Damis was not a +member of the inner circle of discipline, and the latter fact explains +why so faithful a follower of the person of Apollonius was nevertheless +so much in the dark. + +Not only so, but Apollonius even dissuades the R[=a]j[=a]h Phraotes, his +first host in India, who desired to adopt his strict rule, from doing +so, on the ground that it would estrange him too much from his subjects +(ii. 37). + +Three times a day Apollonius prayed and meditated; at daybreak (vi. 10, +18; vii. 31), at mid-day (vii. 10), and at sun-down (viii. 13). This +seems to have been his invariable custom; no matter where he was he +seems to have devoted at least a few moments to silent meditation at +these times. The object of his worship is always said to have been the +"Sun," that is to say the Lord of our world and its sister worlds, whose +glorious symbol is the orb of day. + +We have already seen in the short sketch devoted to his "Early Life" how +he divided the day and portioned out his time among his different +classes of hearers and inquirers. His style of teaching and speaking was +the opposite of that of a rhetorician or professional orator. There was +no art in his sentences, no striving after effect, no affectation. But +he spoke "as from a tripod," with such words as "I know," "Methinks," +"Why do ye," "Ye should know." His sentences were short and compact, and +his words carried conviction with them and fitted the facts. His task, +he declared, was no longer to seek and to question as he had done in his +youth, but to teach what he knew (i. 17). He did not use the dialectic +of the Socratic school, but would have his hearers turn from all else +and give ear to the inner voice of philosophy alone (iv. 2). He drew his +illustrations from any chance occurrence or homely happening (iv. 3; vi. +3, 38), and pressed all into service for the improvement of his +listeners. + +When put on his trial, he would make no preparation for his defence. He +had lived his life as it came from day to day, prepared for death, and +would continue to do so (viii. 30). Moreover it was now his deliberate +choice to challenge death in the cause of philosophy. And so to his old +friend's repeated solicitations to prepare his defence, he replied: + +"Damis, you seem to lose your wits in face of death, though you have +been so long with me and I have loved philosophy e'en from my +youth;[114] I thought that you were both yourself prepared for death and +knew full well my generalship in this. For just as warriors in the field +have need not only of good courage but also of that generalship which +tells them when to fight, so too must they who wisdom love make careful +study of good times to die, that they may choose the best and not be +done to death all unprepared. That I have chosen best and picked the +moment which suits wisdom best to give death battle--if so it be that +any one should wish to slay me--I've proved to other friends when you +were by, nor ever ceased to teach you it alone" (vii. 31). + +The above are some few indications of how our philosopher lived, in fear +of nothing but disloyalty to his high ideal. We will now make mention of +some of his more personal traits, and of some of the names of his +followers. + + + + +SECTION XIV. + +HIMSELF AND HIS CIRCLE. + + +Apollonius is said to have been very beautiful to look upon (i. 7, 12; +iv. 1);[115] but beyond this we have no very definite description of his +person. His manner was ever mild and gentle (i. 36; ii. 22) and modest +(iv. 31; viii. 15), and in this, says Damis, he was more like an Indian +than a Greek (iii. 36); yet occasionally he burst out indignantly +against some special enormity (iv. 30). His mood was often pensive (i. +34), and when not speaking he would remain for long plunged in deep +thought, during which his eyes were steadfastly fixed on the ground (i. +10 et al.). + +Though, as we have seen, he was inflexibly stern with himself, he was +ever ready to make excuses for others; if, on the one hand, he praised +the courage of those few who remained with him at Rome, on the other he +refused to blame for their cowardice the many who had fled (iv. 38). Nor +was his gentleness shown simply by abstention from blame, he was ever +active in positive deeds of compassion (cf. vi. 39). + +One of his little peculiarities was a liking to be addressed as +"Tyanean" (vii. 38), but why this was so we are not told. It can hardly +have been that Apollonius was particularly proud of his birth-place, for +even though he was a great lover of Greece, so that at times you would +call him an enthusiastic patriot, his love for other countries was +quite as pronounced. Apollonius was a citizen of the world, if there has +ever been one, into whose speech the word native-land did not enter, and +a priest of universal religion in whose vocabulary the word sect did not +exist. + +In spite of his extremely ascetic life he was a man of strong physique, +so that even when he had reached the ripe age of four-score years, we +are told, he was sound and healthy in every limb and organ, upright and +perfectly formed. There was also a certain indefinite charm about him +that made him more pleasant to look upon than even the freshness of +youth, and this even though his face was furrowed with wrinkles, just as +the statues in the temple at Tyana represented him in the time of +Philostratus. In fact, says his rhetorical biographer, report sang +higher praises over the charm of Apollonius in his old age than over the +beauty of Alcibiades in his youth (viii. 29). + +In brief, our philosopher seems to have been of a most charming presence +and lovable disposition; nor was his absolute devotion to philosophy of +the nature of the hermit ideal, for he passed his life among men. What +wonder then that he attracted to himself many followers and disciples! +It would have been interesting if Philostratus had told us more about +these "Apollonians," as they were called (viii. 21), and whether they +constituted a distinct school, or whether they were grouped together in +communities on the Pythagorean model, or whether they were simply +independent students attracted to the most commanding personality of the +times in the domain of philosophy. It is, however, certain that many of +them wore the same dress as himself and followed his mode of life (iv. +39). Repeated mention is also made of their accompanying Apollonius on +his travels (iv. 47; v. 21; viii. 19, 21, 24), sometimes as many as ten +of them at the same time, but none of them were allowed to address +others until they had fulfilled the vow of silence (v. 43). + +The most distinguished of his followers were Musonius, who was +considered the greatest philosopher of the time after the Tyanean, and +who was the special victim of Nero's tyranny (iv. 44; v. 19; vii. 16), +and Demetrius, "who loved Apollonius" (iv. 25, 42; v. 19; vi. 31; vii. +10; viii. 10). These names are well known to history; of names otherwise +unknown are the Egyptian Dioscorides, who was left behind owing to weak +health on the long journey to Ethiopia (iv. 11, 38; v. 43), Menippus, +whom he had freed from an obsession (iv. 25, 38; v. 43), Phdimus (iv. +11), and Nilus, who joined him from Gymnosophists (v. 10 _sqq._, 28), +and of course Damis, who would have us think that he was always with +him from the time of their meeting at Ninus. + +On the whole we are inclined to think that Apollonius did not establish +any fresh organisation; he made use of those already existing, and his +disciples were those who were attracted to him personally by an +overmastering affection which could only be satisfied by being +continually near him. This much seems certain, that he trained no one to +carry on his task; he came and went, helping and illuminating, but he +handed on no tradition of a definite line, and founded no school to be +continued by successors. Even to his ever faithful companion, when +bidding him farewell for what he knew would be the last time for Damis +on earth, he had no word to say about the work to which he had devoted +his life, but which Damis had never understood. His last words were for +Damis alone, for the man who had loved him, but who had never known him. +It was a promise to come to him if he needed help. "Damis, whenever you +think on high matters in solitary meditation, you shall see me" (viii. +28). + +We will next turn our attention to a consideration of some of the +sayings ascribed to Apollonius and the speeches put into his mouth by +Philostratus. The shorter sayings are in all probability authentically +traditional, but the speeches are for the most part manifestly the +artistic working-up of the rough notes of Damis. In fact, they are +definitely declared to be so; but they are none the less interesting on +this account, and for two reasons. + +In the first place, they honestly avow their nature, and make no claim +of inspiration; they are confessedly human documents which endeavour to +give a literary dress to the traditional body of thought and endeavour +which the life of the philosopher built into the minds of his hearers. +The method was common to antiquity, and the ancient compilers of certain +other series of famous documents would have been struck with amazement +had they been able to see how posterity would divinise their efforts and +regard them as immediately inspired by the source of all wisdom. + +In the second place, although we are not to suppose that we are reading +the actual words of Apollonius, we are nevertheless conscious of being +in immediate contact with the inner atmosphere of the best religious +thought of the Greek mind, and have before our eyes the picture of a +mystic and spiritual fermentation which leavened all strata of society +in the first century of our era. + + + + +SECTION XV. + +FROM HIS SAYINGS AND SERMONS. + + +Apollonius believed in prayer, but how differently from the vulgar. For +him the idea that the Gods could be swayed from the path of rigid +justice by the entreaties of men, was a blasphemy; that the Gods could +be made parties to our selfish hopes and fears was to our philosopher +unthinkable. One thing alone he knew, that the Gods were the ministers +of right and the rigid dispensers of just desert. The common belief, +which has persisted to our own day, that God can be swayed from His +purpose, that compacts could be made with Him or with His ministers, was +entirely abhorrent to Apollonius. Beings with whom such pacts could be +made, who could be swayed and turned, were not Gods but less than men. +And so we find Apollonius as a youth conversing with one of the priests +of sculapius as follows: + +"Since then the Gods know all things, I think that one who enters the +temple with a right conscience within him should pray thus: 'Give me, +ye Gods, what is my due!'" (i. 11). + +And thus again on his long journey to India he prayed at Babylon: "God +of the sun, send thou me o'er the earth so far as e'er 'tis good for +Thee and me; and may I come to know the good, and never know the bad nor +they know me" (i. 31). + +One of his most general prayers, Damis tells us, was to this effect: +"Grant me, ye Gods, to have little and need naught" (i. 34). + +"When you enter the temples, for what do you pray?" asked the Pontifex +Maximus Telesinus of our philosopher. "I pray," said Apollonius, "that +righteousness may rule, the laws remain unbroken, the wise be poor and +others rich, but honestly" (iv. 40). + +The belief of the philosopher in the grand ideal of having nothing and +yet possessing all things, is exemplified by his reply to the officer +who asked him how he dared enter the dominions of Babylon without +permission. "The whole earth," said Apollonius, "is mine; and it is +given me to journey through it" (i. 21). + +There are many instances of sums of money being offered to Apollonius +for his services, but he invariably refused them; not only so but his +followers also refused all presents. On the occasion when King Vardan, +with true Oriental generosity, offered them gifts, they turned away; +whereupon Apollonius said: "You see, my hands, though many, are all like +each other." And when the king asked Apollonius what present he would +bring him back from India, our philosopher replied: "A gift that will +please you, sire. For if my stay there should make me wiser, I shall +come back to you better than I am" (i. 41). + +When they were crossing the great mountains into India a conversation is +said to have taken place between Apollonius and Damis, which presents us +with a good instance of how our philosopher ever used the incidents of +the day to inculcate the higher lessons of life. The question was +concerning the "below" and "above." Yesterday, said Damis, we were +_below_ in the valley; to-day we are _above_, high on the mountains, not +far distant from heaven. So this is what you mean by "below" and +"above," said Apollonius gently. Why, of course, impatiently retorted +Damis, if I am in my right mind; what need of such useless questions? +And have you acquired a greater knowledge of the divine nature by being +nearer heaven on the tops of the mountains? continued his master. Do you +think that those who observe the heaven from the mountain heights are +any nearer the understanding of things? Truth to tell, replied Damis, +somewhat crestfallen, I _did_ think I should come down wiser, for I've +been up a higher mountain than any of them, but I fear I know no more +than before I ascended it. Nor do other men, replied Apollonius; "such +observations make them see the heavens more blue, the stars more large, +and the sun rise from the night, things known to those who tend the +sheep and goats; but how God doth take thought for human kind, and how +He doth find pleasure in their service, and what is virtue, +righteousness, and common-sense, that neither Athos will reveal to those +who scale his summit nor yet Olympus who stirs the poet's wonder, unless +it be the soul perceive them; for should the soul when pure and +unalloyed essay such heights, I swear to thee, she wings her flight far +far beyond this lofty Caucasus" (ii. 6). + +So again, when at Thermopyl his followers were disputing as to which +was the highest ground in Greece, Mt. Oeta being then in view. They +happened to be just at the foot of the hill on which the Spartans fell +overwhelmed with arrows. Climbing to the top of it Apollonius cried out: +"And I think _this_ the highest ground, for those who fell here for +freedom's sake have made it high as Oeta and raised it far above a +thousand of Olympuses" (iv. 23). + +Another instance of how Apollonius turned chance happenings to good +account is the following. Once at Ephesus, in one of the covered walks +near the city, he was speaking of sharing our goods with others, and how +we ought mutually to help one another. It chanced that a number of +sparrows were sitting on a tree hard by in perfect silence. Suddenly +another sparrow flew up and began chirping, as though it wanted to tell +the others something. Whereupon the little fellows all set to a-chirping +also, and flew away after the new-comer. Apollonius' superstitious +audience were greatly struck by this conduct of the sparrows, and +thought it was an augury of some important matter. But the philosopher +continued with his sermon. The sparrow, he said, has invited his friends +to a banquet. A boy slipped down in a lane hard by and spilt some corn +he was carrying in a bowl; he picked up most of it and went away. The +little sparrow, chancing on the scattered grains, immediately flew off +to invite his friends to the feast. + +Thereon most of the crowd went off at a run to see if it were true, and +when they came back shouting and all agog with wonderment, the +philosopher continued: "Ye see what care the sparrows take of one +another, and how happy they are to share with all their goods. And yet +we men do not approve; nay, if we see a man sharing his goods with +other men, we call it wastefulness, extravagance, and by such names, and +dub the men to whom he gives a share, fawners and parasites. What then +is left to us except to shut us up at home like fattening birds, and +gorge our bellies in the dark until we burst with fat?" (iv. 3). + +On another occasion, at Smyrna, Apollonius, seeing a ship getting under +weigh, used the occasion for teaching the people the lesson of +co-operation. "Behold the vessel's crew!" he said. "How some have manned +the boats, some raise the anchors up and make them fast, some set the +sails to catch the wind, how others yet again look out at bow and stern. +But if a single man should fail to do a single one of these his duties, +or bungle in his seamanship, their sailing will be bad, and they will +have the storm among them. But if they strive in rivalry each with the +other, their only strife being that no man shall seem worse than his +mates, fair havens shall there be for such a ship, and all good weather +and fair voyage crowd in upon it" (iv. 9). + +Again, on another occasion, at Rhodes, Damis asked him if he thought +anything greater than the famous Colossus. "I do," replied Apollonius; +"the man who walks in wisdom's guileless paths that give us health" (v. +21). + +There is also a number of instances of witty or sarcastic answers +reported of our philosopher, and indeed, in spite of his generally grave +mood, he not unfrequently rallied his hearers, and sometimes, if we may +say so, chaffed the foolishness out of them (see especially iv. 30). + +Even in times of great danger this characteristic shows itself. A good +instance is his answer to the dangerous question of Tigellinus, "What +think you of Nero?" "I think better of him than you do," retorted +Apollonius, "for you think he ought to sing, and I think he ought to +keep silence" (iv. 44). + +So again his reproof to a young Croesus of the period is as witty as it +is wise. "Young sir," he said, "methinks it is not you who own your +house, but your house you" (v. 22). + +Of the same style also is his answer to a glutton who boasted of his +gluttony. He copied Hercules, he said, who was as famous for the food he +ate as for his labours. + +"Yes," said Apollonius, "for he was Hercules. But _you_, what virtue +have you, midden-heap? Your only claim to notice is your chance of being +burst" (iv. 23). + +But to turn to more serious occasions. In answer to Vespasian's earnest +prayer, "Teach me what should a good king do," Apollonius is said to +have replied somewhat in the following words: + +"You ask me what can not be taught. For kingship is the greatest thing +within a mortal's reach; it is not taught. Yet will I tell you what if +you will do, you will do well. Count not that wealth which is stored +up--in what is this superior to the sand haphazard heaped? nor that +which comes from men who groan beneath taxation's heavy weight--for gold +that comes from tears is base and black. You'll use wealth best of any +king, if you supply the needs of those in want and make their wealth +secure for those with many goods. Be fearful of the power to do whate'er +you please, so will you use it with more prudence. Do not lop off the +ears of corn that show beyond the rest and raise their heads--for +Aristotle is not just in this[116]--but rather weed their disaffection +out like tares from corn, and show yourself a fear to stirrers up of +strife not in 'I punish you' but in 'I _will_ do so.' Submit yourself to +law, O prince, for you will make the laws with greater wisdom if you do +not despise the law yourself. Pay reverence more than ever to the Gods; +great are the gifts you have received from them, and for great things +you pray.[117] In what concerns the state act as a king; in what +concerns yourself, act as a private man" (v. 36). And so on much in the +same strain, all good advice and showing a deep knowledge of human +affairs. And if we are to suppose that this is merely a rhetorical +exercise of Philostratus and not based on the substance of what +Apollonius said, then we must have a higher opinion of the rhetorician +than the rest of his writings warrant. + +There is an exceedingly interesting Socratic dialogue between +Thespesion, the abbot of the Gymnosophist community, and Apollonius on +the comparative merits of the Greek and Egyptian ways of representing +the Gods. It runs somewhat as follows: + +"What! Are we to think," said Thespesion, "that the Pheidiases and +Praxiteleses went up to heaven and took impressions of the forms of the +Gods, and so made an art of them, or was it something else that set them +a-modelling?" + +"Yes, something else," said Apollonius, "something pregnant with +wisdom." + +"What was that? Surely you cannot say it was anything else but +imitation?" + +"Imagination wrought them--a workman wiser far than imitation; for +imitation only makes what it has seen, whereas imagination makes what it +has never seen, conceiving it with reference to the thing it really is." + +Imagination, says Apollonius, is one of the most potent faculties, for +it enables us to reach nearer to realities. It is generally supposed +that Greek sculpture was merely a glorification of physical beauty, in +itself quite unspiritual. It was an idealisation of form and features, +limbs and muscles, an empty glorification of the physical with nothing +of course really corresponding to it in the nature of things. But +Apollonius declared it brings us nearer to the real, as Pythagoras and +Plato declared before him, and as all the wiser teach. He meant this +literally, not vaguely and fantastically. He asserted that the types and +ideas of things are the only realities. He meant that between the +imperfection of the earth and the highest divine type of all things, +were grades of increasing perfection. He meant that within each man was +a form of perfection, though of course not yet absolutely perfect. That +the angel in man, his dmon, was of God-like beauty, the summation of +all the finest features he had ever worn in his many lives on earth. The +Gods, too, belonged to the world of types, of models, of perfections, +the heaven-world. The Greek sculptors had succeeded in getting in +contact with this world, and the faculty they used was imagination. + +This idealisation of form was a worthy way to represent the Gods; but, +says Apollonius, if you set up a hawk or owl or dog in your temples, to +represent Hermes or Athena or Apollo, you may dignify the animals, but +you make the Gods lose dignity. + +To this Thespesion replies that the Egyptians dare not give any precise +form to the Gods; they give them merely symbols to which an occult +meaning is attached. + +Yes, answers Apollonius, but the danger is that the common people +worship these symbols and get unbeautiful ideas of the Gods. The best +thing would be to have no representations at all. For the mind of the +worshipper can form and fashion for himself an image of the object of +his worship better than any art. + +Quite so, retorted Thespesion, and then added mischievously: There was +an old Athenian, by-the-by--no fool--called Socrates, who swore by the +dog and goose as though they were Gods. + +Yes, replied Apollonius, he was no fool. He swore by them not as being +Gods, but in order that he might not swear by the Gods (iv. 19). + +This is a pleasant passage of wit, of Egyptian against Greek, but all +such set arguments must be set down to the rhetorical exercises of +Philostratus rather than to Apollonius, who taught as "one having +authority," as "from a tripod." Apollonius, a priest of universal +religion, might have pointed out the good side and the bad side of both +Greek and Egyptian religious art, and certainly taught the higher way of +symbolless worship, but he would not champion one popular cult against +another. In the above speech there is a distinct prejudice against Egypt +and a glorification of Greece, and this occurs in a very marked fashion +in several other speeches. Philostratus was a champion of Greece against +all comers; but Apollonius, we believe, was wiser than his biographer. + +In spite of the artificial literary dress that is given to the longer +discourses of Apollonius, they contain many noble thoughts, as we may +see from the following quotations from the conversations of our +philosopher with his friend Demetrius, who was endeavouring to dissuade +him from braving Domitian at Rome. + +The law, said Apollonius, obliges us to die for liberty, and nature +ordains that we should die for our parents, our friends, or our +children. All men are bound by these duties. But a higher duty is laid +upon the sage; he must die for his principles and the truth he holds +dearer than life. It is not the law that lays this choice upon him, it +is not nature; it is the strength and courage of his own soul. Though +fire or sword threaten him, it will not overcome his resolution or force +from him the slightest falsehood; but he will guard the secrets of +others' lives and all that has been entrusted to his honour as +religiously as the secrets of initiation. And I know more than other +men, for I know that of all that I know, I know some things for the +good, some for the wise, some for myself, some for the Gods, but naught +for tyrants. + +Again, I think that a wise man does nothing alone or by himself; no +thought of his so secret but that he has himself as witness to it. And +whether the famous saying "know thyself" be from Apollo or from some +sage who learnt to know himself and proclaimed it as a good for all, I +think the wise man who knows himself and has his own spirit in constant +comradeship, to fight at his right hand, will neither cringe at what the +vulgar fear, nor dare to do what most men do without the slightest shame +(vii. 15). + +In the above we have the true philosopher's contempt for death, and also +the calm knowledge of the initiate, of the comforter and adviser of +others to whom the secrets of their lives have been confessed, that no +tortures can ever unseal his lips. Here, too, we have the full knowledge +of what consciousness is, of the impossibility of hiding the smallest +trace of evil in the inner world; and also the dazzling brilliancy of a +higher ethic which makes the habitual conduct of the crowd appear +surprising--the "that which they do--not with shame." + + + + +SECTION XVI. + +FROM HIS LETTERS. + + +Apollonius seems to have written many letters to emperors, kings, +philosophers, communities and states, although he was by no means a +"voluminous correspondent"; in fact, the style of his short notes is +exceedingly concise, and they were composed, as Philostratus says, +"after the manner of the Lacedmonian scytale"[118] (iv. 27 and vii. +35). + +It is evident that Philostratus had access to letters attributed to +Apollonius, for he quotes a number of them,[119] and there seems no +reason to doubt their authenticity. Whence he obtained them he does not +inform us, unless it be that they were the collection made by Hadrian at +Antium (viii. 20). + +That the reader may be able to judge of the style of Apollonius we +append one or two specimens of these letters, or rather notes, for they +are too short to deserve the title of epistles. Here is one to the +magistrates of Sparta: + +"Apollonius to the Ephors, greeting! + +"It is possible for men not to make mistakes, but it requires noble men +to acknowledge they have made them." + +All of which Apollonius gets into just half as many words in Greek. +Here, again, is an interchange of notes between the two greatest +philosophers of the time, both of whom suffered imprisonment and were in +constant danger of death. + +"Apollonius to Musonius, the philosopher, greeting! + +"I want to go to you, to share speech and roof with you, to be of some +service to you. If you still believe that Hercules once rescued Theseus +from Hades, write what you would have. Farewell!" + +"Musonius to Apollonius, the philosopher, greeting! + +"Good merit shall be stored for you for your good thoughts; what is in +store for me is one who waits his trial and proves his innocence. +Farewell." + +"Apollonius to Musonius, greeting! + +"Socrates refused to be got out of prison by his friends and went before +the judges. He was put to death. Farewell." + +"Musonius to Apollonius, the philosopher, greeting! + +"Socrates was put to death because he made no preparation for his +defence. I shall do so. Farewell!" + +However, Musonius, the Stoic, was sent to penal servitude by Nero. + +Here is a note to the Cynic Demetrius, another of our philosopher's most +devoted friends. + +"Apollonius, the philosopher, to Demetrius, the Dog,[120] greeting! + +"I give thee to Titus, the emperor, to teach him the way of kingship, +and do you in turn give me to speak him true; and be to him all things +but anger. Farewell!" + +In addition to the notes quoted in the text of Philostratus, there is a +collection of ninety-five letters, mostly brief notes, the text of which +is printed in most editions.[121] Nearly all the critics are of opinion +that they are not genuine, but Jowett[122] and others think that some of +them may very well be genuine. + +Here is a specimen or two of these letters. Writing to Euphrates, his +great enemy, that is to say the champion of pure rationalistic ethic +against the science of sacred things, he says: + +17. "The Persians call those who have the divine faculty (or are +god-like) Magi. A Magus, then, is one who is a minister of the Gods, or +one who has by nature the god-like faculty. You are no Magus but reject +the Gods (i.e., are an atheist)." + +Again, in a letter addressed to Criton, we read: + +23. "Pythagoras said that the most divine art was that of healing. And +if the healing art is most divine, it must occupy itself with the soul +as well as with the body; for no creature can be sound so long as the +higher part in it is sickly." + +Writing to the priests of Delphi against the practice of +blood-sacrifice, he says: + +27. "Heraclitus was a sage, but even he[123] never advised the people of +Ephesus to wash out mud with mud."[124] + +Again, to some who claimed to be his followers, those "who think +themselves wise," he writes the reproof: + +43. "If any say he is my disciple, then let him add he keeps himself +apart out of the Baths, he slays no living thing, eats of no flesh, is +free from envy, malice, hatred, calumny, and hostile feelings, but has +his name inscribed among the race of those who've won their freedom." + +Among these letters is found one of some length addressed to Valerius, +probably P. Valerius Asiaticus, consul in A.D. 70. It is a wise letter +of philosophic consolation to enable Valerius to bear the loss of his +son, and runs as follows:[125] + +"There is no death of anyone, but only in appearance, even as there is +no birth of any, save only in seeming. The change from being to becoming +seems to be birth, and the change from becoming to being seems to be +death, but in reality no one is ever born, nor does one ever die. It is +simply a being visible and then invisible; the former through the +density of matter, and the latter because of the subtlety of +being--being which is ever the same, its only change being motion and +rest. For being has this necessary peculiarity, that its change is +brought about by nothing external to itself; but whole becomes parts and +parts become whole in the oneness of the all. And if it be asked: What +is this which sometimes is seen and sometimes not seen, now in the same, +now in the different?--it might be answered: It is the way of everything +here in the world below that when it is filled out with matter it is +visible, owing to the resistance of its density, but is invisible, owing +to its subtlety, when it is rid of matter, though matter still surround +it and flow through it in that immensity of space which hems it in but +knows no birth or death. + +"But why has this false notion [of birth and death] remained so long +without a refutation? Some think that what has happened through them, +they have themselves brought about. They are ignorant that the +individual is brought to birth _through_ parents, not by parents, just +as a thing produced _through_ the earth is not produced _from_ it. The +change which comes to the individual is nothing that is caused by his +visible surroundings, but rather a change in the one thing which is in +every individual. + +"And what other name can we give to it but primal being? 'Tis it alone +that acts and suffers becoming all for all through all, eternal deity, +deprived and wronged of its own self by names and forms. But this is a +less serious thing than that a man should be bewailed, when he has +passed from man to God by change of state and not by the destruction of +his nature. The fact is that so far from mourning death you ought to +honour it and reverence it. The best and fittest way for you to honour +death is now to leave the one who's gone to God, and set to work to play +the ruler over those left in your charge as you were wont to do. It +would be a disgrace for such a man as you to owe your cure to time and +not to reason, for time makes even common people cease from grief. The +greatest thing is a strong rule, and of the greatest rulers he is best +who first can rule himself. And how is it permissible to wish to change +what has been brought to pass by will of God? If there's a law in +things, and there _is_ one, and it is God who has appointed it, the +righteous man will have no wish to try to change good things, for such a +wish is selfishness, and counter to the law, but he will think that all +that comes to pass is a good thing. On! heal yourself, give justice to +the wretched and console them; so shall you dry your tears. You should +not set your private woes above your public cares, but rather set your +public cares before your private woes. And see as well what consolation +you already have! The nation sorrows with you for your son. Make some +return to those who weep with you; and this you will more quickly do if +you will cease from tears than if you still persist. Have you not +friends? Why! you have yet another son. Have you not even still the one +that's gone? You have!--will answer anyone who really thinks. For 'that +which is' doth cease not--nay _is_ just for the very fact that it will +be for aye; or else the 'is not' is, and how could that be when the 'is' +doth never cease to be? + +"Again it will be said you fail in piety to God and are unjust. 'Tis +true. You fail in piety to God, you fail in justice to your boy; nay +more, you fail in piety to him as well. Would'st know what death is? +Then make me dead and send me off to company with death, and if you will +not change the dress you've put on it,[126] you will have straightway +made me better than yourself."[127] + + + + +SECTION XVII. + +THE WRITINGS OF APOLLONIUS. + + +But besides these letters Apollonius also wrote a number of treatises, +of which, however, only one or two fragments have been preserved. These +treatises are as follows: + +_a._ The Mystic Rites or Concerning Sacrifices.[128] This treatise is +mentioned by Philostratus (iii. 41; iv. 19), who tells us that it set +down the proper method of sacrifice to every God, the proper hours of +prayer and offering. It was in wide circulation, and Philostratus had +come across copies of it in many temples and cities, and in the +libraries of philosophers. Several fragments of it have been +preserved,[129] the most important of which is to be found in +Eusebius,[130] and is to this effect: "'Tis best to make no sacrifice to +God at all, no lighting of a fire, no calling Him by any name that men +employ for things of sense. For God is over all, the first; and only +after Him do come the other Gods. For He doth stand in need of naught +e'en from the Gods, much less from us small men--naught that the earth +brings forth, nor any life she nurseth, or even any thing the stainless +air contains. The only fitting sacrifice to God is man's best reason, +and not the word[131] that comes from out his mouth. + +"We men should ask the best of beings through the best thing in us, for +what is good--I mean by means of mind, for mind needs no material things +to make its prayer. So then, to God, the mighty One, who's over all, no +sacrifice should ever be lit up." + +Noack[132] tells us that scholarship is convinced of the genuineness of +this fragment. This book, as we have seen, was widely circulated and +held in the highest respect, and it said that its rules were engraved on +brazen pillars at Byzantium.[133] + +_b._ The Oracles or Concerning Divination, 4 books. Philostratus (iii. +41) seems to think that the full title was Divination of the Stars, and +says that it was based on what Apollonius had learned in India; but the +_kind_ of divination Apollonius wrote about was not the ordinary +astrology, but something which Philostratus considers superior to +ordinary human art in such matters. He had, however, never heard of +anyone possessing a copy of this rare work. + +_c._ The Life of Pythagoras. Porphyry refers to this work,[134] and +Iamblichus quotes a long passage from it.[135] + +_d._ The Will of Apollonius, to which reference has already been made, +in treating of the sources of Philostratus (i. 3). This was written in +the Ionic dialect, and contained a summary of his doctrines. + +A Hymn to Memory is also ascribed to him, and Eudocia speaks of many +other ([Greek: kai alla polla]) works. + +We have now indicated for the reader all the information which exists +concerning our philosopher. Was Apollonius, then, a rogue, a trickster, +a charlatan, a fanatic, a misguided enthusiast, or a philosopher, a +reformer, a conscious worker, a true initiate, one of the earth's great +ones? This each must decide for himself, according to his knowledge or +his ignorance. + +I for my part bless his memory, and would gladly learn from him, as now +he is. + + + + +SECTION XVIII. + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. + + +NINETEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE ON APOLLONIUS. + + Jacobs (F.), Observationes in ... Philostrati Vitam Apollonii + (Jena; 1804), purely philological, for the correction of the + text. + + Legrand d'Aussy (P. J. B.), Vie d'Apollonius de Tyane (Paris; + 1807, 2 vols.). + + Bekker (G. J.), Specimen Variarum Lectionum ... in Philost. + Vit App. Librum primum (1808); purely philological. + + Berwick (E.), The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, translated from + the Greek of Philostratus, with Notes and Illustrations + (London; 1809). + + Lancetti (V.), Le Opere dei due Filostrati, Italian trs. + (Milano; 1828-31); in "Coll. degli Ant. Storici Greci + volgarizzati." + + Jacobs (F.), Philostratus: Leben des Apollonius von Tyana, in + the series "Griechische Prosaiker," German trs. (Stuttgart; + 1829-32), vols. xlviii., lxvi., cvi., cxi., each containing two + books; a very clumsy arrangement. + + Baur (F. C.), Apollonius von Tyana und Christus oder das + Verhltniss des Pythagoreismus zum Christenthum (Tbingen; + 1832); reprinted from Tbinger Zeitschrift fr Theologie. + + Second edition by E. Zeller (Leipzig; 1876), in Drei + Abhandlungen zur Geschichte der alten Philosophie und ihres + Verhltnisses zum Christenthum. + + Kayser and Westermann's editions as above referred to in + section v. + + Newman (J. H.), "Apollonius Tyanus--Miracles," in Smedley's + Encyclopdia Metropolitana (London; 1845), x. pp. 619-644. + + Noack (L.), "Apollonius von Tyana ein Christusbild des + Heidenthums," in his magazine Psyche: Populrwissenschaftliche + Zeitschrift fr die Kentniss des menschlichen Seelen- und + Geistes-lebens (Leipzig; 1858), Bd. i., Heft ii., pp. 1-24. + + Mller (I. P. E.), Commentatio qua de Philostrati in componenda + Memoria Apoll. Tyan. fide quritur, I.-III. (Onoldi et + Landavii; 1858-1860). + + Mller (E.), War Apollonius von Tyana ein Weiser oder ein + Betrger oder ein Schwrmer und Fanatiker? Ein + Culturhistorische Untersuchung (Breslau; 1861, 4to), 56 pp. + + Chassang (A.), Apollonius de Tyane, sa Vie, ses Voyages, ses + Prodiges, par Philostrate, et ses Lettres, trad. du grec. avec + Introd., Notes et Eclaircissements (Paris; 1862), with the + additional title, Le Merveilleux dans l'Antiquit. + + Rville (A.), Apollonius the Pagan Christ of the Third Century + (London; 1866), tr. from the French. The original is not in the + British Museum. + + Priaulx (O. de B.), The Indian Travels of Apollonius of Tyana, + etc. (London; 1873), pp. 1-62. + + Mnckeberg (C.), Apollonius von Tyana, ein Weihnachtsgabe + (Hamburg; 1877), 57 pp. + + Pettersch (C. H.), Apollonius von Tyana der Heiden Heiland, ein + philosophische Studie (Reichenberg; 1879), 23 pp. + + Nielsen (C. L.), Apollonios fra Tyana og Filostrats Beskrivelse + af hans Levnet (Copenhagen; 1879); the Appendix (pp. 167 sqq.) + contains a Danish tr. of Eusebius Contra Hieroclem. + + Baltzer (E.), Apollonius von Tyana, aus den Griech. bersetzt + u. erlutert (Rudolstadt i/ Th.; 1883). + + Jessen (J.), Apollonius von Tyana und sein Biograph + Philostratus (Hamburg; 1885, 4to), 36 pp. + + Tredwell (D. M.), A Sketch of the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, + or the first Ten Decades of our Era (New York; 1886). + + Sinnett (A. P.), "Apollonius of Tyana," in the Transactions + (No. 32) of the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society + (London; 1898), 32 pp. + + The student may also consult the articles in the usual + Dictionaries and Encyclopdias, none of which, however, demand + special mention. P. Cassel's learned paper in the Vossische + Zeitung of Nov. 24th, 1878, I have not been able to see. + + +SOME INDICATIONS OF THE LITERATURE ON THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AMONG +THE GREEKS AND ROMANS. + + Bckh (A.), Die Staatshaushaltung der Athener (1st ed. 1817). + For older literature, see i. 416, _n._ + + Van Holst, De Eranis Veterum Grcorum (Leyden; 1832). + + Mommsen (T.), De Collegiis et Sodaliciis Romanorum (Kiel; + 1843). + + Mommsen (T.), "Rmische Urkunden, iv.--Die Lex Julia de Collegiis + und die lanuvinische Lex Collegii Salutaris," art. in Zeitschr. + fr geschichtl. Rechtswissenschaft (1850), vol. xv. 353 sqq. + + Wescher (C.), "Recherches pigraphiques en Grce, dans + l'Archipel et en Asie Mineure," arts. in Le Moniteur of Oct. + 20, 23, and 24, 1863. + + Wescher (C.), "Inscriptions de l'le de Rhodes relatives des + Socits religieuses"; "Notice sur deux Inscriptions de l'le + de Thra relatives une Socit religieuse"; "Note sur une + Inscription de l'le de Thra publie par M. Ross et relative + une Socit religieuse"; arts. in La Revue archologique + (Paris; new series, 1864), x. 460 sqq.; 1865, xii. 214 sqq.; + 1866, xiii. 245 sqq. + + Foucart (P.), Des Associations religieuses chez les Grecs, + Thiases, ranes, Orgons, avec le Texte des Inscriptions + relatives ces Associations (Paris; 1873). + + Lders (H. O.), Die dionyschischen Knstler (Berlin; 1873). + + Cohn (M.), Zum rmischen Vereinsrecht: Abhandlung aus der + Rechtsgeschichte (Berlin; 1873). Also the notice of it in + Bursian's Philol. Jaresbericht (1873), ii. 238-304. + + Henzen (G.), Acta Fratrum Arvalium qu supersunt;... accedunt + Fragmenta Fastorum in Luco Arvalium effossa (Berlin; 1874). + + Heinrici (G.), "Die Christengemeinde Korinths und die + religisen genossenschaften der Griechen"; "Zur Geschichte der + Anfange paulinischer Gemeinden"; arts. in Zeitschr. fr + wissensch. Theol. (Jena, etc.; 1876), pp. 465-526, particularly + pp. 479 sqq.; 1877, pp. 89-130. + + Duruy (V.), "Du Rgime municipal dans l'Empire romain," art. in + La Revue historique (Paris; 1876), pp. 355 sqq.; also his + Histoire des Romanis (Paris; 1843, 1844), i. 149 sqq. + + De Rossi, Roma Sotteranea (Rome; 1877), iii. 37 sqq., and + especially pp. 507 sqq. + + Marquardt (J.), Rmische Staatsverwaltung, iii. 131-142, in + vol. vi. of Marquardt and Mommsen's Handbuch der rmischen + Altherthmer (Leipzig; 1878); an excellent summary with + valuable notes, especially the section "Ersatz der Gentes durch + die Sodalitates fr fremde Culte." + + Boissier (G.), La Religion romaine d'Auguste aux Antonins + (Paris; 2nd ed. 1878), ii. 238-304 (1st ed. 1874). + + Hatch (E.), The Organization of the Early Christian Churches: + The Bampton Lectures for 1880 (London; 2nd ed. 1882); see + especially Lecture ii., "Bishops and Deacons," pp. 26-32: + German ed. Die Gesellschaftsverfassung der christlichen Kirchen + in Althertum (1883), p. 20; see this for additional literature. + + Newmann (K. J.), "[Greek: thiastai Isou]," art. in Jahrbb. + fr prot. Theol. (Leipzig, etc.; 1885), pp. 123-125. + + Schrer (E.), A History of the Jewish People in the Time of + Jesus Christ, Eng. tr. (Edinburgh; 1893), Div. ii, vol. ii. pp. + 255 and 300. + + Owen (J.), "On the Organization of the Early Church," an + Introductory Essay to the English translation of Harnack's + Sources of the Apostolic Canons (London; 1895). + + Anst (E.), Die Religion der Rmer; vol. xiii. Darstellungen aus + dem Gebiete der nichtchristlichen Religionsgeschichte (Mnster + i. W.; 1899). + +See also Whiston and Wayte's art. "Arvales Fratres," and Moyle's arts. +"Collegium" and "Universitas," in Smith, Wayte and Marindin's Dict. of +Greek and Roman Antiquities (London; 3rd ed. 1890-1891); and also, of +course, the arts. "Collegium" and "Sodalitas" in Pauly's +Realencyclopdie der classichen Alterthumswissenschaft, though they are +now somewhat out of date. + + + FOOTNOTES: + + [1] From a fragment of The Cretans. See Lobeck's Aglaophamus, + p. 622. + + [2] Pronounced T[)a]na, with the accent on the first syllable + and the first a short. + + [3] Alexander sive Pseudomantis, vi. + + [4] De Magia, xc. (ed. Hildebrand, 1842, ii. 614). + + [5] [Greek: telesmata]. _Telesma_ was "a consecrated object, + turned by the Arabs into _telsam_ (_talisman_)"; see Liddell and + Scott's Lexicon, sub voc. + + [6] Justin Martyr, Opera, ed. Otto (2nd ed.; Jena, 1849), iii. + 32. + + [7] Lib. lxxvii. 18. + + [8] Life of Alexander Severus, xxix. + + [9] Life of Aurelian, xxiv. + + [10] "_Qu qui velit nosse, grcos legat libros qui de ejus + vita conscripti sunt._" These accounts were probably the books + of Maximus, Moeragenes, and Philostratus. + + [11] An Egyptian epic poet, who wrote several poetical + histories in Greek; he flourished in the last decade of the + third century. + + [12] Sidonius Apollinaris, Epp., viii. 3. See also Legrand + d'Aussy, Vie d'Apollonius de Tyane (Paris; 1807), p. xlvii. + + [13] Porphyry, De Vita Pythagor, section ii., ed. Kiessling + (Leipzig; 1816). Iamblichus De Vita Pythagorica, chap. xxv., + ed. Kiessling (Leipzig; 1813); see especially K.'s note, pp. 11 + sqq. See also Porphyry, Frag., De Styge, p. 285, ed. Holst. + + [14] See Duchesne on the recently discovered works of Macarius + Magnes (Paris; 1877). + + [15] The most convenient text is by Gaisford (Oxford; 1852), + Eusebii Pamphili contra Hieroclem; it is also printed in a + number of editions of Philostratus. There are two translations + in Latin, one in Italian, one in Danish, all bound up with + Philostratus' Vita, and one in French printed apart (Discours + d'Eusbe Evque de Cesare touchant les Miracles attribuez par + les Payens Apollonius de Tyane, tr. by Cousin. Paris; 1584, + 12mo, 135 pp.). + + [16] Lactantius, Divin Institutiones, v. 2, 3; ed. Fritsche + (Leipzig; 1842), pp. 233, 236. + + [17] Arnobius, Adversus Nationes, i. 52; ed. Hildebrand (Halle; + 1844), p. 86. The Church Father, however, with that + exclusiveness peculiar to the Judo-Christian view, omits Moses + from the list of Magi. + + [18] John Chrysostom, Adversus Judos, v. 3 (p. 631); De + Laudibus Sancti Pauli Apost. Homil., iv. (p. 493 D.; ed. + Montfauc.). + + [19] Hieronymus, Ep. ad Paulinum, 53 (text ap. Kayser, prf. + ix.). + + [20] August., Epp., cxxxviii. Text quoted by Legrand d'Aussy, + op. cit., p. 294. + + [21] Isidorus Pelusiota, Epp., p. 138; ed. J. Billius (Paris; + 1585). + + [22] See Arnobius, loc. cit. + + [23] Sidonius Apollinaris, Epp., viii. 3. Also Fabricius, + Bibliotheca Grca, pp. 549, 565 (ed. Harles). The work of + Sidonius on Apollonius is unfortunately lost. + + [24] _Amplissimus ille philosophus_ (xxiii. 7). See also xxi. + 14; xxiii. 19. + + [25] [Greek: ti then te kai anthrpou meson], meaning thereby + presumably one who has reached the grade of being superior to + man, but not yet equal to the gods. This was called by the + Greeks the "dmonian" order. But the word "dmon," owing to + sectarian bitterness, has long been degraded from its former + high estate, and the original idea is now signified in popular + language by the term "angel." Compare Plato, Symposium, xxiii., + [Greek: pan to daimonion metaxy esti theou te kai thntou], + "all that is dmonian is between God and man." + + [26] Eunapius, Vit Philosophorum, Prooemium, vi.; ed. + Boissonade (Amsterdam; 1822), p. 3. + + [27] Rville, Apollonius of Tyana (tr. from the French), p. 56 + (London; 1866). I have, however, not been able to discover on + what authority this statement is made. + + [28] _Insignis philosophus_; see his Chronicon, written down to + the year 519. + + [29] In his Chronographia. See Legrand d'Aussy, op. cit., p. + 313. + + [30] Chiliades, ii. 60. + + [31] Cited by Legrand d'Aussy, op. cit., p. 286. + + [32] [Greek: philosophos Pythagoreios stoicheimatikos]--Cedrenus, + Compendium Historiarium, i. 346; ed. Bekker. The word which + I have rendered by "adept" signifies one "who has power over the + elements." + + [33] Legrand d'Aussy, op. cit., p. 308. + + [34] If we except the disputed Letters and a few quotations + from one of Apollonius' lost writings. + + [35] Philostratus de Vita Apollonii Tyanei Libri Octo, tr. by + A. Rinuccinus, and Eusebius contra Hieroclem, tr. by Z. + Acciolus (Venice; 1501-04, fol.). Rinucci's translation was + improved by Beroaldus and printed at Lyons (1504?), and again + at Cologne, 1534. + + [36] F. Baldelli, Filostrato Lemnio della Vita di Apollonio + Tianeo (Florence; 1549, 8vo). + + [37] B. de Vignre, Philostrate de la Vie d'Apollonius (Paris; + 1596, 1599, 1611). Blaise de Vignre's translation was + subsequently corrected by Frdric Morel and later by Thomas + Artus, Sieur d'Embry, with bombastic notes in which he bitterly + attacks the wonder-workings of Apollonius. A French translation + was also made by Th. Sibilet about 1560, but never published; + the MS. was in the Bibliothque Imperiale. See Miller, Journal + des Savants, 1849, p. 625, quoted by Chassang, op. infr. cit., + p. iv. + + [38] F. Morellus, Philostrati Lemnii Opera, Gr. and Lat. + (Paris; 1608). + + [39] G. Olearius, Philostratorum qu supersunt Omnia, Gr. and + Lat. (Leipzig; 1709). + + [40] C. L. Kayser, Flavii Philostrati qu supersunt, etc. + (Zurich; 1844, 4to). In 1849 A. Westermann also edited a text, + Philostratorum et Callistrati Opera, in Didot's "Scriptorum + Grcorum Bibliotheca" (Paris; 1849, 8vo). But Kayser brought + out a new edition in 1853 (?), and again a third, with + additional information in the Preface, in the "Bibliotheca + Teubneriana" (Leipzig; 1870). + + [41] For a general summary of opinions prior to 1807, of + writers who mention Apollonius incidentally, see Legrand + d'Aussy, op. cit., ii. pp. 313-327. + + [42] L'Histoire d'Apollone de Tyane convaincue de Fausset et + d'Imposture (Paris; 1705). + + [43] An Account of the Life of Apollonius Tyaneus (London; + 1702), tr. out of the French, from vol. ii. of Lenain de + Tillemont's Histoire des Empereurs (2nd ed., Paris; 1720): to + which is added Some Observations upon Apollonius. De + Tillemont's view is that Apollonius was sent by the Devil to + destroy the work of the Saviour. + + [44] A Critical and Historical Discourse upon the Method of the + Principal Authors who wrote for and against Christianity from + its Beginning (London; 1739), tr. from the French of M. l'Abb + Houtteville; to which is added a "Dessertation on the Life of + Apollonius Tyanus, with some Observations on the Platonists of + the Latter School," pp. 213-254. + + [45] Anti-Hierocles oder Jesus Christus und Apollonius von + Tyana in ihrer grossen Ungleichheit, dargestellt v. J. B. + Lderwald (Halle; 1793). + + [46] Phileleutherus Helvetius, De Miraculis qu Pythagor, + Apollonio Tyanensi, Francisco Asisio, Dominico, et Ignatio + Lojol tribuuntur Libellus (Draci; 1734). + + [47] See Legrand d'Aussy, op. cit., ii. p. 314, where the texts + are given. + + [48] The Two First Books of Philostratus concerning the Life of + Apollonius Tyaneus (London; 1680, fol.). Blount's notes + (generally ascribed to Lord Herbert) raised such an outcry that + the book was condemned in 1693, and few copies are in + existence. Blount's notes were, however, translated into French + a century later, in the days of Encyclopdism, and appended to + a French version of the Vita, under the title, Vie d'Apollonius + de Tyane par Philostrate avec les Commentaires donns en + Anglois par Charles Blount sur les deux Premiers Livres de cet + Ouvrage (Amsterdam; 1779, 4 vols., 8vo), with an ironical + dedication to Pope Clement XIV., signed "Philalethes." + + [49] Philosophiam Practicam Apollonii Tyani in Sciagraphia, + exponit M. Io. Christianus Herzog (Leipzig; 1709); an + academical oration of 20 pp. + + [50] Philostratus is a difficult author to translate, + nevertheless Chassang and Baltzer have succeeded very well with + him; Berwick also is readable, but in most places gives us a + paraphrase rather than a translation and frequently mistakes + the meaning. Chassang's and Baltzer's are by far the best + translations. + + [51] This would have at least restored Apollonius to his + natural environment, and confined the question of the divinity + of Jesus to its proper Judo-Christian ground. + + [52] I am unable to offer any opinion on Nielsen's book, from + ignorance of Danish, but it has all the appearance of a + careful, scholarly treatise with abundance of references. + + [53] Rville's Pagan Christ is quite a misrepresentation of the + subject, and Newman's treatment of the matter renders his + treatise an anachronism for the twentieth century. + + [54] Consisting of eight books written in Greek under the + general title [Greek: Ta es ton Tyanea Apollnion]. + + [55] [Greek: h philosophos], see art. "Philostratus" in + Smith's Dict. of Gr. and Rom. Biog. (London; 1870), iii. + 327_b._ + + [56] The italics are Gibbon's. + + [57] More correctly Domna Julia; Domna being not a shortened + form of Domina, but the Syrian name of the empress. + + [58] She died A.D. 217. + + [59] The contrary is held by other historians. + + [60] Gibbon's Decline and Fall, I. vi + + [61] I use the 1846 and 1870 editions of Kayser's text + throughout. + + [62] A collection of these letters (but not all of them) had + been in the possession of the Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), + and had been left in his palace at Antium (viii. 20). This + proves the great fame that Apollonius enjoyed shortly after his + disappearance from history, and while he was still a living + memory. It is to be noticed that Hadrian was an enlightened + ruler, a great traveller, a lover of religion, and an initiate + of the Eleusinian Mysteries. + + [63] Nineveh. + + [64] [Greek: tas deltous], writing tablets. This suggests that + the account of Damis could not have been very voluminous, + although Philostratus further on asserts its detailed nature + (i. 19). + + [65] One of the imperial secretaries of the time, who was + famous for his eloquence, and tutor to Apollonius. + + [66] A town not far from Tarsus. + + [67] [Greek: hs hypotheiazn tn philosophian egeneto]. The + term [Greek: hypotheiazn] occurs only in this passage, and I am + therefore not quite certain of its meaning. + + [68] This Life by Moeragenes is casually mentioned by Origenes, + Contra Celsum, vi. 41; ed. Lommatzsch (Berlin; 1841), ii. 373. + + [69] [Greek: logois daimoniois]. + + [70] Seldom is it that we have such a clear indication, for + instance, as in i. 25; "The following is what _I_ have been + able to learn ... about Babylon." + + [71] See E. A. Schwanbeck, Megasthenis Indica (Bonn; 1846), and + J. W. M'Crindle, Ancient India as described by Megasthenes and + Arrian (Calcutta, Bombay, London; 1877), The Commerce and + Navigation of the Erythran Sea (1879), Ancient India as + described by Ktesias (1882), Ancient India as described by + Ptolemy (London; 1885), and The Invasion of India by Alexander + the Great (London; 1893, 1896). + + [72] Another good example of this is seen in the disquisition + on elephants which Philostratus takes from Juba's History of + Libya (ii. 13 and 16). + + [73] Perhaps a title, or the king of the Purus. + + [74] Not that Philostratus makes any disguise of his + embellishments; see, for instance, ii. 17, where he says: "Let + me, however, defer what _I_ have to say on the subject of + serpents, of the manner of hunting which Damis gives a + description." + + [75] Legends of the wonderful happenings at his birth were in + circulation, and are of the same nature as all such + birth-legends of great people. + + [76] [Greek: arrt tini sophia xynelabe.] + + [77] Sci., than his tutor; namely, the "memory" within him, or + his "dmon." + + [78] This ther was presumably the mind-stuff. + + [79] That is to say presumably he was encouraged in his efforts + by those unseen helpers of the temple by whom the cures were + wrought by means of dreams, and help was given psychically and + mesmerically. + + [80] "Where are you hurrying? Are you off to see the youth?" + + [81] Compare Odyssey, xx. 18. + + [82] I am inclined to think, however, that Apollonius was still + a youngish man when he set out on his Indian travels, instead + of being forty-six, as some suppose. But the difficulties of + most of the chronology are insurmountable. + + [83] [Greek: phsas ouk anthrpn heaut dein, all' andrn]. + + [84] [Greek: idiotropa]. + + [85] [Greek: tous hout philosophountas]. + + [86] That is to say, presumably, spend the time in silent + meditation. + + [87] That is the Br[=a]hmans and Buddhists. Sarman is the Greek + corruption of the Sanskrit Shrama[n.]a and Pli Sama[n.]o, the + technical term for a Buddhist ascetic or monk. The ignorance of + the copyists changed Sarmanes first into Germanes and then into + Hyrcanians! + + [88] This shows that Apollonius was still young, and not + between forty and fifty, as some have asserted. Tredwell (p. + 77) dates the Indian travels as 41-54 A.D. + + [89] See especially iii. 15, 41; v. 5, 10; vii. 10, 13; viii. + 28. + + [90] [Greek: ekphatnismata]. + + [91] See especially vii. 13, 14, 15, 22, 31. + + [92] The list is full of gaps, so that we cannot suppose that + Damis' notes were anything like complete records of the + numerous itineraries; not only so, but one is tempted to + believe that whole journeys, in which Damis had no share, are + omitted. + + [93] Here at any rate they came in sight of the giant + mountains, the Imaus (Himavat) or Him[=a]layan Range, where was + the great mountain Meros (Meru). The name of the Hindu Olympus + being changed into Meros in Greek had, ever since Alexander's + expedition, given rise to the myth that Bacchus was born from + the thigh (_meros_) of Zeus--presumably one of the facts which + led Professor Max Mller to stigmatise the whole of mythology + as a "disease of language." + + [94] Referring to his instructors he says, "I ever remember my + masters and journey through the world teaching what I have + learned from them" (vi. 18). + + [95] According to some, Apollonius would be now about + sixty-eight years of age. But if he were still young (say + thirty years old or so) when he left for India, he must either + have spent a very long period in that country, or we have a + very imperfect record of his doings in Asia Minor, Greece, + Italy, and Spain, after his return. + + [96] For the most recent study in English on the subject of + sculapius see The Cult of Asclepios, by Alice Walton, Ph.D., + in No. III. of The Cornell Studies in Classical Philology + (Ithaca, N.Y.; 1894). + + [97] He evidently wrote the notes of the Indian travels long + after the time at which they were made. + + [98] This shows that Philostratus came across them in some work + or letter of Apollonius, and is therefore independent of Damis' + account for this particular. + + [99] I--ar[Greek: ch]as, ar[Greek: ch]a(t)s, arhat. + + [100] Tantalus is fabled to have stolen the cup of nectar from + the gods; this was the am[r.]ita, the ocean of immortality and + wisdom, of the Indians. + + [101] The words [Greek: ouden kektmenous ta pantn], which + Philostratus quotes twice in this form, can certainly not be + changed into [Greek: mden kektmenous ta pantn echein] + without doing unwarrantable violence to their meaning. + + [102] See Tacitus, Historia, ii. 3. + + [103] Berwick, Life of Apollonius, p. 200 _n._ + + [104] He also built a precinct round the tomb of Leonidas at + Thermopyl (iv. 23). + + [105] A great centre of divination by means of dreams (see ii. + 37). + + [106] The word [Greek: gymnos] (naked), however, usually means + lightly clad, as, for instance, when a man is said to plough + "naked," that is with only one garment, and this is evident + from the comparison made between the costume of the + Gymnosophists and that of people in the hot weather at Athens + (vi. 6). + + [107] For they had neither huts nor houses, but lived in the + open air. + + [108] He spent, we are told, no less than a year and eight + months with Vardan, King of Babylon, and was the honoured guest + of the Indian R[=a]j[=a]h "Phraotes." + + [109] See i. 22 (cf. 40), 34; iv. 4, 6, 18 (cf. v. 19), 24, 43; + v. 7, 11, 13, 30, 37; vi. 32; viii. 26. + + [110] This expression is, however, perhaps only to be taken as + rhetorical, for in viii. 8, the incident is referred to in the + simple words "when he departed ([Greek: aplthe]) from the + tribunal." + + [111] That is to say not in a "form," but in his own nature. + + [112] See in this connection L. v. Schroeder, Pythagoras und + die Inder, eine Untersuchung ber Herkunft und Abstammung der + pythagoreischen Lehren (Leipzig; 1884). + + [113] This has reference to the preserved hunting parks, or + "paradises," of the Babylonian monarchs. + + [114] Reading [Greek: philosoph] for [Greek: philosophn]. + + [115] Rathgeber (G.) in his Grossgriechenland und Pythagoras + (Gotha; 1866), a work of marvellous bibliographical industry, + refers to three supposed portraits of Apollonius (p. 621). (i) + In the Campidoglio Museum of the Vatican, Indicazione delle + Sculture (Roma; 1840), p. 68, nos. 75, 76, 77; (ii) in the + Muse Royal Bourbon, described by Michel B. (Naples; 1837), p. + 79, no. 363; (iii) a contorniate reproduced by Visconti. I + cannot trace his first reference, but in a Guide pour le Muse + Royal Bourbon, traduit par C. J. J. (Naples; 1831), I find on + p. 152 that no. 363 is a bust of Apollonius, 2 feet high, + carefully executed, with a Zeus-like head, having a beard and + long hair descending onto the shoulders, bound with a deep + fillet. The bust seems to be ancient. I have, however, not been + able to find a reproduction of it. Visconti (E. Q.) in the + atlas of his Iconographie Grecque (Paris; 1808), vol. i. plate + 17, facing p. 68, gives the reproduction of a contorniate, or + medal with a circular border, on one side of which is a head of + Apollonius and the Latin legend APOLLONIVS TEANEVS. This also + represents our philosopher with a beard and long hair; the head + is crowned, and the upper part of the body covered with a tunic + and the philosopher's cloak. The medal, however, is of very + inferior workmanship, and the portrait is by no means pleasing. + Visconti in his letterpress devotes an angry and contemptuous + paragraph to Apollonius, "ce trop clbre imposteur," as he + calls him, based on De Tillemont. + + [116] See Chassang, op. cit., p. 458, for a criticism on this + statement. + + [117] This was before Vespasian became emperor. + + [118] This was a staff, or baton, used as a cypher for writing + dispatches. "A strip of leather was rolled slantwise round it, + on which the dispatches were written lengthwise, so that when + unrolled they were unintelligible; commanders abroad had a + staff of like thickness, round which they rolled their papers, + and so were able to read the dispatches." (Liddell and Scott's + Lexicon sub voc.) Hence scytale came to mean generally a + Spartan dispatch, which was characteristically laconic in its + brevity. + + [119] See i. 7, 15, 24, 32; iii. 51; iv. 5, 22, 26, 27, 46; v. + 2, 10, 39, 40, 41; vi. 18, 27, 29, 31, 33; viii. 7, 20, 27, 28. + + [120] I.e., Cynic. + + [121] Chassang (op. cit., pp. 395 sqq.) gives a French + translation of them. + + [122] Art. "Apollonius," Smith's Dict. of Class. Biog. + + [123] That is to say, a philosopher of 600 years ago. + + [124] That is to expiate blood-guiltiness with blood-sacrifice. + + [125] Chaignet (A. .), in his Pythagore et la Philosophie + pythagoricienne (Paris; 1873, 2nd ed. 1874), cites this as a + genuine example of Apollonius' philosophy. + + [126] That is his idea of death. + + [127] The text of the last sentence is very obscure. + + [128] The full title is given by Eudocia, Ionia; ed. Villoison + (Venet.; 1781), p. 57. + + [129] See Zeller, Phil. d. Griech, v. 127. + + [130] Prparat. Evangel., iv. 12-13; ed. Dindorf (Leipzig; + 1867), i. 176, 177. + + [131] A play on the meanings of [Greek: logos], which signifies + both reason and word. + + [132] Psyche, I. ii. 5. + + [133] Noack, ibid. + + [134] See Noack, Porphr. Vit. Pythag., p. 15. + + [135] Ed. Amstelod., 1707, cc. 254-264. + + +_WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR._ + ++THE PISTIS SOPHIA: A Gnostic Gospel.+ + + (With Extracts from the Books of the Saviour appended). + Originally translated from Greek into Coptic, and now for the + first time Englished from Schwartze's Latin Version of the + only known Coptic MS., and checked by Amlineau's French + Version. With an Introduction and Bibliography. 394 pp., large + octavo. Cloth, 7s. 6d. net. + + +_SOME PRESS OPINIONS._ + + "The Pistis Sophia has long been recognised as one of the most + important Gnostic documents we possess, and Mr Mead deserves the + gratitude of students of Church History and of the History of + Christian Thought, for his admirable translation and edition of + this curious Gospel."--_Glasgow Herald._ + + "Mr Mead has done a service to other than Theosophists by his + translation of the Pistis Sophia. This curious work has not till + lately received the attention which it deserves.... He has prefixed + a short Introduction, which includes an excellent bibliography. + Thus, the English reader is now in a position to judge for himself + of the scientific value of the only Gnostic treatise of any + considerable length which has come down to us."--_Guardian._ + + "From a scholar's point of view the work is of value as + illustrating the philosophico-mystical tendencies of the second + century."--_Record._ + + "Mr Mead deserves thanks for putting in an English dress this + curious document from the early ages of Christian + philosophy."--_Manchester Guardian._ + + +THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY, + +LONDON AND BENARES. + + ++FRAGMENTS OF A FAITH FORGOTTEN.+ + +Some short Sketches among the Gnostics, mainly of the First Two +Centuries--a Contribution to the Study of Christian Origins based on the +most Recently Discovered Materials. + + +I. Introduction.+--Outlines of the Background of the Gnosis; + Literature and Sources of Gnosticism. + + +II. The Gnosis according to its Foes.+--Gnostic Fragments + recovered from the Polemical Writings of the Church Fathers; + the Gnosis in the Uncanonical Acts. + + +III. The Gnosis according to its Friends.+--Greek Original + Works in Coptic Translation; the Askew, Bruce, and Akhmim + Codices. + +Classified Bibliographies are appended. 630, xxviii. pp., Large Octavo, +Cloth. 10s. 6d. net. + + +SOME PRESS NOTICES. + + "Mr Mead has done his work in a scholarly and painstaking + fashion."--_The Guardian._ + + "The ordinary student of Christian evidences, if he confines + his reading to the 'Fathers,' learns nothing of these opinions + [the so-called Gnostic 'heresies'] except by way of refutation + and angry condemnation. In Mr Mead's pages, however, they are + treated with impartiality and candour.... These remarks will + suffice to show the unique character of this volume, and to + indicate that students may find here matter of great service + to the rational interpretation of Christian + thought."--_Bradford Observer._ + + "The book, Mr Mead explains, is not intended primarily for the + student, but for the general reader, and it certainly should + not be neglected by anyone who is interested in the history of + early Christian thought."--_The Scotsman._ + + "The work is one of great labour and learning, and deserves + study as a sympathetic estimate of a rather severely-judged + class of heretics."--_Glasgow Herald._ + + "Written in a clear and elegant style.... The bibliographies + in the volume are of world-wide range, and will be most + valuable to students of theosophy."--_Asiatic Quarterly._ + + "Mr Mead writes with a precision and clearness on subjects + usually associated with bewildering technicalities and + mystifications. Even the long-suffering 'general reader' could + go through this large volume with pleasure. That is a great + deal to say of a book on such a subject."--_Light._ + + "This striking work will certainly be read not only with the + greatest interest in the select circle of the cultured, but by + that much larger circle of those longing to learn all about + Truth.... May be summed up as an extraordinary clear + exposition of the Gnosis of Saints and the Sages of + philosophic Christianity."--_The Roman Herald._ + + "Comprehensive, interesting, and scholarly.... The chapters + entitled 'Some Rough Outlines of the Background of the Gnosis' + are well written, and they tend to focus the philosophic and + religious movement of the ancient world. There is a very + excellent bibliography."--_The Spectator._ + + "Mr Mead does us another piece of service by including a + complete copy of the Gnostic _Hymn of the Robe of Glory_ ... + and a handy epitome of the _Pistis Sophia_ is another item for + which the student will be grateful."--_The Literary Guide._ + + "The author has naturally the interest of a theosophist in + Gnosticism, and approaches the subject accordingly from a + point of view different from our own. But while his point of + view emerges in the course of the volume, this does not affect + the value of his work for those who do not share his special + standpoint.... Mr Mead has at any rate rendered us an + excellent service, and we shall look forward with pleasure to + his future studies."--_The Primitive Methodist Quarterly._ + +This is the First Attempt that has been made to bring together All the +Existing Sources of Information on the Earliest Christian Philosophers. + + ++SIMON MAGUS: An Essay.+ + + The most complete work on the subject. Quarto. Price: 5s. net. + Wrappers. + ++THE WORLD MYSTERY: Four Essays.+ + + Contents: The World-Soul; The Vestures of the Soul; The Web of + Destiny; True Self-reliance. Octavo. Price: cloth, 3s. 6d. + net. + ++THE THEOSOPHY OF THE GREEKS.+ + ++PLOTINUS.+ + + With an exhaustive Bibliography. Octavo. Price: cloth, 1s. + net. + ++ORPHEUS.+ + + With three Charts and Bibliography. Will serve as an + Introduction to Hellenic Theology. Octavo. Price: cloth, 4s. + 6d. net. + ++THE THEOSOPHY OF THE VEDAS.+ + ++THE UPANI[S.]HADS: 2 Volumes.+ + + Half Octavo. Paper, 6d.; cloth, 1s. 6d. each net. + + VOLUME I. + + Contains a Translation of the [)I]sha, Kena, Ka[t.]ha, + Prashna, Mu[n.][d.]aka, and M[=a][n.][d.][=u]kya + Upani[s.]hads, with a General Preamble, Arguments, and Notes + by G. R. S. Mead and J. C. Cha[t.][t.]op[=a]dhy[=a]ya (Roy + Choudhuri). + + VOLUME II. + + Contains a Translation of the Taittirya, Aitareya, and + Shvet[=a]shvatara Upani[s.]hads, with Arguments and Notes. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Apollonius of Tyana, the +Philosopher-Reformer of the First Century A.D., by George Robert Stowe Mead + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APOLLONIUS OF TYANA *** + +***** This file should be named 35460-8.txt or 35460-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/4/6/35460/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Turgut Dincer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Apollonius of Tyana, the Philosopher-Reformer of the First Century A.D. + +Author: George Robert Stowe Mead + +Release Date: March 2, 2011 [EBook #35460] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APOLLONIUS OF TYANA *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Turgut Dincer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1><span class="smcap">APOLLONIUS of TYANA</span></h1> + +<h2>THE PHILOSOPHER-REFORMER<br /> +OF THE FIRST CENTURY A.D.</h2> + +<div class="box"><p> +A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE ONLY EXISTING +RECORD OF HIS LIFE WITH SOME ACCOUNT +OF THE WAR OF OPINION CONCERNING HIM +AND AN INTRODUCTION ON THE RELIGIOUS +ASSOCIATIONS AND BROTHERHOODS OF THE +TIMES AND THE POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF +INDIAN THOUGHT ON GREECE—BY G. R. S. +MEAD, B.A., M.R.A.S.<br /><br /></p></div> + +<h4><small>LONDON AND BENARES</small><br /> +THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY<br /> +<small>1901</small> +</h4> + +<h2>TABLE OF CONTENTS.</h2> + +<table width="100%" summary="TABLE OF CONTENTS" border="0"> +<tr> +<td class="right"><span class="smcap">section</span></td> +<td class="left"> </td> +<td class="right"><span class="smcap">page</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">I.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Introductory</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">II.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The Religious Associations and Communities +of the First Century</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">III.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">India and Greece</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">IV.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The Apollonius of Early Opinion</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">V.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Texts, Translations, and Literature</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">VI.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The Biographer of Apollonius</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">VII.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Early Life</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">VIII.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The Travels of Apollonius</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">IX.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">In the Shrines of the Temples and the +Retreats of Religion</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">X.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The Gymnosophists of Upper Egypt</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">XI.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Apollonius and the Rulers of the Empire</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">XII.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Apollonius the Prophet and Wonder-worker</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">XIII.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">His Mode of Life</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">XIV.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Himself and his Circle</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">XV.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">From his Sayings and Sermons</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">XVI.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">From his Letters</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">XVII.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The Writings of Apollonius</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="right">XVIII.</td> +<td class="left"><p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Bibliographical Notes</span></p></td> +<td class="right2"><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> + +<h2>APOLLONIUS OF TYANA.</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section I.</span></h4> + +<h3>INTRODUCTORY.</h3> + +<p>To the student of the origins of Christianity +there is naturally no period of Western history +of greater interest and importance than the first +century of our era; and yet how little comparatively +is known about it of a really definite and +reliable nature. If it be a subject of lasting +regret that no non-Christian writer of the first +century had sufficient intuition of the future to +record even a line of information concerning the +birth and growth of what was to be the religion +of the Western world, equally disappointing is +it to find so little definite information of the +general social and religious conditions of the +time. The rulers and the wars of the Empire +seem to have formed the chief interest of the +historiographers of the succeeding century, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span>even in this department of political history, though +the public acts of the Emperors may be fairly +well known, for we can check them by records +and inscriptions, when we come to their private +acts and motives we find ourselves no longer on +the ground of history, but for the most part in the +atmosphere of prejudice, scandal, and speculation. +The political acts of Emperors and their officers, +however, can at best throw but a dim side-light +on the general social conditions of the time, while +they shed no light at all on the religious conditions, +except so far as these in any particular +contacted the domain of politics. As well might +we seek to reconstruct a picture of the religious +life of the time from Imperial acts and rescripts, +as endeavour to glean any idea of the intimate +religion of this country from a perusal of statute +books or reports of Parliamentary debates.</p> + +<p>The Roman histories so-called, to which we +have so far been accustomed, cannot help us in +the reconstruction of a picture of the environment +into which, on the one hand, Paul led the +new faith in Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome; and +in which, on the other, it already found itself in +the districts bordering on the south-east of the +Mediterranean. It is only by piecing together +laboriously isolated scraps of information and +fragments of inscriptions, that we become aware of +the existence of the life of a world of religious +associations and private cults which existed at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> +this period. Not that even so we have any +very direct information of what went on in these +associations, guilds, and brotherhoods; but we +have sufficient evidence to make us keenly regret +the absence of further knowledge.</p> + +<p>Difficult as this field is to till, it is exceedingly +fertile in interest, and it is to be regretted that +comparatively so little work has as yet been done +in it; and that, as is so frequently the case, the +work which has been done is, for the most part, +not accessible to the English reader. What work +has been done on this special subject may be +seen from the bibliographical note appended to +this essay, in which is given a list of books and +articles treating of the religious associations +among the Greeks and Romans. But if we seek +to obtain a general view of the condition of +religious affairs in the first century we find ourselves +without a reliable guide; for of works +dealing with this particular subject there are +few, and from them we learn little that does +not immediately concern, or is thought to concern, +Christianity; whereas, it is just the state of the +non-Christian religious world about which, in +the present case, we desire to be informed.</p> + +<p>If, for instance, the reader turn to works of +general history, such as Merivale’s History of the +Romans under the Empire (London; last ed. 1865), +he will find, it is true, in chap. iv., a description<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> +of the state of religion up to the death of Nero, +but he will be little wiser for perusing it. If +he turn to Hermann Schiller’s Geschichte der +römischen Kaiserreichs unter der Regierung des +Nero (Berlin; 1872), he will find much reason +for discarding the vulgar opinions about the +monstrous crimes imputed to Nero, as indeed he +might do by reading in English G. H. Lewes’ +article “Was Nero a Monster?” (Cornhill Magazine; +July, 1863)—and he will also find (bk. +IV. chap. iii.) a general view of the religion and +philosophy of the time which is far more intelligent +than that of Merivale’s; but all is still very +vague and unsatisfactory, and we feel ourselves +still outside the intimate life of the philosophers +and religionists of the first century.</p> + +<p>If, again, he turn to the latest writers of Church +history who have treated this particular question, +he will find that they are occupied entirely with +the contact of the Christian Church with the +Roman Empire, and only incidentally give us +any information of the nature of which we are +in search. On this special ground C. J. Neumann, +in his careful study Der römische Staat und die +allgemeine Kirche bis auf Diocletian (Leipzig; +1890), is interesting; while Prof. W. M. Ramsay, +in The Church in the Roman Empire before <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> +170 (London; 1893), is extraordinary, for he +endeavours to interpret Roman history by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> +New Testament documents, the dates of the +majority of which are so hotly disputed.</p> + +<p>But, you may say, what has all this to do +with Apollonius of Tyana? The answer is +simple: Apollonius lived in the first century; +his work lay precisely among these religious +associations, colleges, and guilds. A knowledge +of them and their nature would give us the +natural environment of a great part of his life; +and information as to their condition in the first +century would perhaps help us the better to +understand some of the reasons for the task +which he attempted.</p> + +<p>If, however, it were only the life and +endeavours of Apollonius which would be illuminated +by this knowledge, we could understand +why so little effort has been spent in this +direction; for the character of the Tyanean, as +we shall see, has since the fourth century been +regarded with little favour even by the few, +while the many have been taught to look upon +our philosopher not only as a charlatan, but even +as an anti-Christ. But when it is just a knowledge +of these religious associations and orders +which would throw a flood of light on the earliest +evolution of Christianity, not only with regard +to the Pauline communities, but also with regard +to those schools which were subsequently condemned +as heretical, it is astonishing that we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> +have had no more satisfactory work done on the +subject.</p> + +<p>It may be said, however, that this information +is not forthcoming simply because it is unprocurable. +To a large extent this is true; nevertheless, +a great deal more could be done than has +as yet been attempted, and the results of research +in special directions and in the byways of history +could be combined, so that the non-specialist +could obtain some general idea of the religious +conditions of the times, and so be less inclined +to join in the now stereotyped condemnation +of all non-Jewish or non-Christian moral and +religious effort in the Roman Empire of the +first century.</p> + +<p>But the reader may retort: Things social and +religious in those days must have been in a very +parlous state, for, as this essay shows, Apollonius +himself spent the major part of his life in +trying to reform the institutions and cults of the +Empire. To this we answer: No doubt there +was much to reform, and when is there not? +But it would not only be not generous, but +distinctly mischievous for us to judge our fellows +of those days solely by the lofty standard of an +ideal morality, or even to scale them against the +weight of our own supposed virtues and knowledge. +Our point is not that there was nothing +to reform, far from that, but that the wholesale<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> +accusations of depravity brought against the +times will not bear impartial investigation. On +the contrary, there was much good material +ready to be worked up in many ways, and if +there had not been, how could there among other +things have been any Christianity?</p> + +<p>The Roman Empire was at the zenith of its +power, and had there not been many admirable +administrators and men of worth in the governing +caste, such a political consummation could never +have been reached and maintained. Moreover, +as ever previously in the ancient world, religious +liberty was guaranteed, and where we find persecution, +as in the reigns of Nero and Domitian, +it must be set down to political and not to +theological reasons. Setting aside the disputed +question of the persecution of the Christians +under Domitian, the Neronian persecution was +directed against those whom the Imperial power +regarded as Jewish political revolutionaries. +So, too, when we find the philosophers imprisoned +or banished from Rome during these two reigns, +it was not because they were philosophers, but +because the ideal of some of them was the +restoration of the Republic, and this rendered +them obnoxious to the charge not only of being +political malcontents, but also of actively plotting +against the Emperor’s <i>majestas</i>. Apollonius, +however, was throughout a warm supporter of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> +monarchical rule. When, then, we hear of the +philosophers being banished from Rome or being +cast into prison, we must remember that this +was not a wholesale persecution of philosophy +throughout the Empire; and when we say that +some of them desired to restore the Republic, we +should remember that the vast majority of them +refrained from politics, and especially was this +the case with the disciples of the religio-philosophical +schools.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section II.</span></h4> + +<h3>THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND +COMMUNITIES OF THE FIRST +CENTURY.</h3> + +<p>In the domain of religion it is quite true that +the state cults and national institutions +throughout the Empire were almost without +exception in a parlous state, and it is to +be noticed that Apollonius devoted much time +and labour to reviving and purifying them. +Indeed, their strength had long left the general +state-institutions of religion, where all was now +perfunctory; but so far from there being no +religious life in the land, in proportion as the +official cultus and ancestral institutions afforded +no real satisfaction to their religious needs, the +more earnestly did the people devote themselves +to private cults, and eagerly baptised themselves +in all that flood of religious enthusiasm which +flowed in with ever increasing volume from the +East. Indubitably in all this fermentation there +were many excesses, according to our present +notions of religious decorum, and also grievous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> +abuses; but at the same time in it many found +due satisfaction for their religious emotions, and, +if we except those cults which were distinctly +vicious, we have to a large extent before us in +popular circles the spectacle of what, in their +last analysis, are similar phenomena to those +enthusiasms which in our own day may be +frequently witnessed among such sects as the +Shakers or Ranters, and at the general revival +meetings of the uninstructed.</p> + +<p>It is not, however, to be thought that the +private cults and the doings of the religious associations +were all of this nature or confined to this +class; far from it. There were religious brotherhoods, +communities, and clubs—<i>thiasi</i>, <i>erani</i>, +and <i>orgeōnes</i>—of all sorts and conditions. There +were also mutual benefit societies, burial clubs, +and dining companies, the prototypes of our +present-day Masonic bodies, Oddfellows, and +the rest. These religious associations were not +only private in the sense that they were not +maintained by the State, but also for the most +part they were private in the sense that what +they did was kept secret, and this is perhaps +the main reason why we have so defective a +record of them.</p> + +<p>Among them are to be numbered not only +the lower forms of mystery-cultus of various +kinds, but also the greater ones, such as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> +Phrygian, Bacchic, Isiac, and Mithriac Mysteries, +which were spread everywhere throughout the +Empire. The famous Eleusinia were, however, +still under the ægis of the State, but though so +famous were, as a state-cultus, far more perfunctory.</p> + +<p>It is, moreover, not to be thought that the +great types of mystery-cultus above mentioned +were uniform even among themselves. There +were not only various degrees and grades within +them, but also in all probability many forms of +each line of tradition, good, bad, and indifferent. +For instance, we know that it was considered <i>de +rigueur</i> for every respectable citizen of Athens +to be initiated into the Eleusinia, and therefore +the tests could not have been very stringent; +whereas in the most recent work on the +subject, De Apuleio Isiacorum Mysteriorum +Teste (Leyden; 1900), Dr. K. H. E. De Jong +shows that in one form of the Isiac Mysteries +the candidate was invited to initiation by means +of dream; that is to say, he had to be psychically +impressionable before his acceptance.</p> + +<p>Here, then, we have a vast intermediate +ground for religious exercise between the most +popular and undisciplined forms of private cults +and the highest forms, which could only be +approached through the discipline and training +of the philosophic life. The higher side of these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> +mystery-institutions aroused the enthusiasm of +all that was best in antiquity, and unstinted +praise was given to one or another form of them +by the greatest thinkers and writers of Greece +and Rome; so that we cannot but think that +here the instructed found that satisfaction for +their religious needs which was necessary not +only for those who could not rise into the keen +air of pure reason, but also for those who had +climbed so high upon the heights of reason that +they could catch a glimpse of the other side. +The official cults were notoriously unable to give +them this satisfaction, and were only tolerated +by the instructed as an aid for the people and a +means of preserving the traditional life of the +city or state.</p> + +<p>By common consent the most virtuous livers +of Greece were the members of the Pythagorean +schools, both men and women. After the death +of their founder the Pythagoreans seem to have +gradually blended with the Orphic communities, +and the “Orphic life” was the recognised term +for a life of purity and self-denial. We also +know that the Orphics, and therefore the Pythagoreans, +were actively engaged in the reformation, +or even the entire reforming, of the Baccho-Eleusinian +rites; they seem to have brought +back the pure side of the Bacchic cult with their +reinstitution or reimportation of the Iacchic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> +mysteries, and it is very evident that such stern +livers and deep thinkers could not have been +contented with a low form of cult. Their influence +also spread far and wide in general +Bacchic circles, so that we find Euripides putting +the following words into the mouth of a chorus +of Bacchic initiates: “Clad in white robes I +speed me from the genesis of mortal men, and +never more approach the vase of death, for I +have done with eating food that ever housed a +soul.”<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> Such words could well be put into the +mouth of a Brāhman or Buddhist ascetic, eager +to escape from the bonds of Saṃsāra; and such +men cannot therefore justly be classed together +indiscriminately with ribald revellers—the general +mind-picture of a Bacchic company.</p> + +<p>But, some one may say, Euripides and the +Pythagoreans and Orphics are no evidence for +the first century; whatever good there may +have been in such schools and communities, it +had ceased long before. On the contrary, the +evidence is all against this objection. Philo, +writing about 25 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, tells us that in his day +numerous groups of men, who in all respects led +this life of religion, who abandoned their property, +retired from the world and devoted themselves +entirely to the search for wisdom and the culti<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span>vation +of virtue, were scattered far and wide +throughout the world. In his treatise, On the Contemplative +Life, he writes: “This natural class +of men is to be found in many parts of the +inhabited world, both the Grecian and non-Grecian +world, sharing in the perfect good. +In Egypt there are crowds of them in every +province, or nome as they call it, and especially +round Alexandria.” This is a most important +statement, for if there were so many devoted to +the religious life at this time, it follows that the +age was not one of unmixed depravity.</p> + +<p>It is not, however, to be thought that these +communities were all of an exactly similar +nature, or of one and the same origin, least of +all that they were all Therapeut or Essene. We +have only to remember the various lines of +descent of the doctrines held by the innumerable +schools classed together as Gnostic, as sketched +in my recent work, Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, +and to turn to the beautiful treatises of the +Hermetic schools, to persuade us that in the +first century the striving after the religious and +philosophic life was wide-spread and various.</p> + +<p>We are not, however, among those who +believe that the origin of the Therapeut communities +of Philo and of the Essenes of Philo +and Josephus is to be traced to Orphic and +Pythagorean influence. The question of precise<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> +origin is as yet beyond the power of historical +research, and we are not of those who would +exaggerate one element of the mass into a universal +source. But when we remember the existence +of all these so widely scattered communities +in the first century, when we study the imperfect +but important record of the very numerous +schools and brotherhoods of a like nature which +came into intimate contact with Christianity in +its origins, we cannot but feel that there was the +leaven of a strong religious life working in many +parts of the Empire.</p> + +<p>Our great difficulty is that these communities, +brotherhoods, and associations kept themselves +apart, and with rare exceptions left no records +of their intimate practices and beliefs, or if they +left any it has been destroyed or lost. For the +most part then we have to rely upon general +indications of a very superficial character. But +this imperfect record is no justification for us to +deny or ignore their existence and the intensity +of their endeavours; and a history which purports +to paint a picture of the times is utterly insufficient +so long as it omits this most vital subject +from its canvas.</p> + +<p>Among such surroundings as these Apollonius +moved; but how little does his biographer seem +to have been aware of the fact! Philostratus +has a rhetorician’s appreciation of a philosophical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> +court life, but no feeling for the life of religion. +It is only indirectly that the Life of Apollonius, +as it is now depicted, can throw any light on +these most interesting communities, but even an +occasional side-light is precious where all is in +such obscurity. Were it but possible to enter +into the living memory of Apollonius, and see +with his eyes the things he saw when he lived +nineteen hundred years ago, what an enormously +interesting page of the world’s history could be +recovered! He not only traversed all the +countries where the new faith was taking root, +but he lived for years in most of them, and was +intimately acquainted with numbers of mystic +communities in Egypt, Arabia, and Syria. +Surely he must have visited some of the earliest +Christian communities as well, must even have +conversed with some of the “disciples of the +Lord”! And yet no word is breathed of this, +not one single scrap of information on these +points do we glean from what is recorded of him. +Surely he must have met with Paul, if not elsewhere, +then at Rome, in 66, when he had to +leave because of the edict of banishment against +the philosophers, the very year according to some +when Paul was beheaded!</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section III.</span></h4> + +<h3>INDIA AND GREECE.</h3> + +<p>There is, however, another reason why Apollonius +is of importance to us. He was an +enthusiastic admirer of the wisdom of India. +Here again a subject of wide interest opens up. +What influences, if any, had Brāhmanism and +Buddhism on Western thought in these early +years? It is strongly asserted by some that +they had great influence; it is as strongly denied +by others that they had any influence at all. It +is, therefore, apparent that there is no really +indisputable evidence on the subject.</p> + +<p>Just as some would ascribe the constitution +of the Essene and Therapeut communities to +Pythagorean influence, so others would ascribe +their origin to Buddhist propaganda; and not +only would they trace this influence in the +Essene tenets and practices, but they would +even refer the general teaching of the Christ to +a Buddhist source in a Jewish monotheistic +setting. Not only so, but some would have it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> +that two centuries before the direct general +contact of Greece with India, brought about +by the conquests of Alexander, India through +Pythagoras strongly and lastingly influenced +all subsequent Greek thought.</p> + +<p>The question can certainly not be settled by +hasty affirmation or denial; it requires not only +a wide knowledge of general history and a +minute study of scattered and imperfect indications +of thought and practice, but also a fine +appreciation of the correct value of indirect +evidence, for of direct testimony there is none +of a really decisive nature. To such high qualifications +we can make no pretension, and our +highest ambition is simply to give a few +very general indications of the nature of the +subject.</p> + +<p>It is plainly asserted by the ancient Greeks +that Pythagoras went to India, but as the statement +is made by Neo-Pythagorean and Neo-Platonic +writers subsequent to the time of +Apollonius, it is objected that the travels of the +Tyanean suggested not only this item in the +biography of the great Samian but several others, +or even that Apollonius himself in his Life of +Pythagoras was father of the rumour. The +close resemblance, however, between many of the +features of Pythagorean discipline and doctrine +and Indo-Aryan thought and practice, make us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> +hesitate entirely to reject the possibility of +Pythagoras having visited ancient Āryāvarta.</p> + +<p>And even if we cannot go so far as to entertain +the possibility of direct personal contact, +there has to be taken into consideration the fact +that Pherecydes, the master of Pythagoras, may +have been acquainted with some of the main +ideas of Vaidic lore. Pherecydes taught at +Ephesus, but was himself most probably a Persian, +and it is quite credible that a learned +Asiatic, teaching a mystic philosophy and basing +his doctrine upon the idea of rebirth, may have +had some indirect, if not direct, knowledge of +Indo-Aryan thought.</p> + +<p>Persia must have been even at this time in +close contact with India, for about the date of +the death of Pythagoras, in the reign of Dareius, +son of Hystaspes, at the end of the sixth and +beginning of the fifth century before our era, +we hear of the expedition of the Persian general +Scylax down the Indus, and learn from Herodotus +that in this reign India (that is the +Punjāb) formed the twentieth satrapy of the +Persian monarchy. Moreover, Indian troops +were among the hosts of Xerxes; they invaded +Thessaly and fought at Platæa.</p> + +<p>From the time of Alexander onwards there +was direct and constant contact between Āryāvarta +and the kingdoms of the successors of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> +world-conqueror, and many Greeks wrote about +this land of mystery; but in all that has come +down to us we look in vain for anything but the +vaguest indications of what the “philosophers” +of India systematically thought.</p> + +<p>That the Brāhmans would at this time have +permitted their sacred books to be read by the +Yavanas (Ionians, the general name for Greeks +in Indian records) is contrary to all we know of +their history. The Yavanas were Mlechchhas, +outside the pale of the Āryas, and all they could +glean of the jealously guarded Brahmā-vidyā +or theosophy must have depended solely upon +outside observation. But the dominant religious +activity at this time in India was Buddhist, and +it is to this protest against the rigid distinctions +of caste and race made by Brāhmanical pride, +and to the startling novelty of an enthusiastic +religious propaganda among all classes and races +in India, and outside India to all nations, that +we must look for the most direct contact of +thought between India and Greece.</p> + +<p>For instance, in the middle of the third century +<span class="smcap">b.c.</span>, we know from Asoka’s thirteenth edict, that +this Buddhist Emperor of India, the Constantine +of the East, sent missionaries to Antiochus II. of +Syria, Ptolemy II. of Egypt, Antigonus Gonatas +of Macedonia, Magas of Cyrene, and Alexander +II. of Epirus. When, in a land of such imperfect<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> +records, the evidence on the side of India is so +clear and indubitable, all the more extraordinary +is it that we have no direct testimony on our side +of so great a missionary activity. Although, then, +merely because of the absence of all direct information +from Greek sources, it is very unsafe to +generalize, nevertheless from our general knowledge +of the times it is not illegitimate to conclude +that no great public stir could have been +made by these pioneers of the Dharma in the West. +In every probability these Buddhist Bhikṣhus +produced no effect on the rulers or on the people. +But was their mission entirely abortive; and did +Buddhist missionary enterprise westwards cease +with them?</p> + +<p>The answer to this question, as it seems to +us, is hidden in the obscurity of the religious +communities. We cannot, however, go so far as +to agree with those who would cut the gordian +knot by asserting dogmatically that the ascetic +communities in Syria and Egypt were founded +by these Buddhist propagandists. Already even +in Greece itself were not only Pythagorean but +even prior to them Orphic communities, for even +on this ground we believe that Pythagoras rather +developed what he found already existing, than +that he established something entirely new. And +if they were found in Greece, much more then is +it reasonable to suppose that such communities<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> +already existed in Syria, Arabia, and Egypt, whose +populations were given far more to religious +exercises than the sceptical and laughter-loving +Greeks.</p> + +<p>It is, however, credible that in such communities, +if anywhere, Buddhist propaganda would find an +appreciative and attentive audience; but even so +it is remarkable that they have left no distinctly +direct trace of their influence. Nevertheless, both +by the sea way and by the great caravan route there +was an ever open line of communication between +India and the Empire of the successors of Alexander; +and it is even permissible to speculate, that +if we could recover a catalogue of the great Alexandrian +library, for instance, we should perchance +find that in it Indian MSS. were to be found +among the other rolls and parchments of the +scriptures of the nations.</p> + +<p>Indeed, there are phrases in the oldest treatises +of the Trismegistic Hermetic literature which can +be so closely paralleled with phrases in the Upaniṣhads +and in the Bhagavad Gītā, that one is almost +tempted to believe that the writers had some +acquaintance with the general contents of these +Brāhmanical scriptures. The Trismegistic literature +had its genesis in Egypt, and its earliest +deposit must be dated at least in the first century +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, if it cannot even be pushed back earlier. +Even more striking is the similarity between the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> +lofty mystic metaphysic of the Gnostic doctor +Basilides, who lived at the end of the first and +beginning of the second century <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, and Vedāntic +ideas. Moreover, both the Hermetic and the +Basilidean schools and their immediate predecessors +were devoted to a stern self-discipline +and deep philosophical study which would make +them welcome eagerly any philosopher or mystic +student who might come from the far East.</p> + +<p>But even so, we are not of those who by their +own self-imposed limitations of possibility are +condemned to find some direct physical contact to +account for a similarity of ideas or even of phrasing. +Granting, for instance, that there is much resemblance +between the teachings of the Dharma +of the Buddha and of the Gospel of the Christ, +and that the same spirit of love and gentleness +pervades them both, still there is no necessity to +look for the reason of this resemblance to purely +physical transmission. And so for other schools +and other teachers; like conditions will produce +similar phenomena; like effort and like aspiration +will produce similar ideas, similar experience, and +similar response. And this we believe to be the +case in no general way, but that it is all very +definitely ordered from within by the servants +of the real guardians of things religious in this +world.</p> + +<p>We are, then, not compelled to lay so much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> +stress on the question of physical transmission, +or to be seeking even to find proof of copying. +The human mind in its various degrees is much +the same in all climes and ages, and its inner +experience has a common ground into which seed +may be sown, as it is tilled and cleared of weeds. +The good seed comes all from the same granary, +and those who sow it pay no attention to the +man-made outer distinctions of race and creed.</p> + +<p>However difficult, therefore, it may be to +prove, from unquestionably historical statements, +any direct influence of Indian thought on the +conceptions and practices of some of these +religious communities and philosophic schools +of the Græco-Roman Empire, and although in +any particular case similarity of ideas need not +necessarily be assigned to direct physical transmission, +nevertheless the highest probability, if +not the greatest assurance, remains that even +prior to the days of Apollonius there was some +private knowledge in Greece of the general ideas +of the Vedānta and Dharma; while in the case +of Apollonius himself, even if we discount nine-tenths +of what is related of him, his one idea +seems to have been to spread abroad among the +religious brotherhoods and institutions of the +Empire some portion of the wisdom which he +brought back with him from India.</p> + +<p>When, then, we find at the end of the first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> +and during the first half of the second century, +among such mystic associations as the Hermetic +and Gnostic schools, ideas which strongly remind +us of the theosophy of the Upaniṣhads or the +reasoned ethics of the Suttas, we have always +to take into consideration not only the high +probability of Apollonius having visited such +schools, but also the possibility of his having +discoursed at length therein on the Indian +wisdom. Not only so, but the memory of his +influence may have lingered for long in such +circles, for do we not find Plotinus, the coryphæus +of Neo-Platonism, as it is called, so +enamoured with what he had heard of the +wisdom of India at Alexandria, that in 242 he +started off with the ill-starred expedition of +Gordian to the East in the hope of reaching that +land of philosophy? With the failure of the +expedition and assassination of the Emperor, +however, he had to return, for ever disappointed +of his hope.</p> + +<p>It is not, however, to be thought that +Apollonius set out to make a propaganda of +Indian philosophy in the same way that the +ordinary missionary sets forth to preach his +conception of the Gospel. By no means; +Apollonius seems to have endeavoured to help +his hearers, whoever they might be, in the way +best suited to each of them. He did not begin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> +by telling them that what they believed was +utterly false and soul-destroying, and that their +eternal welfare depended upon their instantly +adopting his own special scheme of salvation; +he simply endeavoured to purge and further +explain what they already believed and +practised. That some strong power supported +him in his ceaseless activity, and in his +almost world-wide task, is not so difficult of +belief; and it is a question of deep interest for +those who strive to peer through the mists of +appearance, to speculate how that not only a +Paul but also an Apollonius was aided and +directed in his task from within.</p> + +<p>The day, however, has not yet dawned when +it will be possible for the general mind in the +West to approach the question with such freedom +from prejudice, as to bear the thought that, +seen from within, not only Paul but also +Apollonius may well have been a “disciple of +the Lord” in the true sense of the words; and +that too although on the surface of things their +tasks seem in many ways so dissimilar, and even, +to theological preconceptions, entirely antagonistic.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, however, even to-day there is an +ever-growing number of thinking people who +will not only not be shocked by such a belief, but +who will receive it with joy as the herald of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> +dawning of a true sun of righteousness, which +will do more to illumine the manifold ways of +the religion of our common humanity than all +the self-righteousness of any particular body of +exclusive religionists.</p> + +<p>It is, then, in this atmosphere of charity and +tolerance that we would ask the reader to +approach the consideration of Apollonius and +his doings, and not only the life and deeds of +an Apollonius, but also of all those who have +striven to help their fellows the world over.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section IV.</span></h4> + +<h3>THE APOLLONIUS OF EARLY OPINION.</h3> + +<p>Apollonius of Tyana<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> was the most famous +philosopher of the Græco-Roman world of the +first century, and devoted the major part of his +long life to the purification of the many cults of +the Empire and to the instruction of the ministers +and priests of its religions. With the exception +of the Christ no more interesting personage +appears upon the stage of Western history in +these early years. Many and various and ofttimes +mutually contradictory are the opinions +which have been held about Apollonius, for the +account of his life which has come down to us +is in the guise of a romantic story rather than in +the form of a plain history. And this is perhaps +to some extent to be expected, for Apollonius, +besides his public teaching, had a life apart, a +life into which even his favourite disciple does +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span>not enter. He journeys into the most distant +lands, and is lost to the world for years; he +enters the shrines of the most sacred temples +and the inner circles of the most exclusive +communities, and what he says or does therein +remains a mystery, or serves only as an opportunity +for the weaving of some fantastic story +by those who did not understand.</p> + +<p>The following study will be simply an attempt +to put before the reader a brief sketch of the +problem which the records and traditions of the +life of the famous Tyanean present; but before +we deal with the Life of Apollonius, written by +Flavius Philostratus at the beginning of the +third century, we must give the reader a brief +account of the references to Apollonius among +the classical writers and the Church Fathers, and +a short sketch of the literature of the subject in +more recent times, and of the varying fortunes +of the war of opinion concerning his life in the +last four centuries.</p> + +<p>First, then, with regard to the references in +classical and patristic authors. Lucian, the witty +writer of the first half of the second century, makes +the subject of one of his satires the pupil of a +disciple of Apollonius, of one of those who were +acquainted with “all the tragedy”<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> of his life. +And Appuleius, a contemporary of Lucian, classes +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span>Apollonius with Moses and Zoroaster, and other +famous Magi of antiquity.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">4</a></p> + +<p>About the same period, in a work entitled +Quæstiones et Responsiones ad Orthodoxos, formerly +attributed to Justin Martyr, who flourished +in the second quarter of the second century, we +find the following interesting statement:</p> + +<p>“Question 24: If God is the maker and +master of creation, how do the consecrated +objects<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">5</a> of Apollonius have power in the +[various] orders of that creation? For, <i>as we +see</i>, they check the fury of the waves and the +power of the winds and the inroads of vermin +and attacks of wild beasts.”<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">6</a></p> + +<p>Dion Cassius in his history,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> which he wrote +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 211-222, states that Caracalla (Emp. 211-216) +honoured the memory of Apollonius with +a chapel or monument (<i>heroum</i>).</p> + +<p>It was just at this time (216) that Philostratus +composed his Life of Apollonius, at the request +of Domna Julia, Caracalla’s mother, and it is +with this document principally that we shall +have to deal in the sequel.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span></p><p>Lampridius, who flourished about the middle +of the third century, further informs us that +Alexander Severus (Emp. 222-235) placed +the statue of Apollonius in his <i>lararium</i> +together with those of Christ, Abraham, and +Orpheus.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">8</a></p> + +<p>Vopiscus, writing in the last decade of the +third century, tells us that Aurelian (Emp. 270-275) +vowed a temple to Apollonius, of whom he +had seen a vision when besieging Tyana. Vopiscus +speaks of the Tyanean as “a sage of the +most wide-spread renown and authority, an +ancient philosopher, and a true friend of the +Gods,” nay, as a manifestation of deity. “For +what among men,” exclaims the historian, “was +more holy, what more worthy of reverence, what +more venerable, what more god-like than he? +He, it was, who gave life to the dead. He, it +was, who did and said so many things beyond +the power of men.”<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">9</a> So enthusiastic is Vopiscus +about Apollonius, that he promises, if he lives, +to write a short account of his life in Latin, so +that his deeds and words may be on the tongue +of all, for as yet the only accounts are in Greek.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">10</a> +Vopiscus, however, did not fulfil his promise, but +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span>we learn that about this date both Soterichus<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">11</a> +and Nichomachus wrote Lives of our philosopher, +and shortly afterwards Tascius Victorianus, +working on the papers of Nichomachus,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">12</a> also +composed a Life. None of these Lives, however, +have reached us.</p> + +<p>It was just at this period also, namely, in the +last years of the third century and the first years +of the fourth, that Porphyry and Iamblichus +composed their treatises on Pythagoras and his +school; both mention Apollonius as one of their +authorities, and it is probable that the first 30 sections +of Iamblichus are taken from Apollonius.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">13</a></p> + +<p>We now come to an incident which hurled the +character of Apollonius into the arena of Christian +polemics, where it has been tossed about until +the present day. Hierocles, successively governor +of Palmyra, Bithynia, and Alexandria, and a +philosopher, about the year 305 wrote a criticism +on the claims of the Christians, in two books, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span>called A Truthful Address to the Christians, +or more shortly The Truth-lover. He seems +to have based himself for the most part on the +previous works of Celsus and Porphyry,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">14</a> but +introduced a new subject of controversy by +opposing the wonderful works of Apollonius to +the claims of the Christians to exclusive right +in “miracles” as proof of the divinity of their +Master. In this part of his treatise Hierocles +used Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius.</p> + +<p>To this pertinent criticism of Hierocles +Eusebius of Cæsarea immediately replied in a +treatise still extant, entitled Contra Hieroclem.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">15</a> +Eusebius admits that Apollonius was a wise and +virtuous man, but denies that there is sufficient +proof that the wonderful things ascribed to him +ever took place; and even if they did take place, +they were the work of “dæmons,” and not of +God. The treatise of Eusebius is interesting; he +severely scrutinises the statements in Philostratus, +and shows himself possessed of a first rate critical +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span>faculty. Had he only used the same faculty +on the documents of the Church, of which he +was the first historian, posterity would have +owed him an eternal debt of gratitude. But +Eusebius, like so many other apologists, could +only see one side; justice, when anything touching +Christianity was called into question, was a +stranger to his mind, and he would have considered +it blasphemy to use his critical faculty +on the documents which relate the “miracles” of +Jesus. Still the problem of “miracle” was the +same, as Hierocles pointed out, and remains the +same to this day.</p> + +<p>After the controversy reincarnated again in +the sixteenth century, and when the hypothesis +of the “Devil” as the prime-mover in all +“miracles” but those of the Church lost its hold +with the progress of scientific thought, the nature +of the wonders related in the Life of Apollonius +was still so great a difficulty that it gave rise +to a new hypothesis of plagiarism. The life of +Apollonius was a Pagan plagiarism of the life +of Jesus. But Eusebius and the Fathers who +followed him had no suspicion of this; they lived +in times when such an assertion could have been +easily refuted. There is not a word in Philostratus +to show he had any acquaintance with the life +of Jesus, and fascinating as Baur’s “tendency-writing” +theory is to many, we can only say that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> +as a plagiarist of the Gospel story Philostratus +is a conspicuous failure. Philostratus writes the +history of a good and wise man, a man with a +mission of teaching, clothed in the wonder stories +preserved in the memory and embellished by the +imagination of fond posterity, but not the drama +of incarnate Deity as the fulfilment of world-prophecy.</p> + +<p>Lactantius, writing about 315, also attacked +the treatise of Hierocles, who seems to have put +forward some very pertinent criticisms; for the +Church Father says that he enumerates so many +of their Christian inner teachings (<i>intima</i>) that +sometimes he would seem to have at one time +undergone the same training (<i>disciplina</i>). But +it is in vain, says Lactantius, that Hierocles +endeavours to show that Apollonius performed +similar or even greater deeds than Jesus, for +Christians do not believe that Christ is God +because he did wonderful things, but because all +the things wrought in him were those which +were announced by the prophets.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">16</a> And in +taking this ground Lactantius saw far more +clearly than Eusebius the weakness of the proof +from “miracle.”</p> + +<p>Arnobius, the teacher of Lactantius, however, +writing at the end of the third century, before +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span>the controversy, in referring to Apollonius simply +classes him among Magi, such as Zoroaster and +others mentioned in the passage of Appuleius to +which we have already referred.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">17</a></p> + +<p>But even after the controversy there is a wide +difference of opinion among the Fathers, for +although at the end of the fourth century John +Chrysostom with great bitterness calls Apollonius +a deceiver and evil-doer, and declares that the +whole of the incidents in his life are unqualified +fiction,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">18</a> Jerome, on the contrary, at the very +same date, takes almost a favourable view, for, after +perusing Philostratus, he writes that Apollonius +found everywhere something to learn and something +whereby he might become a better man.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">19</a> +At the beginning of the fifth century also Augustine, +while ridiculing any attempt at comparison +between Apollonius and Jesus, says that the +character of the Tyanean was “far superior” to +that ascribed to Jove, in respect of virtue.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">20</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span></p><p>About the same date also we find Isidorus of +Pelusium, who died in 450, bluntly denying that +there is any truth in the claim made by “certain,” +whom he does not further specify, that +Apollonius of Tyana “consecrated many spots in +many parts of the world for the safety of the +inhabitants.”<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">21</a> It is instructive to compare the +denial of Isidorus with the passage we have +already quoted from Pseudo-Justin. The writer +of Questions and Answers to the Orthodox in the +second century could not dispose of the question +by a blunt denial; he had to admit it and argue +the case on other grounds—namely, the agency +of the Devil. Nor can the argument of the +Fathers, that Apollonius used magic to bring +about his results, while the untaught Christians +could perform healing wonders by a single word,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">22</a> +be accepted as valid by the unprejudiced critic, +for there is no evidence to support the contention +that Apollonius employed such methods for his +wonder-workings; on the contrary, both Apollonius +himself and his biographer Philostratus +strenuously repudiate the charge of magic +brought against him.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, a few years later, Sidonius +Apollinaris, Bishop of Claremont, speaks in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span>highest terms of Apollonius. Sidonius translated +the Life of Apollonius into Latin for Leon, the +councillor of King Euric, and in writing to his +friend he says: “Read the life of a man who +(religion apart) resembles you in many things; a +man sought out by the rich, yet who never sought +for riches; who loved wisdom and despised +gold; a man frugal in the midst of feastings, +clad in linen in the midst of those clothed in +purple, austere in the midst of luxury.... In +fine, to speak plainly, perchance no historian will +find in ancient times a philosopher whose life is +equal to that of Apollonius.”<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">23</a></p> + +<p>Thus we see that even among the Church +Fathers opinions were divided; while among the +philosophers themselves the praise of Apollonius +was unstinted.</p> + +<p>For Ammianus Marcellinus, “the last subject +of Rome who composed a profane history in the +Latin language,” and the friend of Julian the +philosopher-emperor, refers to the Tyanean as +“that most renowned philosopher8221;;<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">24</a> while a +few years later Eunapius, the pupil of Chrysanthius, +one of the teachers of Julian, writing in +the last years of the fourth century, says that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span>Apollonius was more than a philosopher; he was +“a middle term, as it were, between gods and +men.”<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">25</a> Not only was Apollonius an adherent +of the Pythagorean philosophy, but “he fully +exemplified the more divine and practical side +in it.” In fact Philostratus should have called +his biography “The Sojourning of a God among +Men.”<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">26</a> This seemingly wildly exaggerated estimate +may perhaps receive explanation in the fact +that Eunapius belonged to a school which knew the +nature of the attainments ascribed to Apollonius.</p> + +<p>Indeed, “as late as the fifth century we find +one Volusian, a proconsul of Africa, descended +from an old Roman family and still strongly +attached to the religion of his ancestors, almost +worshipping Apollonius of Tyana as a supernatural +being.”<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">27</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span></p><p>Even after the downfall of philosophy we find +Cassiodorus, who spent the last years of his long +life in a monastery, speaking of Apollonius as +the “renowned philosopher.”<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">28</a> So also among +Byzantine writers, the monk George Syncellus, +in the eighth century, refers several times to +our philosopher, and not only without the +slightest adverse criticism, but he declares that +he was the first and most remarkable of all the +illustrious people who appeared under the +Empire.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">29</a> Tzetzes also, the critic and grammarian, +calls Apollonius “all-wise and a fore-knower +of all things.”<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">30</a></p> + +<p>And though the monk Xiphilinus, in the +eleventh century, in a note to his abridgment +of the history of Dion Cassius, calls Apollonius +a clever juggler and magician,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">31</a> nevertheless +Cedrenus in the same century bestows on +Apollonius the not uncomplimentary title of an +“adept Pythagorean philosopher,”<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">32</a> and relates +several instances of the efficacy of his powers +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span>in Byzantium. In fact, if we can believe +Nicetas, as late as the thirteenth century there +were at Byzantium certain bronze doors, formerly +consecrated by Apollonius, which had to +be melted down because they had become an +object of superstition even for the Christians +themselves.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">33</a></p> + +<p>Had the work of Philostratus disappeared +with the rest of the Lives, the above would be all +that we should have known about Apollonius.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">34</a> +Little enough, it is true, concerning so distinguished +a character, yet ample enough to +show that, with the exception of theological +prejudice, the suffrages of antiquity were all on +the side of our philosopher.</p> +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section V.</span></h4> + +<h3>TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, AND +LITERATURE.</h3> + +<p>We will now turn to the texts, translations, +and general literature of the subject in more +recent times. Apollonius returned to the +memory of the world, after the oblivion of the +dark ages, with evil auspices. From the very +beginning the old Hierocles-Eusebius controversy +was revived, and the whole subject was at +once taken out of the calm region of philosophy +and history and hurled once more into the stormy +arena of religious bitterness and prejudice. For +long Aldus hesitated to print the text of +Philostratus, and only finally did so (in 1501) +with the text of Eusebius as an appendix, so that, +as he piously phrases it, “the antidote might accompany +the poison.” Together with it appeared +a Latin translation by the Florentine Rinucci.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">35</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span></p> +<p>In addition to the Latin version the sixteenth +century also produced an Italian<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">36</a> and French +translation.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">37</a></p> + +<p>The <i>editio princeps</i> of Aldus was superseded +a century later by the edition of Morel,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">38</a> which +in its turn was followed a century still later by +that of Olearius.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">39</a> Nearly a century and a half +later again the text of Olearius was superseded +by that of Kayser (the first critical text), whose +work in its last edition contains the latest critical +apparatus.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">40</a> All information with regard to the +MSS. will be found in Kayser’s Latin Prefaces.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span></p><p>We shall now attempt to give some idea of +the general literature on the subject, so that the +reader may be able to note some of the varying +fortunes of the war of opinion in the bibliographical +indications. And if the general reader +should be impatient of the matter and eager to +get to something of greater interest, he can easily +omit its perusal; while if he be a lover of the +mystic way, and does not take delight in wrangling +controversy, he may at least sympathise +with the writer, who has been compelled to look +through the works of the last century and a good +round dozen of those of the previous centuries, +before he could venture on an opinion of his own +with a clear conscience.</p> + +<p>Sectarian prejudice against Apollonius characterises +nearly every opinion prior to the +nineteenth century.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">41</a> Of books distinctly +dedicated to the subject the works of the Abbé +Dupin<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">42</a> and of de Tillemont<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">43</a> are bitter attacks +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span>on the Philosopher of Tyana in defence of the +monopoly of Christian miracles; while those of +the Abbé Houtteville<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">44</a> and Lüderwald<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">45</a> are less +violent, though on the same lines. A pseudonymous +writer, however, of the eighteenth century +strikes out a somewhat different line by classing +together the miracles of the Jesuits and other +Monastic Orders with those of Apollonius, and +dubbing them all spurious, while maintaining +the sole authenticity of those of Jesus.<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">46</a></p> + +<p>Nevertheless, Bacon and Voltaire speak of +Apollonius in the highest terms,<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">47</a> and even a +century before the latter the English Deist, +Charles Blount,<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">48</a> raised his voice against the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span>universal obloquy poured upon the character of +the Tyanean; his work, however, was speedily +suppressed.</p> + +<p>In the midst of this war about miracles in the +eighteenth century it is pleasant to remark the +short treatise of Herzog, who endeavours to give +a sketch of the philosophy and religious life of +Apollonius,<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">49</a> but, alas! there were no followers of +so liberal an example in this century of strife.</p> + +<p>So far then for the earlier literature of the +subject. Frankly none of it is worth reading; +the problem could not be calmly considered in such +a period. It started on the false ground of the +Hierocles-Eusebius controversy, which was but an +incident (for wonder-working is common to all +great teachers and not peculiar to Apollonius +or Jesus), and was embittered by the rise of +Encyclopædism and the rationalism of the +Revolution period. Not that the miracle-controversy +ceased even in the last century; it +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span>does not, however, any longer obscure the whole +horizon, and the sun of a calmer judgment +may be seen breaking through the mist.</p> + +<p>In order to make the rest of our summary +clearer we append at the end of this essay the +titles of the works which have appeared since +the beginning of the nineteenth century, in +chronological order.</p> + +<p>A glance over this list will show that the last +century has produced an English (Berwick’s), +an Italian (Lancetti’s), a French (Chassang’s), +and two German translations (Jacobs’ and +Baltzer’s).<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">50</a> The Rev. E. Berwick’s translation +is the only English version; in his Preface the +author, while asserting the falsity of the miraculous +element in the Life, says that the rest +of the work deserves careful attention. No harm +will accrue to the Christian religion by its perusal, +for there are no allusions to the Life of +Christ in it, and the miracles are based on those +ascribed to Pythagoras.</p> + +<p>This is certainly a healthier standpoint than +that of the traditional theological controversy, +which, unfortunately, however, was revived +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span>again by the great authority of Baur, who saw +in a number of the early documents of the +Christian era (notably the canonical Acts) +tendency-writings of but slight historical content, +representing the changing fortunes of +schools and parties and not the actual histories +of individuals. The Life of Apollonius was one +of these tendency-writings; its object was to put +forward a view opposed to Christianity in favour +of philosophy. Baur thus divorced the whole +subject from its historical standpoint and +attributed to Philostratus an elaborate scheme +of which he was entirely innocent. Baur’s view +was largely adopted by Zeller in his Philosophie +der Griechen (v. 140), and by Réville in Holland.</p> + +<p>This “Christusbild” theory (carried by a few +extremists to the point of denying that Apollonius +ever existed) has had a great vogue among +writers on the subject, especially compilers of +encyclopædia articles; it is at any rate a wider +issue than the traditional miracle-wrangle, which +was again revived in all its ancient narrowness +by Newman, who only uses Apollonius as an +excuse for a dissertation on orthodox miracles, +to which he devotes eighteen pages out of the +twenty-five of his treatise. Noack also follows +Baur, and to some extent Pettersch, though he +takes the subject onto the ground of philosophy; +while Mönckeberg, pastor of St. Nicolai in Ham<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span>burg, +though striving to be fair to Apollonius, +ends his chatty dissertation with an outburst of +orthodox praises of Jesus, praises which we by no +means grudge, but which are entirely out of place +in such a subject.</p> + +<p>The development of the Jesus-Apollonius +miracle-controversy into the Jesus-against-Apollonius +and even Christ-against-Anti-Christ +battle, fought out with relays of lusty champions +on the one side against a feeble protest at best on +the other, is a painful spectacle to contemplate. +How sadly must Jesus and Apollonius have +looked upon, and still look upon, this bitter and +useless strife over their saintly persons. Why +should posterity set their memories one against +the other? Did they oppose one another in life? +Did even their biographers do so after their +deaths? Why then could not the controversy +have ceased with Eusebius? For Lactantius +frankly admits the point brought forward by +Hierocles (to exemplify which Hierocles only +referred to Apollonius as one instance out of +many)—that “miracles” do not prove divinity. +We rest our claims, says Lactantius, <i>not</i> on +miracles, but on the fulfilment of prophecy.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">51</a> +Had this more sensible position been revived +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span>instead of that of Eusebius, the problem of Apollonius +would have been considered in its natural +historical environment four hundred years ago, +and much ink and paper would have been saved.</p> + +<p>With the progress of the critical method, +however, opinion has at length partly recovered +its balance, and it is pleasant to be able to turn +to works which have rescued the subject from +theological obscurantism and placed it in the +open field of historical and critical research. The +two volumes of the independent thinker, Legrand +d’Aussy, which appeared at the very beginning +of the last century, are, for the time, remarkably +free from prejudice, and are a praiseworthy +attempt at historical impartiality, but criticism +was still young at this period. Kayser, though +he does not go thoroughly into the matter, +decides that the account of Philostratus is purely +a “<i>fabularis narratio</i>” but is well opposed by +I. Müller, who contends for a strong element of +history as a background. But by far the +best sifting of the sources is that of Jessen.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">52</a> +Priaulx’s study deals solely with the Indian +episode and is of no critical value for the +estimation of the sources. Of all previous +studies, however, the works of Chassang and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span>Baltzer are the most generally intelligent, for +both writers are aware of the possibilities of +psychic science, though mostly from the insufficient +standpoint of spiritistic phenomena.</p> + +<p>As for Tredwell’s somewhat pretentious +volume which, being in English, is accessible to +the general reader, it is largely reactionary, and +is used as a cover for adverse criticism of the +Christian origins from a Secularist standpoint +which denies at the outset the possibility of +“miracle” in any meaning of the word. A mass +of well-known numismatological and other +matter, which is entirely irrelevant, but which +seems to be new and surprising to the author, is +introduced, and a map is prefixed to the title-page +purporting to give the itineraries of Apollonius, +but having little reference to the text of +Philostratus. Indeed, nowhere does Tredwell +show that he is working on the text itself, and +the subject in his hands is but an excuse for a +rambling dissertation on the first century in +general from his own standpoint.</p> + +<p>This is all regrettable, for with the exception +of Berwick’s translation, which is almost unprocurable, +we have nothing of value in English +for the general reader,<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">53</a> except Sinnett’s short +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span>sketch, which is descriptive rather than critical +or explanatory.</p> + +<p>So far then for the history of the Apollonius +of opinion; we will now turn to the Apollonius +of Philostratus, and attempt if possible to +discover some traces of the man as he was in +history, and the nature of his life and work.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section VI.</span></h4> + +<h3>THE BIOGRAPHER OF APOLLONIUS.</h3> + +<p>Flavius Philostratus, the writer of the only +Life of Apollonius which has come down to us,<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">54</a> +was a distinguished man of letters who lived in +the last quarter of the second and the first half +of the third century (<i>cir.</i> 175-245 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). He +formed one of the circle of famous writers and +thinkers gathered round the philosopher-empress,<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">55</a> +Julia Domna, who was the guiding +spirit of the Empire during the reigns of her husband +Septimius Severus and her son Caracalla. +All three members of the imperial family were +students of occult science, and the age was preeminently +one in which the occult arts, good and +bad, were a passion. Thus the sceptical Gibbon, +in his sketch of Severus and his famous consort, +writes:</p> + +<p>“Like most of the Africans, Severus was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span>passionately addicted to the vain studies of +magic and divination, deeply versed in the +interpretation of dreams and omens, and perfectly +acquainted with the science of judicial astrology, +which in almost every age except the present, +has maintained its dominion over the mind of +man. He had lost his first wife whilst he was +governor of the Lionnese Gaul. In the choice +of a second, he sought only to connect himself +with some favourite of fortune; and as soon as +he had discovered that a young lady of Emesa +in Syria had <i>a royal nativity</i><a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">56</a> he solicited and +obtained her hand. Julia Domna<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">57</a> (for that +was her name) deserved all that the stars could +promise her. She possessed, even in an advanced +age,<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">58</a> the attractions of beauty, and united to a +lively imagination a firmness of mind, and +strength of judgment, seldom bestowed on her +sex. Her amiable qualities never made any +deep impression on the dark and jealous temper +of her husband,<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">59</a> but in her son’s reign, she +administered the principal affairs of the Empire +with a prudence that supported his authority, +and with a moderation that sometimes corrected +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span>his wild extravagances. Julia applied herself to +letters and philosophy with some success, and +with the most splendid reputation. She was the +patroness of every art, and the friend of every +man of genius.”<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">60</a></p> + +<p>We thus see, even from Gibbon’s somewhat +grudging estimate, that Domna Julia was a +woman of remarkable character, whose outer acts +give evidence of an inner purpose, and whose +private life has not been written. It was at +her request that Philostratus wrote the Life of +Apollonius, and it was she who supplied him +with certain MSS. that were in her possession, as +a basis; for the beautiful daughter of Bassianus, +priest of the sun at Emesa, was an ardent +collector of books from every part of the world, +especially of the MSS. of philosophers and of +memoranda and biographical notes relating to +the famous students of the inner nature of +things.</p> + +<p>That Philostratus was the best man to whom +to entrust so important a task, is doubtful. It +is true that he was a skilled stylist and a +practised man of letters, an art critic and an +ardent antiquarian, as we may see from his other +works; but he was a sophist rather than a philosopher, +and though an enthusiastic admirer of +Pythagoras and his school, was so from a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span>distance, regarding it rather through a wonder-loving +atmosphere of curiosity and the embellishments +of a lively imagination than from a +personal acquaintance with its discipline, or a +practical knowledge of those hidden forces of +the soul with which its adepts dealt. We have, +therefore, to expect a sketch of the appearance +of a thing by one outside, rather than +an exposition of the thing itself from one +within.</p> + +<p>The following is Philostratus’ account of the +sources from which he derived his information +concerning Apollonius:<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">61</a></p> + +<p>“I have collected my materials partly from +the cities which loved him, partly from the +temples whose rites and regulations he restored +from their former state of neglect, partly from +what others have said about him, and partly +from his own letters.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">62</a> More detailed information +I procured as follows. Damis was a +man of some education who formerly used to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span>live in the ancient city of Ninus.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">63</a> He became +a disciple of Apollonius and recorded his +travels, in which he says he himself took part, +and also the views, sayings, and predictions of +his master. A member of Damis’ family brought +the Empress Julia the note-books<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">64</a> containing +these memoirs, which up to that time had not +been known of. As I was one of the circle of +this princess, who was a lover and patroness of +all literary productions, she ordered me to rewrite +these sketches and improve their form of +expression, for though the Ninevite expressed +himself clearly, his style was far from correct. +I also have had access to a book by Maximus<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">65</a> +of Ægæ which contained all Apollonius’ doings +at Ægæ.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">66</a> There is also a will written by Apollonius, +from which we can learn how he almost +deified philosophy.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">67</a> As to the four books of +Mœragenes<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">68</a> on Apollonius they do not deserve +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span>attention, for he knows nothing of most of the +facts of his life” (i. 2, 3).</p> + +<p>These are the sources to which Philostratus +was indebted for his information, sources which +are unfortunately no longer accessible to us, +except perhaps a few letters. Nor did Philostratus +spare any pains to gather information on +the subject, for in his concluding words (viii. 31), +he tells us that he has himself travelled into +most parts of the “world” and everywhere met +with the “inspired sayings”<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">69</a> of Apollonius, and +that he was especially well acquainted with the +temple dedicated to the memory of our philosopher +at Tyana and founded at the imperial +expense (“for the emperors had judged him not +unworthy of like honours with themselves”), +whose priests, it is to be presumed, had got +together as much information as they could +concerning Apollonius.</p> + +<p>A thoroughly critical analysis of the literary +effort of Philostratus, therefore, would have to +take into account all of these factors, and endeavour +to assign each statement to its original +source. But even then the task of the historian +would be incomplete, for it is transparently +evident that Philostratus has considerably +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span>“embellished” the narrative with numerous +notes and additions of his own and with the +composition of set speeches.</p> + +<p>Now as the ancient writers did not separate +their notes from the text, or indicate them in +any distinct fashion, we have to be constantly +on our guard to detect the original sources from +the glosses of the writer.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">70</a> In fact Philostratus +is ever taking advantage of the mention of a +name or a subject to display his own knowledge, +which is often of a most legendary and fantastic +nature. This is especially the case in his description +of Apollonius’ Indian travels. India at +that time and long afterwards was considered +the “end of the world,” and an infinity of the +strangest “travellers’ tales” and mythological +fables were in circulation concerning it. One +has only to read the accounts of the writers on +India<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">71</a> from the time of Alexander onwards to +discover the source of most of the strange inci<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span>dents +that Philostratus records as experiences +of Apollonius. To take but one instance out of +a hundred, Apollonius had to cross the Caucasus, +an indefinite name for the great system of +mountain ranges that bound the northern limits +of Āryāvarta. Prometheus was chained to the +Caucasus, so every child had been told for +centuries. Therefore, if Apollonius crossed the +Caucasus, he must have seen those chains. And +so it was, Philostratus assures us (ii. 3). Not +only so, but he volunteers the additional information +that you could not tell of what they were +made! A perusal of Megasthenes, however, will +speedily reduce the long Philostratian account of +the Indian travels of Apollonius (i. 41-iii. 58) +to a very narrow compass, for page after page is +simply padding, picked up from any one of the +numerous Indica to which our widely read author +had access.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">72</a> To judge from such writers, +Porus<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">73</a> (the Rājāh conquered by Alexander) +was the immemorial king of India. In fact, in +speaking of India or any other little-known +country, a writer in these days had to drag in +all that popular legend associated with it or he +stood little chance of being listened to. He had +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span>to give his narrative a “local colour,” and this +was especially the case in a technical rhetorical +effort like that of Philostratus.</p> + +<p>Again, it was the fashion to insert set speeches +and put them in the mouths of well-known +characters on historical occasions, good instances +of which may be seen in Thucydides and the +Acts of the Apostles. Philostratus repeatedly +does this.</p> + +<p>But it would be too long to enter into a +detailed investigation of the subject, although +the writer has prepared notes on all these points, +for that would be to write a volume and not a +sketch. Only a few points are therefore set +down, to warn the student to be ever on his +guard to sift out Philostratus from his sources.<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">74</a></p> + +<p>But though we must be keenly alive to the +importance of a thoroughly critical attitude +where definite facts of history are concerned, we +should be as keenly on our guard against judging +everything from the standpoint of modern +preconceptions. There is but one religious literature +of antiquity that has ever been treated +with real sympathy in the West, and that is the +Judæo-Christian; in that alone have men been +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span>trained to feel at home, and all in antiquity that +treats of religion in a different mode to the +Jewish or Christian way, is felt to be strange, and, +if obscure or extraordinary, to be even repulsive. +The sayings and doings of the Jewish prophets, +of Jesus, and of the Apostles, are related with +reverence, embellished with the greatest beauties +of diction, and illumined with the best thought +of the age; while the sayings and doings of other +prophets and teachers have been for the most +part subjected to the most unsympathetic criticism, +in which no attempt is made to understand +their standpoint. Had even-handed justice been +dealt out all round, the world to-day would have +been richer in sympathy, in wide-mindedness, in +comprehension of nature, humanity, and God, in +brief, in soul-experience.</p> + +<p>Therefore, in reading the Life of Apollonius let +us remember that we have to look at it through +the eyes of a Greek, and not through those of +a Jew or a Protestant. The Many in their +proper sphere must be for us as authentic a manifestation +of the Divine as the One or the All, for +indeed the “Gods” exist in spite of commandment +and creed. The Saints and Martyrs and +Angels have seemingly taken the places of the +Heroes and Dæmons and Gods, but the change +of name and change of view-point among men +affect but little the unchangeable facts. To sense<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> +the facts of universal religion under the ever-changing +names which men bestow upon them, +and then to enter with full sympathy and comprehension +into the hopes and fears of every +phase of the religious mind—to read, as it were, +the past lives of our own souls—is a most difficult +task. But until we can put ourselves understandingly +in the places of others, we can never +see more than one side of the Infinite Life of God. +A student of comparative religion must not be +afraid of terms; he must not shudder when he +meets with “polytheism,” or draw back in horror +when he encounters “dualism,” or feel an increased +satisfaction when he falls in with “monotheism”; +he must not feel awe when he +pronounces the name of Yahweh and contempt +when he utters the name of Zeus; he must not +picture a satyr when he reads the word “dæmon,” +and imagine a winged dream of beauty when he +pronounces the word “angel.” For him heresy +and orthodoxy must not exist; he sees only his +own soul slowly working out its own experience, +looking at life from every possible view-point, +so that haply at last he may see the whole, and +having seen the whole, may become at one with +God.</p> + +<p>To Apollonius the mere fashion of a man’s faith +was unessential; he was at home in all lands, +among all cults. He had a helpful word for all,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> +an intimate knowledge of the particular way of +each of them, which enabled him to restore them +to health. Such men are rare; the records of +such men are precious, and require the embellishments +of no rhetorician.</p> + +<p>Let us then, first of all, try to recover the outline +of the early external life and of the travels +of Apollonius shorn of Philostratus’ embellishments, +and then endeavour to consider the nature +of his mission, the manner of the philosophy +which he so dearly loved and which was to him +his religion, and last, if possible, the way of his +inner life.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section VII.</span></h4> + +<h3>EARLY LIFE.</h3> + +<p>Apollonius was born<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">75</a> at Tyana, a city in the +south of Cappadocia, somewhen in the early +years of the Christian era. His parents were +of ancient family and considerable fortune (i. 4). +At an early age he gave signs of a very powerful +memory and studious disposition, and was +remarkable for his beauty. At the age of fourteen +he was sent to Tarsus, a famous centre of +learning of the time, to complete his studies. +But mere rhetoric and style and the life of the +“schools” were little suited to his serious disposition, +and he speedily left for Ægæ, a town on the +sea-coast east of Tarsus. Here he found surroundings +more suitable to his needs, and plunged with +ardour into the study of philosophy. He became +intimate with the priests of the temple of +Æsculapius, where cures were still wrought, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span>enjoyed the society and instruction of pupils +and teachers of the Platonic, Stoic, Peripatetic, +and Epicurean schools of philosophy; but though +he studied all these systems of thought with +attention, it was the lessons of the Pythagorean +school upon which he seized with an extraordinary +depth of comprehension,<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">76</a> and that, too, although +his teacher, Euxenus, was but a parrot of the +doctrines and not a practiser of the discipline. +But such parrotting was not enough for the eager +spirit of Apollonius; his extraordinary “memory,” +which infused life into the dull utterances of his +tutor, urged him on, and at the age of sixteen +“he soared into the Pythagorean life, winged by +some greater one.”<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">77</a> Nevertheless he retained +his affection for the man who had told him of +the way, and rewarded him handsomely (i. 7).</p> + +<p>When Euxenus asked him how he would begin +his new mode of life he replied: “As doctors +purge their patients.” Hence he refused to touch +anything that had animal life in it, on the ground +that it densified the mind and rendered it impure. +He considered that the only pure form of food +was what the earth produced, fruits and vegetables. +He also abstained from wine, for though +it was made from fruit, “it rendered turbid the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span>æther<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">78</a> in the soul” and “destroyed the composure +of the mind.” Moreover, he went +barefoot, let his hair grow long, and wore +nothing but linen. He now lived in the temple, +to the admiration of the priests and with the +express approval of Æsculapius,<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">79</a> and he rapidly +became so famous for his asceticism and pious +life, that a saying<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">80</a> of the Cilicians about him +became a proverb (i. 8).</p> + +<p>At the age of twenty his father died (his +mother having died some years before) leaving a +considerable fortune, which Apollonius was to +share with his elder brother, a wild and dissolute +youth of twenty-three. Being still a minor, +Apollonius continued to reside at Ægæ, where +the temple of Æsculapius had now become a +busy centre of study, and echoed from one end to +the other with the sound of lofty philosophical +discourses. On coming of age he returned to +Tyana to endeavour to rescue his brother from +his vicious life. His brother had apparently +exhausted his legal share of the property, and +Apollonius at once made over half of his own +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span>portion to him, and by his gentle admonitions +restored him to his manhood. In fact he seems +to have devoted his time to setting in order the +affairs of the family, for he distributed the rest +of his patrimony among certain of his relatives, +and kept for himself but a bare pittance; he +required but little, he said, and should never +marry (i. 13).</p> + +<p>He now took the vow of silence for five years, +for he was determined not to write on philosophy +until he had passed through this wholesome +discipline. These five years were passed mostly +in Pamphylia and Cilicia, and though he spent +much time in study, he did not immure himself in +a community or monastery but kept moving about +and travelling from city to city. The temptations +to break his self-imposed vow were enormous. +His strange appearance drew everyone’s attention, +the laughter-loving populace made the silent +philosopher the butt of their unscrupulous wit, +and all the protection he had against their +scurrility and misconceptions was the dignity +of his mien and the glance of eyes that now +could see both past and future. Many a time +he was on the verge of bursting out against +some exceptional insult or lying gossip, but ever +he restrained himself with the words: “Heart, +patient be, and thou, my tongue, be still”<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">81</a> (i. 14).</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span></p> +<p>Yet even this stern repression of the common +mode of speech did not prevent his good doing. +Even at this early age he had begun to correct +abuses. With eyes and hands and motions of +the head, he made his meaning understood, and +on one occasion, at Aspendus in Pamphylia, +prevented a serious corn riot by silencing the +crowd with his commanding gestures and then +writing what he had to say on his tablets (i. 15).</p> + +<p>So far, apparently, Philostratus has been dependent +upon the account of Maximus of Ægæ, +or perhaps only up to the time of Apollonius’ +quitting Ægæ. There is now a considerable +gap in the narrative, and two short chapters +of vague generalities (i. 16, 17) are all that +Philostratus can produce as the record of some +fifteen or twenty<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">82</a> years, until Damis’ notes +begin.</p> + +<p>After the five years of silence, we find Apollonius +at Antioch, but this seems to be only an +incident in a long round of travel and work, +and it is probable that Philostratus brings +Antioch into prominence merely because what +little he had learnt of this period of Apollonius’ +life, he picked up in this much-frequented city.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span></p> +<p>Even from Philostratus himself we learn incidentally +later on (i. 20; iv. 38) that Apollonius +had spent some time among the Arabians, and +had been instructed by them. And by Arabia +we are to understand the country south of +Palestine, which was at this period a regular +hot-bed of mystic communities. The spots he +visited were in out-of-the-way places, where +the spirit of holiness lingered, and not the +crowded and disturbed cities, for the subject +of his conversation, he said, required “<i>men</i> and +not people.”<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">83</a> He spent his time in travelling +from one to another of these temples, shrines, +and communities; from which we may conclude +that there was some kind of a common freemasonry, +as it were, among them, of the nature +of initiation, which opened the door of hospitality +to him.</p> + +<p>But wherever he went, he always held to a +certain regular division of the day. At sun-rise +he practised certain religious exercises alone, the +nature of which he communicated only to those +who had passed through the discipline of a “four +years’” (? five years’) silence. He then conversed +with the temple priests or the heads of +the community, according as he was staying in +a Greek or non-Greek temple with public rites, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span>or in a community with a discipline peculiar to +itself apart from the public cult.<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">84</a></p> + +<p>He thus endeavoured to bring back the +public cults to the purity of their ancient +traditions, and to suggest improvements in the +practices of the private brotherhoods. The most +important part of his work was with those who +were following the inner life, and who already +looked upon Apollonius as a teacher of the hidden +way. To these his comrades (ἑταίρους) and +pupils (ὁμιλητάς), he devoted much attention, +being ever ready to answer their questions and +give advice and instruction. Not however +that he neglected the people; it was his invariable +custom to teach them, but always after mid-day; +for those who lived the inner life,<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">85</a> he said, +should on day’s dawning enter the presence of +the Gods,<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">86</a> then spend the time till mid-day in +giving and receiving instruction in holy things, +and not till after noon devote themselves to +human affairs. That is to say, the morning was +devoted by Apollonius to the divine science, +and the afternoon to instruction in ethics and +practical life. After the day’s work he bathed +in cold water, as did so many of the mystics of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span>the time in those lands, notably the Essenes +and Therapeuts (i. 16).</p> + +<p>“After these things,” says Philostratus, as +vaguely as the writer of a gospel narrative, +Apollonius determined to visit the Brachmanes +and Sarmanes.<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">87</a> What induced our philosopher +to make so long and dangerous a journey +nowhere appears from Philostratus, who simply +says that Apollonius thought it a good thing +for a young man<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">88</a> to travel. It is abundantly +evident, however, that Apollonius never travelled +merely for the sake of travelling. What he does +he does with a distinct purpose. And his guides +on this occasion, as he assures his disciples who +tried to dissuade him from his endeavour and +refused to accompany him, were wisdom and his +inner monitor (dæmon). “Since ye are faint-hearted,” +says the solitary pilgrim, “I bid you +farewell. As for myself I must go whithersoever +wisdom and my inner self may lead me. The +Gods are my advisers and I can but rely on their +counsels” (i. 18).</p> +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section VIII.</span></h4> + +<h3>THE TRAVELS OF APOLLONIUS.</h3> + +<p>And so Apollonius departs from Antioch and +journeys on to Ninus, the relic of the once great +Nina or Nineveh. There he meets with Damis, +who becomes his constant companion and faithful +disciple. “Let us go together,” says Damis in +words reminding us somewhat of the words of +Ruth. “Thou shalt follow God, and I thee!” +(i. 19).</p> + +<p>From this point Philostratus professes to base +himself to a great extent on the narrative of +Damis, and before going further, it is necessary +to try to form some estimate of the character of +Damis, and discover how far he was admitted to +the real confidence of Apollonius.</p> + +<p>Damis was an enthusiast who loved Apollonius +with a passionate affection. He saw in his +master almost a divine being, possessed of +marvellous powers at which he continually +wondered, but which he could never understand. +Like Ānanda, the favourite disciple of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> +Buddha and his constant companion, Damis +advanced but slowly in comprehension of the +real nature of spiritual science; he had ever to +remain in the outer courts of the temples and +communities into whose shrines and inner +confidence Apollonius had full access, while he +frequently states his ignorance of his master’s +plans and purposes.<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">89</a> The additional fact that +he refers to his notes as the “crumbs”<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">90</a> from +the “feasts of the Gods” (i. 19), those feasts of +which he could for the most part only learn at +secondhand what little Apollonius thought fit +to tell him, and which he doubtless largely misunderstood +and clothed in his own imaginings, +would further confirm this view, if any further +confirmation were necessary. But indeed it is +very manifest everywhere that Damis was outside +the circle of initiation, and this accounts both +for his wonder-loving point of view and his +general superficiality.</p> + +<p>Another fact that comes out prominently from +the narrative is his timid nature.<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">91</a> He is continually +afraid for himself or for his master; +and even towards the end, when Apollonius +is imprisoned by Domitian, it requires the +phenomenal removal of the fetters before his +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span>eyes to assure him that Apollonius is a willing +victim.</p> + +<p>Damis loves and wonders; seizes on unimportant +detail and exaggerates it, while he can +only report of the really important things what +he fancies to have taken place from a few hints of +Apollonius. As his story advances, it is true it +takes on a soberer tint; but what Damis omits, +Philostratus is ever ready to supply from his +own store of marvels, if chance offers.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, even were we with the scalpel +of criticism to cut away every morsel of flesh +from this body of tradition and legend, there +would still remain a skeleton of fact that would +still represent Apollonius and give us some idea +of his stature.</p> + +<p>Apollonius was one of the greatest travellers +known to antiquity. Among the countries and +places he visited the following are the chief +ones recorded by Philostratus.<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">92</a></p> + +<p>From Ninus (i. 19) Apollonius journeys to +Babylon (i. 21), where he stops one year and +eight months (i. 40) and visits surrounding cities +such as Ecbatana, the capital of Media (i. 39); +from Babylon to the Indian frontier no names +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span>are mentioned; India was entered in every +probability by the Khaibar Pass (ii. 6),<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">93</a> for the +first city mentioned is Taxila (Attock) (ii. 20); +and so they make their way across the tributaries +of the Indus (ii. 43) to the valley of the Ganges +(iii. 5), and finally arrive at the “monastery of +the wise men” (iii. 10), where Apollonius spends +four months (iii. 50).</p> + +<p>This monastery was presumably in Nepāl; it is +in the mountains, and the “city” nearest it is +called Paraca. The chaos that Philostratus has +made of Damis’ account, and before him the +wonderful transformations Damis himself wrought +in Indian names, are presumably shown in this +word. Paraca is perchance all that Damis could +make of Bharata, the general name of the Ganges +valley in which the dominant Āryas were settled. +It is also probable that these wise men were +Buddhists, for they dwelt in a τύρσις, a place that +looked like a fort or fortress to Damis.</p> + +<p>I have little doubt that Philostratus could +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span>make nothing out of the geography of India +from the names in Damis’ diary; they were all +unfamiliar to him, so that as soon as he has +exhausted the few Greek names known to him +from the accounts of the expedition of Alexander, +he wanders in the “ends of the earth,” and can +make nothing of it till he picks up our travellers +again on their return journey at the mouth of +the Indus. The salient fact that Apollonius was +making for a certain community, which was his +peculiar goal, so impressed the imagination of +Philostratus (and perhaps of Damis before him) +that he has described it as being the only centre +of the kind in India. Apollonius went to India +with a purpose and returned from it with a +distinct mission;<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">94</a> and perchance his constant +inquiries concerning the particular “wise men” +whom he was seeking, led Damis to imagine that +they alone were the “Gymnosophists,” the +“naked philosophers” (if we are to take the +term in its literal sense) of popular Greek legend, +which ignorantly ascribed to all the Hindu +ascetics the most striking peculiarity of a very +small number. But to return to our itinerary.</p> + +<p>Philostratus embellishes the account of the +voyage from the Indus to the mouth of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span>Euphrates (iii. 52-58) with the travellers’ tales +and names of islands and cities he has gleaned +from the Indica which were accessible to him, +and so we again return to Babylon and familiar +geography with the following itinerary:</p> + +<p>Babylon, Ninus, Antioch, Seleucia, Cyprus; +thence to Ionia (iii. 58), where he spends some +time in Asia Minor, especially at Ephesus (iv. 1), +Smyrna (iv. 5), Pergamus (iv. 9), and Troy +(iv. 11). Thence Apollonius crosses over to +Lesbos (iv. 13), and subsequently sails for Athens, +where he spends some years in Greece (iv. 17-33) +visiting the temples of Hellas, reforming their +rites and instructing the priests (iv. 24). We +next find him in Crete (iv. 34), and subsequently +at Rome in the time of Nero (iv. 36-46).</p> + +<p>In <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 66 Nero issued a decree forbidding any +philosopher to remain in Rome, and Apollonius +set out for Spain, and landed at Gades, the +modern Cadiz; he seems to have stayed in Spain +only a short time (iv. 47); thence crossed to +Africa, and so by sea once more to Sicily, where +the principal cities and temples were visited +(v. 11-14). Thence Apollonius returned to +Greece (v. 18), four years having elapsed since +his landing at Athens from Lesbos (v. 19).<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">95</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span></p> +<p>From Piræus our philosopher sails for Chios +(v. 21), thence to Rhodes, and so to Alexandria +(v. 24). At Alexandria he spends some time, +and has several interviews with the future +Emperor Vespasian (v. 27-41), and thence he +sets out on a long journey up the Nile as far as +Ethiopia beyond the cataracts, where he visits +an interesting community of ascetics called +loosely Gymnosophists (vi. 1-27).</p> + +<p>On his return to Alexandria (vi. 28), he was +summoned by Titus, who had just become +emperor, to meet him at Tarsus (vi. 29-34). +After this interview he appears to have returned +to Egypt, for Philostratus speaks vaguely of +his spending some time in Lower Egypt, and +of visits to the Phœnicians, Cilicians, Ionians, +Achæans, and also to Italy (vi. 35).</p> + +<p>Now Vespasian was emperor from 69 to 79, +and Titus from 79 to 81. As Apollonius’ +interviews with Vespasian took place shortly +before the beginning of that emperor’s reign, it +is reasonable to conclude that a number of years +was spent by our philosopher in his Ethiopian +journey, and that therefore Damis’ account is a +most imperfect one. In 81 Domitian became +emperor, and just as Apollonius opposed the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span>follies of Nero, so did he criticise the acts of +Domitian. He accordingly became an object of +suspicion to the emperor; but instead of keeping +away from Rome, he determined to brave the +tyrant to his face. Crossing from Egypt to +Greece and taking ship at Corinth, he sailed by +way of Sicily to Puteoli, and thence to the Tiber +mouth, and so to Rome (vii. 10-16). Here +Apollonius was tried and acquitted (vii. 17—viii. +10). Sailing from Puteoli again Apollonius +returned to Greece (viii. 15), where he spent +two years (viii. 24). Thence once more he +crossed over to Ionia at the time of the death +of Domitian (viii. 25), visiting Smyrna and +Ephesus and other of his favourite haunts. +Hereupon he sends away Damis on some pretext +to Rome (viii. 28) and—disappears; that is to +say, if it be allowed to speculate, he undertook +yet another journey to the place which he loved +above all others, the “home of the wise men.”</p> + +<p>Now Domitian was killed 96 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, and one of +the last recorded acts of Apollonius is his vision +of this event at the time of its occurrence. +Therefore the trial of Apollonius at Rome took +place somewhere about 93, and we have a gap +of twelve years from his interview with Titus in +81, which Philostratus can only fill up with a +few vague stories and generalities.</p> + +<p>As to his age at the time of his mysterious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> +disappearance from the pages of history, Philostratus +tells us that Damis says nothing; but +some, he adds, say he was eighty, some ninety, +and some even an hundred.</p> + +<p>The estimate of eighty years seems to fit in +best with the rest of the chronological indications, +but there is no certainty in the matter with the +present materials at our disposal.</p> + +<p>Such then is the geographical outline, so to say, +of the life of Apollonius, and even the most careless +reader of the bare skeleton of the journeys +recorded by Philostratus must be struck by the +indomitable energy of the man, and his power of +endurance.</p> + +<p>We will now turn our attention to one or two +points of interest connected with the temples +and communities he visited.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section IX.</span></h4> + +<h3>IN THE SHRINES OF THE TEMPLES AND +THE RETREATS OF RELIGION.</h3> + +<p>Seeing that the nature of Apollonius’ business +with the priests of the temples and the devotees +of the mystic life was necessarily of a most +intimate and secret nature, for in those days it +was the invariable custom to draw a sharp line +of demarcation between the inner and outer, +the initiated and the profane, it is not to be +expected that we can learn anything but mere +externalities from the Damis-Philostratus +narrative; nevertheless, even these outer indications +are of interest.</p> + +<p>The temple of Æsculapius at Ægæ, where +Apollonius spent the most impressionable years +of his life, was one of the innumerable hospitals +of Greece, where the healing art was practised +on lines totally different to our present methods. +We are at once introduced to an atmosphere +laden with psychic influences, to a centre whither +for centuries patients had flocked to “consult<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> +the God.” In order to do so, it was necessary +for them to go through certain preliminary +purifications and follow certain rules given by +the priests; they then passed the night in the +shrine and in their sleep instructions were given +them for their healing. This method, no doubt, +was only resorted to when the skill of the priest +was exhausted; in any case, the priests must have +been deeply versed in the interpretation of these +dreams and in their rationale. It is also evident +that as Apollonius loved to pass his time in the +temple, he must have found there satisfaction +for his spiritual needs, and instruction in the inner +science; though doubtless his own innate powers +soon carried him beyond his instructors and +marked him out as the “favourite of the God.” +The many cases on record in our own day of +patients in trance or some other psychic condition +prescribing for themselves, will help the +student to understand the innumerable possibilities +of healing which were in Greece summed up +in the personification Æsculapius.</p> + +<p>Later on the chief of the Indian sages has a +disquisition on Æsculapius and the healing art +put into his mouth (iii. 44), where the whole of +medicine is said to be dependent upon psychic +diagnosis and prescience (μαντεία).</p> + +<p>Finally it may be noticed that it was the invariable +custom of patients on their recovery to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> +record the fact on an <i>ex-voto</i> tablet in the temple, +precisely as is done to-day in Roman Catholic +countries.<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">96</a></p> + +<p>On his way to India Apollonius saw a good +deal of the Magi at Babylon. He used to visit +them at mid-day and mid-night, but of what +transpired Damis knew nothing, for Apollonius +would not permit him to accompany him, and in +answer to his direct questions would only answer: +“They are wise, but not in all things” (i. 26).</p> + +<p>The description of a certain hall, however, to +which Apollonius had access, seems to be a +garbled version of the interior of the temple. +The roof was dome-shaped, and the ceiling was +covered with “sapphire”; in this blue heaven +were models of the heavenly bodies (“those +whom they regard as Gods”) fashioned in gold, +as though moving in the ether. Moreover from +the roof were suspended four golden “Iygges” +which the Magi call the “Tongues of the Gods.” +These were winged-wheels or spheres connected +with the idea of Adrasteia (or Fate). Their +prototypes are described imperfectly in the +Vision of Ezekiel, and the so-called Hecatine +<i>strophali</i> or <i>spherulæ</i> used in magical practices +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span>may have been degenerate descendants of these +“living wheels” or spheres of the vital elements. +The subject is one of intense interest, but +hopelessly incapable of treatment in our present +age of scepticism and profound ignorance of the +past. The “Gods” who taught our infant +humanity were, according to occult tradition, from +a humanity higher than that at present evolving +on our earth. They gave the impulse, and, +when the earth-children were old enough to +stand on their own feet, they withdrew. But +the memory of their deeds and a corrupt and +degenerate form of the mysteries they established +has ever lingered in the memory of myth and +legend. Seers have caught obscure glimpses of +what they taught and how they taught it, and +the tradition of the Mysteries preserved some +memory of it in its symbols and instruments or +engines. The Iygges of the Magi are said to be +a relic of this memory.</p> + +<p>With regard to the Indian sages it is impossible +to make out any consistent story from the +fantastic jumble of the Damis-Philostratus +romance. Damis seems to have confused together +a mixture of memories and scraps of +gossip without any attempt to distinguish one +community or sect from another, and so produced +a blurred daub which Philostratus would have us +regard as a picture of the “hill” and a descrip<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span>tion +of its “sages.” Damis’ confused memories,<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">97</a> +however, have little to do with the actual +monastery and its ascetic inhabitants, who were +the goal of Apollonius’ long journey. What +Apollonius heard and saw there, following his +invariable custom in such circumstances, he told +no one, not even Damis, except what could be +derived from the following enigmatical sentence: +“I saw men dwelling on the earth and yet not +on it, defended on all sides, yet without any +defence, and yet possessed of nothing but what +all possess.” These words occur in two passages +(iii. 15 and vi. 11), and in both Philostratus +adds that Apollonius wrote<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">98</a> and spoke them +enigmatically. The meaning of this saying is +not difficult to divine. They were on the earth, +but not of the earth, for their minds were set +on things above. They were protected by their +innate spiritual power, of which we have so +many instances in Indian literature; and yet +they possessed nothing but what all men possess +if they would but develop the spiritual part of +their being. But this explanation is not simple +enough for Philostratus, and so he presses into +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span>service all the memories of Damis, or rather +travellers’ tales, about levitation, magical +illusions and the rest.</p> + +<p>The head of the community is called Iarchas, +a totally un-Indian name. The violence done to +all foreign names by the Greeks is notorious, and +here we have to reckon with an army of ignorant +copyists as well as with Philostratus and Damis. +I would suggest that the name may perhaps be a +corruption of Arhat.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">99</a></p> + +<p>The main burden of Damis’ narrative insists +on the psychic and spiritual knowledge of the +sages. They know what takes place at a distance, +they can tell the past and future, and +read the past births of men.</p> + +<p>The messenger sent to meet Apollonius carried +what Damis calls a golden anchor (iii. 11, 17), +and if this is an authentic fact, it would suggest +a forerunner of the Tibetan <i>dorje</i>, the present +degenerate symbol of the “rod of power,” something +like the thunder-bolt wielded by Zeus. +This would also point to a Buddhist community, +though it must be confessed that other indications +point equally strongly to Brāhmanical customs, +such as the caste-mark on the forehead of the +messenger (iii. 7, 11), the carrying of (bamboo) +staves (daṇḍa), letting the hair grow long, and +wearing of turbans (iii. 13). But indeed the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span>whole account is too confused to permit any +hope of extracting historical details.</p> + +<p>Of the nature of Apollonius’ visit we may, +however, judge from the following mysterious +letter to his hosts (iii. 51):</p> + +<p>“I came to you by land and ye have given me +the sea; nay, rather, by sharing with me your wisdom +ye have given me power to travel through +heaven. These things will I bring back to the +mind of the Greeks, and I will hold converse +with you as though ye were present, if it be +that I have not drunk of the cup of Tantalus in +vain.”</p> + +<p>It is evident from these cryptic sentences that +the “sea” and the “cup of Tantalus” are identical +with the “wisdom” which had been imparted +to Apollonius—the wisdom which he was to +bring back once more to the memory of the +Greeks. He thus clearly states that he returned +from India with a distinct mission and with the +means to accomplish it, for not only had he drunk +of the ocean of wisdom in that he has learnt the +Brahmā-vidyā from their lips, but he has also +learnt how to converse with them though his +body be in Greece and their bodies in India.</p> + +<p>But such a plain meaning—plain at least to +every student of occult nature—was beyond the +understanding of Damis or the comprehension +of Philostratus. And it is doubtless the mention<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> +of the “cup of Tantalus”<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">100</a> in this letter which +suggested the inexhaustible loving cup episode +in iii. 32, and its connection with the mythical +fountains of Bacchus. Damis presses it into +service to “explain” the last phrase in Apollonius’ +saying about the sages, namely, that they were +“possessed of nothing but what all possess”—which, +however, appears elsewhere in a changed +form, as “possessing nothing, they have the +possessions of all men” (iii. 15).<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">101</a></p> + +<p>On returning to Greece, one of the first shrines +Apollonius visited was that of Aphrodite at +Paphos in Cyprus (iii. 58). The greatest external +peculiarity of the Paphian worship of +Venus was the representation of the goddess by +a mysterious stone symbol. It seems to have +been of the size of a human being, but shaped +like a pine-cone, only of course with a smooth +surface. Paphos was apparently the oldest shrine +dedicated to Venus in Greece. Its mysteries +were very ancient, but not indigenous; they were +brought over from the mainland, from what was +subsequently Cilicia, in times of remote antiquity.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span></p><p>The worship or consultation of the Goddess was +by means of prayers and the “pure flame of +fire,” and the temple was a great centre of +divination.<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">102</a></p> + +<p>Apollonius spent some time here and instructed +the priests at length with regard to their sacred +rites.</p> + +<p>In Asia Minor he was especially pleased with +the temple of Æsculapius at Pergamus; he healed +many of the patients there, and gave instruction +in the proper methods to adopt in order to procure +reliable results by means of the prescriptive +dreams.</p> + +<p>At Troy, we are told, Apollonius spent a night +alone at the tomb of Achilles, in former days +one of the spots of greatest popular sanctity in +Greece (iv. 11). Why he did so does not transpire, +for the fantastic conversation with the +shade of the hero reported by Philostratus +(iv. 16) seems to be devoid of any element of +likelihood. As, however, Apollonius made it +his business to visit Thessaly shortly afterwards +expressly to urge the Thessalians to renew the +old accustomed rites to the hero (iv. 13), we may +suppose that it formed part of his great effort to +restore and purify the old institutions of Hellas, +so that, the accustomed channels being freed, the +life might flow more healthily in the national body.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span></p> +<p>Rumour would also have it that Achilles had +told Apollonius where he would find the statue +of the hero Palamedes on the coast of Æolia. +Apollonius accordingly restored the statue, and +Philostratus tells us he had seen it with his +own eyes on the spot (iv. 13).</p> + +<p>Now this would be a matter of very little +interest, were it not that a great deal is made +of Palamedes elsewhere in Philostratus’ narrative. +What it all means is difficult to say with a Damis +and Philostratus as interpreters between ourselves +and the silent and enigmatical Apollonius.</p> + +<p>Palamedes was one of the heroes before Troy, +who was fabled to have invented letters, or to +have completed the alphabet of Cadmus.<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">103</a></p> + +<p>Now from two obscure sayings (iv. 13, 33), +we glean that our philosopher looked upon +Palamedes as the philosopher-hero of the Trojan +period, although Homer says hardly a word +about him.</p> + +<p>Was this, then, the reason why Apollonius +was so anxious to restore his statue? Not +altogether so; there appears to have been a +more direct reason. Damis would have it that +Apollonius had met Palamedes in India; that +he was at the monastery; that Iarchas had one +day pointed out a young ascetic who could +“write without ever learning letters”; and that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span>this youth had been no other than Palamedes in +one of his former births. Doubtless the sceptic +will say: “Of course! Pythagoras was a reincarnation +of the hero Euphorbus who fought +at Troy, according to popular superstition; +therefore, naturally, the young Indian was the +reincarnation of the hero Palamedes! The one +legend simply begat the other.” But on this +principle, to be consistent, we should expect to +find that it was Apollonius himself and not +an unknown Hindu ascetic, who had been once +Palamedes.</p> + +<p>In any case Apollonius restored the rites to +Achilles, and erected a chapel in which he set up +the neglected statue of Palamedes.<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">104</a> The heroes +of the Trojan period, then, it would seem, had +still some connection with Greece, according to +the science of the invisible world into which +Apollonius was initiated. And if the Protestant +sceptic can make nothing of it, at least the +Roman Catholic reader may be induced to +suspend his judgment by changing “hero” into +“saint.”</p> + +<p>Can it be possible that the attention which +Apollonius bestowed upon the graves and funeral +monuments of the mighty dead of Greece may +have been inspired by the circle of ideas which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span>led to the erection of the innumerable dāgobas +and stūpas in Buddhist lands, originally over the +relics of the Buddha, and the subsequent preservation +of relics of arhats and great teachers?</p> + +<p>At Lesbos Apollonius visited the ancient +temple of the Orphic mysteries, which in early +years had been a great centre of prophecy and +divination. Here also he was privileged to +enter the inner shrine or adytum (iv. 14).</p> + +<p>The Tyanean arrived in Athens at the time +of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and in spite of the +festival and rites not only the people but also +the candidates flocked to meet him to the +neglect of their religious duties. Apollonius +rebuked them, and himself joined in the necessary +preliminary rites and presented himself for initiation.</p> + +<p>It may, perhaps, surprise the reader to hear +that Apollonius, who had already been initiated +into higher privileges than Eleusis could afford, +should present himself for initiation. But the +reason is not far to seek; the Eleusinia constituted +one of the intermediate organisations +between the popular cults and the genuine +inner circles of instruction. They preserved +one of the traditions of the inner way, even if +their officers for the time being had forgotten +what their predecessors had once known. To +restore these ancient rites to their purity, or to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> +utilise them for their original object, it was +necessary to enter within the precincts of the +institution; nothing could be effected from +outside. The thing itself was good, and Apollonius +desired to support the ancient institution +by setting the public example of seeking +initiation therein; not that he had anything to +gain personally.</p> + +<p>But whether it was that the hierophant of +that time was only ignorant, or whether he was +jealous of the great influence of Apollonius, he +refused to admit our philosopher, on the ground +that he was a sorcerer (γόης), and that no one +could be initiated who was tainted by intercourse +with evil entities (δαιμόνια). To this +charge Apollonius replied with veiled irony: +“You have omitted the most serious charge +that might have been urged against me: to wit, +that though I really know more about the mystic +rite than its hierophant, I have come here pretending +to desire initiation from men knowing +more than myself.” This charge would have +been true; he had made a pretence.</p> + +<p>Dismayed at these words, frightened at the +indignation of the people aroused by the insult +offered to their distinguished guest, and overawed +by the presence of a knowledge which he could +no longer deny, the hierophant begged our +philosopher to accept the initiation. But Apol<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span>lonius +refused. “I will be initiated later on,” +he replied; “<i>he</i> will initiate me.” This is said +to have referred to the succeeding hierophant, +who presided when Apollonius was initiated four +years later (iv. 18; v. 19).</p> + +<p>While at Athens Apollonius spoke strongly +against the effeminacy of the Bacchanalia and +the barbarities of the gladiatorial combats (iv. +21, 22).</p> + +<p>The temples, mentioned by Philostratus, +which Apollonius visited in Greece, have all the +peculiarity of being very ancient; for instance, +Dodona, Delphi, the ancient shrine of Apollo at +Abæ in Phocis, the “caves” of Amphiaraus<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">105</a> and +Trophonius, and the temple of the Muses on +Helicon.</p> + +<p>When he entered the adyta of these temples +for the purpose of “restoring” the rites, he was +accompanied only by the priests, and certain +of his immediate disciples (γνώριμοι). This +suggests an extension to the meaning of the +word “restoring” or “reforming,” and when we +read elsewhere of the many spots consecrated by +Apollonius, we cannot but think that part of his +work was the reconsecration, and hence psychic +purification, of many of these ancient centres. +His main external work, however, was the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span>giving of instruction, and, as Philostratus rhetorically +phrases it, “bowls of his words were +set up everywhere for the thirsty to drink from” +(iv. 24).</p> + +<p>But not only did our philosopher restore the +ancient rites of religion, he also paid much +attention to the ancient polities and institutions. +Thus we find him urging with success the +Spartans to return to their ancient mode of life, +their athletic exercises, frugal living, and the +discipline of the old Dorian tradition (iv. 27, +31-34); he, moreover, specially praised the +institution of the Olympic Games, the high +standard of which was still maintained (iv. 29), +while he recalled the ancient Amphictionic +Council to its duty (iv. 23), and corrected the +abuses of the Panionian assembly (iv. 5).</p> + +<p>In the spring of 66 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> he left Greece for +Crete, where he seems to have bestowed most +of his time on the sanctuaries of Mount Ida and +the temple of Æsculapius at Lebene (“for as all +Asia visits Pergamus so does all Crete visit +Lebene”); but curiously enough he refused to +visit the famous Labyrinth at Gnossus, the +ruins of which have just been uncovered for a +sceptical generation, most probably (if it is +lawful to speculate) because it had once been +a centre of human sacrifice, and thus pertained +to one of the ancient cults of the left hand.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> +In Rome Apollonius continued his work of +reforming the temples, and this with the full +sanction of the Pontifex Maximus Telesinus, +one of the consuls for the year 66 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, who +was also a philosopher and a deep student of +religion (iv. 40). But his stay in the imperial +city was speedily cut short, for in October Nero +crowned his persecution of the philosophers by +publishing a decree of banishment against them +from Rome, and both Telesinus (vii. 11) and +Apollonius had to leave Italy.</p> + +<p>We next find him in Spain, making his headquarters +in the temple of Hercules at Cadiz.</p> + +<p>On his return to Greece by way of Africa +and Sicily (where he spent some time and +visited Ætna), he passed the winter (? of 67 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) +at Eleusis, living in the temple, and in the +spring of the following year sailed for Alexandria, +spending some time on the way at Rhodes. +The city of philosophy and eclecticism <i>par +excellence</i> received him with open arms as an +old friend. But to reform the public cults of +Egypt was a far more difficult task than any +he had previously attempted. His presence in +the temple (? the temple of Serapis) commanded +universal respect, everything about him and +every word he uttered seemed to breathe an +atmosphere of wisdom and of “something divine.” +The high priest of the temple looked on in proud<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> +disdain. “Who is wise enough,” he mockingly +asked, “to reform the religion of the Egyptians?”—only +to be met with the confident +retort of Apollonius: “Any sage who comes +from the Indians.” Here as elsewhere Apollonius +set his face against blood-sacrifice, and tried to +substitute instead, as he had attempted elsewhere, +the offering of frankincense modelled in +the form of the victim (v. 25). Many abuses +he tried to reform in the manners of the +Alexandrians, but upon none was he more severe +than on their wild excitement over horse-racing, +which frequently led to bloodshed (v. 26).</p> + +<p>Apollonius seems to have spent most of the +remaining twenty years of his life in Egypt, +but of what he did in the secret shrines of that +land of mystery we can learn nothing from +Philostratus, except that on the protracted +journey to Ethiopia up the Nile no city or +temple or community was unvisited, and everywhere +there was an interchange of advice and +instruction in sacred things (v. 43).</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section X.</span></h4> + +<h3>THE GYMNOSOPHISTS OF UPPER EGYPT.</h3> + +<p>We now come to Apollonius’ visit to the +“Gymnosophists” in “Ethiopia,” which, though +the artistic and literary goal of Apollonius’ +journey in Egypt as elaborated by Philostratus, +is only a single incident in the real history of the +unrecorded life of our mysterious philosopher +in that ancient land.</p> + +<p>Had Philostratus devoted a chapter or two +to the nature of the practices, discipline, and +doctrines of the innumerable ascetic and mystic +communities that honeycombed Egypt and +adjacent lands in those days, he would have +earned the boundless gratitude of students of +the origins. But of all this he has no word; +and yet he would have us believe that Damis’ +reminiscences were an orderly series of notes +of what actually happened. But in all things +it is very apparent that Damis was rather a +<i>compagnon de voyage</i> than an initiated pupil.</p> + +<p>Who then were these mysterious “Gymnoso<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span>phists,” +as they are usually called, and whence +their name? Damis calls them simply the +“Naked” (γυμνοί), and it is very clear that the +term is not to be understood as merely physically +naked; indeed, neither to the Indians nor to +these ascetics of uppermost Egypt can the term +be applied with appropriateness in its purely +physical meaning, as is apparent from the +descriptions of Damis and Philostratus. A +chance sentence that falls from the lips of one +of these ascetics, in giving the story of his life, +affords us a clue to the real meaning of the +term. “At the age of fourteen,” he tells +Apollonius, “I resigned my patrimony to those +who desired such things, and <i>naked</i> I sought +the <i>Naked</i>” (vi. 16).<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">106</a></p> + +<p>This is the very same diction that Philo uses +about the Therapeut communities, which he declares +were very numerous in every province of +Egypt and scattered in all lands. We are not, +however, to suppose that these communities were +all of the same nature. It is true that Philo +tries to make out that the most pious and the +chief of all of them was <i>his</i> particular community +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span>on the southern shore of Lake Mœris, which was +strongly Semitic if not orthodoxly Jewish; and +for Philo any community with a Jewish atmosphere +must naturally have been the best. The +peculiarity and main interest of our community, +which was at the other end of the land above +the cataracts, was that it had had some remote +connection with India.</p> + +<p>The community is called a φροντιστήριον, in the +sense of a place for meditation, a term used by +ecclesiastical writers for a monastery, but best +known to classical students from the humorous use +made of it by Aristophanes, who in The Clouds +calls the school of Socrates, a <i>phrontistērion</i> or +“thinking shop.” The collection of <i>monasteria</i> +(ἱερά), presumably caves, shrines, or cells,<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">107</a> was +situated on a hill or rising ground not far from +the Nile. They were all separated from one +another, dotted about the hill, and ingeniously +arranged. There was hardly a tree in the place, +with the exception of a single group of palms, +under whose shade they held their general meetings +(vi. 6).</p> + +<p>It is difficult to gather from the set speeches, +put into the mouths of the head of the +community and Apollonius (vi. 10-13, 18-22), +any precise details as to the mode of life of these +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span>ascetics, beyond the general indications of an +existence of great toil and physical hardship, +which they considered the only means of gaining +wisdom. What the nature of their cult was, if +they had one, we are not told, except that at mid-day +the Naked retired to their <i>monasteria</i> (vi. 14).</p> + +<p>The whole tendency of Apollonius’ arguments, +however, is to remind the community of its +Eastern origin and its former connection with +India, which it seems to have forgotten. The +communities of this particular kind in southern +Egypt and northern Ethiopia dated back presumably +some centuries, and some of them may +have been remotely Buddhist, for one of the +younger members of our community who left it +to follow Apollonius, says that he came to join +it from the enthusiastic account of the wisdom +of the Indians brought back by his father, who +had been captain of a vessel trading to the East. +It was his father who told him that these +“Ethiopians” were from India, and so he had +joined them instead of making the long and +perilous journey to the Indus itself (vi. 16).</p> + +<p>If there be any truth in this story it follows +that the founders of this way of life had been +Indian ascetics, and if so they must have belonged +to the only propagandising form of Indian +religion, namely, the Buddhist.</p> + +<p>After the impulse had been given, the com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span>munities, +which were presumably recruited from +generations of Egyptians, Arabs, and Ethiopians, +were probably left entirely to themselves, and so +in course of time forgot their origin, and even +perhaps their original rule. Such speculations +are permissible, owing to the <i>repeated</i> assertion +of the original connection between these Gymnosophists +and India. The whole burden of the +story is that they were Indians who had forgotten +their origin and fallen away from the wisdom.</p> + +<p>The last incident that Philostratus records with +regard to Apollonius among the shrines and +temples is a visit to the famous and very ancient +oracle of Trophonius, near Lebadea, in Bœotia. +Apollonius is said to have spent seven days alone +in this mysterious “cave,” and to have returned +with a book full of questions and answers on the +subject of “philosophy” (viii. 19). This book +was still, in the time of Philostratus, in the +palace of Hadrian at Antium, together with a +number of letters of Apollonius, and many people +used to visit Antium for the special purpose of +seeing it (viii. 19, 20).</p> + +<p>In the hay-bundle of legendary rigmarole +solemnly set down by Philostratus concerning the +cave of Trophonius, a small needle of truth may +perhaps be discovered. The “cave” seems to +have been a very ancient temple or shrine, cut +in the heart of a hill, to which a number of under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span>ground +passages of considerable length led. It +had probably been in ancient times one of the +most holy centres of the archaic cult of Hellas, +perhaps even a relic of that Greece of thousands +of years <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>, the only tradition of which, as Plato +tells us, was obtained by Solon from the priests +of Saïs. Or it may have been a subterranean +shrine of the same nature as the famous Dictæan +cave in Crete which only last year was brought +back to light by the indefatigable labours of +Messrs. Evans and Hogarth.</p> + +<p>As in the case of the travels of Apollonius, so +with regard to the temples and communities +which he visited, Philostratus is a most disappointing +<i>cicerone</i>. But perhaps he is not to be +blamed on this account, for the most important +and most interesting part of Apollonius’ work +was of so intimate a nature, prosecuted as it was +among associations of such jealously-guarded +secrecy, that no one outside their ranks could +know anything of it, and those who shared in +their initiation would say nothing.</p> + +<p>It is, therefore, only when Apollonius comes +forward to do some public act that we can get +any precise historical trace of him; in every +other case he passes into the sanctuary of a +temple or enters the privacy of a community +and is lost to view.</p> + +<p>It may perhaps surprise us that Apollonius,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> +after sacrificing his private fortune, could nevertheless +undertake such long and expensive travels, +but it would seem that he was occasionally +supplied with the necessary monies from the +treasuries of the temples (<i>cf.</i> viii. 17), and that +everywhere he was freely offered the hospitality +of the temple or community in the place where +he happened to be staying.</p> + +<p>In conclusion of the present part of our +subject, we may mention the good service done +by Apollonius in driving away certain Chaldæan +and Egyptian charlatans who were making +capital out of the fears of the cities on the left +shores of the Hellespont. These cities had suffered +severely from shocks of earthquake, and in +their panic placed large sums of money in the +hands of these adventurers (who “trafficked in +the misfortunes of others”), in order that they +might perform propitiatory rites (vi. 41). This +taking money for the giving instruction in the +sacred science or for the performance of sacred +rites was the most detestable of crimes to all +the true philosophers.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section XI.</span></h4> + +<h3>APOLLONIUS AND THE RULERS OF THE +EMPIRE.</h3> + +<p>But not only did Apollonius vivify and reconsecrate +the old centres of religion for some inscrutable +reason, and do what he could to help +on the religious life of the time in its multiplex +phases, but he took a decided, though indirect, +part in influencing the destinies of the Empire +through the persons of its supreme rulers.</p> + +<p>This influence, however, was invariably of a +moral and not of a political nature. It was +brought to bear by means of philosophical converse +and instruction, by word of mouth or letter. +Just as Apollonius on his travels conversed on +philosophy, and discoursed on the life of a wise +man and the duties of a wise ruler, with kings,<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">108</a> +rulers, and magistrates, so he endeavoured to +advise for their good those of the emperors who +would listen to him.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span></p> +<p>Vespasian, Titus, and Nerva were all, prior to +their elevation to the purple, friends and admirers +of Apollonius, while Nero and Domitian +regarded the philosopher with dismay.</p> + +<p>During Apollonius’ short stay in Rome, in +66 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, although he never let the slightest +word escape him that could be construed by the +numerous informers into a treasonable utterance, +he was nevertheless brought before Tigellinus, +the infamous favourite of Nero, and subjected to +a severe cross-examination. Apparently up to +this time Apollonius, working for the future, had +confined his attention entirely to the reformation +of religion and the restoration of the ancient +institutions of the nations, but the tyrannical +conduct of Nero, which gave peace not even +to the most blameless philosophers, at length +opened his eyes to a more immediate evil, +which seemed no less than the abrogation of the +liberty of conscience by an irresponsible tyranny. +From this time onwards, therefore, we find him +keenly interested in the persons of the successive +emperors.</p> + +<p>Indeed Damis, although he confesses his entire +ignorance of the purpose of Apollonius’ journey +to Spain after his expulsion from Rome, would +have it that it was to aid the forthcoming revolt +against Nero. He conjectures this from a three +days’ secret interview that Apollonius had with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> +the Governor of the Province of Bætica, who +came to Cadiz especially to see him, and declares +that the last words of Apollonius’ visitor were: +“Farewell, and remember Vindex” (v. 10).</p> + +<p>It is true that almost immediately afterwards +the revolt of Vindex, the Governor of Gaul, +broke out, but the whole life and character of +Apollonius is opposed to any idea of political +intrigue; on the contrary, he bravely withstood +tyranny and injustice to the face. He was +opposed to the idea of Euphrates, a philosopher +of quite a different stamp, who would have put +an end to the monarchy and restored the republic +(v. 33); he believed that government by +a monarch was the best for the Empire, but he +desired above all other things to see the “flock of +mankind” led by a “wise and faithful shepherd” +(v. 35).</p> + +<p>So that though Apollonius supported Vespasian +as long as he worthily tried to follow out this +ideal, he immediately rebuked him to his face +when he deprived the Greek cities of their privileges. +“You have enslaved Greece,” he wrote. +“You have reduced a free people to slavery” +(v. 41). Nevertheless, in spite of this rebuke, +Vespasian in his last letter to his son Titus, +confesses that they are what they are solely +owing to the good advice of Apollonius (v. +30).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> +Equally so he journeyed to Rome to meet +Domitian face to face, and though he was put +on trial and every effort made to prove him +guilty of treasonable plotting with Nerva, he +could not be convicted of anything of a political +nature. Nerva was a good man, he told the +emperor, and no traitor. Not that Domitian had +really any suspicion that Apollonius was personally +plotting against him; he cast him into +prison solely in the hope that he might induce +the philosopher to disclose the confidences of +Nerva and other prominent men who were +objects of suspicion to him, and who he imagined +had consulted Apollonius on their chances of +success. Apollonius’ business was not with politics, +but with the “princes who asked him for +his advice on the subject of virtue” (vi. 43).</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section XII.</span></h4> + +<h3>APOLLONIUS THE PROPHET AND +WONDER-WORKER.</h3> + +<p>We will now turn our attention for a brief space +to that side of Apollonius’ life which has made +him the subject of invincible prejudice. Apollonius +was not only a philosopher, in the sense of +being a theoretical speculator or of being the +follower of an ordered mode of life schooled in +the discipline of resignation; he was also a +philosopher in the original Pythagorean meaning +of the term—a knower of Nature’s secrets, who +thus could speak as one having authority.</p> + +<p>He knew the hidden things of Nature by sight +and not by hearing; for him the path of philosophy +was a life whereby the man himself became +an instrument of knowing. Religion, for Apollonius, +was not a faith only, it was a science. +For him the shows of things were but ever-changing +appearances; cults and rites, religions +and faiths, were all one to him, provided the +right spirit were behind them. The Tyanean<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> +knew no differences of race or creed; such narrow +limitations were not for the philosopher.</p> + +<p>Beyond all others would he have laughed to +hear the word “miracle” applied to his doings. +“Miracle,” in its Christian theological sense, was +an unknown term in antiquity, and is a vestige +of superstition to-day. For though many believe +that it is possible by means of the soul to effect +a multitude of things beyond the possibilities of +a science which is confined entirely to the +investigation of physical forces, none but the +unthinking believe that there can be any interference +in the working of the laws which Deity +has impressed upon Nature—the credo of +Miraculists.</p> + +<p>Most of the recorded wonder-doings of Apollonius +are cases of prophecy or foreseeing; of +seeing at a distance and seeing the past; of +seeing or hearing in vision; of healing the sick +or curing cases of obsession or possession.</p> + +<p>Already as a youth, in the temple at Ægæ, +Apollonius gave signs of the possession of the +rudiments of this psychic insight; not only did +he sense correctly the nature of the dark past of +a rich but unworthy suppliant who desired the +restoration of his eyesight, but he foretold, +though unclearly, the evil end of one who made +an attempt upon his innocence (i. 12).</p> + +<p>On meeting with Damis, his future faithful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> +henchman volunteered his services for the long +journey to India on the ground that he knew +the languages of several of the countries through +which they had to pass. “But I understand +them all, though I have learned none of them,” +answered Apollonius, in his usual enigmatical +fashion, and added: “Marvel not that I know +all the tongues of men, for I know even what +they never say” (i. 19). And by this he meant +simply that he could read men’s thoughts, not +that he could speak all languages. But Damis +and Philostratus cannot understand so simple a +fact of psychic experience; they will have it +that he knew not only the language of all men, +but also of birds and beasts (i. 20).</p> + +<p>In his conversation with the Babylonian +monarch Vardan, Apollonius distinctly claims +foreknowledge. He says that he is a physician +of the soul and can free the king from the +diseases of the mind, not only because he knows +what ought to be done, that is to say the proper +discipline taught in the Pythagorean and similar +schools, but also because he foreknows the nature +of the king (i. 32). Indeed we are told that the +subject of foreknowledge (προγνώσεως), of which +science (σοφία) Apollonius was a deep student, +was one of the principal topics discussed by our +philosopher and his Indian hosts (iii. 42).</p> + +<p>In fact, as Apollonius tells his philosophical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> +and studious friend the Roman Consul Telesinus, +for him wisdom was a kind of divinizing or +making divine of the whole nature, a sort of +perpetual state of inspiration (θειασμός) (iv. 40). +And so we are told that Apollonius was apprised +of all things of this nature by the energy of his +dæmonial nature (δαιμoνίως) (vii. 10). Now for +the student of the Pythagorean and Platonic +schools the “dæmon” of a man was what may +be called the higher self, the spiritual side of the +soul as distinguished from the purely human. +It is the better part of the man, and when his +physical consciousness is at-oned with this +“dweller in heaven,” he has (according to the +highest mystic philosophy of ancient Greece) +while still on earth the powers of those incorporeal +intermediate beings between Gods and +men called “dæmons”; a stage higher still, the +living man becomes at-oned with his divine soul, +he becomes a God on earth; and yet a stage +higher he becomes at one with the Good and so +becomes God.</p> + +<p>Hence we find Apollonius indignantly rejecting +the accusation of magic ignorantly brought +against him, an art which achieved its results by +means of compacts with those low entities with +which the outermost realm of inner Nature +swarms. Our philosopher repudiated equally +the idea of his being a soothsayer or diviner.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> +With such arts he would have nothing to do; +if ever he uttered anything which savoured of +foreknowledge, let them know it was not by +divination in the vulgar sense, but owing to +“that wisdom which God reveals to the wise” +(iv. 44).</p> + +<p>The most numerous wonder-doings ascribed to +Apollonius are instances precisely of such foreknowledge +or prophecy.<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">109</a> It must be confessed +that the utterances recorded are often obscure +and enigmatical, but this is the usual case with +such prophecy; for future events are most +frequently either seen in symbolic representations, +the meaning of which is not clear until +after the event, or heard in equally enigmatical +sentences. At times, however, we have instances +of very precise foreknowledge, such as the refusal +of Apollonius to go on board a vessel +which foundered on the voyage (v. 18).</p> + +<p>The instances of seeing present events at a +distance, however—such as the burning of a +temple at Rome, which Apollonius saw while at +Alexandria—are clear enough. Indeed, if people +know nothing else of the Tyanean, they have at +least heard how he saw at Ephesus the assassination +of Domitian at Rome at the very moment +of its occurrence.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span></p> +<p>It was mid-day, to quote from the graphic +account of Philostratus, and Apollonius was in one +of the small parks or groves in the suburbs, engaged +in delivering an address on some absorbing +topic of philosophy. “At first he sank his voice +as though in some apprehension; he, however, +continued his exposition, but haltingly, and with +far less force than usual, as a man who had some +other subject in his mind than that on which he +is speaking; finally he ceased speaking altogether +as though he could not find his words. Then +staring fixedly on the ground, he started forward +three or four paces, crying out: ‘Strike the +tyrant; strike!’ And this, not like a man who +sees an image in a mirror, but as one with the +actual scene before his eyes, as though he were +himself taking part in it.”</p> + +<p>Turning to his astonished audience he told +them what he had seen. But though they hoped +it were true, they refused to believe it, and +thought that Apollonius had taken leave of his +senses. But the philosopher gently answered: +You, on your part, are right to suspend your +rejoicings till the news is brought you in the +usual fashion; “as for me, I go to return thanks +to the Gods for what I have myself seen” (viii. +26).</p> + +<p>Little wonder, then, if we read, not only of a +number of symbolic dreams, but of their proper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> +interpretation, one of the most important +branches of the esoteric discipline of the school. +(See especially i. 23 and iv. 34.) Nor are we +surprised to hear that Apollonius, relying entirely +on his inner knowledge, was instrumental in +obtaining the reprieve of an innocent man at +Alexandria, who was on the point of being +executed with a batch of criminals (v. 24). +Indeed, he seems to have known the secret past +of many with whom he came in contact (vi. 3, 5).</p> + +<p>The possession of such powers can put but +little strain on the belief of a generation like our +own, to which such facts of psychic science are becoming +with every day more familiar. Nor should +instances of curing disease by mesmeric processes +astonish us, or even the so-called “casting out of +evil spirits,” if we give credence to the Gospel narrative +and are familiar with the general history of +the times in which such healing of possession and +obsession was a commonplace. This, however, +does not condemn us to any endorsement of the +fantastic descriptions of such happenings in which +Philostratus indulges. If it be credible that +Apollonius was successful in dealing with obscure +mental cases—cases of obsession and possession—with +which our hospitals and asylums are filled +to-day, and which are for the most part beyond +the skill of official science owing to its ignorance +of the real agencies at work, it is equally evident<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> +that Damis and Philostratus had little understanding +of the matter, and have given full rein +to their imagination in their narratives. (See ii. +4; iv. 20, 25; v. 42; vi. 27, 43.) Perhaps, +however, Philostratus in some instances is only +repeating popular legend, the best case of which +is the curing of the plague at Ephesus which +the Tyanean had foretold on so many occasions. +Popular legend would have it that the cause of +the plague was traced to an old beggar man, +who was buried under a heap of stones by the +infuriated populace. On Apollonius ordering +the stones to be removed, it was found that +what had been a beggar man was now a mad +dog foaming at the mouth (iv. 10)!</p> + +<p>On the contrary, the account of Apollonius’ +“restoring to life” a young girl of noble birth +at Rome, is told with great moderation. Our +philosopher seems to have met the funeral +procession by chance; whereupon he suddenly +went up to the bier, and, after making some +passes over the maiden, and saying some inaudible +words, “waked her out of her seeming +death.” But, says Damis, “whether Apollonius +noticed that the spark of the soul was still alive +which her friends had failed to perceive—they +say it was raining lightly and a slight vapour +showed on her face—or whether he made the +life in her warm again and so restored her,”<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> +neither himself nor any who were present could +say (iv. 45).</p> + +<p>Of a distinctly more phenomenal nature are +the stories of Apollonius causing the writing to +disappear from the tablets of one of his accusers +before Tigellinus (iv. 44); of his drawing his leg +out of the fetters to show Damis that he was not +really a prisoner though chained in the dungeons +of Domitian (vii. 38); and of his “disappearing” +(ἠφανίσθη) from the tribunal (viii. 5).<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">110</a></p> + +<p>We are not, however, to suppose that +Apollonius despised or neglected the study of +physical phenomena in his devotion to the inner +science of things. On the contrary, we have +several instances of his rejection of mythology +in favour of a physical explanation of natural +phenomena. Such, for instance, are his explanations +of the volcanic activity of Ætna (v. 14, 17), +and of a tidal wave in Crete, the latter being +accompanied with a correct indication of the +more immediate result of the occurrence. In +fact an island had been thrown up far out to sea +by a submarine disturbance as was subsequently +ascertained (iv. 34). The explanation of the +tides at Cadiz may also be placed in the same +category (v. 2).</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span></p> +<h4><span class="smcap">Section XIII.</span></h4> + +<h3>HIS MODE OF LIFE.</h3> + +<p>We will now present the reader with some +general indications of the mode of life of +Apollonius, and the manner of his teaching, of +which already something has been said under +the heading “Early Life.”</p> + +<p>Our philosopher was an enthusiastic follower +of the Pythagorean discipline; nay, Philostratus +would have us believe that he made more superhuman +efforts to reach wisdom than even the +great Samian (i. 2). The outer forms of this +discipline as exemplified in Pythagoras are thus +summed up by our author.</p> + +<p>“Naught would he wear that came from a +dead beast, nor touch a morsel of a thing that +once had life, nor offer it in sacrifice; not for +him to stain with blood the altars; but honey-cakes +and incense, and the service of his song +went upward from the man unto the Gods, for +well he knew that they would take such gifts +far rather than the oxen in their hundreds with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> +the knife. For he, in sooth, held converse with +the Gods and learned from them how they were +pleased with men and how displeased, and thence +as well he drew his nature-lore. As for the rest, +he said, they guessed at the divine, and held +opinions on the Gods which proved each other +false; but unto him Apollo’s self did come, +confessed, without disguise,<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">111</a> and there did come +as well, though unconfessed, Athena and the +Muses, and other Gods whose forms and names +mankind did not yet know.”</p> + +<p>Hence his disciples regarded Pythagoras as an +inspired teacher, and received his rules as laws. +“In particular did they keep the rule of silence +regarding the divine science. For they heard +within them many divine and unspeakable things +on which it would have been difficult for them +to keep silence, had they not first learned that it +was just this silence which spoke to them” (i. 1).</p> + +<p>Such was the general declaration of the nature +of the Pythagorean discipline by its disciples. +But, says Apollonius in his address to the +Gymnosophists, Pythagoras was not the inventor +of it. It was the immemorial wisdom, and +Pythagoras himself had learnt it from the +Indians.<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">112</a> This wisdom, he continued, had +spoken to him in his youth; she had said:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span></p> + +<p>“For sense, young sir, I have no charms; my +cup is filled with toils unto the brim. Would +anyone embrace my way of life, he must resolve +to banish from his board all food that once bore +life, to lose the memory of wine, and thus no +more to wisdom’s cup befoul—the cup that doth +consist of wine-untainted souls. Nor shall wool +warm him, nor aught that’s made from any +beast. I give my servants shoes of bast and +as they can to sleep. And if I find them overcome +with love’s delights, I’ve ready pits down +into which that justice which doth follow hard +on wisdom’s foot, doth drag and thrust them; +indeed, so stern am I to those who choose my +way, that e’en upon their tongues I bind a chain. +Now hear from me what things thou’lt gain, if +thou endure. An innate sense of fitness and of +right, and ne’er to feel that any’s lot is better +than thy own; tyrants to strike with fear +instead of being a fearsome slave to tyranny; to +have the Gods more greatly bless thy scanty gifts +than those who pour before them blood of bulls. +If thou art pure, I’ll give thee how to know what +things will be as well, and fill thy eyes so full +of light, that thou may’st recognise the Gods, the +heroes know, and prove and try the shadowy +forms that feign the shapes of men” (vi. 11).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span></p> +<p>The whole life of Apollonius shows that he +tried to carry out consistently this rule of life, +and the repeated statements that he would never +join in the blood-sacrifices of the popular cults +(see especially i. 24, 31; iv. 11; v. 25), but +openly condemned them, show not only that the +Pythagorean school had ever set the example of +the higher way of purer offerings, but that they +were not only not condemned and persecuted as +heretics on this account, but were rather regarded +as being of peculiar sanctity, and as following a +life superior to that of ordinary mortals.</p> + +<p>The refraining from the flesh of animals, however, +was not simply based upon ideas of purity, +it found additional sanction in the positive love +of the lower kingdoms and the horror of inflicting +pain on any living creature. Thus Apollonius +bluntly refused to take any part in the chase, +when invited to do so by his royal host at +Babylon. “Sire,” he replied, “have you +forgotten that even when you sacrifice I will +not be present? Much less then would I do +these beasts to death, and all the more when +their spirit is broken and they are penned in +contrary to their nature” (i. 38).<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">113</a></p> + +<p>But though Apollonius was an unflinching +task-master unto himself, he did not wish to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span>impose his mode of life on others, even on his +personal friends and companions (provided of +course they did not adopt it of their own free +will). Thus he tells Damis that he has no wish +to prohibit him from eating flesh and drinking +wine, he simply demands the right of refraining +himself and of defending his conduct if called on +to do so (ii. 7). This is an additional indication +that Damis was not a member of the inner circle +of discipline, and the latter fact explains why so +faithful a follower of the person of Apollonius +was nevertheless so much in the dark.</p> + +<p>Not only so, but Apollonius even dissuades +the Rājāh Phraotes, his first host in India, who +desired to adopt his strict rule, from doing so, +on the ground that it would estrange him too +much from his subjects (ii. 37).</p> + +<p>Three times a day Apollonius prayed and +meditated; at daybreak (vi. 10, 18; vii. 31), at +mid-day (vii. 10), and at sun-down (viii. 13). +This seems to have been his invariable custom; +no matter where he was he seems to have +devoted at least a few moments to silent meditation +at these times. The object of his worship +is always said to have been the “Sun,” that is to +say the Lord of our world and its sister worlds, +whose glorious symbol is the orb of day.</p> + +<p>We have already seen in the short sketch +devoted to his “Early Life” how he divided<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> +the day and portioned out his time among his +different classes of hearers and inquirers. His +style of teaching and speaking was the opposite +of that of a rhetorician or professional orator. +There was no art in his sentences, no striving +after effect, no affectation. But he spoke “as +from a tripod,” with such words as “I know,” +“Methinks,” “Why do ye,” “Ye should know.” +His sentences were short and compact, and his +words carried conviction with them and fitted +the facts. His task, he declared, was no longer +to seek and to question as he had done in his +youth, but to teach what he knew (i. 17). He +did not use the dialectic of the Socratic school, +but would have his hearers turn from all else +and give ear to the inner voice of philosophy +alone (iv. 2). He drew his illustrations from +any chance occurrence or homely happening (iv. +3; vi. 3, 38), and pressed all into service for +the improvement of his listeners.</p> + +<p>When put on his trial, he would make no +preparation for his defence. He had lived his +life as it came from day to day, prepared for +death, and would continue to do so (viii. 30). +Moreover it was now his deliberate choice to +challenge death in the cause of philosophy. +And so to his old friend’s repeated solicitations +to prepare his defence, he replied:</p> + +<p>“Damis, you seem to lose your wits in face<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> +of death, though you have been so long with +me and I have loved philosophy e’en from my +youth;<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">114</a> I thought that you were both yourself +prepared for death and knew full well my generalship +in this. For just as warriors in the field +have need not only of good courage but also of +that generalship which tells them when to fight, +so too must they who wisdom love make careful +study of good times to die, that they may choose +the best and not be done to death all unprepared. +That I have chosen best and picked the moment +which suits wisdom best to give death battle—if +so it be that any one should wish to slay me—I’ve +proved to other friends when you were by, +nor ever ceased to teach you it alone” (vii. 31).</p> + +<p>The above are some few indications of how +our philosopher lived, in fear of nothing but +disloyalty to his high ideal. We will now make +mention of some of his more personal traits, and +of some of the names of his followers.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span></p> +<h4><span class="smcap">Section XIV.</span></h4> + +<h3>HIMSELF AND HIS CIRCLE.</h3> + +<p>Apollonius is said to have been very beautiful +to look upon (i. 7, 12; iv. 1);<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">115</a> but beyond this +we have no very definite description of his +person. His manner was ever mild and gentle +(i. 36; ii. 22) and modest (iv. 31; viii. 15), +and in this, says Damis, he was more like an +Indian than a Greek (iii. 36); yet occasionally +he burst out indignantly against some special +enormity (iv. 30). His mood was often pensive +(i. 34), and when not speaking he would remain +for long plunged in deep thought, during which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span>his eyes were steadfastly fixed on the ground +(i. 10 et al.).</p> + +<p>Though, as we have seen, he was inflexibly +stern with himself, he was ever ready to make +excuses for others; if, on the one hand, he +praised the courage of those few who remained +with him at Rome, on the other he refused to +blame for their cowardice the many who had +fled (iv. 38). Nor was his gentleness shown +simply by abstention from blame, he was ever +active in positive deeds of compassion (cf. vi. 39).</p> + +<p>One of his little peculiarities was a liking to +be addressed as “Tyanean” (vii. 38), but why +this was so we are not told. It can hardly have +been that Apollonius was particularly proud of +his birth-place, for even though he was a great +lover of Greece, so that at times you would call +him an enthusiastic patriot, his love for other +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span>countries was quite as pronounced. Apollonius +was a citizen of the world, if there has ever been +one, into whose speech the word native-land did +not enter, and a priest of universal religion in +whose vocabulary the word sect did not exist.</p> + +<p>In spite of his extremely ascetic life he was a +man of strong physique, so that even when he +had reached the ripe age of four-score years, we +are told, he was sound and healthy in every limb +and organ, upright and perfectly formed. There +was also a certain indefinite charm about him +that made him more pleasant to look upon than +even the freshness of youth, and this even though +his face was furrowed with wrinkles, just as the +statues in the temple at Tyana represented him +in the time of Philostratus. In fact, says his +rhetorical biographer, report sang higher praises +over the charm of Apollonius in his old age than +over the beauty of Alcibiades in his youth (viii. +29).</p> + +<p>In brief, our philosopher seems to have been +of a most charming presence and lovable disposition; +nor was his absolute devotion to philosophy +of the nature of the hermit ideal, for he passed +his life among men. What wonder then that he +attracted to himself many followers and disciples! +It would have been interesting if Philostratus +had told us more about these “Apollonians,” +as they were called (viii. 21), and whether they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> +constituted a distinct school, or whether they +were grouped together in communities on the +Pythagorean model, or whether they were simply +independent students attracted to the most commanding +personality of the times in the domain +of philosophy. It is, however, certain that many +of them wore the same dress as himself and +followed his mode of life (iv. 39). Repeated +mention is also made of their accompanying +Apollonius on his travels (iv. 47; v. 21; viii. 19, +21, 24), sometimes as many as ten of them at +the same time, but none of them were allowed to +address others until they had fulfilled the vow +of silence (v. 43).</p> + +<p>The most distinguished of his followers were +Musonius, who was considered the greatest +philosopher of the time after the Tyanean, and +who was the special victim of Nero’s tyranny +(iv. 44; v. 19; vii. 16), and Demetrius, “who +loved Apollonius” (iv. 25, 42; v. 19; vi. 31; +vii. 10; viii. 10). These names are well known +to history; of names otherwise unknown are the +Egyptian Dioscorides, who was left behind owing +to weak health on the long journey to Ethiopia +(iv. 11, 38; v. 43), Menippus, whom he had +freed from an obsession (iv. 25, 38; v. 43), +Phædimus (iv. 11), and Nilus, who joined him +from Gymnosophists (v. 10 <i>sqq.</i>, 28), and of +course Damis, who would have us think that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +was always with him from the time of their +meeting at Ninus.</p> + +<p>On the whole we are inclined to think that +Apollonius did not establish any fresh organisation; +he made use of those already existing, and +his disciples were those who were attracted to him +personally by an overmastering affection which +could only be satisfied by being continually +near him. This much seems certain, that he +trained no one to carry on his task; he came +and went, helping and illuminating, but he +handed on no tradition of a definite line, and +founded no school to be continued by successors. +Even to his ever faithful companion, when bidding +him farewell for what he knew would be the +last time for Damis on earth, he had no word to +say about the work to which he had devoted +his life, but which Damis had never understood. +His last words were for Damis alone, for the +man who had loved him, but who had never +known him. It was a promise to come to him +if he needed help. “Damis, whenever you +think on high matters in solitary meditation, +you shall see me” (viii. 28).</p> + +<p>We will next turn our attention to a consideration +of some of the sayings ascribed to Apollonius +and the speeches put into his mouth by +Philostratus. The shorter sayings are in all +probability authentically traditional, but the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> +speeches are for the most part manifestly the +artistic working-up of the rough notes of Damis. +In fact, they are definitely declared to be so; +but they are none the less interesting on this +account, and for two reasons.</p> + +<p>In the first place, they honestly avow their +nature, and make no claim of inspiration; they +are confessedly human documents which endeavour +to give a literary dress to the traditional +body of thought and endeavour which the +life of the philosopher built into the minds of +his hearers. The method was common to antiquity, +and the ancient compilers of certain other +series of famous documents would have been +struck with amazement had they been able to +see how posterity would divinise their efforts +and regard them as immediately inspired by +the source of all wisdom.</p> + +<p>In the second place, although we are not to +suppose that we are reading the actual words +of Apollonius, we are nevertheless conscious of +being in immediate contact with the inner +atmosphere of the best religious thought of the +Greek mind, and have before our eyes the picture +of a mystic and spiritual fermentation which +leavened all strata of society in the first century +of our era.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section XV.</span></h4> + +<h3>FROM HIS SAYINGS AND SERMONS.</h3> + +<p>Apollonius believed in prayer, but how differently +from the vulgar. For him the idea +that the Gods could be swayed from the path of +rigid justice by the entreaties of men, was a +blasphemy; that the Gods could be made +parties to our selfish hopes and fears was to our +philosopher unthinkable. One thing alone he +knew, that the Gods were the ministers of right +and the rigid dispensers of just desert. The +common belief, which has persisted to our own +day, that God can be swayed from His purpose, +that compacts could be made with Him or with +His ministers, was entirely abhorrent to Apollonius. +Beings with whom such pacts could be +made, who could be swayed and turned, were +not Gods but less than men. And so we find +Apollonius as a youth conversing with one of +the priests of Æsculapius as follows:</p> + +<p>“Since then the Gods know all things, I +think that one who enters the temple with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> +right conscience within him should pray thus: +‘Give me, ye Gods, what is my due!’” (i. 11).</p> + +<p>And thus again on his long journey to India +he prayed at Babylon: “God of the sun, send +thou me o’er the earth so far as e’er ’tis good +for Thee and me; and may I come to know +the good, and never know the bad nor they +know me” (i. 31).</p> + +<p>One of his most general prayers, Damis tells +us, was to this effect: “Grant me, ye Gods, +to have little and need naught” (i. 34).</p> + +<p>“When you enter the temples, for what do +you pray?” asked the Pontifex Maximus +Telesinus of our philosopher. “I pray,” said +Apollonius, “that righteousness may rule, the +laws remain unbroken, the wise be poor and +others rich, but honestly” (iv. 40).</p> + +<p>The belief of the philosopher in the grand ideal +of having nothing and yet possessing all things, +is exemplified by his reply to the officer who +asked him how he dared enter the dominions +of Babylon without permission. “The whole +earth,” said Apollonius, “is mine; and it is +given me to journey through it” (i. 21).</p> + +<p>There are many instances of sums of money +being offered to Apollonius for his services, but +he invariably refused them; not only so but +his followers also refused all presents. On the +occasion when King Vardan, with true Oriental<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> +generosity, offered them gifts, they turned away; +whereupon Apollonius said: “You see, my +hands, though many, are all like each other.” +And when the king asked Apollonius what +present he would bring him back from India, +our philosopher replied: “A gift that will +please you, sire. For if my stay there should +make me wiser, I shall come back to you better +than I am” (i. 41).</p> + +<p>When they were crossing the great mountains +into India a conversation is said to have taken +place between Apollonius and Damis, which +presents us with a good instance of how our +philosopher ever used the incidents of the day +to inculcate the higher lessons of life. The +question was concerning the “below” and +“above.” Yesterday, said Damis, we were <i>below</i> +in the valley; to-day we are <i>above</i>, high on the +mountains, not far distant from heaven. So +this is what you mean by “below” and “above,” +said Apollonius gently. Why, of course, impatiently +retorted Damis, if I am in my right +mind; what need of such useless questions? +And have you acquired a greater knowledge of +the divine nature by being nearer heaven on +the tops of the mountains? continued his +master. Do you think that those who observe +the heaven from the mountain heights are any +nearer the understanding of things? Truth to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> +tell, replied Damis, somewhat crestfallen, I <i>did</i> +think I should come down wiser, for I’ve been +up a higher mountain than any of them, but I +fear I know no more than before I ascended it. +Nor do other men, replied Apollonius; “such +observations make them see the heavens more +blue, the stars more large, and the sun rise +from the night, things known to those who +tend the sheep and goats; but how God doth +take thought for human kind, and how He doth +find pleasure in their service, and what is virtue, +righteousness, and common-sense, that neither +Athos will reveal to those who scale his summit +nor yet Olympus who stirs the poet’s wonder, +unless it be the soul perceive them; for should +the soul when pure and unalloyed essay such +heights, I swear to thee, she wings her flight far +far beyond this lofty Caucasus” (ii. 6).</p> + +<p>So again, when at Thermopylæ his followers +were disputing as to which was the highest +ground in Greece, Mt. Œta being then in view. +They happened to be just at the foot of the hill on +which the Spartans fell overwhelmed with arrows. +Climbing to the top of it Apollonius cried out: +“And I think <i>this</i> the highest ground, for those +who fell here for freedom’s sake have made it +high as Œta and raised it far above a thousand +of Olympuses” (iv. 23).</p> + +<p>Another instance of how Apollonius turned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> +chance happenings to good account is the +following. Once at Ephesus, in one of the +covered walks near the city, he was speaking of +sharing our goods with others, and how we ought +mutually to help one another. It chanced that +a number of sparrows were sitting on a tree hard +by in perfect silence. Suddenly another sparrow +flew up and began chirping, as though it wanted +to tell the others something. Whereupon the +little fellows all set to a-chirping also, and flew +away after the new-comer. Apollonius’ superstitious +audience were greatly struck by this +conduct of the sparrows, and thought it was an +augury of some important matter. But the +philosopher continued with his sermon. The +sparrow, he said, has invited his friends to a +banquet. A boy slipped down in a lane hard by +and spilt some corn he was carrying in a bowl; +he picked up most of it and went away. The +little sparrow, chancing on the scattered grains, +immediately flew off to invite his friends to the +feast.</p> + +<p>Thereon most of the crowd went off at a run +to see if it were true, and when they came back +shouting and all agog with wonderment, the +philosopher continued: “Ye see what care the +sparrows take of one another, and how happy +they are to share with all their goods. And yet +we men do not approve; nay, if we see a man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> +sharing his goods with other men, we call it +wastefulness, extravagance, and by such names, +and dub the men to whom he gives a share, +fawners and parasites. What then is left to us +except to shut us up at home like fattening +birds, and gorge our bellies in the dark until we +burst with fat?” (iv. 3).</p> + +<p>On another occasion, at Smyrna, Apollonius, +seeing a ship getting under weigh, used the +occasion for teaching the people the lesson of +co-operation. “Behold the vessel’s crew!” he +said. “How some have manned the boats, some +raise the anchors up and make them fast, some +set the sails to catch the wind, how others yet +again look out at bow and stern. But if a single +man should fail to do a single one of these his +duties, or bungle in his seamanship, their sailing +will be bad, and they will have the storm among +them. But if they strive in rivalry each with +the other, their only strife being that no man +shall seem worse than his mates, fair havens +shall there be for such a ship, and all good +weather and fair voyage crowd in upon it” +(iv. 9).</p> + +<p>Again, on another occasion, at Rhodes, Damis +asked him if he thought anything greater than +the famous Colossus. “I do,” replied Apollonius; +“the man who walks in wisdom’s guileless +paths that give us health” (v. 21).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> +There is also a number of instances of witty +or sarcastic answers reported of our philosopher, +and indeed, in spite of his generally grave mood, +he not unfrequently rallied his hearers, and +sometimes, if we may say so, chaffed the foolishness +out of them (see especially iv. 30).</p> + +<p>Even in times of great danger this characteristic +shows itself. A good instance is his answer +to the dangerous question of Tigellinus, “What +think you of Nero?” “I think better of him +than you do,” retorted Apollonius, “for you +think he ought to sing, and I think he ought to +keep silence” (iv. 44).</p> + +<p>So again his reproof to a young Crœsus of the +period is as witty as it is wise. “Young sir,” he +said, “methinks it is not you who own your +house, but your house you” (v. 22).</p> + +<p>Of the same style also is his answer to a +glutton who boasted of his gluttony. He copied +Hercules, he said, who was as famous for the +food he ate as for his labours.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Apollonius, “for he was Hercules. +But <i>you</i>, what virtue have you, midden-heap? +Your only claim to notice is your chance of being +burst” (iv. 23).</p> + +<p>But to turn to more serious occasions. In +answer to Vespasian’s earnest prayer, “Teach me +what should a good king do,” Apollonius is said +to have replied somewhat in the following words:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> +“You ask me what can not be taught. For +kingship is the greatest thing within a mortal’s +reach; it is not taught. Yet will I tell you what +if you will do, you will do well. Count not that +wealth which is stored up—in what is this +superior to the sand haphazard heaped? nor +that which comes from men who groan beneath +taxation’s heavy weight—for gold that comes +from tears is base and black. You’ll use wealth +best of any king, if you supply the needs of +those in want and make their wealth secure for +those with many goods. Be fearful of the power +to do whate’er you please, so will you use it with +more prudence. Do not lop off the ears of corn +that show beyond the rest and raise their heads—for +Aristotle is not just in this<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">116</a>—but rather +weed their disaffection out like tares from corn, +and show yourself a fear to stirrers up of strife +not in ‘I punish you’ but in ‘I <i>will</i> do so.’ +Submit yourself to law, O prince, for you will +make the laws with greater wisdom if you do +not despise the law yourself. Pay reverence +more than ever to the Gods; great are the gifts +you have received from them, and for great +things you pray.<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">117</a> In what concerns the state +act as a king; in what concerns yourself, act as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span>a private man” (v. 36). And so on much in the +same strain, all good advice and showing a deep +knowledge of human affairs. And if we are to +suppose that this is merely a rhetorical exercise +of Philostratus and not based on the substance +of what Apollonius said, then we must have a +higher opinion of the rhetorician than the rest +of his writings warrant.</p> + +<p>There is an exceedingly interesting Socratic +dialogue between Thespesion, the abbot of the +Gymnosophist community, and Apollonius on +the comparative merits of the Greek and +Egyptian ways of representing the Gods. It +runs somewhat as follows:</p> + +<p>“What! Are we to think,” said Thespesion, +“that the Pheidiases and Praxiteleses went up +to heaven and took impressions of the forms of +the Gods, and so made an art of them, or was it +something else that set them a-modelling?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, something else,” said Apollonius, “something +pregnant with wisdom.”</p> + +<p>“What was that? Surely you cannot say it +was anything else but imitation?”</p> + +<p>“Imagination wrought them—a workman +wiser far than imitation; for imitation only +makes what it has seen, whereas imagination +makes what it has never seen, conceiving it with +reference to the thing it really is.”</p> + +<p>Imagination, says Apollonius, is one of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> +most potent faculties, for it enables us to reach +nearer to realities. It is generally supposed +that Greek sculpture was merely a glorification +of physical beauty, in itself quite unspiritual. +It was an idealisation of form and features, limbs +and muscles, an empty glorification of the +physical with nothing of course really corresponding +to it in the nature of things. But +Apollonius declared it brings us nearer to the +real, as Pythagoras and Plato declared before +him, and as all the wiser teach. He meant this +literally, not vaguely and fantastically. He +asserted that the types and ideas of things are +the only realities. He meant that between the +imperfection of the earth and the highest divine +type of all things, were grades of increasing +perfection. He meant that within each man +was a form of perfection, though of course not +yet absolutely perfect. That the angel in man, +his dæmon, was of God-like beauty, the summation +of all the finest features he had ever worn +in his many lives on earth. The Gods, too, belonged +to the world of types, of models, of perfections, +the heaven-world. The Greek sculptors +had succeeded in getting in contact with this +world, and the faculty they used was imagination.</p> + +<p>This idealisation of form was a worthy way +to represent the Gods; but, says Apollonius, if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> +you set up a hawk or owl or dog in your temples, +to represent Hermes or Athena or Apollo, you +may dignify the animals, but you make the Gods +lose dignity.</p> + +<p>To this Thespesion replies that the Egyptians +dare not give any precise form to the Gods; +they give them merely symbols to which an +occult meaning is attached.</p> + +<p>Yes, answers Apollonius, but the danger is +that the common people worship these symbols +and get unbeautiful ideas of the Gods. The +best thing would be to have no representations +at all. For the mind of the worshipper can +form and fashion for himself an image of the +object of his worship better than any art.</p> + +<p>Quite so, retorted Thespesion, and then added +mischievously: There was an old Athenian, by-the-by—no +fool—called Socrates, who swore by +the dog and goose as though they were Gods.</p> + +<p>Yes, replied Apollonius, he was no fool. He +swore by them not as being Gods, but in order +that he might not swear by the Gods (iv. 19).</p> + +<p>This is a pleasant passage of wit, of Egyptian +against Greek, but all such set arguments must +be set down to the rhetorical exercises of +Philostratus rather than to Apollonius, who +taught as “one having authority,” as “from a +tripod.” Apollonius, a priest of universal religion, +might have pointed out the good side and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> +bad side of both Greek and Egyptian religious +art, and certainly taught the higher way of +symbolless worship, but he would not champion +one popular cult against another. In the above +speech there is a distinct prejudice against Egypt +and a glorification of Greece, and this occurs in a +very marked fashion in several other speeches. +Philostratus was a champion of Greece against +all comers; but Apollonius, we believe, was wiser +than his biographer.</p> + +<p>In spite of the artificial literary dress that is +given to the longer discourses of Apollonius, they +contain many noble thoughts, as we may see +from the following quotations from the conversations +of our philosopher with his friend +Demetrius, who was endeavouring to dissuade +him from braving Domitian at Rome.</p> + +<p>The law, said Apollonius, obliges us to die for +liberty, and nature ordains that we should die +for our parents, our friends, or our children. +All men are bound by these duties. But a +higher duty is laid upon the sage; he must die +for his principles and the truth he holds dearer +than life. It is not the law that lays this choice +upon him, it is not nature; it is the strength and +courage of his own soul. Though fire or sword +threaten him, it will not overcome his resolution +or force from him the slightest falsehood; but he +will guard the secrets of others’ lives and all that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> +has been entrusted to his honour as religiously +as the secrets of initiation. And I know more +than other men, for I know that of all that I +know, I know some things for the good, some +for the wise, some for myself, some for the Gods, +but naught for tyrants.</p> + +<p>Again, I think that a wise man does nothing +alone or by himself; no thought of his so secret +but that he has himself as witness to it. And +whether the famous saying “know thyself” be +from Apollo or from some sage who learnt to +know himself and proclaimed it as a good for all, +I think the wise man who knows himself and +has his own spirit in constant comradeship, to +fight at his right hand, will neither cringe at +what the vulgar fear, nor dare to do what most +men do without the slightest shame (vii. 15).</p> + +<p>In the above we have the true philosopher’s +contempt for death, and also the calm knowledge +of the initiate, of the comforter and adviser of +others to whom the secrets of their lives have +been confessed, that no tortures can ever unseal +his lips. Here, too, we have the full knowledge +of what consciousness is, of the impossibility of +hiding the smallest trace of evil in the inner +world; and also the dazzling brilliancy of a +higher ethic which makes the habitual conduct of +the crowd appear surprising—the “that which +they do—not with shame.”</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section XVI.</span></h4> + +<h3>FROM HIS LETTERS.</h3> + +<p>Apollonius seems to have written many letters +to emperors, kings, philosophers, communities +and states, although he was by no means a +“voluminous correspondent”; in fact, the style +of his short notes is exceedingly concise, and +they were composed, as Philostratus says, “after +the manner of the Lacedæmonian scytale”<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">118</a> (iv. +27 and vii. 35).</p> + +<p>It is evident that Philostratus had access to +letters attributed to Apollonius, for he quotes a +number of them,<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">119</a> and there seems no reason to +doubt their authenticity. Whence he obtained +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span>them he does not inform us, unless it be that +they were the collection made by Hadrian at +Antium (viii. 20).</p> + +<p>That the reader may be able to judge of the +style of Apollonius we append one or two specimens +of these letters, or rather notes, for they +are too short to deserve the title of epistles. +Here is one to the magistrates of Sparta:</p> + +<p>“Apollonius to the Ephors, greeting!</p> + +<p>“It is possible for men not to make mistakes, +but it requires noble men to acknowledge they +have made them.”</p> + +<p>All of which Apollonius gets into just half as +many words in Greek. Here, again, is an interchange +of notes between the two greatest philosophers +of the time, both of whom suffered imprisonment +and were in constant danger of death.</p> + +<p>“Apollonius to Musonius, the philosopher, +greeting!</p> + +<p>“I want to go to you, to share speech and +roof with you, to be of some service to you. If +you still believe that Hercules once rescued +Theseus from Hades, write what you would have. +Farewell!”</p> + +<p>“Musonius to Apollonius, the philosopher, +greeting!</p> + +<p>“Good merit shall be stored for you for +your good thoughts; what is in store for me is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> +one who waits his trial and proves his innocence. +Farewell.”</p> + +<p>“Apollonius to Musonius, greeting!</p> + +<p>“Socrates refused to be got out of prison by +his friends and went before the judges. He was +put to death. Farewell.”</p> + +<p>“Musonius to Apollonius, the philosopher, +greeting!</p> + +<p>“Socrates was put to death because he made +no preparation for his defence. I shall do so. +Farewell!”</p> + +<p>However, Musonius, the Stoic, was sent to +penal servitude by Nero.</p> + +<p>Here is a note to the Cynic Demetrius, +another of our philosopher’s most devoted friends.</p> + +<p>“Apollonius, the philosopher, to Demetrius, +the Dog,<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">120</a> greeting!</p> + +<p>“I give thee to Titus, the emperor, to teach +him the way of kingship, and do you in turn give +me to speak him true; and be to him all things +but anger. Farewell!”</p> + +<p>In addition to the notes quoted in the text of +Philostratus, there is a collection of ninety-five +letters, mostly brief notes, the text of which is +printed in most editions.<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">121</a> Nearly all the critics +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span>are of opinion that they are not genuine, but +Jowett<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">122</a> and others think that some of them may +very well be genuine.</p> + +<p>Here is a specimen or two of these letters. +Writing to Euphrates, his great enemy, that is +to say the champion of pure rationalistic ethic +against the science of sacred things, he says:</p> + +<p>17. “The Persians call those who have the +divine faculty (or are god-like) Magi. A Magus, +then, is one who is a minister of the Gods, or +one who has by nature the god-like faculty. You +are no Magus but reject the Gods (i.e., are an +atheist).”</p> + +<p>Again, in a letter addressed to Criton, we +read:</p> + +<p>23. “Pythagoras said that the most divine +art was that of healing. And if the healing art +is most divine, it must occupy itself with the +soul as well as with the body; for no creature +can be sound so long as the higher part in it is +sickly.”</p> + +<p>Writing to the priests of Delphi against the +practice of blood-sacrifice, he says:</p> + +<p>27. “Heraclitus was a sage, but even he<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">123</a> +never advised the people of Ephesus to wash out +mud with mud.”<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">124</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span></p><p>Again, to some who claimed to be his +followers, those “who think themselves wise,” he +writes the reproof:</p> + +<p>43. “If any say he is my disciple, then let +him add he keeps himself apart out of the Baths, +he slays no living thing, eats of no flesh, is free +from envy, malice, hatred, calumny, and hostile +feelings, but has his name inscribed among the +race of those who’ve won their freedom.”</p> + +<p>Among these letters is found one of some +length addressed to Valerius, probably P. +Valerius Asiaticus, consul in <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 70. It is a +wise letter of philosophic consolation to enable +Valerius to bear the loss of his son, and runs as +follows:<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">125</a></p> + +<p>“There is no death of anyone, but only in +appearance, even as there is no birth of any, save +only in seeming. The change from being to becoming +seems to be birth, and the change from +becoming to being seems to be death, but in +reality no one is ever born, nor does one ever die. +It is simply a being visible and then invisible; +the former through the density of matter, and +the latter because of the subtlety of being—being +which is ever the same, its only change being +motion and rest. For being has this necessary +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span>peculiarity, that its change is brought about by +nothing external to itself; but whole becomes +parts and parts become whole in the oneness of +the all. And if it be asked: What is this which +sometimes is seen and sometimes not seen, now +in the same, now in the different?—it might be +answered: It is the way of everything here in the +world below that when it is filled out with matter +it is visible, owing to the resistance of its density, +but is invisible, owing to its subtlety, when it is +rid of matter, though matter still surround it and +flow through it in that immensity of space which +hems it in but knows no birth or death.</p> + +<p>“But why has this false notion [of birth and +death] remained so long without a refutation? +Some think that what has happened through +them, they have themselves brought about. +They are ignorant that the individual is brought +to birth <i>through</i> parents, not by parents, just as +a thing produced <i>through</i> the earth is not +produced <i>from</i> it. The change which comes to +the individual is nothing that is caused by his +visible surroundings, but rather a change in the +one thing which is in every individual.</p> + +<p>“And what other name can we give to it but +primal being? ’Tis it alone that acts and suffers +becoming all for all through all, eternal deity, +deprived and wronged of its own self by names +and forms. But this is a less serious thing than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> +that a man should be bewailed, when he has +passed from man to God by change of state and +not by the destruction of his nature. The fact +is that so far from mourning death you ought to +honour it and reverence it. The best and fittest +way for you to honour death is now to leave +the one who’s gone to God, and set to work to +play the ruler over those left in your charge as +you were wont to do. It would be a disgrace +for such a man as you to owe your cure to time +and not to reason, for time makes even common +people cease from grief. The greatest thing is a +strong rule, and of the greatest rulers he is best +who first can rule himself. And how is it +permissible to wish to change what has been +brought to pass by will of God? If there’s a +law in things, and there <i>is</i> one, and it is God who +has appointed it, the righteous man will have no +wish to try to change good things, for such a wish +is selfishness, and counter to the law, but he will +think that all that comes to pass is a good thing. +On! heal yourself, give justice to the wretched +and console them; so shall you dry your tears. +You should not set your private woes above +your public cares, but rather set your public +cares before your private woes. And see as well +what consolation you already have! The nation +sorrows with you for your son. Make some +return to those who weep with you; and this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> +you will more quickly do if you will cease from +tears than if you still persist. Have you not +friends? Why! you have yet another son. +Have you not even still the one that’s gone? +You have!—will answer anyone who really +thinks. For ‘that which is’ doth cease not—nay +<i>is</i> just for the very fact that it will be for +aye; or else the ‘is not’ is, and how could that +be when the ‘is’ doth never cease to be?</p> + +<p>“Again it will be said you fail in piety to God +and are unjust. ’Tis true. You fail in piety +to God, you fail in justice to your boy; nay more, +you fail in piety to him as well. Would’st know +what death is? Then make me dead and send +me off to company with death, and if you will +not change the dress you’ve put on it,<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">126</a> you will +have straightway made me better than yourself.”<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">127</a></p> +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section XVII.</span></h4> + +<h3>THE WRITINGS OF APOLLONIUS.</h3> + +<p>But besides these letters Apollonius also wrote +a number of treatises, of which, however, only +one or two fragments have been preserved. +These treatises are as follows:</p> + +<p><i>a.</i> The Mystic Rites or Concerning Sacrifices.<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">128</a> +This treatise is mentioned by Philostratus +(iii. 41; iv. 19), who tells us that it set +down the proper method of sacrifice to every +God, the proper hours of prayer and offering. +It was in wide circulation, and Philostratus had +come across copies of it in many temples and +cities, and in the libraries of philosophers. +Several fragments of it have been preserved,<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">129</a> +the most important of which is to be found in +Eusebius,<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">130</a> and is to this effect: “’Tis best to +make no sacrifice to God at all, no lighting of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span>a fire, no calling Him by any name that men +employ for things of sense. For God is over all, +the first; and only after Him do come the other +Gods. For He doth stand in need of naught e’en +from the Gods, much less from us small men—naught +that the earth brings forth, nor any life +she nurseth, or even any thing the stainless air +contains. The only fitting sacrifice to God is +man’s best reason, and not the word<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">131</a> that +comes from out his mouth.</p> + +<p>“We men should ask the best of beings through +the best thing in us, for what is good—I mean +by means of mind, for mind needs no material +things to make its prayer. So then, to God, +the mighty One, who’s over all, no sacrifice +should ever be lit up.”</p> + +<p>Noack<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">132</a> tells us that scholarship is convinced +of the genuineness of this fragment. This book, +as we have seen, was widely circulated and held +in the highest respect, and it said that its rules +were engraved on brazen pillars at Byzantium.<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">133</a></p> + +<p><i>b.</i> The Oracles or Concerning Divination, 4 +books. Philostratus (iii. 41) seems to think that +the full title was Divination of the Stars, and +says that it was based on what Apollonius had +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span>learned in India; but the <i>kind</i> of divination +Apollonius wrote about was not the ordinary +astrology, but something which Philostratus +considers superior to ordinary human art in +such matters. He had, however, never heard of +anyone possessing a copy of this rare work.</p> + +<p><i>c.</i> The Life of Pythagoras. Porphyry refers +to this work,<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">134</a> and Iamblichus quotes a long +passage from it.<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">135</a></p> + +<p><i>d.</i> The Will of Apollonius, to which reference +has already been made, in treating of the sources +of Philostratus (i. 3). This was written in the +Ionic dialect, and contained a summary of his +doctrines.</p> + +<p>A Hymn to Memory is also ascribed to him, +and Eudocia speaks of many other (καὶ ἄλλα πολλά) works.</p> + +<p>We have now indicated for the reader all the +information which exists concerning our philosopher. +Was Apollonius, then, a rogue, a +trickster, a charlatan, a fanatic, a misguided +enthusiast, or a philosopher, a reformer, a conscious +worker, a true initiate, one of the earth’s +great ones? This each must decide for himself, +according to his knowledge or his ignorance.</p> + +<p>I for my part bless his memory, and would +gladly learn from him, as now he is.</p> +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Section XVIII.</span></h4> + +<h3>BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.</h3> + +<h5>NINETEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE ON APOLLONIUS.</h5> + +<p>Jacobs (F.), Observationes in ... Philostrati Vitam Apollonii +(Jena; 1804), purely philological, for the correction of the text.</p> + +<p>Legrand d’Aussy (P. J. B.), Vie d’Apollonius de Tyane (Paris; +1807, 2 vols.).</p> + +<p>Bekker (G. J.), Specimen Variarum Lectionum ... in +Philost. Vitæ App. Librum primum (1808); purely philological.</p> + +<p>Berwick (E.), The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, translated from the +Greek of Philostratus, with Notes and Illustrations (London; 1809).</p> + +<p>Lancetti (V.), Le Opere dei due Filostrati, Italian trs. (Milano; +1828-31); in “Coll. degli Ant. Storici Greci volgarizzati.”</p> + +<p>Jacobs (F.), Philostratus: Leben des Apollonius von Tyana, in the +series “Griechische Prosaiker,” German trs. (Stuttgart; 1829-32), +vols. xlviii., lxvi., cvi., cxi., each containing two books; a very +clumsy arrangement.</p> + +<p>Baur (F. C.), Apollonius von Tyana und Christus oder das +Verhältniss des Pythagoreismus zum Christenthum (Tübingen; 1832); +reprinted from Tübinger Zeitschrift für Theologie.</p> + +<p>Second edition by E. Zeller (Leipzig; 1876), in Drei Abhandlungen +zur Geschichte der alten Philosophie und ihres Verhältnisses zum +Christenthum.</p> + +<p>Kayser and Westermann’s editions as above referred to in section v.</p> + +<p>Newman (J. H.), “Apollonius Tyanæus—Miracles,” in Smedley’s +Encyclopædia Metropolitana (London; 1845), x. pp. 619-644.</p> + +<p>Noack (L.), “Apollonius von Tyana ein Christusbild des Heidenthums,” +in his magazine Psyche: Populärwissenschaftliche Zeitschrift +für die Kentniss des menschlichen Seelen- und Geistes-lebens (Leipzig; +1858), Bd. i., Heft ii., pp. 1-24.</p> + +<p>Müller (I. P. E.), Commentatio qua de Philostrati in componenda +Memoria Apoll. Tyan. fide quæritur, I.-III. (Onoldi et Landavii; +1858-1860).</p> + +<p>Müller (E.), War Apollonius von Tyana ein Weiser oder ein<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> +Betrüger oder ein Schwärmer und Fanatiker? Ein Culturhistorische +Untersuchung (Breslau; 1861, 4to), 56 pp.</p> + +<p>Chassang (A.), Apollonius de Tyane, sa Vie, ses Voyages, ses +Prodiges, par Philostrate, et ses Lettres, trad. du grec. avec Introd., +Notes et Eclaircissements (Paris; 1862), with the additional title, Le +Merveilleux dans l’Antiquité.</p> + +<p>Réville (A.), Apollonius the Pagan Christ of the Third Century +(London; 1866), tr. from the French. The original is not in the +British Museum.</p> + +<p>Priaulx (O. de B.), The Indian Travels of Apollonius of Tyana, etc. +(London; 1873), pp. 1-62.</p> + +<p>Mönckeberg (C.), Apollonius von Tyana, ein Weihnachtsgabe +(Hamburg; 1877), 57 pp.</p> + +<p>Pettersch (C. H.), Apollonius von Tyana der Heiden Heiland, ein +philosophische Studie (Reichenberg; 1879), 23 pp.</p> + +<p>Nielsen (C. L.), Apollonios fra Tyana og Filostrats Beskrivelse af +hans Levnet (Copenhagen; 1879); the Appendix (pp. 167 sqq.) +contains a Danish tr. of Eusebius Contra Hieroclem.</p> + +<p>Baltzer (E.), Apollonius von Tyana, aus den Griech. übersetzt u. +erläutert (Rudolstadt i/ Th.; 1883).</p> + +<p>Jessen (J.), Apollonius von Tyana und sein Biograph Philostratus +(Hamburg; 1885, 4to), 36 pp.</p> + +<p>Tredwell (D. M.), A Sketch of the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, or +the first Ten Decades of our Era (New York; 1886).</p> + +<p>Sinnett (A. P.), “Apollonius of Tyana,” in the Transactions (No. 32) +of the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society (London; 1898), 32 pp.</p> + +<p>The student may also consult the articles in the usual Dictionaries +and Encyclopædias, none of which, however, demand special mention. +P. Cassel’s learned paper in the Vossische Zeitung of Nov. 24th, 1878, +I have not been able to see.</p> + +<h4>SOME INDICATIONS OF THE LITERATURE ON THE +RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AMONG THE GREEKS AND +ROMANS.</h4> + +<p>Böckh (A.), Die Staatshaushaltung der Athener (1st ed. 1817). +For older literature, see i. 416, <i>n.</i></p> + +<p>Van Holst, De Eranis Veterum Græcorum (Leyden; 1832).</p> + +<p>Mommsen (T.), De Collegiis et Sodaliciis Romanorum (Kiel; 1843).</p> + +<p>Mommsen (T.), “Römische Urkunden, iv.—Die Lex Julia de +Collegiis und die lanuvinische Lex Collegii Salutaris,” art. in Zeitschr. +für geschichtl. Rechtswissenschaft (1850), vol. xv. 353 sqq.</p> + +<p>Wescher (C.), “Recherches épigraphiques en Grèce, dans l’Archipel +et en Asie Mineure,” arts. in Le Moniteur of Oct. +20, 23, and 24, 1863.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> +Wescher (C.), “Inscriptions de l’Île de Rhodes relatives à des Sociétés +religieuses”; “Notice sur deux Inscriptions de l’Île de Théra +relatives à une Société religieuse”; “Note sur une Inscription de l’Île +de Théra publiée par M. Ross et relative à une Société religieuse”; +arts. in La Revue archéologique (Paris; new series, 1864), x. 460 +sqq.; 1865, xii. 214 sqq.; 1866, xiii. 245 sqq.</p> + +<p>Foucart (P.), Des Associations religieuses chez les Grecs, Thiases, +Éranes, Orgéons, avec le Texte des Inscriptions relatives à ces +Associations (Paris; 1873).</p> + +<p>Lüders (H. O.), Die dionyschischen Künstler (Berlin; 1873).</p> + +<p>Cohn (M.), Zum römischen Vereinsrecht: Abhandlung aus der +Rechtsgeschichte (Berlin; 1873). Also the notice of it in Bursian’s +Philol. Jaresbericht (1873), ii. 238-304.</p> + +<p>Henzen (G.), Acta Fratrum Arvalium quæ supersunt;... +accedunt Fragmenta Fastorum in Luco Arvalium effossa (Berlin; +1874).</p> + +<p>Heinrici (G.), “Die Christengemeinde Korinths und die +religiösen genossenschaften der Griechen”; “Zur Geschichte der Anfange +paulinischer Gemeinden”; arts. in Zeitschr. für wissensch. +Theol. (Jena, etc.; 1876), pp. 465-526, particularly pp. 479 sqq.; +1877, pp. 89-130.</p> + +<p>Duruy (V.), “Du Régime municipal dans l’Empire romain,” art. in +La Revue historique (Paris; 1876), pp. 355 sqq.; also his Histoire +des Romanis (Paris; 1843, 1844), i. 149 sqq.</p> + +<p>De Rossi, Roma Sotteranea (Rome; 1877), iii. 37 sqq., and +especially pp. 507 sqq.</p> + +<p>Marquardt (J.), Römische Staatsverwaltung, iii. 131-142, in vol. +vi. of Marquardt and Mommsen’s Handbuch der römischen Altherthümer +(Leipzig; 1878); an excellent summary with valuable notes, +especially the section “Ersatz der Gentes durch die Sodalitates für +fremde Culte.”</p> + +<p>Boissier (G.), La Religion romaine d’Auguste aux Antonins (Paris; +2nd ed. 1878), ii. 238-304 (1st ed. 1874).</p> + +<p>Hatch (E.), The Organization of the Early Christian Churches: The +Bampton Lectures for 1880 (London; 2nd ed. 1882); see especially +Lecture ii., “Bishops and Deacons,” pp. 26-32: German ed. Die +Gesellschaftsverfassung der christlichen Kirchen in Althertum (1883), +p. 20; see this for additional literature.</p> + +<p>Newmann (K. J.), “θιασῶται Ἰησοῦ,” art. in Jahrbb. für prot. Theol. +(Leipzig, etc.; 1885), pp. 123-125.</p> + +<p>Schürer (E.), A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus +Christ, Eng. tr. (Edinburgh; 1893), Div. ii, vol. ii. pp. 255 and 300.</p> + +<p>Owen (J.), “On the Organization of the Early Church,” an Introductory +Essay to the English translation of Harnack’s Sources of the +Apostolic Canons (London; 1895).</p> + +<p>Anst (E.), Die Religion der Römer; vol. xiii. Darstellungen aus +dem Gebiete der nichtchristlichen Religionsgeschichte (Münster i. +W.; 1899).<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span></p> + +<p>See also Whiston and Wayte’s art. “Arvales Fratres,” and Moyle’s +arts. “Collegium” and “Universitas,” in Smith, Wayte and +Marindin’s Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities (London; 3rd ed. +1890-1891); and also, of course, the arts. “Collegium” and +“Sodalitas” in Pauly’s Realencyclopädie der classichen Alterthumswissenschaft, +though they are now somewhat out of date.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> +</p> +<hr /> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">1</span></a> From a fragment of The Cretans. See Lobeck’s Aglaophamus, +p. 622.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">2</span></a> Pronounced Týǎna, with the accent on the first +syllable and the first a short.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">3</span></a> Alexander sive Pseudomantis, vi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">4</span></a> De Magia, xc. (ed. Hildebrand, 1842, ii. 614).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">5</span></a> τελέσματα. <i>Telesma</i> was “a consecrated object, turned +by the Arabs into <i>telsam</i> (<i>talisman</i>)”; see Liddell and Scott’s +Lexicon, sub voc.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">6</span></a> Justin Martyr, Opera, ed. Otto (2nd ed.; Jena, +1849), iii. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">7</span></a> Lib. lxxvii. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">8</span></a> Life of Alexander Severus, xxix.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">9</span></a> Life of Aurelian, xxiv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">10</span></a> “<i>Quæ qui velit nosse, græcos legat libros qui de ejus +vita conscripti sunt.</i>” These accounts were probably the +books of Maximus, Mœragenes, and Philostratus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">11</span></a> An Egyptian epic poet, who wrote several poetical +histories in Greek; he flourished in the last decade of the +third century.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">12</span></a> Sidonius Apollinaris, Epp., viii. 3. See also Legrand +d’Aussy, Vie d’Apollonius de Tyane (Paris; 1807), p. +xlvii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">13</span></a> Porphyry, De Vita Pythagoræ, section ii., ed. Kiessling +(Leipzig; 1816). Iamblichus De Vita Pythagorica, chap. +xxv., ed. Kiessling (Leipzig; 1813); see especially K.’s note, +pp. 11 sqq. See also Porphyry, Frag., De Styge, p. 285, +ed. Holst.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">14</span></a> See Duchesne on the recently discovered works of +Macarius Magnes (Paris; 1877).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">15</span></a> The most convenient text is by Gaisford (Oxford; 1852), +Eusebii Pamphili contra Hieroclem; it is also printed in a +number of editions of Philostratus. There are two translations +in Latin, one in Italian, one in Danish, all bound up +with Philostratus’ Vita, and one in French printed apart +(Discours d’Eusèbe Evêque de Cesarée touchant les Miracles +attribuez par les Payens à Apollonius de Tyane, tr. by +Cousin. Paris; 1584, 12mo, 135 pp.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">16</span></a> Lactantius, Divinæ Institutiones, v. 2, 3; ed. Fritsche +(Leipzig; 1842), pp. 233, 236.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">17</span></a> Arnobius, Adversus Nationes, i. 52; ed. Hildebrand +(Halle; 1844), p. 86. The Church Father, however, with +that exclusiveness peculiar to the Judæo-Christian view, +omits Moses from the list of Magi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">18</span></a> John Chrysostom, Adversus Judæos, v. 3 (p. 631); +De Laudibus Sancti Pauli Apost. Homil., iv. (p. 493 D.; ed. +Montfauc.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">19</span></a> Hieronymus, Ep. ad Paulinum, 53 (text ap. Kayser, +præf. ix.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">20</span></a> August., Epp., cxxxviii. Text quoted by Legrand +d’Aussy, op. cit., p. 294.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">21</span></a> Isidorus Pelusiota, Epp., p. 138; ed. J. Billius (Paris; +1585).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">22</span></a> See Arnobius, loc. cit.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">23</span></a> Sidonius Apollinaris, Epp., viii. 3. Also Fabricius, +Bibliotheca Græca, pp. 549, 565 (ed. Harles). The work of +Sidonius on Apollonius is unfortunately lost.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">24</span></a> <i>Amplissimus ille philosophus</i> (xxiii. 7). See also xxi. +14; xxiii. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">25</span></a> τι θεῶν τε καὶ ἀνθρώπου μέσον, meaning thereby +presumably one who has reached the grade of being +superior to man, but not yet equal to the gods. This was +called by the Greeks the “dæmonian” order. But the +word “dæmon,” owing to sectarian bitterness, has long +been degraded from its former high estate, and the original +idea is now signified in popular language by the term +“angel.” Compare Plato, Symposium, xxiii., πᾶν τὸ +δαιμόνιον μεταξύ ἐστι θεοῦ τε καὶ θνητοῦ, “all that is +dæmonian is between God and man.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">26</span></a> Eunapius, Vitæ Philosophorum, Proœmium, vi.; ed. +Boissonade (Amsterdam; 1822), p. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">27</span></a> Réville, Apollonius of Tyana (tr. from the French), +p. 56 (London; 1866). I have, however, not been able to +discover on what authority this statement is made.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">28</span></a> <i>Insignis philosophus</i>; see his Chronicon, written down +to the year 519.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">29</span></a> In his Chronographia. See Legrand d’Aussy, op. cit., +p. 313.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">30</span></a> Chiliades, ii. 60.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">31</span></a> Cited by Legrand d’Aussy, op. cit., p. 286.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">32</span></a> φιλόσοφος Πυθαγόρειος στοιχειωματικός—Cedrenus, Compendium +Historiarium, i. 346; ed. Bekker. The word +which I have rendered by “adept” signifies one “who +has power over the elements.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">33</span></a> Legrand d’Aussy, op. cit., p. 308.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">34</span></a> If we except the disputed Letters and a few quotations +from one of Apollonius’ lost writings.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">35</span></a> Philostratus de Vita Apollonii Tyanei Libri Octo, +tr. by A. Rinuccinus, and Eusebius contra Hieroclem, +tr. by Z. Acciolus (Venice; 1501-04, fol.). Rinucci’s +translation was improved by Beroaldus and printed at +Lyons (1504?), and again at Cologne, 1534.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">36</span></a> F. Baldelli, Filostrato Lemnio della Vita di Apollonio +Tianeo (Florence; 1549, 8vo).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">37</span></a> B. de Vignère, Philostrate de la Vie d’Apollonius +(Paris; 1596, 1599, 1611). Blaise de Vignère’s translation +was subsequently corrected by Frédéric Morel and later by +Thomas Artus, Sieur d’Embry, with bombastic notes in +which he bitterly attacks the wonder-workings of Apollonius. +A French translation was also made by Th. Sibilet +about 1560, but never published; the MS. was in the +Bibliothèque Imperiale. See Miller, Journal des Savants, +1849, p. 625, quoted by Chassang, op. infr. cit., p. iv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">38</span></a> F. Morellus, Philostrati Lemnii Opera, Gr. and Lat. +(Paris; 1608).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">39</span></a> G. Olearius, Philostratorum quæ supersunt Omnia, Gr. +and Lat. (Leipzig; 1709).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">40</span></a> C. L. Kayser, Flavii Philostrati quæ supersunt, etc. +(Zurich; 1844, 4to). In 1849 A. Westermann also edited +a text, Philostratorum et Callistrati Opera, in Didot’s +“Scriptorum Græcorum Bibliotheca” (Paris; 1849, 8vo). +But Kayser brought out a new edition in 1853 (?), +and again a third, with additional information in the +Preface, in the “Bibliotheca Teubneriana” (Leipzig; 1870).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">41</span></a> For a general summary of opinions prior to 1807, of +writers who mention Apollonius incidentally, see Legrand +d’Aussy, op. cit., ii. pp. 313-327.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">42</span></a> L’Histoire d’Apollone de Tyane convaincue de Fausseté +et d’Imposture (Paris; 1705).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">43</span></a> An Account of the Life of Apollonius Tyaneus (London; +1702), tr. out of the French, from vol. ii. of Lenain +de Tillemont’s Histoire des Empereurs (2nd ed., Paris; +1720): to which is added Some Observations upon +Apollonius. De Tillemont’s view is that Apollonius was +sent by the Devil to destroy the work of the Saviour.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">44</span></a> A Critical and Historical Discourse upon the Method +of the Principal Authors who wrote for and against +Christianity from its Beginning (London; 1739), tr. from +the French of M. l’Abbé Houtteville; to which is added a +“Dessertation on the Life of Apollonius Tyanæus, with +some Observations on the Platonists of the Latter School,” +pp. 213-254.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">45</span></a> Anti-Hierocles oder Jesus Christus und Apollonius +von Tyana in ihrer grossen Ungleichheit, dargestellt v. J. B. +Lüderwald (Halle; 1793).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">46</span></a> Phileleutherus Helvetius, De Miraculis quæ Pythagoræ, +Apollonio Tyanensi, Francisco Asisio, Dominico, et Ignatio +Lojolæ tribuuntur Libellus (Draci; 1734).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">47</span></a> See Legrand d’Aussy, op. cit., ii. p. 314, where the +texts are given.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">48</span></a> The Two First Books of Philostratus concerning the +Life of Apollonius Tyaneus (London; 1680, fol.). Blount’s +notes (generally ascribed to Lord Herbert) raised such an +outcry that the book was condemned in 1693, and few +copies are in existence. Blount’s notes were, however, +translated into French a century later, in the days of +Encyclopædism, and appended to a French version of the +Vita, under the title, Vie d’Apollonius de Tyane par +Philostrate avec les Commentaires donnés en Anglois par +Charles Blount sur les deux Premiers Livres de cet +Ouvrage (Amsterdam; 1779, 4 vols., 8vo), with an ironical +dedication to Pope Clement XIV., signed “Philalethes.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">49</span></a> Philosophiam Practicam Apollonii Tyanæi in Sciagraphia, +exponit M. Io. Christianus Herzog (Leipzig; 1709); +an academical oration of 20 pp.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">50</span></a> Philostratus is a difficult author to translate, nevertheless +Chassang and Baltzer have succeeded very well with him; +Berwick also is readable, but in most places gives us a paraphrase +rather than a translation and frequently mistakes the +meaning. Chassang’s and Baltzer’s are by far the best +translations.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">51</span></a> This would have at least restored Apollonius to his +natural environment, and confined the question of the +divinity of Jesus to its proper Judæo-Christian ground.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">52</span></a> I am unable to offer any opinion on Nielsen’s book, +from ignorance of Danish, but it has all the appearance of +a careful, scholarly treatise with abundance of references.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">53</span></a> Réville’s Pagan Christ is quite a misrepresentation of +the subject, and Newman’s treatment of the matter renders +his treatise an anachronism for the twentieth century.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">54</span></a> Consisting of eight books written in Greek under the +general title Τὰ ἐς τὸν Τυανέα Ἀπολλώνιον.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">55</span></a> ἡ φιλόσοφος, see art. “Philostratus” in Smith’s Dict. +of Gr. and Rom. Biog. (London; 1870), iii. 327<i>b.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">56</span></a> The italics are Gibbon’s.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">57</span></a> More correctly Domna Julia; Domna being not a +shortened form of Domina, but the Syrian name of the +empress.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">58</span></a> She died <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 217.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">59</span></a> The contrary is held by other historians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">60</span></a> Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, I. vi</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">61</span></a> I use the 1846 and 1870 editions of Kayser’s text +throughout.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">62</span></a> A collection of these letters (but not all of them) had +been in the possession of the Emperor Hadrian (<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 117-138), +and had been left in his palace at Antium (viii. 20). +This proves the great fame that Apollonius enjoyed shortly +after his disappearance from history, and while he was still +a living memory. It is to be noticed that Hadrian was an +enlightened ruler, a great traveller, a lover of religion, and +an initiate of the Eleusinian Mysteries.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">63</span></a> Nineveh.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">64</span></a> τὰς δέλτους, writing tablets. This suggests that the +account of Damis could not have been very voluminous, +although Philostratus further on asserts its detailed nature +(i. 19).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">65</span></a> One of the imperial secretaries of the time, who was +famous for his eloquence, and tutor to Apollonius.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">66</span></a> A town not far from Tarsus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">67</span></a> ὡς ὑποθειάζων τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ἐγένετο. The term +ὑποθειάζων occurs only in this passage, and I am therefore +not quite certain of its meaning.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">68</span></a> This Life by Mœragenes is casually mentioned by +Origenes, Contra Celsum, vi. 41; ed. Lommatzsch (Berlin; +1841), ii. 373.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">69</span></a> λόγοις δαιμονίοις.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">70</span></a> Seldom is it that we have such a clear indication, for +instance, as in i. 25; “The following is what <i>I</i> have been +able to learn ... about Babylon.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">71</span></a> See E. A. Schwanbeck, Megasthenis Indica (Bonn; +1846), and J. W. M’Crindle, Ancient India as described +by Megasthenes and Arrian (Calcutta, Bombay, London; +1877), The Commerce and Navigation of the Erythræan +Sea (1879), Ancient India as described by Ktesias (1882), +Ancient India as described by Ptolemy (London; 1885), +and The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great (London; +1893, 1896).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">72</span></a> Another good example of this is seen in the disquisition +on elephants which Philostratus takes from Juba’s History +of Libya (ii. 13 and 16).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">73</span></a> Perhaps a title, or the king of the Purus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">74</span></a> Not that Philostratus makes any disguise of his embellishments; +see, for instance, ii. 17, where he says: “Let +me, however, defer what <i>I</i> have to say on the subject of +serpents, of the manner of hunting which Damis gives a +description.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">75</span></a> Legends of the wonderful happenings at his birth were +in circulation, and are of the same nature as all such birth-legends +of great people.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">76</span></a> ἀρρήτῳ τινὶ σοφία ξυνέλαβε.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">77</span></a> Sci., than his tutor; namely, the “memory” within +him, or his “dæmon.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">78</span></a> This æther was presumably the mind-stuff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">79</span></a> That is to say presumably he was encouraged in his +efforts by those unseen helpers of the temple by whom the +cures were wrought by means of dreams, and help was +given psychically and mesmerically.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">80</span></a> “Where are you hurrying? Are you off to see the +youth?”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">81</span></a> Compare Odyssey, xx. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">82</span></a> I am inclined to think, however, that Apollonius +was still a youngish man when he set out on his Indian +travels, instead of being forty-six, as some suppose. But +the difficulties of most of the chronology are insurmountable.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">83</span></a> φήσας οὐκ ἀνθρώπων ἑαυτῷ δεῖν, ἀλλ’ ἀνδρῶν.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">84</span></a> ἰδιότροπα.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">85</span></a> τoὺς oὕτω φιλοσοφοῦντας.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">86</span></a> That is to say, presumably, spend the time in silent +meditation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">87</span></a> That is the Brāhmans and Buddhists. Sarman is the +Greek corruption of the Sanskrit Shramaṇa and Pâli +Samaṇo, the technical term for a Buddhist ascetic or monk. +The ignorance of the copyists changed Sarmanes first into +Germanes and then into Hyrcanians!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">88</span></a> This shows that Apollonius was still young, and not +between forty and fifty, as some have asserted. Tredwell +(p. 77) dates the Indian travels as 41-54 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">89</span></a> See especially iii. 15, 41; v. 5, 10; vii. 10, 13; viii. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">90</span></a> ἐκφατνίσματα.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">91</span></a> See especially vii. 13, 14, 15, 22, 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">92</span></a> The list is full of gaps, so that we cannot suppose that +Damis’ notes were anything like complete records of the +numerous itineraries; not only so, but one is tempted to +believe that whole journeys, in which Damis had no share, +are omitted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">93</span></a> Here at any rate they came in sight of the giant +mountains, the Imaus (Himavat) or Himālayan Range, +where was the great mountain Meros (Meru). The name of +the Hindu Olympus being changed into Meros in Greek +had, ever since Alexander’s expedition, given rise to the +myth that Bacchus was born from the thigh (<i>meros</i>) of +Zeus—presumably one of the facts which led Professor +Max Müller to stigmatise the whole of mythology as a +“disease of language.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">94</span></a> Referring to his instructors he says, “I ever remember +my masters and journey through the world teaching what +I have learned from them” (vi. 18).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">95</span></a> According to some, Apollonius would be now about +sixty-eight years of age. But if he were still young (say +thirty years old or so) when he left for India, he must +either have spent a very long period in that country, or we +have a very imperfect record of his doings in Asia Minor, +Greece, Italy, and Spain, after his return.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">96</span></a> For the most recent study in English on the subject +of Æsculapius see The Cult of Asclepios, by Alice Walton, +Ph.D., in No. III. of The Cornell Studies in Classical +Philology (Ithaca, N.Y.; 1894).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">97</span></a> He evidently wrote the notes of the Indian travels +long after the time at which they were made.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">98</span></a> This shows that Philostratus came across them in some +work or letter of Apollonius, and is therefore independent of +Damis’ account for this particular.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">99</span></a> I—arχas, arχa(t)s, arhat.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">100</span></a> Tantalus is fabled to have stolen the cup of nectar from +the gods; this was the amṛita, the ocean of immortality +and wisdom, of the Indians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">101</span></a> The words οὐδεν κεκτημένους ἢ τὰ πάντων, which +Philostratus quotes twice in this form, can certainly not be +changed into μηδὲν κεκτημένους τὰ πάντων ἔχειν without +doing unwarrantable violence to their meaning.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">102</span></a> See Tacitus, Historia, ii. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">103</span></a> Berwick, Life of Apollonius, p. 200 <i>n.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">104</span></a> He also built a precinct round the tomb of Leonidas at +Thermopylæ (iv. 23).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">105</span></a> A great centre of divination by means of dreams +(see ii. 37).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">106</span></a> The word γυμνός (naked), however, usually means +lightly clad, as, for instance, when a man is said to plough +“naked,” that is with only one garment, and this is evident +from the comparison made between the costume of the +Gymnosophists and that of people in the hot weather at +Athens (vi. 6).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">107</span></a> For they had neither huts nor houses, but lived in the +open air.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">108</span></a> He spent, we are told, no less than a year and eight +months with Vardan, King of Babylon, and was the +honoured guest of the Indian Rājāh “Phraotes.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">109</span></a> See i. 22 (cf. 40), 34; iv. 4, 6, 18 (cf. v. 19), 24, 43; +v. 7, 11, 13, 30, 37; vi. 32; viii. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">110</span></a> This expression is, however, perhaps only to be taken +as rhetorical, for in viii. 8, the incident is referred to in +the simple words “when he departed (ἀπῆλθε) from the +tribunal.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">111</span></a> That is to say not in a “form,” but in his own nature.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">112</span></a> See in this connection L. v. Schroeder, Pythagoras und +die Inder, eine Untersuchung über Herkunft und Abstammung +der pythagoreischen Lehren (Leipzig; 1884).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">113</span></a> This has reference to the preserved hunting parks, or +“paradises,” of the Babylonian monarchs.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">114</span></a> Reading φιλοσόφῳ for φιλοσοφῶν.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">115</span></a> Rathgeber (G.) in his Grossgriechenland und Pythagoras +(Gotha; 1866), a work of marvellous bibliographical +industry, refers to three supposed portraits of Apollonius +(p. 621). (i) In the Campidoglio Museum of the Vatican, +Indicazione delle Sculture (Roma; 1840), p. 68, nos. 75, 76, +77; (ii) in the Musée Royal Bourbon, described by Michel +B. (Naples; 1837), p. 79, no. 363; (iii) a contorniate +reproduced by Visconti. I cannot trace his first reference, +but in a Guide pour le Musée Royal Bourbon, traduit par +C. J. J. (Naples; 1831), I find on p. 152 that no. 363 is a +bust of Apollonius, 2¾ feet high, carefully executed, with a +Zeus-like head, having a beard and long hair descending +onto the shoulders, bound with a deep fillet. The bust +seems to be ancient. I have, however, not been able to +find a reproduction of it. Visconti (E. Q.) in the atlas of +his Iconographie Grecque (Paris; 1808), vol. i. plate 17, facing +p. 68, gives the reproduction of a contorniate, or medal with +a circular border, on one side of which is a head of Apollonius +and the Latin legend APOLLONIVS TEANEVS. This also +represents our philosopher with a beard and long hair; the +head is crowned, and the upper part of the body covered with +a tunic and the philosopher’s cloak. The medal, however, is +of very inferior workmanship, and the portrait is by no +means pleasing. Visconti in his letterpress devotes an angry +and contemptuous paragraph to Apollonius, “ce trop célèbre +imposteur,” as he calls him, based on De Tillemont.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">116</span></a> See Chassang, op. cit., p. 458, for a criticism on this +statement.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">117</span></a> This was before Vespasian became emperor.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">118</span></a> This was a staff, or baton, used as a cypher for writing +dispatches. “A strip of leather was rolled slantwise round +it, on which the dispatches were written lengthwise, so that +when unrolled they were unintelligible; commanders abroad +had a staff of like thickness, round which they rolled their +papers, and so were able to read the dispatches.” (Liddell +and Scott’s Lexicon sub voc.) Hence scytale came to mean +generally a Spartan dispatch, which was characteristically +laconic in its brevity.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">119</span></a> See i. 7, 15, 24, 32; iii. 51; iv. 5, 22, 26, 27, 46; v. 2, +10, 39, 40, 41; vi. 18, 27, 29, 31, 33; viii. 7, 20, 27, 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">120</span></a> I.e., Cynic.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">121</span></a> Chassang (op. cit., pp. 395 sqq.) gives a French translation +of them.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">122</span></a> Art. “Apollonius,” Smith’s Dict. of Class. Biog.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">123</span></a> That is to say, a philosopher of 600 years ago.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">124</span></a> That is to expiate blood-guiltiness with blood-sacrifice.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">125</span></a> Chaignet (A. É.), in his Pythagore et la Philosophie +pythagoricienne (Paris; 1873, 2nd ed. 1874), cites this as a +genuine example of Apollonius’ philosophy.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">126</span></a> That is his idea of death.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">127</span></a> The text of the last sentence is very obscure.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">128</span></a> The full title is given by Eudocia, Ionia; ed. Villoison +(Venet.; 1781), p. 57.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">129</span></a> See Zeller, Phil. d. Griech, v. 127.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">130</span></a> Præparat. Evangel., iv. 12-13; ed. Dindorf (Leipzig; +1867), i. 176, 177.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">131</span></a> A play on the meanings of λόγος, which signifies both +reason and word.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">132</span></a> Psyche, I. ii. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">133</span></a> Noack, ibid.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">134</span></a> See Noack, Porphr. Vit. Pythag., p. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">135</span></a> Ed. Amstelod., 1707, cc. 254-264.</p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h3><i>WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.</i></h3> +<hr /> +<h3><b>THE PISTIS SOPHIA: A Gnostic Gospel.</b></h3> + +<p class="indent">(With Extracts from the Books of the Saviour appended). +Originally translated from Greek into Coptic, and now +for the first time Englished from Schwartze’s Latin +Version of the only known Coptic MS., and checked by +Amélineau’s French Version. With an Introduction and +Bibliography. 394 pp., large octavo. Cloth, 7s. 6d. net.</p> + +<h4><i>SOME PRESS OPINIONS.</i></h4> + +<p class="small">“The Pistis Sophia has long been recognised as one of the +most important Gnostic documents we possess, and Mr Mead +deserves the gratitude of students of Church History and of the +History of Christian Thought, for his admirable translation and +edition of this curious Gospel.”—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“Mr Mead has done a service to other than Theosophists by +his translation of the Pistis Sophia. This curious work has not +till lately received the attention which it deserves.... +He has prefixed a short Introduction, which includes an excellent +bibliography. Thus, the English reader is now in a position to +judge for himself of the scientific value of the only Gnostic +treatise of any considerable length which has come down to us.”—<i>Guardian.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“From a scholar’s point of view the work is of value as +illustrating the philosophico-mystical tendencies of the second +century.”—<i>Record.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“Mr Mead deserves thanks for putting in an English dress +this curious document from the early ages of Christian philosophy.”—<i>Manchester +Guardian.</i></p> + +<hr /> +<h4>THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY,</h4> + +<h6><span class="smcap">London and Benares</span>.</h6> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span></p> + +<h3><b><span class="smcap">Fragments of a Faith Forgotten.</span></b></h3> + +<h5>Some short Sketches among the Gnostics, mainly of the First Two<br /> +Centuries—a Contribution to the Study of Christian Origins<br /> +based on the most Recently Discovered Materials.</h5> + +<p class="indent"><b>I. Introduction.</b>—Outlines of the Background of the Gnosis; Literature +and Sources of Gnosticism.</p> + +<p class="indent"><b>II. The Gnosis according to its Foes.</b>—Gnostic Fragments recovered +from the Polemical Writings of the Church Fathers; the Gnosis in the +Uncanonical Acts.</p> + +<p class="indent"><b>III. The Gnosis according to its Friends.</b>—Greek Original Works in +Coptic Translation; the Askew, Bruce, and Akhmim Codices.</p> + +<p class="indent">Classified Bibliographies are appended. 630, xxviii. pp., Large Octavo, +Cloth. 10s. 6d. net.</p> + +<h4>SOME PRESS NOTICES.</h4> + +<p class="small">“Mr Mead has done his work in a scholarly and painstaking fashion.”—<i>The Guardian.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“The ordinary student of Christian evidences, if he confines his reading to the ‘Fathers,’ +learns nothing of these opinions [the so-called Gnostic ‘heresies’] except by way of refutation +and angry condemnation. In Mr Mead’s pages, however, they are treated with +impartiality and candour.... These remarks will suffice to show the unique character +of this volume, and to indicate that students may find here matter of great service to the +rational interpretation of Christian thought.”—<i>Bradford Observer.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“The book, Mr Mead explains, is not intended primarily for the student, but for the +general reader, and it certainly should not be neglected by anyone who is interested in +the history of early Christian thought.”—<i>The Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“The work is one of great labour and learning, and deserves study as a sympathetic +estimate of a rather severely-judged class of heretics.”—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“Written in a clear and elegant style.... The bibliographies in the volume are of +world-wide range, and will be most valuable to students of theosophy.”—<i>Asiatic Quarterly.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“Mr Mead writes with a precision and clearness on subjects usually associated with +bewildering technicalities and mystifications. Even the long-suffering ‘general reader’ +could go through this large volume with pleasure. That is a great deal to say of a book +on such a subject.”—<i>Light.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“This striking work will certainly be read not only with the greatest interest in the +select circle of the cultured, but by that much larger circle of those longing to learn all +about Truth.... May be summed up as an extraordinary clear exposition of the +Gnosis of Saints and the Sages of philosophic Christianity.”—<i>The Roman Herald.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“Comprehensive, interesting, and scholarly.... The chapters entitled ‘Some +Rough Outlines of the Background of the Gnosis’ are well written, and they tend to +focus the philosophic and religious movement of the ancient world. There is a very +excellent bibliography.”—<i>The Spectator.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“Mr Mead does us another piece of service by including a complete copy of the +Gnostic <i>Hymn of the Robe of Glory</i> ... and a handy epitome of the <i>Pistis Sophia</i> is +another item for which the student will be grateful.”—<i>The Literary Guide.</i></p> + +<p class="small">“The author has naturally the interest of a theosophist in Gnosticism, and approaches +the subject accordingly from a point of view different from our own. But while his point +of view emerges in the course of the volume, this does not affect the value of his work +for those who do not share his special standpoint.... Mr Mead has at any rate rendered +us an excellent service, and we shall look forward with pleasure to his future studies.”—<i>The +Primitive Methodist Quarterly.</i></p> + +<p class="small">This is the First Attempt that has been made to bring together All the +Existing Sources of Information on the Earliest Christian Philosophers.</p> + +<h4> +THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY,</h4> + +<h6><span class="smcap">London and Benares.</span></h6> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span></p> + +<h3><b>SIMON MAGUS: An Essay.</b></h3> + +<p class="indent">The most complete work on the subject. Quarto. Price: +5s. net. Wrappers.</p> + +<h3><b>THE WORLD MYSTERY: Four Essays.</b></h3> + +<p class="indent">Contents: The World-Soul; The Vestures of the Soul; The +Web of Destiny; True Self-reliance. Octavo. Price: +cloth, 3s. 6d. net.</p> + +<h3><b>THE THEOSOPHY OF THE GREEKS. +PLOTINUS.</b></h3> + +<p class="indent">With an exhaustive Bibliography. Octavo. Price: cloth, +1s. net.</p> + +<h3><b>ORPHEUS.</b></h3> + +<p class="indent">With three Charts and Bibliography. Will serve as an +Introduction to Hellenic Theology. Octavo. Price: +cloth, 4s. 6d. net.</p> + +<h3><b>THE THEOSOPHY OF THE VEDAS.</b></h3> + +<h3><b>THE UPANIṢHADS: 2 Volumes.</b></h3> + +<h6>Half Octavo. Paper, 6d.; cloth, 1s. 6d. each net.</h6> + +<h6><span class="smcap">Volume I.</span></h6> + +<p class="indent">Contains a Translation of the Ĭsha, Kena, Kaṭha, Prashna, +Muṇḍaka, and Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣhads, with a General +Preamble, Arguments, and Notes by G. R. S. Mead and +J. C. Chaṭṭopādhyāya (Roy Choudhuri).</p> + +<h6><span class="smcap">Volume II.</span></h6> + +<p class="indent">Contains a Translation of the Taittirîya, Aitareya, and +Shvetāshvatara Upaniṣhads, with Arguments and Notes.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Apollonius of Tyana, the +Philosopher-Reformer of , by George Robert Stowe Mead + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APOLLONIUS OF TYANA *** + +***** This file should be named 35460-h.htm or 35460-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/4/6/35460/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Turgut Dincer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Apollonius of Tyana, the Philosopher-Reformer of the First Century A.D. + +Author: George Robert Stowe Mead + +Release Date: March 2, 2011 [EBook #35460] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APOLLONIUS OF TYANA *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Turgut Dincer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + + + APOLLONIUS OF TYANA + + THE PHILOSOPHER-REFORMER + OF THE FIRST CENTURY A.D. + + A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE ONLY EXISTING + RECORD OF HIS LIFE WITH SOME ACCOUNT + OF THE WAR OF OPINION CONCERNING HIM + AND AN INTRODUCTION ON THE RELIGIOUS + ASSOCIATIONS AND BROTHERHOODS OF THE + TIMES AND THE POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF + INDIAN THOUGHT ON GREECE--BY G. R. S. + MEAD, B.A., M.R.A.S. + + + LONDON AND BENARES + THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY + 1901 + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + + SECTION PAGE + + I. INTRODUCTORY 1 + + II. THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND COMMUNITIES + OF THE FIRST CENTURY 9 + + III. INDIA AND GREECE 17 + + IV. THE APOLLONIUS OF EARLY OPINION 28 + + V. TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, AND LITERATURE 42 + + VI. THE BIOGRAPHER OF APOLLONIUS 53 + + VII. EARLY LIFE 65 + + VIII. THE TRAVELS OF APOLLONIUS 73 + + IX. IN THE SHRINES OF THE TEMPLES AND THE + RETREATS OF RELIGION 82 + + X. THE GYMNOSOPHISTS OF UPPER EGYPT 99 + + XI. APOLLONIUS AND THE RULERS OF THE EMPIRE 106 + + XII. APOLLONIUS THE PROPHET AND WONDER-WORKER 110 + + XIII. HIS MODE OF LIFE 119 + + XIV. HIMSELF AND HIS CIRCLE 126 + + XV. FROM HIS SAYINGS AND SERMONS 132 + + XVI. FROM HIS LETTERS 145 + + XVII. THE WRITINGS OF APOLLONIUS 153 + + XVIII. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 156 + + + + +APOLLONIUS OF TYANA. + + +SECTION I. + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +To the student of the origins of Christianity there is naturally no +period of Western history of greater interest and importance than the +first century of our era; and yet how little comparatively is known +about it of a really definite and reliable nature. If it be a subject of +lasting regret that no non-Christian writer of the first century had +sufficient intuition of the future to record even a line of information +concerning the birth and growth of what was to be the religion of the +Western world, equally disappointing is it to find so little definite +information of the general social and religious conditions of the time. +The rulers and the wars of the Empire seem to have formed the chief +interest of the historiographers of the succeeding century, and even in +this department of political history, though the public acts of the +Emperors may be fairly well known, for we can check them by records and +inscriptions, when we come to their private acts and motives we find +ourselves no longer on the ground of history, but for the most part in +the atmosphere of prejudice, scandal, and speculation. The political +acts of Emperors and their officers, however, can at best throw but a +dim side-light on the general social conditions of the time, while they +shed no light at all on the religious conditions, except so far as these +in any particular contacted the domain of politics. As well might we +seek to reconstruct a picture of the religious life of the time from +Imperial acts and rescripts, as endeavour to glean any idea of the +intimate religion of this country from a perusal of statute books or +reports of Parliamentary debates. + +The Roman histories so-called, to which we have so far been accustomed, +cannot help us in the reconstruction of a picture of the environment +into which, on the one hand, Paul led the new faith in Asia Minor, +Greece, and Rome; and in which, on the other, it already found itself in +the districts bordering on the south-east of the Mediterranean. It is +only by piecing together laboriously isolated scraps of information and +fragments of inscriptions, that we become aware of the existence of the +life of a world of religious associations and private cults which +existed at this period. Not that even so we have any very direct +information of what went on in these associations, guilds, and +brotherhoods; but we have sufficient evidence to make us keenly regret +the absence of further knowledge. + +Difficult as this field is to till, it is exceedingly fertile in +interest, and it is to be regretted that comparatively so little work +has as yet been done in it; and that, as is so frequently the case, the +work which has been done is, for the most part, not accessible to the +English reader. What work has been done on this special subject may be +seen from the bibliographical note appended to this essay, in which is +given a list of books and articles treating of the religious +associations among the Greeks and Romans. But if we seek to obtain a +general view of the condition of religious affairs in the first century +we find ourselves without a reliable guide; for of works dealing with +this particular subject there are few, and from them we learn little +that does not immediately concern, or is thought to concern, +Christianity; whereas, it is just the state of the non-Christian +religious world about which, in the present case, we desire to be +informed. + +If, for instance, the reader turn to works of general history, such as +Merivale's History of the Romans under the Empire (London; last ed. +1865), he will find, it is true, in chap. iv., a description of the +state of religion up to the death of Nero, but he will be little wiser +for perusing it. If he turn to Hermann Schiller's Geschichte der +roemischen Kaiserreichs unter der Regierung des Nero (Berlin; 1872), he +will find much reason for discarding the vulgar opinions about the +monstrous crimes imputed to Nero, as indeed he might do by reading in +English G. H. Lewes' article "Was Nero a Monster?" (Cornhill Magazine; +July, 1863)--and he will also find (bk. IV. chap. iii.) a general view +of the religion and philosophy of the time which is far more intelligent +than that of Merivale's; but all is still very vague and unsatisfactory, +and we feel ourselves still outside the intimate life of the +philosophers and religionists of the first century. + +If, again, he turn to the latest writers of Church history who have +treated this particular question, he will find that they are occupied +entirely with the contact of the Christian Church with the Roman Empire, +and only incidentally give us any information of the nature of which we +are in search. On this special ground C. J. Neumann, in his careful +study Der roemische Staat und die allgemeine Kirche bis auf Diocletian +(Leipzig; 1890), is interesting; while Prof. W. M. Ramsay, in The Church +in the Roman Empire before A.D. 170 (London; 1893), is extraordinary, +for he endeavours to interpret Roman history by the New Testament +documents, the dates of the majority of which are so hotly disputed. + +But, you may say, what has all this to do with Apollonius of Tyana? The +answer is simple: Apollonius lived in the first century; his work lay +precisely among these religious associations, colleges, and guilds. A +knowledge of them and their nature would give us the natural environment +of a great part of his life; and information as to their condition in +the first century would perhaps help us the better to understand some of +the reasons for the task which he attempted. + +If, however, it were only the life and endeavours of Apollonius which +would be illuminated by this knowledge, we could understand why so +little effort has been spent in this direction; for the character of the +Tyanean, as we shall see, has since the fourth century been regarded +with little favour even by the few, while the many have been taught to +look upon our philosopher not only as a charlatan, but even as an +anti-Christ. But when it is just a knowledge of these religious +associations and orders which would throw a flood of light on the +earliest evolution of Christianity, not only with regard to the Pauline +communities, but also with regard to those schools which were +subsequently condemned as heretical, it is astonishing that we have had +no more satisfactory work done on the subject. + +It may be said, however, that this information is not forthcoming simply +because it is unprocurable. To a large extent this is true; +nevertheless, a great deal more could be done than has as yet been +attempted, and the results of research in special directions and in the +byways of history could be combined, so that the non-specialist could +obtain some general idea of the religious conditions of the times, and +so be less inclined to join in the now stereotyped condemnation of all +non-Jewish or non-Christian moral and religious effort in the Roman +Empire of the first century. + +But the reader may retort: Things social and religious in those days +must have been in a very parlous state, for, as this essay shows, +Apollonius himself spent the major part of his life in trying to reform +the institutions and cults of the Empire. To this we answer: No doubt +there was much to reform, and when is there not? But it would not only +be not generous, but distinctly mischievous for us to judge our fellows +of those days solely by the lofty standard of an ideal morality, or even +to scale them against the weight of our own supposed virtues and +knowledge. Our point is not that there was nothing to reform, far from +that, but that the wholesale accusations of depravity brought against +the times will not bear impartial investigation. On the contrary, there +was much good material ready to be worked up in many ways, and if there +had not been, how could there among other things have been any +Christianity? + +The Roman Empire was at the zenith of its power, and had there not been +many admirable administrators and men of worth in the governing caste, +such a political consummation could never have been reached and +maintained. Moreover, as ever previously in the ancient world, religious +liberty was guaranteed, and where we find persecution, as in the reigns +of Nero and Domitian, it must be set down to political and not to +theological reasons. Setting aside the disputed question of the +persecution of the Christians under Domitian, the Neronian persecution +was directed against those whom the Imperial power regarded as Jewish +political revolutionaries. So, too, when we find the philosophers +imprisoned or banished from Rome during these two reigns, it was not +because they were philosophers, but because the ideal of some of them +was the restoration of the Republic, and this rendered them obnoxious to +the charge not only of being political malcontents, but also of actively +plotting against the Emperor's _majestas_. Apollonius, however, was +throughout a warm supporter of monarchical rule. When, then, we hear of +the philosophers being banished from Rome or being cast into prison, we +must remember that this was not a wholesale persecution of philosophy +throughout the Empire; and when we say that some of them desired to +restore the Republic, we should remember that the vast majority of them +refrained from politics, and especially was this the case with the +disciples of the religio-philosophical schools. + + + + +SECTION II. + +THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND COMMUNITIES OF THE FIRST CENTURY. + + +In the domain of religion it is quite true that the state cults and +national institutions throughout the Empire were almost without +exception in a parlous state, and it is to be noticed that Apollonius +devoted much time and labour to reviving and purifying them. Indeed, +their strength had long left the general state-institutions of religion, +where all was now perfunctory; but so far from there being no religious +life in the land, in proportion as the official cultus and ancestral +institutions afforded no real satisfaction to their religious needs, the +more earnestly did the people devote themselves to private cults, and +eagerly baptised themselves in all that flood of religious enthusiasm +which flowed in with ever increasing volume from the East. Indubitably +in all this fermentation there were many excesses, according to our +present notions of religious decorum, and also grievous abuses; but at +the same time in it many found due satisfaction for their religious +emotions, and, if we except those cults which were distinctly vicious, +we have to a large extent before us in popular circles the spectacle of +what, in their last analysis, are similar phenomena to those enthusiasms +which in our own day may be frequently witnessed among such sects as the +Shakers or Ranters, and at the general revival meetings of the +uninstructed. + +It is not, however, to be thought that the private cults and the doings +of the religious associations were all of this nature or confined to +this class; far from it. There were religious brotherhoods, communities, +and clubs--_thiasi_, _erani_, and _orge[=o]nes_--of all sorts and +conditions. There were also mutual benefit societies, burial clubs, and +dining companies, the prototypes of our present-day Masonic bodies, +Oddfellows, and the rest. These religious associations were not only +private in the sense that they were not maintained by the State, but +also for the most part they were private in the sense that what they did +was kept secret, and this is perhaps the main reason why we have so +defective a record of them. + +Among them are to be numbered not only the lower forms of mystery-cultus +of various kinds, but also the greater ones, such as the Phrygian, +Bacchic, Isiac, and Mithriac Mysteries, which were spread everywhere +throughout the Empire. The famous Eleusinia were, however, still under +the aegis of the State, but though so famous were, as a state-cultus, far +more perfunctory. + +It is, moreover, not to be thought that the great types of +mystery-cultus above mentioned were uniform even among themselves. There +were not only various degrees and grades within them, but also in all +probability many forms of each line of tradition, good, bad, and +indifferent. For instance, we know that it was considered _de rigueur_ +for every respectable citizen of Athens to be initiated into the +Eleusinia, and therefore the tests could not have been very stringent; +whereas in the most recent work on the subject, De Apuleio Isiacorum +Mysteriorum Teste (Leyden; 1900), Dr. K. H. E. De Jong shows that in one +form of the Isiac Mysteries the candidate was invited to initiation by +means of dream; that is to say, he had to be psychically impressionable +before his acceptance. + +Here, then, we have a vast intermediate ground for religious exercise +between the most popular and undisciplined forms of private cults and +the highest forms, which could only be approached through the discipline +and training of the philosophic life. The higher side of these +mystery-institutions aroused the enthusiasm of all that was best in +antiquity, and unstinted praise was given to one or another form of them +by the greatest thinkers and writers of Greece and Rome; so that we +cannot but think that here the instructed found that satisfaction for +their religious needs which was necessary not only for those who could +not rise into the keen air of pure reason, but also for those who had +climbed so high upon the heights of reason that they could catch a +glimpse of the other side. The official cults were notoriously unable to +give them this satisfaction, and were only tolerated by the instructed +as an aid for the people and a means of preserving the traditional life +of the city or state. + +By common consent the most virtuous livers of Greece were the members of +the Pythagorean schools, both men and women. After the death of their +founder the Pythagoreans seem to have gradually blended with the Orphic +communities, and the "Orphic life" was the recognised term for a life of +purity and self-denial. We also know that the Orphics, and therefore the +Pythagoreans, were actively engaged in the reformation, or even the +entire reforming, of the Baccho-Eleusinian rites; they seem to have +brought back the pure side of the Bacchic cult with their reinstitution +or reimportation of the Iacchic mysteries, and it is very evident that +such stern livers and deep thinkers could not have been contented with a +low form of cult. Their influence also spread far and wide in general +Bacchic circles, so that we find Euripides putting the following words +into the mouth of a chorus of Bacchic initiates: "Clad in white robes I +speed me from the genesis of mortal men, and never more approach the +vase of death, for I have done with eating food that ever housed a +soul."[1] Such words could well be put into the mouth of a Br[=a]hman or +Buddhist ascetic, eager to escape from the bonds of Sa[.m]s[=a]ra and +such men cannot therefore justly be classed together indiscriminately +with ribald revellers--the general mind-picture of a Bacchic company. + +But, some one may say, Euripides and the Pythagoreans and Orphics are no +evidence for the first century; whatever good there may have been in +such schools and communities, it had ceased long before. On the +contrary, the evidence is all against this objection. Philo, writing +about 25 A.D., tells us that in his day numerous groups of men, who in +all respects led this life of religion, who abandoned their property, +retired from the world and devoted themselves entirely to the search for +wisdom and the cultivation of virtue, were scattered far and wide +throughout the world. In his treatise, On the Contemplative Life, he +writes: "This natural class of men is to be found in many parts of the +inhabited world, both the Grecian and non-Grecian world, sharing in the +perfect good. In Egypt there are crowds of them in every province, or +nome as they call it, and especially round Alexandria." This is a most +important statement, for if there were so many devoted to the religious +life at this time, it follows that the age was not one of unmixed +depravity. + +It is not, however, to be thought that these communities were all of an +exactly similar nature, or of one and the same origin, least of all that +they were all Therapeut or Essene. We have only to remember the various +lines of descent of the doctrines held by the innumerable schools +classed together as Gnostic, as sketched in my recent work, Fragments of +a Faith Forgotten, and to turn to the beautiful treatises of the +Hermetic schools, to persuade us that in the first century the striving +after the religious and philosophic life was wide-spread and various. + +We are not, however, among those who believe that the origin of the +Therapeut communities of Philo and of the Essenes of Philo and Josephus +is to be traced to Orphic and Pythagorean influence. The question of +precise origin is as yet beyond the power of historical research, and +we are not of those who would exaggerate one element of the mass into a +universal source. But when we remember the existence of all these so +widely scattered communities in the first century, when we study the +imperfect but important record of the very numerous schools and +brotherhoods of a like nature which came into intimate contact with +Christianity in its origins, we cannot but feel that there was the +leaven of a strong religious life working in many parts of the Empire. + +Our great difficulty is that these communities, brotherhoods, and +associations kept themselves apart, and with rare exceptions left no +records of their intimate practices and beliefs, or if they left any it +has been destroyed or lost. For the most part then we have to rely upon +general indications of a very superficial character. But this imperfect +record is no justification for us to deny or ignore their existence and +the intensity of their endeavours; and a history which purports to paint +a picture of the times is utterly insufficient so long as it omits this +most vital subject from its canvas. + +Among such surroundings as these Apollonius moved; but how little does +his biographer seem to have been aware of the fact! Philostratus has a +rhetorician's appreciation of a philosophical court life, but no +feeling for the life of religion. It is only indirectly that the Life of +Apollonius, as it is now depicted, can throw any light on these most +interesting communities, but even an occasional side-light is precious +where all is in such obscurity. Were it but possible to enter into the +living memory of Apollonius, and see with his eyes the things he saw +when he lived nineteen hundred years ago, what an enormously interesting +page of the world's history could be recovered! He not only traversed +all the countries where the new faith was taking root, but he lived for +years in most of them, and was intimately acquainted with numbers of +mystic communities in Egypt, Arabia, and Syria. Surely he must have +visited some of the earliest Christian communities as well, must even +have conversed with some of the "disciples of the Lord"! And yet no word +is breathed of this, not one single scrap of information on these points +do we glean from what is recorded of him. Surely he must have met with +Paul, if not elsewhere, then at Rome, in 66, when he had to leave +because of the edict of banishment against the philosophers, the very +year according to some when Paul was beheaded! + + + + +SECTION III. + +INDIA AND GREECE. + + +There is, however, another reason why Apollonius is of importance to us. +He was an enthusiastic admirer of the wisdom of India. Here again a +subject of wide interest opens up. What influences, if any, had +Br[=a]hmanism and Buddhism on Western thought in these early years? It +is strongly asserted by some that they had great influence; it is as +strongly denied by others that they had any influence at all. It is, +therefore, apparent that there is no really indisputable evidence on the +subject. + +Just as some would ascribe the constitution of the Essene and Therapeut +communities to Pythagorean influence, so others would ascribe their +origin to Buddhist propaganda; and not only would they trace this +influence in the Essene tenets and practices, but they would even refer +the general teaching of the Christ to a Buddhist source in a Jewish +monotheistic setting. Not only so, but some would have it that two +centuries before the direct general contact of Greece with India, +brought about by the conquests of Alexander, India through Pythagoras +strongly and lastingly influenced all subsequent Greek thought. + +The question can certainly not be settled by hasty affirmation or +denial; it requires not only a wide knowledge of general history and a +minute study of scattered and imperfect indications of thought and +practice, but also a fine appreciation of the correct value of indirect +evidence, for of direct testimony there is none of a really decisive +nature. To such high qualifications we can make no pretension, and our +highest ambition is simply to give a few very general indications of the +nature of the subject. + +It is plainly asserted by the ancient Greeks that Pythagoras went to +India, but as the statement is made by Neo-Pythagorean and Neo-Platonic +writers subsequent to the time of Apollonius, it is objected that the +travels of the Tyanean suggested not only this item in the biography of +the great Samian but several others, or even that Apollonius himself in +his Life of Pythagoras was father of the rumour. The close resemblance, +however, between many of the features of Pythagorean discipline and +doctrine and Indo-Aryan thought and practice, make us hesitate entirely +to reject the possibility of Pythagoras having visited ancient +[=A]ry[=a]varta. + +And even if we cannot go so far as to entertain the possibility of +direct personal contact, there has to be taken into consideration the +fact that Pherecydes, the master of Pythagoras, may have been acquainted +with some of the main ideas of Vaidic lore. Pherecydes taught at +Ephesus, but was himself most probably a Persian, and it is quite +credible that a learned Asiatic, teaching a mystic philosophy and basing +his doctrine upon the idea of rebirth, may have had some indirect, if +not direct, knowledge of Indo-Aryan thought. + +Persia must have been even at this time in close contact with India, for +about the date of the death of Pythagoras, in the reign of Dareius, son +of Hystaspes, at the end of the sixth and beginning of the fifth century +before our era, we hear of the expedition of the Persian general Scylax +down the Indus, and learn from Herodotus that in this reign India (that +is the Punj[=a]b) formed the twentieth satrapy of the Persian monarchy. +Moreover, Indian troops were among the hosts of Xerxes; they invaded +Thessaly and fought at Plataea. + +From the time of Alexander onwards there was direct and constant contact +between [=A]ry[=a]varta and the kingdoms of the successors of the +world-conqueror, and many Greeks wrote about this land of mystery; but +in all that has come down to us we look in vain for anything but the +vaguest indications of what the "philosophers" of India systematically +thought. + +That the Br[=a]hmans would at this time have permitted their sacred +books to be read by the Yavanas (Ionians, the general name for Greeks in +Indian records) is contrary to all we know of their history. The Yavanas +were Mlechchhas, outside the pale of the [=A]ryas, and all they could +glean of the jealously guarded Brahm[=a]-vidy[=a] or theosophy must have +depended solely upon outside observation. But the dominant religious +activity at this time in India was Buddhist, and it is to this protest +against the rigid distinctions of caste and race made by Br[=a]hmanical +pride, and to the startling novelty of an enthusiastic religious +propaganda among all classes and races in India, and outside India to +all nations, that we must look for the most direct contact of thought +between India and Greece. + +For instance, in the middle of the third century B.C., we know from +Asoka's thirteenth edict, that this Buddhist Emperor of India, the +Constantine of the East, sent missionaries to Antiochus II. of Syria, +Ptolemy II. of Egypt, Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, Magas of Cyrene, +and Alexander II. of Epirus. When, in a land of such imperfect records, +the evidence on the side of India is so clear and indubitable, all the +more extraordinary is it that we have no direct testimony on our side of +so great a missionary activity. Although, then, merely because of the +absence of all direct information from Greek sources, it is very unsafe +to generalize, nevertheless from our general knowledge of the times it +is not illegitimate to conclude that no great public stir could have +been made by these pioneers of the Dharma in the West. In every +probability these Buddhist Bhik[s.]hus produced no effect on the rulers +or on the people. But was their mission entirely abortive; and did +Buddhist missionary enterprise westwards cease with them? + +The answer to this question, as it seems to us, is hidden in the +obscurity of the religious communities. We cannot, however, go so far as +to agree with those who would cut the gordian knot by asserting +dogmatically that the ascetic communities in Syria and Egypt were +founded by these Buddhist propagandists. Already even in Greece itself +were not only Pythagorean but even prior to them Orphic communities, for +even on this ground we believe that Pythagoras rather developed what he +found already existing, than that he established something entirely new. +And if they were found in Greece, much more then is it reasonable to +suppose that such communities already existed in Syria, Arabia, and +Egypt, whose populations were given far more to religious exercises than +the sceptical and laughter-loving Greeks. + +It is, however, credible that in such communities, if anywhere, Buddhist +propaganda would find an appreciative and attentive audience; but even +so it is remarkable that they have left no distinctly direct trace of +their influence. Nevertheless, both by the sea way and by the great +caravan route there was an ever open line of communication between India +and the Empire of the successors of Alexander; and it is even +permissible to speculate, that if we could recover a catalogue of the +great Alexandrian library, for instance, we should perchance find that +in it Indian MSS. were to be found among the other rolls and parchments +of the scriptures of the nations. + +Indeed, there are phrases in the oldest treatises of the Trismegistic +Hermetic literature which can be so closely paralleled with phrases in +the Upani[s.]hads and in the Bhagavad G[=i]t[=a], that one is almost +tempted to believe that the writers had some acquaintance with the +general contents of these Br[=a]hmanical scriptures. The Trismegistic +literature had its genesis in Egypt, and its earliest deposit must be +dated at least in the first century A.D., if it cannot even be pushed +back earlier. Even more striking is the similarity between the lofty +mystic metaphysic of the Gnostic doctor Basilides, who lived at the end +of the first and beginning of the second century A.D., and Ved[=a]ntic +ideas. Moreover, both the Hermetic and the Basilidean schools and their +immediate predecessors were devoted to a stern self-discipline and deep +philosophical study which would make them welcome eagerly any +philosopher or mystic student who might come from the far East. + +But even so, we are not of those who by their own self-imposed +limitations of possibility are condemned to find some direct physical +contact to account for a similarity of ideas or even of phrasing. +Granting, for instance, that there is much resemblance between the +teachings of the Dharma of the Buddha and of the Gospel of the Christ, +and that the same spirit of love and gentleness pervades them both, +still there is no necessity to look for the reason of this resemblance +to purely physical transmission. And so for other schools and other +teachers; like conditions will produce similar phenomena; like effort +and like aspiration will produce similar ideas, similar experience, and +similar response. And this we believe to be the case in no general way, +but that it is all very definitely ordered from within by the servants +of the real guardians of things religious in this world. + +We are, then, not compelled to lay so much stress on the question of +physical transmission, or to be seeking even to find proof of copying. +The human mind in its various degrees is much the same in all climes and +ages, and its inner experience has a common ground into which seed may +be sown, as it is tilled and cleared of weeds. The good seed comes all +from the same granary, and those who sow it pay no attention to the +man-made outer distinctions of race and creed. + +However difficult, therefore, it may be to prove, from unquestionably +historical statements, any direct influence of Indian thought on the +conceptions and practices of some of these religious communities and +philosophic schools of the Graeco-Roman Empire, and although in any +particular case similarity of ideas need not necessarily be assigned to +direct physical transmission, nevertheless the highest probability, if +not the greatest assurance, remains that even prior to the days of +Apollonius there was some private knowledge in Greece of the general +ideas of the Ved[=a]nta and Dharma; while in the case of Apollonius +himself, even if we discount nine-tenths of what is related of him, his +one idea seems to have been to spread abroad among the religious +brotherhoods and institutions of the Empire some portion of the wisdom +which he brought back with him from India. + +When, then, we find at the end of the first and during the first half +of the second century, among such mystic associations as the Hermetic +and Gnostic schools, ideas which strongly remind us of the theosophy of +the Upani[s.]hads or the reasoned ethics of the Suttas, we have always +to take into consideration not only the high probability of Apollonius +having visited such schools, but also the possibility of his having +discoursed at length therein on the Indian wisdom. Not only so, but the +memory of his influence may have lingered for long in such circles, for +do we not find Plotinus, the coryphaeus of Neo-Platonism, as it is +called, so enamoured with what he had heard of the wisdom of India at +Alexandria, that in 242 he started off with the ill-starred expedition +of Gordian to the East in the hope of reaching that land of philosophy? +With the failure of the expedition and assassination of the Emperor, +however, he had to return, for ever disappointed of his hope. + +It is not, however, to be thought that Apollonius set out to make a +propaganda of Indian philosophy in the same way that the ordinary +missionary sets forth to preach his conception of the Gospel. By no +means; Apollonius seems to have endeavoured to help his hearers, whoever +they might be, in the way best suited to each of them. He did not begin +by telling them that what they believed was utterly false and +soul-destroying, and that their eternal welfare depended upon their +instantly adopting his own special scheme of salvation; he simply +endeavoured to purge and further explain what they already believed and +practised. That some strong power supported him in his ceaseless +activity, and in his almost world-wide task, is not so difficult of +belief; and it is a question of deep interest for those who strive to +peer through the mists of appearance, to speculate how that not only a +Paul but also an Apollonius was aided and directed in his task from +within. + +The day, however, has not yet dawned when it will be possible for the +general mind in the West to approach the question with such freedom from +prejudice, as to bear the thought that, seen from within, not only Paul +but also Apollonius may well have been a "disciple of the Lord" in the +true sense of the words; and that too although on the surface of things +their tasks seem in many ways so dissimilar, and even, to theological +preconceptions, entirely antagonistic. + +Fortunately, however, even to-day there is an ever-growing number of +thinking people who will not only not be shocked by such a belief, but +who will receive it with joy as the herald of the dawning of a true sun +of righteousness, which will do more to illumine the manifold ways of +the religion of our common humanity than all the self-righteousness of +any particular body of exclusive religionists. + +It is, then, in this atmosphere of charity and tolerance that we would +ask the reader to approach the consideration of Apollonius and his +doings, and not only the life and deeds of an Apollonius, but also of +all those who have striven to help their fellows the world over. + + + + +SECTION IV. + +THE APOLLONIUS OF EARLY OPINION. + + +Apollonius of Tyana[2] was the most famous philosopher of the +Graeco-Roman world of the first century, and devoted the major part of +his long life to the purification of the many cults of the Empire and to +the instruction of the ministers and priests of its religions. With the +exception of the Christ no more interesting personage appears upon the +stage of Western history in these early years. Many and various and +ofttimes mutually contradictory are the opinions which have been held +about Apollonius, for the account of his life which has come down to us +is in the guise of a romantic story rather than in the form of a plain +history. And this is perhaps to some extent to be expected, for +Apollonius, besides his public teaching, had a life apart, a life into +which even his favourite disciple does not enter. He journeys into the +most distant lands, and is lost to the world for years; he enters the +shrines of the most sacred temples and the inner circles of the most +exclusive communities, and what he says or does therein remains a +mystery, or serves only as an opportunity for the weaving of some +fantastic story by those who did not understand. + +The following study will be simply an attempt to put before the reader a +brief sketch of the problem which the records and traditions of the life +of the famous Tyanean present; but before we deal with the Life of +Apollonius, written by Flavius Philostratus at the beginning of the +third century, we must give the reader a brief account of the references +to Apollonius among the classical writers and the Church Fathers, and a +short sketch of the literature of the subject in more recent times, and +of the varying fortunes of the war of opinion concerning his life in the +last four centuries. + +First, then, with regard to the references in classical and patristic +authors. Lucian, the witty writer of the first half of the second +century, makes the subject of one of his satires the pupil of a disciple +of Apollonius, of one of those who were acquainted with "all the +tragedy"[3] of his life. And Appuleius, a contemporary of Lucian, +classes Apollonius with Moses and Zoroaster, and other famous Magi of +antiquity.[4] + +About the same period, in a work entitled Quaestiones et Responsiones ad +Orthodoxos, formerly attributed to Justin Martyr, who flourished in the +second quarter of the second century, we find the following interesting +statement: + +"Question 24: If God is the maker and master of creation, how do the +consecrated objects[5] of Apollonius have power in the [various] orders +of that creation? For, _as we see_, they check the fury of the waves and +the power of the winds and the inroads of vermin and attacks of wild +beasts."[6] + +Dion Cassius in his history,[7] which he wrote A.D. 211-222, states that +Caracalla (Emp. 211-216) honoured the memory of Apollonius with a chapel +or monument (_heroum_). + +It was just at this time (216) that Philostratus composed his Life of +Apollonius, at the request of Domna Julia, Caracalla's mother, and it is +with this document principally that we shall have to deal in the sequel. + +Lampridius, who flourished about the middle of the third century, +further informs us that Alexander Severus (Emp. 222-235) placed the +statue of Apollonius in his _lararium_ together with those of Christ, +Abraham, and Orpheus.[8] + +Vopiscus, writing in the last decade of the third century, tells us that +Aurelian (Emp. 270-275) vowed a temple to Apollonius, of whom he had +seen a vision when besieging Tyana. Vopiscus speaks of the Tyanean as "a +sage of the most wide-spread renown and authority, an ancient +philosopher, and a true friend of the Gods," nay, as a manifestation of +deity. "For what among men," exclaims the historian, "was more holy, +what more worthy of reverence, what more venerable, what more god-like +than he? He, it was, who gave life to the dead. He, it was, who did and +said so many things beyond the power of men."[9] So enthusiastic is +Vopiscus about Apollonius, that he promises, if he lives, to write a +short account of his life in Latin, so that his deeds and words may be +on the tongue of all, for as yet the only accounts are in Greek.[10] +Vopiscus, however, did not fulfil his promise, but we learn that about +this date both Soterichus[11] and Nichomachus wrote Lives of our +philosopher, and shortly afterwards Tascius Victorianus, working on the +papers of Nichomachus,[12] also composed a Life. None of these Lives, +however, have reached us. + +It was just at this period also, namely, in the last years of the third +century and the first years of the fourth, that Porphyry and Iamblichus +composed their treatises on Pythagoras and his school; both mention +Apollonius as one of their authorities, and it is probable that the +first 30 sections of Iamblichus are taken from Apollonius.[13] + +We now come to an incident which hurled the character of Apollonius into +the arena of Christian polemics, where it has been tossed about until +the present day. Hierocles, successively governor of Palmyra, Bithynia, +and Alexandria, and a philosopher, about the year 305 wrote a criticism +on the claims of the Christians, in two books, called A Truthful +Address to the Christians, or more shortly The Truth-lover. He seems to +have based himself for the most part on the previous works of Celsus and +Porphyry,[14] but introduced a new subject of controversy by opposing +the wonderful works of Apollonius to the claims of the Christians to +exclusive right in "miracles" as proof of the divinity of their Master. +In this part of his treatise Hierocles used Philostratus' Life of +Apollonius. + +To this pertinent criticism of Hierocles Eusebius of Caesarea immediately +replied in a treatise still extant, entitled Contra Hieroclem.[15] +Eusebius admits that Apollonius was a wise and virtuous man, but denies +that there is sufficient proof that the wonderful things ascribed to him +ever took place; and even if they did take place, they were the work of +"daemons," and not of God. The treatise of Eusebius is interesting; he +severely scrutinises the statements in Philostratus, and shows himself +possessed of a first rate critical faculty. Had he only used the same +faculty on the documents of the Church, of which he was the first +historian, posterity would have owed him an eternal debt of gratitude. +But Eusebius, like so many other apologists, could only see one side; +justice, when anything touching Christianity was called into question, +was a stranger to his mind, and he would have considered it blasphemy to +use his critical faculty on the documents which relate the "miracles" of +Jesus. Still the problem of "miracle" was the same, as Hierocles pointed +out, and remains the same to this day. + +After the controversy reincarnated again in the sixteenth century, and +when the hypothesis of the "Devil" as the prime-mover in all "miracles" +but those of the Church lost its hold with the progress of scientific +thought, the nature of the wonders related in the Life of Apollonius was +still so great a difficulty that it gave rise to a new hypothesis of +plagiarism. The life of Apollonius was a Pagan plagiarism of the life of +Jesus. But Eusebius and the Fathers who followed him had no suspicion of +this; they lived in times when such an assertion could have been easily +refuted. There is not a word in Philostratus to show he had any +acquaintance with the life of Jesus, and fascinating as Baur's +"tendency-writing" theory is to many, we can only say that as a +plagiarist of the Gospel story Philostratus is a conspicuous failure. +Philostratus writes the history of a good and wise man, a man with a +mission of teaching, clothed in the wonder stories preserved in the +memory and embellished by the imagination of fond posterity, but not the +drama of incarnate Deity as the fulfilment of world-prophecy. + +Lactantius, writing about 315, also attacked the treatise of Hierocles, +who seems to have put forward some very pertinent criticisms; for the +Church Father says that he enumerates so many of their Christian inner +teachings (_intima_) that sometimes he would seem to have at one time +undergone the same training (_disciplina_). But it is in vain, says +Lactantius, that Hierocles endeavours to show that Apollonius performed +similar or even greater deeds than Jesus, for Christians do not believe +that Christ is God because he did wonderful things, but because all the +things wrought in him were those which were announced by the +prophets.[16] And in taking this ground Lactantius saw far more clearly +than Eusebius the weakness of the proof from "miracle." + +Arnobius, the teacher of Lactantius, however, writing at the end of the +third century, before the controversy, in referring to Apollonius +simply classes him among Magi, such as Zoroaster and others mentioned in +the passage of Appuleius to which we have already referred.[17] + +But even after the controversy there is a wide difference of opinion +among the Fathers, for although at the end of the fourth century John +Chrysostom with great bitterness calls Apollonius a deceiver and +evil-doer, and declares that the whole of the incidents in his life are +unqualified fiction,[18] Jerome, on the contrary, at the very same date, +takes almost a favourable view, for, after perusing Philostratus, he +writes that Apollonius found everywhere something to learn and something +whereby he might become a better man.[19] At the beginning of the fifth +century also Augustine, while ridiculing any attempt at comparison +between Apollonius and Jesus, says that the character of the Tyanean was +"far superior" to that ascribed to Jove, in respect of virtue.[20] + +About the same date also we find Isidorus of Pelusium, who died in 450, +bluntly denying that there is any truth in the claim made by "certain," +whom he does not further specify, that Apollonius of Tyana "consecrated +many spots in many parts of the world for the safety of the +inhabitants."[21] It is instructive to compare the denial of Isidorus +with the passage we have already quoted from Pseudo-Justin. The writer +of Questions and Answers to the Orthodox in the second century could not +dispose of the question by a blunt denial; he had to admit it and argue +the case on other grounds--namely, the agency of the Devil. Nor can the +argument of the Fathers, that Apollonius used magic to bring about his +results, while the untaught Christians could perform healing wonders by +a single word,[22] be accepted as valid by the unprejudiced critic, for +there is no evidence to support the contention that Apollonius employed +such methods for his wonder-workings; on the contrary, both Apollonius +himself and his biographer Philostratus strenuously repudiate the charge +of magic brought against him. + +On the other hand, a few years later, Sidonius Apollinaris, Bishop of +Claremont, speaks in the highest terms of Apollonius. Sidonius +translated the Life of Apollonius into Latin for Leon, the councillor of +King Euric, and in writing to his friend he says: "Read the life of a +man who (religion apart) resembles you in many things; a man sought out +by the rich, yet who never sought for riches; who loved wisdom and +despised gold; a man frugal in the midst of feastings, clad in linen in +the midst of those clothed in purple, austere in the midst of luxury.... +In fine, to speak plainly, perchance no historian will find in ancient +times a philosopher whose life is equal to that of Apollonius."[23] + +Thus we see that even among the Church Fathers opinions were divided; +while among the philosophers themselves the praise of Apollonius was +unstinted. + +For Ammianus Marcellinus, "the last subject of Rome who composed a +profane history in the Latin language," and the friend of Julian the +philosopher-emperor, refers to the Tyanean as "that most renowned +philosopher";[24] while a few years later Eunapius, the pupil of +Chrysanthius, one of the teachers of Julian, writing in the last years +of the fourth century, says that Apollonius was more than a +philosopher; he was "a middle term, as it were, between gods and +men."[25] Not only was Apollonius an adherent of the Pythagorean +philosophy, but "he fully exemplified the more divine and practical side +in it." In fact Philostratus should have called his biography "The +Sojourning of a God among Men."[26] This seemingly wildly exaggerated +estimate may perhaps receive explanation in the fact that Eunapius +belonged to a school which knew the nature of the attainments ascribed +to Apollonius. + +Indeed, "as late as the fifth century we find one Volusian, a proconsul +of Africa, descended from an old Roman family and still strongly +attached to the religion of his ancestors, almost worshipping Apollonius +of Tyana as a supernatural being."[27] + +Even after the downfall of philosophy we find Cassiodorus, who spent +the last years of his long life in a monastery, speaking of Apollonius +as the "renowned philosopher."[28] So also among Byzantine writers, the +monk George Syncellus, in the eighth century, refers several times to +our philosopher, and not only without the slightest adverse criticism, +but he declares that he was the first and most remarkable of all the +illustrious people who appeared under the Empire.[29] Tzetzes also, the +critic and grammarian, calls Apollonius "all-wise and a fore-knower of +all things."[30] + +And though the monk Xiphilinus, in the eleventh century, in a note to +his abridgment of the history of Dion Cassius, calls Apollonius a clever +juggler and magician,[31] nevertheless Cedrenus in the same century +bestows on Apollonius the not uncomplimentary title of an "adept +Pythagorean philosopher,"[32] and relates several instances of the +efficacy of his powers in Byzantium. In fact, if we can believe +Nicetas, as late as the thirteenth century there were at Byzantium +certain bronze doors, formerly consecrated by Apollonius, which had to +be melted down because they had become an object of superstition even +for the Christians themselves.[33] + +Had the work of Philostratus disappeared with the rest of the Lives, the +above would be all that we should have known about Apollonius.[34] +Little enough, it is true, concerning so distinguished a character, yet +ample enough to show that, with the exception of theological prejudice, +the suffrages of antiquity were all on the side of our philosopher. + + + + +SECTION V. + +TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, AND LITERATURE. + + +We will now turn to the texts, translations, and general literature of +the subject in more recent times. Apollonius returned to the memory of +the world, after the oblivion of the dark ages, with evil auspices. From +the very beginning the old Hierocles-Eusebius controversy was revived, +and the whole subject was at once taken out of the calm region of +philosophy and history and hurled once more into the stormy arena of +religious bitterness and prejudice. For long Aldus hesitated to print +the text of Philostratus, and only finally did so (in 1501) with the +text of Eusebius as an appendix, so that, as he piously phrases it, "the +antidote might accompany the poison." Together with it appeared a Latin +translation by the Florentine Rinucci.[35] + +In addition to the Latin version the sixteenth century also produced an +Italian[36] and French translation.[37] + +The _editio princeps_ of Aldus was superseded a century later by the +edition of Morel,[38] which in its turn was followed a century still +later by that of Olearius.[39] Nearly a century and a half later again +the text of Olearius was superseded by that of Kayser (the first +critical text), whose work in its last edition contains the latest +critical apparatus.[40] All information with regard to the MSS. will be +found in Kayser's Latin Prefaces. + +We shall now attempt to give some idea of the general literature on the +subject, so that the reader may be able to note some of the varying +fortunes of the war of opinion in the bibliographical indications. And +if the general reader should be impatient of the matter and eager to get +to something of greater interest, he can easily omit its perusal; while +if he be a lover of the mystic way, and does not take delight in +wrangling controversy, he may at least sympathise with the writer, who +has been compelled to look through the works of the last century and a +good round dozen of those of the previous centuries, before he could +venture on an opinion of his own with a clear conscience. + +Sectarian prejudice against Apollonius characterises nearly every +opinion prior to the nineteenth century.[41] Of books distinctly +dedicated to the subject the works of the Abbe Dupin[42] and of de +Tillemont[43] are bitter attacks on the Philosopher of Tyana in defence +of the monopoly of Christian miracles; while those of the Abbe +Houtteville[44] and Luederwald[45] are less violent, though on the same +lines. A pseudonymous writer, however, of the eighteenth century strikes +out a somewhat different line by classing together the miracles of the +Jesuits and other Monastic Orders with those of Apollonius, and dubbing +them all spurious, while maintaining the sole authenticity of those of +Jesus.[46] + +Nevertheless, Bacon and Voltaire speak of Apollonius in the highest +terms,[47] and even a century before the latter the English Deist, +Charles Blount,[48] raised his voice against the universal obloquy +poured upon the character of the Tyanean; his work, however, was +speedily suppressed. + +In the midst of this war about miracles in the eighteenth century it is +pleasant to remark the short treatise of Herzog, who endeavours to give +a sketch of the philosophy and religious life of Apollonius,[49] but, +alas! there were no followers of so liberal an example in this century +of strife. + +So far then for the earlier literature of the subject. Frankly none of +it is worth reading; the problem could not be calmly considered in such +a period. It started on the false ground of the Hierocles-Eusebius +controversy, which was but an incident (for wonder-working is common to +all great teachers and not peculiar to Apollonius or Jesus), and was +embittered by the rise of Encyclopaedism and the rationalism of the +Revolution period. Not that the miracle-controversy ceased even in the +last century; it does not, however, any longer obscure the whole +horizon, and the sun of a calmer judgment may be seen breaking through +the mist. + +In order to make the rest of our summary clearer we append at the end of +this essay the titles of the works which have appeared since the +beginning of the nineteenth century, in chronological order. + +A glance over this list will show that the last century has produced an +English (Berwick's), an Italian (Lancetti's), a French (Chassang's), and +two German translations (Jacobs' and Baltzer's).[50] The Rev. E. +Berwick's translation is the only English version; in his Preface the +author, while asserting the falsity of the miraculous element in the +Life, says that the rest of the work deserves careful attention. No harm +will accrue to the Christian religion by its perusal, for there are no +allusions to the Life of Christ in it, and the miracles are based on +those ascribed to Pythagoras. + +This is certainly a healthier standpoint than that of the traditional +theological controversy, which, unfortunately, however, was revived +again by the great authority of Baur, who saw in a number of the early +documents of the Christian era (notably the canonical Acts) +tendency-writings of but slight historical content, representing the +changing fortunes of schools and parties and not the actual histories of +individuals. The Life of Apollonius was one of these tendency-writings; +its object was to put forward a view opposed to Christianity in favour +of philosophy. Baur thus divorced the whole subject from its historical +standpoint and attributed to Philostratus an elaborate scheme of which +he was entirely innocent. Baur's view was largely adopted by Zeller in +his Philosophie der Griechen (v. 140), and by Reville in Holland. + +This "Christusbild" theory (carried by a few extremists to the point of +denying that Apollonius ever existed) has had a great vogue among +writers on the subject, especially compilers of encyclopaedia articles; +it is at any rate a wider issue than the traditional miracle-wrangle, +which was again revived in all its ancient narrowness by Newman, who +only uses Apollonius as an excuse for a dissertation on orthodox +miracles, to which he devotes eighteen pages out of the twenty-five of +his treatise. Noack also follows Baur, and to some extent Pettersch, +though he takes the subject onto the ground of philosophy; while +Moenckeberg, pastor of St. Nicolai in Hamburg, though striving to be fair +to Apollonius, ends his chatty dissertation with an outburst of orthodox +praises of Jesus, praises which we by no means grudge, but which are +entirely out of place in such a subject. + +The development of the Jesus-Apollonius miracle-controversy into the +Jesus-against-Apollonius and even Christ-against-Anti-Christ battle, +fought out with relays of lusty champions on the one side against a +feeble protest at best on the other, is a painful spectacle to +contemplate. How sadly must Jesus and Apollonius have looked upon, and +still look upon, this bitter and useless strife over their saintly +persons. Why should posterity set their memories one against the other? +Did they oppose one another in life? Did even their biographers do so +after their deaths? Why then could not the controversy have ceased with +Eusebius? For Lactantius frankly admits the point brought forward by +Hierocles (to exemplify which Hierocles only referred to Apollonius as +one instance out of many)--that "miracles" do not prove divinity. We +rest our claims, says Lactantius, _not_ on miracles, but on the +fulfilment of prophecy.[51] Had this more sensible position been revived +instead of that of Eusebius, the problem of Apollonius would have been +considered in its natural historical environment four hundred years ago, +and much ink and paper would have been saved. + +With the progress of the critical method, however, opinion has at length +partly recovered its balance, and it is pleasant to be able to turn to +works which have rescued the subject from theological obscurantism and +placed it in the open field of historical and critical research. The two +volumes of the independent thinker, Legrand d'Aussy, which appeared at +the very beginning of the last century, are, for the time, remarkably +free from prejudice, and are a praiseworthy attempt at historical +impartiality, but criticism was still young at this period. Kayser, +though he does not go thoroughly into the matter, decides that the +account of Philostratus is purely a "_fabularis narratio_" but is well +opposed by I. Mueller, who contends for a strong element of history as a +background. But by far the best sifting of the sources is that of +Jessen.[52] Priaulx's study deals solely with the Indian episode and is +of no critical value for the estimation of the sources. Of all previous +studies, however, the works of Chassang and Baltzer are the most +generally intelligent, for both writers are aware of the possibilities +of psychic science, though mostly from the insufficient standpoint of +spiritistic phenomena. + +As for Tredwell's somewhat pretentious volume which, being in English, +is accessible to the general reader, it is largely reactionary, and is +used as a cover for adverse criticism of the Christian origins from a +Secularist standpoint which denies at the outset the possibility of +"miracle" in any meaning of the word. A mass of well-known +numismatological and other matter, which is entirely irrelevant, but +which seems to be new and surprising to the author, is introduced, and a +map is prefixed to the title-page purporting to give the itineraries of +Apollonius, but having little reference to the text of Philostratus. +Indeed, nowhere does Tredwell show that he is working on the text +itself, and the subject in his hands is but an excuse for a rambling +dissertation on the first century in general from his own standpoint. + +This is all regrettable, for with the exception of Berwick's +translation, which is almost unprocurable, we have nothing of value in +English for the general reader,[53] except Sinnett's short sketch, +which is descriptive rather than critical or explanatory. + +So far then for the history of the Apollonius of opinion; we will now +turn to the Apollonius of Philostratus, and attempt if possible to +discover some traces of the man as he was in history, and the nature of +his life and work. + + + + +SECTION VI. + +THE BIOGRAPHER OF APOLLONIUS. + + +Flavius Philostratus, the writer of the only Life of Apollonius which +has come down to us,[54] was a distinguished man of letters who lived in +the last quarter of the second and the first half of the third century +(_cir._ 175-245 A.D.). He formed one of the circle of famous writers and +thinkers gathered round the philosopher-empress,[55] Julia Domna, who +was the guiding spirit of the Empire during the reigns of her husband +Septimius Severus and her son Caracalla. All three members of the +imperial family were students of occult science, and the age was +preeminently one in which the occult arts, good and bad, were a passion. +Thus the sceptical Gibbon, in his sketch of Severus and his famous +consort, writes: + +"Like most of the Africans, Severus was passionately addicted to the +vain studies of magic and divination, deeply versed in the +interpretation of dreams and omens, and perfectly acquainted with the +science of judicial astrology, which in almost every age except the +present, has maintained its dominion over the mind of man. He had lost +his first wife whilst he was governor of the Lionnese Gaul. In the +choice of a second, he sought only to connect himself with some +favourite of fortune; and as soon as he had discovered that a young lady +of Emesa in Syria had _a royal nativity_[56] he solicited and obtained +her hand. Julia Domna[57] (for that was her name) deserved all that the +stars could promise her. She possessed, even in an advanced age,[58] the +attractions of beauty, and united to a lively imagination a firmness of +mind, and strength of judgment, seldom bestowed on her sex. Her amiable +qualities never made any deep impression on the dark and jealous temper +of her husband,[59] but in her son's reign, she administered the +principal affairs of the Empire with a prudence that supported his +authority, and with a moderation that sometimes corrected his wild +extravagances. Julia applied herself to letters and philosophy with some +success, and with the most splendid reputation. She was the patroness of +every art, and the friend of every man of genius."[60] + +We thus see, even from Gibbon's somewhat grudging estimate, that Domna +Julia was a woman of remarkable character, whose outer acts give +evidence of an inner purpose, and whose private life has not been +written. It was at her request that Philostratus wrote the Life of +Apollonius, and it was she who supplied him with certain MSS. that were +in her possession, as a basis; for the beautiful daughter of Bassianus, +priest of the sun at Emesa, was an ardent collector of books from every +part of the world, especially of the MSS. of philosophers and of +memoranda and biographical notes relating to the famous students of the +inner nature of things. + +That Philostratus was the best man to whom to entrust so important a +task, is doubtful. It is true that he was a skilled stylist and a +practised man of letters, an art critic and an ardent antiquarian, as we +may see from his other works; but he was a sophist rather than a +philosopher, and though an enthusiastic admirer of Pythagoras and his +school, was so from a distance, regarding it rather through a +wonder-loving atmosphere of curiosity and the embellishments of a lively +imagination than from a personal acquaintance with its discipline, or a +practical knowledge of those hidden forces of the soul with which its +adepts dealt. We have, therefore, to expect a sketch of the appearance +of a thing by one outside, rather than an exposition of the thing itself +from one within. + +The following is Philostratus' account of the sources from which he +derived his information concerning Apollonius:[61] + +"I have collected my materials partly from the cities which loved him, +partly from the temples whose rites and regulations he restored from +their former state of neglect, partly from what others have said about +him, and partly from his own letters.[62] More detailed information I +procured as follows. Damis was a man of some education who formerly used +to live in the ancient city of Ninus.[63] He became a disciple of +Apollonius and recorded his travels, in which he says he himself took +part, and also the views, sayings, and predictions of his master. A +member of Damis' family brought the Empress Julia the note-books[64] +containing these memoirs, which up to that time had not been known of. +As I was one of the circle of this princess, who was a lover and +patroness of all literary productions, she ordered me to rewrite these +sketches and improve their form of expression, for though the Ninevite +expressed himself clearly, his style was far from correct. I also have +had access to a book by Maximus[65] of AEgae which contained all +Apollonius' doings at AEgae.[66] There is also a will written by +Apollonius, from which we can learn how he almost deified +philosophy.[67] As to the four books of Moeragenes[68] on Apollonius they +do not deserve attention, for he knows nothing of most of the facts of +his life" (i. 2, 3). + +These are the sources to which Philostratus was indebted for his +information, sources which are unfortunately no longer accessible to us, +except perhaps a few letters. Nor did Philostratus spare any pains to +gather information on the subject, for in his concluding words (viii. +31), he tells us that he has himself travelled into most parts of the +"world" and everywhere met with the "inspired sayings"[69] of +Apollonius, and that he was especially well acquainted with the temple +dedicated to the memory of our philosopher at Tyana and founded at the +imperial expense ("for the emperors had judged him not unworthy of like +honours with themselves"), whose priests, it is to be presumed, had got +together as much information as they could concerning Apollonius. + +A thoroughly critical analysis of the literary effort of Philostratus, +therefore, would have to take into account all of these factors, and +endeavour to assign each statement to its original source. But even then +the task of the historian would be incomplete, for it is transparently +evident that Philostratus has considerably "embellished" the narrative +with numerous notes and additions of his own and with the composition of +set speeches. + +Now as the ancient writers did not separate their notes from the text, +or indicate them in any distinct fashion, we have to be constantly on +our guard to detect the original sources from the glosses of the +writer.[70] In fact Philostratus is ever taking advantage of the mention +of a name or a subject to display his own knowledge, which is often of a +most legendary and fantastic nature. This is especially the case in his +description of Apollonius' Indian travels. India at that time and long +afterwards was considered the "end of the world," and an infinity of the +strangest "travellers' tales" and mythological fables were in +circulation concerning it. One has only to read the accounts of the +writers on India[71] from the time of Alexander onwards to discover the +source of most of the strange incidents that Philostratus records as +experiences of Apollonius. To take but one instance out of a hundred, +Apollonius had to cross the Caucasus, an indefinite name for the great +system of mountain ranges that bound the northern limits of +[=A]ry[=a]varta. Prometheus was chained to the Caucasus, so every child +had been told for centuries. Therefore, if Apollonius crossed the +Caucasus, he must have seen those chains. And so it was, Philostratus +assures us (ii. 3). Not only so, but he volunteers the additional +information that you could not tell of what they were made! A perusal of +Megasthenes, however, will speedily reduce the long Philostratian +account of the Indian travels of Apollonius (i. 41-iii. 58) to a very +narrow compass, for page after page is simply padding, picked up from +any one of the numerous Indica to which our widely read author had +access.[72] To judge from such writers, Porus[73] (the R[=a]j[=a]h +conquered by Alexander) was the immemorial king of India. In fact, in +speaking of India or any other little-known country, a writer in these +days had to drag in all that popular legend associated with it or he +stood little chance of being listened to. He had to give his narrative +a "local colour," and this was especially the case in a technical +rhetorical effort like that of Philostratus. + +Again, it was the fashion to insert set speeches and put them in the +mouths of well-known characters on historical occasions, good instances +of which may be seen in Thucydides and the Acts of the Apostles. +Philostratus repeatedly does this. + +But it would be too long to enter into a detailed investigation of the +subject, although the writer has prepared notes on all these points, for +that would be to write a volume and not a sketch. Only a few points are +therefore set down, to warn the student to be ever on his guard to sift +out Philostratus from his sources.[74] + +But though we must be keenly alive to the importance of a thoroughly +critical attitude where definite facts of history are concerned, we +should be as keenly on our guard against judging everything from the +standpoint of modern preconceptions. There is but one religious +literature of antiquity that has ever been treated with real sympathy in +the West, and that is the Judaeo-Christian; in that alone have men been +trained to feel at home, and all in antiquity that treats of religion +in a different mode to the Jewish or Christian way, is felt to be +strange, and, if obscure or extraordinary, to be even repulsive. The +sayings and doings of the Jewish prophets, of Jesus, and of the +Apostles, are related with reverence, embellished with the greatest +beauties of diction, and illumined with the best thought of the age; +while the sayings and doings of other prophets and teachers have been +for the most part subjected to the most unsympathetic criticism, in +which no attempt is made to understand their standpoint. Had even-handed +justice been dealt out all round, the world to-day would have been +richer in sympathy, in wide-mindedness, in comprehension of nature, +humanity, and God, in brief, in soul-experience. + +Therefore, in reading the Life of Apollonius let us remember that we +have to look at it through the eyes of a Greek, and not through those of +a Jew or a Protestant. The Many in their proper sphere must be for us as +authentic a manifestation of the Divine as the One or the All, for +indeed the "Gods" exist in spite of commandment and creed. The Saints +and Martyrs and Angels have seemingly taken the places of the Heroes and +Daemons and Gods, but the change of name and change of view-point among +men affect but little the unchangeable facts. To sense the facts of +universal religion under the ever-changing names which men bestow upon +them, and then to enter with full sympathy and comprehension into the +hopes and fears of every phase of the religious mind--to read, as it +were, the past lives of our own souls--is a most difficult task. But +until we can put ourselves understandingly in the places of others, we +can never see more than one side of the Infinite Life of God. A student +of comparative religion must not be afraid of terms; he must not shudder +when he meets with "polytheism," or draw back in horror when he +encounters "dualism," or feel an increased satisfaction when he falls in +with "monotheism"; he must not feel awe when he pronounces the name of +Yahweh and contempt when he utters the name of Zeus; he must not picture +a satyr when he reads the word "daemon," and imagine a winged dream of +beauty when he pronounces the word "angel." For him heresy and orthodoxy +must not exist; he sees only his own soul slowly working out its own +experience, looking at life from every possible view-point, so that +haply at last he may see the whole, and having seen the whole, may +become at one with God. + +To Apollonius the mere fashion of a man's faith was unessential; he was +at home in all lands, among all cults. He had a helpful word for all, +an intimate knowledge of the particular way of each of them, which +enabled him to restore them to health. Such men are rare; the records of +such men are precious, and require the embellishments of no rhetorician. + +Let us then, first of all, try to recover the outline of the early +external life and of the travels of Apollonius shorn of Philostratus' +embellishments, and then endeavour to consider the nature of his +mission, the manner of the philosophy which he so dearly loved and which +was to him his religion, and last, if possible, the way of his inner +life. + + + + +SECTION VII. + +EARLY LIFE. + + +Apollonius was born[75] at Tyana, a city in the south of Cappadocia, +somewhen in the early years of the Christian era. His parents were of +ancient family and considerable fortune (i. 4). At an early age he gave +signs of a very powerful memory and studious disposition, and was +remarkable for his beauty. At the age of fourteen he was sent to Tarsus, +a famous centre of learning of the time, to complete his studies. But +mere rhetoric and style and the life of the "schools" were little suited +to his serious disposition, and he speedily left for AEgae, a town on the +sea-coast east of Tarsus. Here he found surroundings more suitable to +his needs, and plunged with ardour into the study of philosophy. He +became intimate with the priests of the temple of AEsculapius, where +cures were still wrought, and enjoyed the society and instruction of +pupils and teachers of the Platonic, Stoic, Peripatetic, and Epicurean +schools of philosophy; but though he studied all these systems of +thought with attention, it was the lessons of the Pythagorean school +upon which he seized with an extraordinary depth of comprehension,[76] +and that, too, although his teacher, Euxenus, was but a parrot of the +doctrines and not a practiser of the discipline. But such parrotting was +not enough for the eager spirit of Apollonius; his extraordinary +"memory," which infused life into the dull utterances of his tutor, +urged him on, and at the age of sixteen "he soared into the Pythagorean +life, winged by some greater one."[77] Nevertheless he retained his +affection for the man who had told him of the way, and rewarded him +handsomely (i. 7). + +When Euxenus asked him how he would begin his new mode of life he +replied: "As doctors purge their patients." Hence he refused to touch +anything that had animal life in it, on the ground that it densified the +mind and rendered it impure. He considered that the only pure form of +food was what the earth produced, fruits and vegetables. He also +abstained from wine, for though it was made from fruit, "it rendered +turbid the aether[78] in the soul" and "destroyed the composure of the +mind." Moreover, he went barefoot, let his hair grow long, and wore +nothing but linen. He now lived in the temple, to the admiration of the +priests and with the express approval of AEsculapius,[79] and he rapidly +became so famous for his asceticism and pious life, that a saying[80] of +the Cilicians about him became a proverb (i. 8). + +At the age of twenty his father died (his mother having died some years +before) leaving a considerable fortune, which Apollonius was to share +with his elder brother, a wild and dissolute youth of twenty-three. +Being still a minor, Apollonius continued to reside at AEgae, where the +temple of AEsculapius had now become a busy centre of study, and echoed +from one end to the other with the sound of lofty philosophical +discourses. On coming of age he returned to Tyana to endeavour to rescue +his brother from his vicious life. His brother had apparently exhausted +his legal share of the property, and Apollonius at once made over half +of his own portion to him, and by his gentle admonitions restored him +to his manhood. In fact he seems to have devoted his time to setting in +order the affairs of the family, for he distributed the rest of his +patrimony among certain of his relatives, and kept for himself but a +bare pittance; he required but little, he said, and should never marry +(i. 13). + +He now took the vow of silence for five years, for he was determined not +to write on philosophy until he had passed through this wholesome +discipline. These five years were passed mostly in Pamphylia and +Cilicia, and though he spent much time in study, he did not immure +himself in a community or monastery but kept moving about and travelling +from city to city. The temptations to break his self-imposed vow were +enormous. His strange appearance drew everyone's attention, the +laughter-loving populace made the silent philosopher the butt of their +unscrupulous wit, and all the protection he had against their scurrility +and misconceptions was the dignity of his mien and the glance of eyes +that now could see both past and future. Many a time he was on the verge +of bursting out against some exceptional insult or lying gossip, but +ever he restrained himself with the words: "Heart, patient be, and thou, +my tongue, be still"[81] (i. 14). + +Yet even this stern repression of the common mode of speech did not +prevent his good doing. Even at this early age he had begun to correct +abuses. With eyes and hands and motions of the head, he made his meaning +understood, and on one occasion, at Aspendus in Pamphylia, prevented a +serious corn riot by silencing the crowd with his commanding gestures +and then writing what he had to say on his tablets (i. 15). + +So far, apparently, Philostratus has been dependent upon the account of +Maximus of AEgae, or perhaps only up to the time of Apollonius' quitting +AEgae. There is now a considerable gap in the narrative, and two short +chapters of vague generalities (i. 16, 17) are all that Philostratus can +produce as the record of some fifteen or twenty[82] years, until Damis' +notes begin. + +After the five years of silence, we find Apollonius at Antioch, but this +seems to be only an incident in a long round of travel and work, and it +is probable that Philostratus brings Antioch into prominence merely +because what little he had learnt of this period of Apollonius' life, he +picked up in this much-frequented city. + +Even from Philostratus himself we learn incidentally later on (i. 20; +iv. 38) that Apollonius had spent some time among the Arabians, and had +been instructed by them. And by Arabia we are to understand the country +south of Palestine, which was at this period a regular hot-bed of mystic +communities. The spots he visited were in out-of-the-way places, where +the spirit of holiness lingered, and not the crowded and disturbed +cities, for the subject of his conversation, he said, required "_men_ +and not people."[83] He spent his time in travelling from one to another +of these temples, shrines, and communities; from which we may conclude +that there was some kind of a common freemasonry, as it were, among +them, of the nature of initiation, which opened the door of hospitality +to him. + +But wherever he went, he always held to a certain regular division of +the day. At sun-rise he practised certain religious exercises alone, the +nature of which he communicated only to those who had passed through the +discipline of a "four years'" (? five years') silence. He then conversed +with the temple priests or the heads of the community, according as he +was staying in a Greek or non-Greek temple with public rites, or in a +community with a discipline peculiar to itself apart from the public +cult.[84] + +He thus endeavoured to bring back the public cults to the purity of +their ancient traditions, and to suggest improvements in the practices +of the private brotherhoods. The most important part of his work was +with those who were following the inner life, and who already looked +upon Apollonius as a teacher of the hidden way. To these his comrades +([Greek: hetairous]) and pupils ([Greek: homiletas]), he devoted much +attention, being ever ready to answer their questions and give advice +and instruction. Not however that he neglected the people; it was his +invariable custom to teach them, but always after mid-day; for those who +lived the inner life,[85] he said, should on day's dawning enter the +presence of the Gods,[86] then spend the time till mid-day in giving and +receiving instruction in holy things, and not till after noon devote +themselves to human affairs. That is to say, the morning was devoted by +Apollonius to the divine science, and the afternoon to instruction in +ethics and practical life. After the day's work he bathed in cold water, +as did so many of the mystics of the time in those lands, notably the +Essenes and Therapeuts (i. 16). + +"After these things," says Philostratus, as vaguely as the writer of a +gospel narrative, Apollonius determined to visit the Brachmanes and +Sarmanes.[87] What induced our philosopher to make so long and dangerous +a journey nowhere appears from Philostratus, who simply says that +Apollonius thought it a good thing for a young man[88] to travel. It is +abundantly evident, however, that Apollonius never travelled merely for +the sake of travelling. What he does he does with a distinct purpose. +And his guides on this occasion, as he assures his disciples who tried +to dissuade him from his endeavour and refused to accompany him, were +wisdom and his inner monitor (daemon). "Since ye are faint-hearted," says +the solitary pilgrim, "I bid you farewell. As for myself I must go +whithersoever wisdom and my inner self may lead me. The Gods are my +advisers and I can but rely on their counsels" (i. 18). + + + + +SECTION VIII. + +THE TRAVELS OF APOLLONIUS. + + +And so Apollonius departs from Antioch and journeys on to Ninus, the +relic of the once great Nina or Nineveh. There he meets with Damis, who +becomes his constant companion and faithful disciple. "Let us go +together," says Damis in words reminding us somewhat of the words of +Ruth. "Thou shalt follow God, and I thee!" (i. 19). + +From this point Philostratus professes to base himself to a great extent +on the narrative of Damis, and before going further, it is necessary to +try to form some estimate of the character of Damis, and discover how +far he was admitted to the real confidence of Apollonius. + +Damis was an enthusiast who loved Apollonius with a passionate +affection. He saw in his master almost a divine being, possessed of +marvellous powers at which he continually wondered, but which he could +never understand. Like [=A]nanda, the favourite disciple of the Buddha +and his constant companion, Damis advanced but slowly in comprehension +of the real nature of spiritual science; he had ever to remain in the +outer courts of the temples and communities into whose shrines and inner +confidence Apollonius had full access, while he frequently states his +ignorance of his master's plans and purposes.[89] The additional fact +that he refers to his notes as the "crumbs"[90] from the "feasts of the +Gods" (i. 19), those feasts of which he could for the most part only +learn at secondhand what little Apollonius thought fit to tell him, and +which he doubtless largely misunderstood and clothed in his own +imaginings, would further confirm this view, if any further confirmation +were necessary. But indeed it is very manifest everywhere that Damis was +outside the circle of initiation, and this accounts both for his +wonder-loving point of view and his general superficiality. + +Another fact that comes out prominently from the narrative is his timid +nature.[91] He is continually afraid for himself or for his master; and +even towards the end, when Apollonius is imprisoned by Domitian, it +requires the phenomenal removal of the fetters before his eyes to +assure him that Apollonius is a willing victim. + +Damis loves and wonders; seizes on unimportant detail and exaggerates +it, while he can only report of the really important things what he +fancies to have taken place from a few hints of Apollonius. As his story +advances, it is true it takes on a soberer tint; but what Damis omits, +Philostratus is ever ready to supply from his own store of marvels, if +chance offers. + +Nevertheless, even were we with the scalpel of criticism to cut away +every morsel of flesh from this body of tradition and legend, there +would still remain a skeleton of fact that would still represent +Apollonius and give us some idea of his stature. + +Apollonius was one of the greatest travellers known to antiquity. Among +the countries and places he visited the following are the chief ones +recorded by Philostratus.[92] + +From Ninus (i. 19) Apollonius journeys to Babylon (i. 21), where he +stops one year and eight months (i. 40) and visits surrounding cities +such as Ecbatana, the capital of Media (i. 39); from Babylon to the +Indian frontier no names are mentioned; India was entered in every +probability by the Khaibar Pass (ii. 6),[93] for the first city +mentioned is Taxila (Attock) (ii. 20); and so they make their way across +the tributaries of the Indus (ii. 43) to the valley of the Ganges (iii. +5), and finally arrive at the "monastery of the wise men" (iii. 10), +where Apollonius spends four months (iii. 50). + +This monastery was presumably in Nep[=a]l; it is in the mountains, and +the "city" nearest it is called Paraca. The chaos that Philostratus has +made of Damis' account, and before him the wonderful transformations +Damis himself wrought in Indian names, are presumably shown in this +word. Paraca is perchance all that Damis could make of Bharata, the +general name of the Ganges valley in which the dominant [=A]ryas were +settled. It is also probable that these wise men were Buddhists, for +they dwelt in a [Greek: tyrsis], a place that looked like a fort or +fortress to Damis. + +I have little doubt that Philostratus could make nothing out of the +geography of India from the names in Damis' diary; they were all +unfamiliar to him, so that as soon as he has exhausted the few Greek +names known to him from the accounts of the expedition of Alexander, he +wanders in the "ends of the earth," and can make nothing of it till he +picks up our travellers again on their return journey at the mouth of +the Indus. The salient fact that Apollonius was making for a certain +community, which was his peculiar goal, so impressed the imagination of +Philostratus (and perhaps of Damis before him) that he has described it +as being the only centre of the kind in India. Apollonius went to India +with a purpose and returned from it with a distinct mission;[94] and +perchance his constant inquiries concerning the particular "wise men" +whom he was seeking, led Damis to imagine that they alone were the +"Gymnosophists," the "naked philosophers" (if we are to take the term in +its literal sense) of popular Greek legend, which ignorantly ascribed to +all the Hindu ascetics the most striking peculiarity of a very small +number. But to return to our itinerary. + +Philostratus embellishes the account of the voyage from the Indus to the +mouth of the Euphrates (iii. 52-58) with the travellers' tales and +names of islands and cities he has gleaned from the Indica which were +accessible to him, and so we again return to Babylon and familiar +geography with the following itinerary: + +Babylon, Ninus, Antioch, Seleucia, Cyprus; thence to Ionia (iii. 58), +where he spends some time in Asia Minor, especially at Ephesus (iv. 1), +Smyrna (iv. 5), Pergamus (iv. 9), and Troy (iv. 11). Thence Apollonius +crosses over to Lesbos (iv. 13), and subsequently sails for Athens, +where he spends some years in Greece (iv. 17-33) visiting the temples of +Hellas, reforming their rites and instructing the priests (iv. 24). We +next find him in Crete (iv. 34), and subsequently at Rome in the time of +Nero (iv. 36-46). + +In A.D. 66 Nero issued a decree forbidding any philosopher to remain in +Rome, and Apollonius set out for Spain, and landed at Gades, the modern +Cadiz; he seems to have stayed in Spain only a short time (iv. 47); +thence crossed to Africa, and so by sea once more to Sicily, where the +principal cities and temples were visited (v. 11-14). Thence Apollonius +returned to Greece (v. 18), four years having elapsed since his landing +at Athens from Lesbos (v. 19).[95] + +From Piraeus our philosopher sails for Chios (v. 21), thence to Rhodes, +and so to Alexandria (v. 24). At Alexandria he spends some time, and has +several interviews with the future Emperor Vespasian (v. 27-41), and +thence he sets out on a long journey up the Nile as far as Ethiopia +beyond the cataracts, where he visits an interesting community of +ascetics called loosely Gymnosophists (vi. 1-27). + +On his return to Alexandria (vi. 28), he was summoned by Titus, who had +just become emperor, to meet him at Tarsus (vi. 29-34). After this +interview he appears to have returned to Egypt, for Philostratus speaks +vaguely of his spending some time in Lower Egypt, and of visits to the +Phoenicians, Cilicians, Ionians, Achaeans, and also to Italy (vi. 35). + +Now Vespasian was emperor from 69 to 79, and Titus from 79 to 81. As +Apollonius' interviews with Vespasian took place shortly before the +beginning of that emperor's reign, it is reasonable to conclude that a +number of years was spent by our philosopher in his Ethiopian journey, +and that therefore Damis' account is a most imperfect one. In 81 +Domitian became emperor, and just as Apollonius opposed the follies of +Nero, so did he criticise the acts of Domitian. He accordingly became an +object of suspicion to the emperor; but instead of keeping away from +Rome, he determined to brave the tyrant to his face. Crossing from Egypt +to Greece and taking ship at Corinth, he sailed by way of Sicily to +Puteoli, and thence to the Tiber mouth, and so to Rome (vii. 10-16). +Here Apollonius was tried and acquitted (vii. 17--viii. 10). Sailing +from Puteoli again Apollonius returned to Greece (viii. 15), where he +spent two years (viii. 24). Thence once more he crossed over to Ionia at +the time of the death of Domitian (viii. 25), visiting Smyrna and +Ephesus and other of his favourite haunts. Hereupon he sends away Damis +on some pretext to Rome (viii. 28) and--disappears; that is to say, if +it be allowed to speculate, he undertook yet another journey to the +place which he loved above all others, the "home of the wise men." + +Now Domitian was killed 96 A.D., and one of the last recorded acts of +Apollonius is his vision of this event at the time of its occurrence. +Therefore the trial of Apollonius at Rome took place somewhere about 93, +and we have a gap of twelve years from his interview with Titus in 81, +which Philostratus can only fill up with a few vague stories and +generalities. + +As to his age at the time of his mysterious disappearance from the +pages of history, Philostratus tells us that Damis says nothing; but +some, he adds, say he was eighty, some ninety, and some even an hundred. + +The estimate of eighty years seems to fit in best with the rest of the +chronological indications, but there is no certainty in the matter with +the present materials at our disposal. + +Such then is the geographical outline, so to say, of the life of +Apollonius, and even the most careless reader of the bare skeleton of +the journeys recorded by Philostratus must be struck by the indomitable +energy of the man, and his power of endurance. + +We will now turn our attention to one or two points of interest +connected with the temples and communities he visited. + + + + +SECTION IX. + +IN THE SHRINES OF THE TEMPLES AND THE RETREATS OF RELIGION. + + +Seeing that the nature of Apollonius' business with the priests of the +temples and the devotees of the mystic life was necessarily of a most +intimate and secret nature, for in those days it was the invariable +custom to draw a sharp line of demarcation between the inner and outer, +the initiated and the profane, it is not to be expected that we can +learn anything but mere externalities from the Damis-Philostratus +narrative; nevertheless, even these outer indications are of interest. + +The temple of AEsculapius at AEgae, where Apollonius spent the most +impressionable years of his life, was one of the innumerable hospitals +of Greece, where the healing art was practised on lines totally +different to our present methods. We are at once introduced to an +atmosphere laden with psychic influences, to a centre whither for +centuries patients had flocked to "consult the God." In order to do so, +it was necessary for them to go through certain preliminary +purifications and follow certain rules given by the priests; they then +passed the night in the shrine and in their sleep instructions were +given them for their healing. This method, no doubt, was only resorted +to when the skill of the priest was exhausted; in any case, the priests +must have been deeply versed in the interpretation of these dreams and +in their rationale. It is also evident that as Apollonius loved to pass +his time in the temple, he must have found there satisfaction for his +spiritual needs, and instruction in the inner science; though doubtless +his own innate powers soon carried him beyond his instructors and marked +him out as the "favourite of the God." The many cases on record in our +own day of patients in trance or some other psychic condition +prescribing for themselves, will help the student to understand the +innumerable possibilities of healing which were in Greece summed up in +the personification AEsculapius. + +Later on the chief of the Indian sages has a disquisition on AEsculapius +and the healing art put into his mouth (iii. 44), where the whole of +medicine is said to be dependent upon psychic diagnosis and prescience +([Greek: manteia]). + +Finally it may be noticed that it was the invariable custom of patients +on their recovery to record the fact on an _ex-voto_ tablet in the +temple, precisely as is done to-day in Roman Catholic countries.[96] + +On his way to India Apollonius saw a good deal of the Magi at Babylon. +He used to visit them at mid-day and mid-night, but of what transpired +Damis knew nothing, for Apollonius would not permit him to accompany +him, and in answer to his direct questions would only answer: "They are +wise, but not in all things" (i. 26). + +The description of a certain hall, however, to which Apollonius had +access, seems to be a garbled version of the interior of the temple. The +roof was dome-shaped, and the ceiling was covered with "sapphire"; in +this blue heaven were models of the heavenly bodies ("those whom they +regard as Gods") fashioned in gold, as though moving in the ether. +Moreover from the roof were suspended four golden "Iygges" which the +Magi call the "Tongues of the Gods." These were winged-wheels or spheres +connected with the idea of Adrasteia (or Fate). Their prototypes are +described imperfectly in the Vision of Ezekiel, and the so-called +Hecatine _strophali_ or _spherulae_ used in magical practices may have +been degenerate descendants of these "living wheels" or spheres of the +vital elements. The subject is one of intense interest, but hopelessly +incapable of treatment in our present age of scepticism and profound +ignorance of the past. The "Gods" who taught our infant humanity were, +according to occult tradition, from a humanity higher than that at +present evolving on our earth. They gave the impulse, and, when the +earth-children were old enough to stand on their own feet, they +withdrew. But the memory of their deeds and a corrupt and degenerate +form of the mysteries they established has ever lingered in the memory +of myth and legend. Seers have caught obscure glimpses of what they +taught and how they taught it, and the tradition of the Mysteries +preserved some memory of it in its symbols and instruments or engines. +The Iygges of the Magi are said to be a relic of this memory. + +With regard to the Indian sages it is impossible to make out any +consistent story from the fantastic jumble of the Damis-Philostratus +romance. Damis seems to have confused together a mixture of memories and +scraps of gossip without any attempt to distinguish one community or +sect from another, and so produced a blurred daub which Philostratus +would have us regard as a picture of the "hill" and a description of +its "sages." Damis' confused memories,[97] however, have little to do +with the actual monastery and its ascetic inhabitants, who were the goal +of Apollonius' long journey. What Apollonius heard and saw there, +following his invariable custom in such circumstances, he told no one, +not even Damis, except what could be derived from the following +enigmatical sentence: "I saw men dwelling on the earth and yet not on +it, defended on all sides, yet without any defence, and yet possessed of +nothing but what all possess." These words occur in two passages (iii. +15 and vi. 11), and in both Philostratus adds that Apollonius wrote[98] +and spoke them enigmatically. The meaning of this saying is not +difficult to divine. They were on the earth, but not of the earth, for +their minds were set on things above. They were protected by their +innate spiritual power, of which we have so many instances in Indian +literature; and yet they possessed nothing but what all men possess if +they would but develop the spiritual part of their being. But this +explanation is not simple enough for Philostratus, and so he presses +into service all the memories of Damis, or rather travellers' tales, +about levitation, magical illusions and the rest. + +The head of the community is called Iarchas, a totally un-Indian name. +The violence done to all foreign names by the Greeks is notorious, and +here we have to reckon with an army of ignorant copyists as well as with +Philostratus and Damis. I would suggest that the name may perhaps be a +corruption of Arhat.[99] + +The main burden of Damis' narrative insists on the psychic and spiritual +knowledge of the sages. They know what takes place at a distance, they +can tell the past and future, and read the past births of men. + +The messenger sent to meet Apollonius carried what Damis calls a golden +anchor (iii. 11, 17), and if this is an authentic fact, it would suggest +a forerunner of the Tibetan _dorje_, the present degenerate symbol of +the "rod of power," something like the thunder-bolt wielded by Zeus. +This would also point to a Buddhist community, though it must be +confessed that other indications point equally strongly to +Br[=a]hmanical customs, such as the caste-mark on the forehead of the +messenger (iii. 7, 11), the carrying of (bamboo) staves (da[n.][d.]a), +letting the hair grow long, and wearing of turbans (iii. 13). But indeed +the whole account is too confused to permit any hope of extracting +historical details. + +Of the nature of Apollonius' visit we may, however, judge from the +following mysterious letter to his hosts (iii. 51): + +"I came to you by land and ye have given me the sea; nay, rather, by +sharing with me your wisdom ye have given me power to travel through +heaven. These things will I bring back to the mind of the Greeks, and I +will hold converse with you as though ye were present, if it be that I +have not drunk of the cup of Tantalus in vain." + +It is evident from these cryptic sentences that the "sea" and the "cup +of Tantalus" are identical with the "wisdom" which had been imparted to +Apollonius--the wisdom which he was to bring back once more to the +memory of the Greeks. He thus clearly states that he returned from India +with a distinct mission and with the means to accomplish it, for not +only had he drunk of the ocean of wisdom in that he has learnt the +Brahm[=a]-vidy[=a] from their lips, but he has also learnt how to +converse with them though his body be in Greece and their bodies in +India. + +But such a plain meaning--plain at least to every student of occult +nature--was beyond the understanding of Damis or the comprehension of +Philostratus. And it is doubtless the mention of the "cup of +Tantalus"[100] in this letter which suggested the inexhaustible loving +cup episode in iii. 32, and its connection with the mythical fountains +of Bacchus. Damis presses it into service to "explain" the last phrase +in Apollonius' saying about the sages, namely, that they were "possessed +of nothing but what all possess"--which, however, appears elsewhere in a +changed form, as "possessing nothing, they have the possessions of all +men" (iii. 15).[101] + +On returning to Greece, one of the first shrines Apollonius visited was +that of Aphrodite at Paphos in Cyprus (iii. 58). The greatest external +peculiarity of the Paphian worship of Venus was the representation of +the goddess by a mysterious stone symbol. It seems to have been of the +size of a human being, but shaped like a pine-cone, only of course with +a smooth surface. Paphos was apparently the oldest shrine dedicated to +Venus in Greece. Its mysteries were very ancient, but not indigenous; +they were brought over from the mainland, from what was subsequently +Cilicia, in times of remote antiquity. + +The worship or consultation of the Goddess was by means of prayers and +the "pure flame of fire," and the temple was a great centre of +divination.[102] + +Apollonius spent some time here and instructed the priests at length +with regard to their sacred rites. + +In Asia Minor he was especially pleased with the temple of AEsculapius at +Pergamus; he healed many of the patients there, and gave instruction in +the proper methods to adopt in order to procure reliable results by +means of the prescriptive dreams. + +At Troy, we are told, Apollonius spent a night alone at the tomb of +Achilles, in former days one of the spots of greatest popular sanctity +in Greece (iv. 11). Why he did so does not transpire, for the fantastic +conversation with the shade of the hero reported by Philostratus (iv. +16) seems to be devoid of any element of likelihood. As, however, +Apollonius made it his business to visit Thessaly shortly afterwards +expressly to urge the Thessalians to renew the old accustomed rites to +the hero (iv. 13), we may suppose that it formed part of his great +effort to restore and purify the old institutions of Hellas, so that, +the accustomed channels being freed, the life might flow more healthily +in the national body. + +Rumour would also have it that Achilles had told Apollonius where he +would find the statue of the hero Palamedes on the coast of AEolia. +Apollonius accordingly restored the statue, and Philostratus tells us he +had seen it with his own eyes on the spot (iv. 13). + +Now this would be a matter of very little interest, were it not that a +great deal is made of Palamedes elsewhere in Philostratus' narrative. +What it all means is difficult to say with a Damis and Philostratus as +interpreters between ourselves and the silent and enigmatical +Apollonius. + +Palamedes was one of the heroes before Troy, who was fabled to have +invented letters, or to have completed the alphabet of Cadmus.[103] + +Now from two obscure sayings (iv. 13, 33), we glean that our philosopher +looked upon Palamedes as the philosopher-hero of the Trojan period, +although Homer says hardly a word about him. + +Was this, then, the reason why Apollonius was so anxious to restore his +statue? Not altogether so; there appears to have been a more direct +reason. Damis would have it that Apollonius had met Palamedes in India; +that he was at the monastery; that Iarchas had one day pointed out a +young ascetic who could "write without ever learning letters"; and that +this youth had been no other than Palamedes in one of his former +births. Doubtless the sceptic will say: "Of course! Pythagoras was a +reincarnation of the hero Euphorbus who fought at Troy, according to +popular superstition; therefore, naturally, the young Indian was the +reincarnation of the hero Palamedes! The one legend simply begat the +other." But on this principle, to be consistent, we should expect to +find that it was Apollonius himself and not an unknown Hindu ascetic, +who had been once Palamedes. + +In any case Apollonius restored the rites to Achilles, and erected a +chapel in which he set up the neglected statue of Palamedes.[104] The +heroes of the Trojan period, then, it would seem, had still some +connection with Greece, according to the science of the invisible world +into which Apollonius was initiated. And if the Protestant sceptic can +make nothing of it, at least the Roman Catholic reader may be induced to +suspend his judgment by changing "hero" into "saint." + +Can it be possible that the attention which Apollonius bestowed upon the +graves and funeral monuments of the mighty dead of Greece may have been +inspired by the circle of ideas which led to the erection of the +innumerable d[=a]gobas and st[=u]pas in Buddhist lands, originally over +the relics of the Buddha, and the subsequent preservation of relics of +arhats and great teachers? + +At Lesbos Apollonius visited the ancient temple of the Orphic mysteries, +which in early years had been a great centre of prophecy and divination. +Here also he was privileged to enter the inner shrine or adytum (iv. +14). + +The Tyanean arrived in Athens at the time of the Eleusinian Mysteries, +and in spite of the festival and rites not only the people but also the +candidates flocked to meet him to the neglect of their religious duties. +Apollonius rebuked them, and himself joined in the necessary preliminary +rites and presented himself for initiation. + +It may, perhaps, surprise the reader to hear that Apollonius, who had +already been initiated into higher privileges than Eleusis could afford, +should present himself for initiation. But the reason is not far to +seek; the Eleusinia constituted one of the intermediate organisations +between the popular cults and the genuine inner circles of instruction. +They preserved one of the traditions of the inner way, even if their +officers for the time being had forgotten what their predecessors had +once known. To restore these ancient rites to their purity, or to +utilise them for their original object, it was necessary to enter within +the precincts of the institution; nothing could be effected from +outside. The thing itself was good, and Apollonius desired to support +the ancient institution by setting the public example of seeking +initiation therein; not that he had anything to gain personally. + +But whether it was that the hierophant of that time was only ignorant, +or whether he was jealous of the great influence of Apollonius, he +refused to admit our philosopher, on the ground that he was a sorcerer +([Greek: goes]), and that no one could be initiated who was tainted by +intercourse with evil entities ([Greek: daimonia]). To this charge +Apollonius replied with veiled irony: "You have omitted the most serious +charge that might have been urged against me: to wit, that though I +really know more about the mystic rite than its hierophant, I have come +here pretending to desire initiation from men knowing more than myself." +This charge would have been true; he had made a pretence. + +Dismayed at these words, frightened at the indignation of the people +aroused by the insult offered to their distinguished guest, and overawed +by the presence of a knowledge which he could no longer deny, the +hierophant begged our philosopher to accept the initiation. But +Apollonius refused. "I will be initiated later on," he replied; "_he_ +will initiate me." This is said to have referred to the succeeding +hierophant, who presided when Apollonius was initiated four years later +(iv. 18; v. 19). + +While at Athens Apollonius spoke strongly against the effeminacy of the +Bacchanalia and the barbarities of the gladiatorial combats (iv. 21, +22). + +The temples, mentioned by Philostratus, which Apollonius visited in +Greece, have all the peculiarity of being very ancient; for instance, +Dodona, Delphi, the ancient shrine of Apollo at Abae in Phocis, the +"caves" of Amphiaraus[105] and Trophonius, and the temple of the Muses +on Helicon. + +When he entered the adyta of these temples for the purpose of +"restoring" the rites, he was accompanied only by the priests, and +certain of his immediate disciples ([Greek: gnorimoi]). This suggests an +extension to the meaning of the word "restoring" or "reforming," and +when we read elsewhere of the many spots consecrated by Apollonius, we +cannot but think that part of his work was the reconsecration, and hence +psychic purification, of many of these ancient centres. His main +external work, however, was the giving of instruction, and, as +Philostratus rhetorically phrases it, "bowls of his words were set up +everywhere for the thirsty to drink from" (iv. 24). + +But not only did our philosopher restore the ancient rites of religion, +he also paid much attention to the ancient polities and institutions. +Thus we find him urging with success the Spartans to return to their +ancient mode of life, their athletic exercises, frugal living, and the +discipline of the old Dorian tradition (iv. 27, 31-34); he, moreover, +specially praised the institution of the Olympic Games, the high +standard of which was still maintained (iv. 29), while he recalled the +ancient Amphictionic Council to its duty (iv. 23), and corrected the +abuses of the Panionian assembly (iv. 5). + +In the spring of 66 A.D. he left Greece for Crete, where he seems to +have bestowed most of his time on the sanctuaries of Mount Ida and the +temple of AEsculapius at Lebene ("for as all Asia visits Pergamus so does +all Crete visit Lebene"); but curiously enough he refused to visit the +famous Labyrinth at Gnossus, the ruins of which have just been uncovered +for a sceptical generation, most probably (if it is lawful to speculate) +because it had once been a centre of human sacrifice, and thus pertained +to one of the ancient cults of the left hand. + +In Rome Apollonius continued his work of reforming the temples, and this +with the full sanction of the Pontifex Maximus Telesinus, one of the +consuls for the year 66 A.D., who was also a philosopher and a deep +student of religion (iv. 40). But his stay in the imperial city was +speedily cut short, for in October Nero crowned his persecution of the +philosophers by publishing a decree of banishment against them from +Rome, and both Telesinus (vii. 11) and Apollonius had to leave Italy. + +We next find him in Spain, making his headquarters in the temple of +Hercules at Cadiz. + +On his return to Greece by way of Africa and Sicily (where he spent some +time and visited AEtna), he passed the winter (? of 67 A.D.) at Eleusis, +living in the temple, and in the spring of the following year sailed for +Alexandria, spending some time on the way at Rhodes. The city of +philosophy and eclecticism _par excellence_ received him with open arms +as an old friend. But to reform the public cults of Egypt was a far more +difficult task than any he had previously attempted. His presence in the +temple (? the temple of Serapis) commanded universal respect, everything +about him and every word he uttered seemed to breathe an atmosphere of +wisdom and of "something divine." The high priest of the temple looked +on in proud disdain. "Who is wise enough," he mockingly asked, "to +reform the religion of the Egyptians?"--only to be met with the +confident retort of Apollonius: "Any sage who comes from the Indians." +Here as elsewhere Apollonius set his face against blood-sacrifice, and +tried to substitute instead, as he had attempted elsewhere, the offering +of frankincense modelled in the form of the victim (v. 25). Many abuses +he tried to reform in the manners of the Alexandrians, but upon none was +he more severe than on their wild excitement over horse-racing, which +frequently led to bloodshed (v. 26). + +Apollonius seems to have spent most of the remaining twenty years of his +life in Egypt, but of what he did in the secret shrines of that land of +mystery we can learn nothing from Philostratus, except that on the +protracted journey to Ethiopia up the Nile no city or temple or +community was unvisited, and everywhere there was an interchange of +advice and instruction in sacred things (v. 43). + + + + +SECTION X. + +THE GYMNOSOPHISTS OF UPPER EGYPT. + + +We now come to Apollonius' visit to the "Gymnosophists" in "Ethiopia," +which, though the artistic and literary goal of Apollonius' journey in +Egypt as elaborated by Philostratus, is only a single incident in the +real history of the unrecorded life of our mysterious philosopher in +that ancient land. + +Had Philostratus devoted a chapter or two to the nature of the +practices, discipline, and doctrines of the innumerable ascetic and +mystic communities that honeycombed Egypt and adjacent lands in those +days, he would have earned the boundless gratitude of students of the +origins. But of all this he has no word; and yet he would have us +believe that Damis' reminiscences were an orderly series of notes of +what actually happened. But in all things it is very apparent that Damis +was rather a _compagnon de voyage_ than an initiated pupil. + +Who then were these mysterious "Gymnosophists," as they are usually +called, and whence their name? Damis calls them simply the "Naked" +([Greek: gymnoi]), and it is very clear that the term is not to be +understood as merely physically naked; indeed, neither to the Indians +nor to these ascetics of uppermost Egypt can the term be applied with +appropriateness in its purely physical meaning, as is apparent from the +descriptions of Damis and Philostratus. A chance sentence that falls +from the lips of one of these ascetics, in giving the story of his life, +affords us a clue to the real meaning of the term. "At the age of +fourteen," he tells Apollonius, "I resigned my patrimony to those who +desired such things, and _naked_ I sought the _Naked_" (vi. 16).[106] + +This is the very same diction that Philo uses about the Therapeut +communities, which he declares were very numerous in every province of +Egypt and scattered in all lands. We are not, however, to suppose that +these communities were all of the same nature. It is true that Philo +tries to make out that the most pious and the chief of all of them was +_his_ particular community on the southern shore of Lake Moeris, which +was strongly Semitic if not orthodoxly Jewish; and for Philo any +community with a Jewish atmosphere must naturally have been the best. +The peculiarity and main interest of our community, which was at the +other end of the land above the cataracts, was that it had had some +remote connection with India. + +The community is called a [Greek: phrontisterion], in the sense of a +place for meditation, a term used by ecclesiastical writers for a +monastery, but best known to classical students from the humorous use +made of it by Aristophanes, who in The Clouds calls the school of +Socrates, a _phrontist[=e]rion_ or "thinking shop." The collection of +_monasteria_ ([Greek: hiera]), presumably caves, shrines, or cells,[107] +was situated on a hill or rising ground not far from the Nile. They were +all separated from one another, dotted about the hill, and ingeniously +arranged. There was hardly a tree in the place, with the exception of a +single group of palms, under whose shade they held their general +meetings (vi. 6). + +It is difficult to gather from the set speeches, put into the mouths of +the head of the community and Apollonius (vi. 10-13, 18-22), any precise +details as to the mode of life of these ascetics, beyond the general +indications of an existence of great toil and physical hardship, which +they considered the only means of gaining wisdom. What the nature of +their cult was, if they had one, we are not told, except that at mid-day +the Naked retired to their _monasteria_ (vi. 14). + +The whole tendency of Apollonius' arguments, however, is to remind the +community of its Eastern origin and its former connection with India, +which it seems to have forgotten. The communities of this particular +kind in southern Egypt and northern Ethiopia dated back presumably some +centuries, and some of them may have been remotely Buddhist, for one of +the younger members of our community who left it to follow Apollonius, +says that he came to join it from the enthusiastic account of the wisdom +of the Indians brought back by his father, who had been captain of a +vessel trading to the East. It was his father who told him that these +"Ethiopians" were from India, and so he had joined them instead of +making the long and perilous journey to the Indus itself (vi. 16). + +If there be any truth in this story it follows that the founders of this +way of life had been Indian ascetics, and if so they must have belonged +to the only propagandising form of Indian religion, namely, the +Buddhist. + +After the impulse had been given, the communities, which were +presumably recruited from generations of Egyptians, Arabs, and +Ethiopians, were probably left entirely to themselves, and so in course +of time forgot their origin, and even perhaps their original rule. Such +speculations are permissible, owing to the _repeated_ assertion of the +original connection between these Gymnosophists and India. The whole +burden of the story is that they were Indians who had forgotten their +origin and fallen away from the wisdom. + +The last incident that Philostratus records with regard to Apollonius +among the shrines and temples is a visit to the famous and very ancient +oracle of Trophonius, near Lebadea, in Boeotia. Apollonius is said to +have spent seven days alone in this mysterious "cave," and to have +returned with a book full of questions and answers on the subject of +"philosophy" (viii. 19). This book was still, in the time of +Philostratus, in the palace of Hadrian at Antium, together with a number +of letters of Apollonius, and many people used to visit Antium for the +special purpose of seeing it (viii. 19, 20). + +In the hay-bundle of legendary rigmarole solemnly set down by +Philostratus concerning the cave of Trophonius, a small needle of truth +may perhaps be discovered. The "cave" seems to have been a very ancient +temple or shrine, cut in the heart of a hill, to which a number of +underground passages of considerable length led. It had probably been +in ancient times one of the most holy centres of the archaic cult of +Hellas, perhaps even a relic of that Greece of thousands of years B.C., +the only tradition of which, as Plato tells us, was obtained by Solon +from the priests of Sais. Or it may have been a subterranean shrine of +the same nature as the famous Dictaean cave in Crete which only last year +was brought back to light by the indefatigable labours of Messrs. Evans +and Hogarth. + +As in the case of the travels of Apollonius, so with regard to the +temples and communities which he visited, Philostratus is a most +disappointing _cicerone_. But perhaps he is not to be blamed on this +account, for the most important and most interesting part of Apollonius' +work was of so intimate a nature, prosecuted as it was among +associations of such jealously-guarded secrecy, that no one outside +their ranks could know anything of it, and those who shared in their +initiation would say nothing. + +It is, therefore, only when Apollonius comes forward to do some public +act that we can get any precise historical trace of him; in every other +case he passes into the sanctuary of a temple or enters the privacy of a +community and is lost to view. + +It may perhaps surprise us that Apollonius, after sacrificing his +private fortune, could nevertheless undertake such long and expensive +travels, but it would seem that he was occasionally supplied with the +necessary monies from the treasuries of the temples (_cf._ viii. 17), +and that everywhere he was freely offered the hospitality of the temple +or community in the place where he happened to be staying. + +In conclusion of the present part of our subject, we may mention the +good service done by Apollonius in driving away certain Chaldaean and +Egyptian charlatans who were making capital out of the fears of the +cities on the left shores of the Hellespont. These cities had suffered +severely from shocks of earthquake, and in their panic placed large sums +of money in the hands of these adventurers (who "trafficked in the +misfortunes of others"), in order that they might perform propitiatory +rites (vi. 41). This taking money for the giving instruction in the +sacred science or for the performance of sacred rites was the most +detestable of crimes to all the true philosophers. + + + + +SECTION XI. + +APOLLONIUS AND THE RULERS OF THE EMPIRE. + + +But not only did Apollonius vivify and reconsecrate the old centres of +religion for some inscrutable reason, and do what he could to help on +the religious life of the time in its multiplex phases, but he took a +decided, though indirect, part in influencing the destinies of the +Empire through the persons of its supreme rulers. + +This influence, however, was invariably of a moral and not of a +political nature. It was brought to bear by means of philosophical +converse and instruction, by word of mouth or letter. Just as Apollonius +on his travels conversed on philosophy, and discoursed on the life of a +wise man and the duties of a wise ruler, with kings,[108] rulers, and +magistrates, so he endeavoured to advise for their good those of the +emperors who would listen to him. + +Vespasian, Titus, and Nerva were all, prior to their elevation to the +purple, friends and admirers of Apollonius, while Nero and Domitian +regarded the philosopher with dismay. + +During Apollonius' short stay in Rome, in 66 A.D., although he never let +the slightest word escape him that could be construed by the numerous +informers into a treasonable utterance, he was nevertheless brought +before Tigellinus, the infamous favourite of Nero, and subjected to a +severe cross-examination. Apparently up to this time Apollonius, working +for the future, had confined his attention entirely to the reformation +of religion and the restoration of the ancient institutions of the +nations, but the tyrannical conduct of Nero, which gave peace not even +to the most blameless philosophers, at length opened his eyes to a more +immediate evil, which seemed no less than the abrogation of the liberty +of conscience by an irresponsible tyranny. From this time onwards, +therefore, we find him keenly interested in the persons of the +successive emperors. + +Indeed Damis, although he confesses his entire ignorance of the purpose +of Apollonius' journey to Spain after his expulsion from Rome, would +have it that it was to aid the forthcoming revolt against Nero. He +conjectures this from a three days' secret interview that Apollonius had +with the Governor of the Province of Baetica, who came to Cadiz +especially to see him, and declares that the last words of Apollonius' +visitor were: "Farewell, and remember Vindex" (v. 10). + +It is true that almost immediately afterwards the revolt of Vindex, the +Governor of Gaul, broke out, but the whole life and character of +Apollonius is opposed to any idea of political intrigue; on the +contrary, he bravely withstood tyranny and injustice to the face. He was +opposed to the idea of Euphrates, a philosopher of quite a different +stamp, who would have put an end to the monarchy and restored the +republic (v. 33); he believed that government by a monarch was the best +for the Empire, but he desired above all other things to see the "flock +of mankind" led by a "wise and faithful shepherd" (v. 35). + +So that though Apollonius supported Vespasian as long as he worthily +tried to follow out this ideal, he immediately rebuked him to his face +when he deprived the Greek cities of their privileges. "You have +enslaved Greece," he wrote. "You have reduced a free people to slavery" +(v. 41). Nevertheless, in spite of this rebuke, Vespasian in his last +letter to his son Titus, confesses that they are what they are solely +owing to the good advice of Apollonius (v. 30). + +Equally so he journeyed to Rome to meet Domitian face to face, and +though he was put on trial and every effort made to prove him guilty of +treasonable plotting with Nerva, he could not be convicted of anything +of a political nature. Nerva was a good man, he told the emperor, and no +traitor. Not that Domitian had really any suspicion that Apollonius was +personally plotting against him; he cast him into prison solely in the +hope that he might induce the philosopher to disclose the confidences of +Nerva and other prominent men who were objects of suspicion to him, and +who he imagined had consulted Apollonius on their chances of success. +Apollonius' business was not with politics, but with the "princes who +asked him for his advice on the subject of virtue" (vi. 43). + + + + +SECTION XII. + +APOLLONIUS THE PROPHET AND WONDER-WORKER. + + +We will now turn our attention for a brief space to that side of +Apollonius' life which has made him the subject of invincible prejudice. +Apollonius was not only a philosopher, in the sense of being a +theoretical speculator or of being the follower of an ordered mode of +life schooled in the discipline of resignation; he was also a +philosopher in the original Pythagorean meaning of the term--a knower of +Nature's secrets, who thus could speak as one having authority. + +He knew the hidden things of Nature by sight and not by hearing; for him +the path of philosophy was a life whereby the man himself became an +instrument of knowing. Religion, for Apollonius, was not a faith only, +it was a science. For him the shows of things were but ever-changing +appearances; cults and rites, religions and faiths, were all one to him, +provided the right spirit were behind them. The Tyanean knew no +differences of race or creed; such narrow limitations were not for the +philosopher. + +Beyond all others would he have laughed to hear the word "miracle" +applied to his doings. "Miracle," in its Christian theological sense, +was an unknown term in antiquity, and is a vestige of superstition +to-day. For though many believe that it is possible by means of the soul +to effect a multitude of things beyond the possibilities of a science +which is confined entirely to the investigation of physical forces, none +but the unthinking believe that there can be any interference in the +working of the laws which Deity has impressed upon Nature--the credo of +Miraculists. + +Most of the recorded wonder-doings of Apollonius are cases of prophecy +or foreseeing; of seeing at a distance and seeing the past; of seeing or +hearing in vision; of healing the sick or curing cases of obsession or +possession. + +Already as a youth, in the temple at AEgae, Apollonius gave signs of the +possession of the rudiments of this psychic insight; not only did he +sense correctly the nature of the dark past of a rich but unworthy +suppliant who desired the restoration of his eyesight, but he foretold, +though unclearly, the evil end of one who made an attempt upon his +innocence (i. 12). + +On meeting with Damis, his future faithful henchman volunteered his +services for the long journey to India on the ground that he knew the +languages of several of the countries through which they had to pass. +"But I understand them all, though I have learned none of them," +answered Apollonius, in his usual enigmatical fashion, and added: +"Marvel not that I know all the tongues of men, for I know even what +they never say" (i. 19). And by this he meant simply that he could read +men's thoughts, not that he could speak all languages. But Damis and +Philostratus cannot understand so simple a fact of psychic experience; +they will have it that he knew not only the language of all men, but +also of birds and beasts (i. 20). + +In his conversation with the Babylonian monarch Vardan, Apollonius +distinctly claims foreknowledge. He says that he is a physician of the +soul and can free the king from the diseases of the mind, not only +because he knows what ought to be done, that is to say the proper +discipline taught in the Pythagorean and similar schools, but also +because he foreknows the nature of the king (i. 32). Indeed we are told +that the subject of foreknowledge ([Greek: prognoseos]), of which +science ([Greek: sophia]) Apollonius was a deep student, was one of the +principal topics discussed by our philosopher and his Indian hosts (iii. +42). + +In fact, as Apollonius tells his philosophical and studious friend the +Roman Consul Telesinus, for him wisdom was a kind of divinizing or +making divine of the whole nature, a sort of perpetual state of +inspiration ([Greek: theiasmos]) (iv. 40). And so we are told that +Apollonius was apprised of all things of this nature by the energy of +his daemonial nature ([Greek: daimonios]) (vii. 10). Now for the student +of the Pythagorean and Platonic schools the "daemon" of a man was what +may be called the higher self, the spiritual side of the soul as +distinguished from the purely human. It is the better part of the man, +and when his physical consciousness is at-oned with this "dweller in +heaven," he has (according to the highest mystic philosophy of ancient +Greece) while still on earth the powers of those incorporeal +intermediate beings between Gods and men called "daemons"; a stage higher +still, the living man becomes at-oned with his divine soul, he becomes a +God on earth; and yet a stage higher he becomes at one with the Good and +so becomes God. + +Hence we find Apollonius indignantly rejecting the accusation of magic +ignorantly brought against him, an art which achieved its results by +means of compacts with those low entities with which the outermost realm +of inner Nature swarms. Our philosopher repudiated equally the idea of +his being a soothsayer or diviner. With such arts he would have nothing +to do; if ever he uttered anything which savoured of foreknowledge, let +them know it was not by divination in the vulgar sense, but owing to +"that wisdom which God reveals to the wise" (iv. 44). + +The most numerous wonder-doings ascribed to Apollonius are instances +precisely of such foreknowledge or prophecy.[109] It must be confessed +that the utterances recorded are often obscure and enigmatical, but this +is the usual case with such prophecy; for future events are most +frequently either seen in symbolic representations, the meaning of which +is not clear until after the event, or heard in equally enigmatical +sentences. At times, however, we have instances of very precise +foreknowledge, such as the refusal of Apollonius to go on board a vessel +which foundered on the voyage (v. 18). + +The instances of seeing present events at a distance, however--such as +the burning of a temple at Rome, which Apollonius saw while at +Alexandria--are clear enough. Indeed, if people know nothing else of the +Tyanean, they have at least heard how he saw at Ephesus the +assassination of Domitian at Rome at the very moment of its occurrence. + +It was mid-day, to quote from the graphic account of Philostratus, and +Apollonius was in one of the small parks or groves in the suburbs, +engaged in delivering an address on some absorbing topic of philosophy. +"At first he sank his voice as though in some apprehension; he, however, +continued his exposition, but haltingly, and with far less force than +usual, as a man who had some other subject in his mind than that on +which he is speaking; finally he ceased speaking altogether as though he +could not find his words. Then staring fixedly on the ground, he started +forward three or four paces, crying out: 'Strike the tyrant; strike!' +And this, not like a man who sees an image in a mirror, but as one with +the actual scene before his eyes, as though he were himself taking part +in it." + +Turning to his astonished audience he told them what he had seen. But +though they hoped it were true, they refused to believe it, and thought +that Apollonius had taken leave of his senses. But the philosopher +gently answered: You, on your part, are right to suspend your rejoicings +till the news is brought you in the usual fashion; "as for me, I go to +return thanks to the Gods for what I have myself seen" (viii. 26). + +Little wonder, then, if we read, not only of a number of symbolic +dreams, but of their proper interpretation, one of the most important +branches of the esoteric discipline of the school. (See especially i. 23 +and iv. 34.) Nor are we surprised to hear that Apollonius, relying +entirely on his inner knowledge, was instrumental in obtaining the +reprieve of an innocent man at Alexandria, who was on the point of being +executed with a batch of criminals (v. 24). Indeed, he seems to have +known the secret past of many with whom he came in contact (vi. 3, 5). + +The possession of such powers can put but little strain on the belief of +a generation like our own, to which such facts of psychic science are +becoming with every day more familiar. Nor should instances of curing +disease by mesmeric processes astonish us, or even the so-called +"casting out of evil spirits," if we give credence to the Gospel +narrative and are familiar with the general history of the times in +which such healing of possession and obsession was a commonplace. This, +however, does not condemn us to any endorsement of the fantastic +descriptions of such happenings in which Philostratus indulges. If it be +credible that Apollonius was successful in dealing with obscure mental +cases--cases of obsession and possession--with which our hospitals and +asylums are filled to-day, and which are for the most part beyond the +skill of official science owing to its ignorance of the real agencies at +work, it is equally evident that Damis and Philostratus had little +understanding of the matter, and have given full rein to their +imagination in their narratives. (See ii. 4; iv. 20, 25; v. 42; vi. 27, +43.) Perhaps, however, Philostratus in some instances is only repeating +popular legend, the best case of which is the curing of the plague at +Ephesus which the Tyanean had foretold on so many occasions. Popular +legend would have it that the cause of the plague was traced to an old +beggar man, who was buried under a heap of stones by the infuriated +populace. On Apollonius ordering the stones to be removed, it was found +that what had been a beggar man was now a mad dog foaming at the mouth +(iv. 10)! + +On the contrary, the account of Apollonius' "restoring to life" a young +girl of noble birth at Rome, is told with great moderation. Our +philosopher seems to have met the funeral procession by chance; +whereupon he suddenly went up to the bier, and, after making some passes +over the maiden, and saying some inaudible words, "waked her out of her +seeming death." But, says Damis, "whether Apollonius noticed that the +spark of the soul was still alive which her friends had failed to +perceive--they say it was raining lightly and a slight vapour showed on +her face--or whether he made the life in her warm again and so restored +her," neither himself nor any who were present could say (iv. 45). + +Of a distinctly more phenomenal nature are the stories of Apollonius +causing the writing to disappear from the tablets of one of his accusers +before Tigellinus (iv. 44); of his drawing his leg out of the fetters to +show Damis that he was not really a prisoner though chained in the +dungeons of Domitian (vii. 38); and of his "disappearing" ([Greek: +ephanisthe]) from the tribunal (viii. 5).[110] + +We are not, however, to suppose that Apollonius despised or neglected +the study of physical phenomena in his devotion to the inner science of +things. On the contrary, we have several instances of his rejection of +mythology in favour of a physical explanation of natural phenomena. +Such, for instance, are his explanations of the volcanic activity of +AEtna (v. 14, 17), and of a tidal wave in Crete, the latter being +accompanied with a correct indication of the more immediate result of +the occurrence. In fact an island had been thrown up far out to sea by a +submarine disturbance as was subsequently ascertained (iv. 34). The +explanation of the tides at Cadiz may also be placed in the same +category (v. 2). + + + + +SECTION XIII. + +HIS MODE OF LIFE. + + +We will now present the reader with some general indications of the mode +of life of Apollonius, and the manner of his teaching, of which already +something has been said under the heading "Early Life." + +Our philosopher was an enthusiastic follower of the Pythagorean +discipline; nay, Philostratus would have us believe that he made more +superhuman efforts to reach wisdom than even the great Samian (i. 2). +The outer forms of this discipline as exemplified in Pythagoras are thus +summed up by our author. + +"Naught would he wear that came from a dead beast, nor touch a morsel of +a thing that once had life, nor offer it in sacrifice; not for him to +stain with blood the altars; but honey-cakes and incense, and the +service of his song went upward from the man unto the Gods, for well he +knew that they would take such gifts far rather than the oxen in their +hundreds with the knife. For he, in sooth, held converse with the Gods +and learned from them how they were pleased with men and how displeased, +and thence as well he drew his nature-lore. As for the rest, he said, +they guessed at the divine, and held opinions on the Gods which proved +each other false; but unto him Apollo's self did come, confessed, +without disguise,[111] and there did come as well, though unconfessed, +Athena and the Muses, and other Gods whose forms and names mankind did +not yet know." + +Hence his disciples regarded Pythagoras as an inspired teacher, and +received his rules as laws. "In particular did they keep the rule of +silence regarding the divine science. For they heard within them many +divine and unspeakable things on which it would have been difficult for +them to keep silence, had they not first learned that it was just this +silence which spoke to them" (i. 1). + +Such was the general declaration of the nature of the Pythagorean +discipline by its disciples. But, says Apollonius in his address to the +Gymnosophists, Pythagoras was not the inventor of it. It was the +immemorial wisdom, and Pythagoras himself had learnt it from the +Indians.[112] This wisdom, he continued, had spoken to him in his youth; +she had said: + +"For sense, young sir, I have no charms; my cup is filled with toils +unto the brim. Would anyone embrace my way of life, he must resolve to +banish from his board all food that once bore life, to lose the memory +of wine, and thus no more to wisdom's cup befoul--the cup that doth +consist of wine-untainted souls. Nor shall wool warm him, nor aught +that's made from any beast. I give my servants shoes of bast and as they +can to sleep. And if I find them overcome with love's delights, I've +ready pits down into which that justice which doth follow hard on +wisdom's foot, doth drag and thrust them; indeed, so stern am I to those +who choose my way, that e'en upon their tongues I bind a chain. Now hear +from me what things thou'lt gain, if thou endure. An innate sense of +fitness and of right, and ne'er to feel that any's lot is better than +thy own; tyrants to strike with fear instead of being a fearsome slave +to tyranny; to have the Gods more greatly bless thy scanty gifts than +those who pour before them blood of bulls. If thou art pure, I'll give +thee how to know what things will be as well, and fill thy eyes so full +of light, that thou may'st recognise the Gods, the heroes know, and +prove and try the shadowy forms that feign the shapes of men" (vi. 11). + +The whole life of Apollonius shows that he tried to carry out +consistently this rule of life, and the repeated statements that he +would never join in the blood-sacrifices of the popular cults (see +especially i. 24, 31; iv. 11; v. 25), but openly condemned them, show +not only that the Pythagorean school had ever set the example of the +higher way of purer offerings, but that they were not only not condemned +and persecuted as heretics on this account, but were rather regarded as +being of peculiar sanctity, and as following a life superior to that of +ordinary mortals. + +The refraining from the flesh of animals, however, was not simply based +upon ideas of purity, it found additional sanction in the positive love +of the lower kingdoms and the horror of inflicting pain on any living +creature. Thus Apollonius bluntly refused to take any part in the chase, +when invited to do so by his royal host at Babylon. "Sire," he replied, +"have you forgotten that even when you sacrifice I will not be present? +Much less then would I do these beasts to death, and all the more when +their spirit is broken and they are penned in contrary to their nature" +(i. 38).[113] + +But though Apollonius was an unflinching task-master unto himself, he +did not wish to impose his mode of life on others, even on his personal +friends and companions (provided of course they did not adopt it of +their own free will). Thus he tells Damis that he has no wish to +prohibit him from eating flesh and drinking wine, he simply demands the +right of refraining himself and of defending his conduct if called on to +do so (ii. 7). This is an additional indication that Damis was not a +member of the inner circle of discipline, and the latter fact explains +why so faithful a follower of the person of Apollonius was nevertheless +so much in the dark. + +Not only so, but Apollonius even dissuades the R[=a]j[=a]h Phraotes, his +first host in India, who desired to adopt his strict rule, from doing +so, on the ground that it would estrange him too much from his subjects +(ii. 37). + +Three times a day Apollonius prayed and meditated; at daybreak (vi. 10, +18; vii. 31), at mid-day (vii. 10), and at sun-down (viii. 13). This +seems to have been his invariable custom; no matter where he was he +seems to have devoted at least a few moments to silent meditation at +these times. The object of his worship is always said to have been the +"Sun," that is to say the Lord of our world and its sister worlds, whose +glorious symbol is the orb of day. + +We have already seen in the short sketch devoted to his "Early Life" how +he divided the day and portioned out his time among his different +classes of hearers and inquirers. His style of teaching and speaking was +the opposite of that of a rhetorician or professional orator. There was +no art in his sentences, no striving after effect, no affectation. But +he spoke "as from a tripod," with such words as "I know," "Methinks," +"Why do ye," "Ye should know." His sentences were short and compact, and +his words carried conviction with them and fitted the facts. His task, +he declared, was no longer to seek and to question as he had done in his +youth, but to teach what he knew (i. 17). He did not use the dialectic +of the Socratic school, but would have his hearers turn from all else +and give ear to the inner voice of philosophy alone (iv. 2). He drew his +illustrations from any chance occurrence or homely happening (iv. 3; vi. +3, 38), and pressed all into service for the improvement of his +listeners. + +When put on his trial, he would make no preparation for his defence. He +had lived his life as it came from day to day, prepared for death, and +would continue to do so (viii. 30). Moreover it was now his deliberate +choice to challenge death in the cause of philosophy. And so to his old +friend's repeated solicitations to prepare his defence, he replied: + +"Damis, you seem to lose your wits in face of death, though you have +been so long with me and I have loved philosophy e'en from my +youth;[114] I thought that you were both yourself prepared for death and +knew full well my generalship in this. For just as warriors in the field +have need not only of good courage but also of that generalship which +tells them when to fight, so too must they who wisdom love make careful +study of good times to die, that they may choose the best and not be +done to death all unprepared. That I have chosen best and picked the +moment which suits wisdom best to give death battle--if so it be that +any one should wish to slay me--I've proved to other friends when you +were by, nor ever ceased to teach you it alone" (vii. 31). + +The above are some few indications of how our philosopher lived, in fear +of nothing but disloyalty to his high ideal. We will now make mention of +some of his more personal traits, and of some of the names of his +followers. + + + + +SECTION XIV. + +HIMSELF AND HIS CIRCLE. + + +Apollonius is said to have been very beautiful to look upon (i. 7, 12; +iv. 1);[115] but beyond this we have no very definite description of his +person. His manner was ever mild and gentle (i. 36; ii. 22) and modest +(iv. 31; viii. 15), and in this, says Damis, he was more like an Indian +than a Greek (iii. 36); yet occasionally he burst out indignantly +against some special enormity (iv. 30). His mood was often pensive (i. +34), and when not speaking he would remain for long plunged in deep +thought, during which his eyes were steadfastly fixed on the ground (i. +10 et al.). + +Though, as we have seen, he was inflexibly stern with himself, he was +ever ready to make excuses for others; if, on the one hand, he praised +the courage of those few who remained with him at Rome, on the other he +refused to blame for their cowardice the many who had fled (iv. 38). Nor +was his gentleness shown simply by abstention from blame, he was ever +active in positive deeds of compassion (cf. vi. 39). + +One of his little peculiarities was a liking to be addressed as +"Tyanean" (vii. 38), but why this was so we are not told. It can hardly +have been that Apollonius was particularly proud of his birth-place, for +even though he was a great lover of Greece, so that at times you would +call him an enthusiastic patriot, his love for other countries was +quite as pronounced. Apollonius was a citizen of the world, if there has +ever been one, into whose speech the word native-land did not enter, and +a priest of universal religion in whose vocabulary the word sect did not +exist. + +In spite of his extremely ascetic life he was a man of strong physique, +so that even when he had reached the ripe age of four-score years, we +are told, he was sound and healthy in every limb and organ, upright and +perfectly formed. There was also a certain indefinite charm about him +that made him more pleasant to look upon than even the freshness of +youth, and this even though his face was furrowed with wrinkles, just as +the statues in the temple at Tyana represented him in the time of +Philostratus. In fact, says his rhetorical biographer, report sang +higher praises over the charm of Apollonius in his old age than over the +beauty of Alcibiades in his youth (viii. 29). + +In brief, our philosopher seems to have been of a most charming presence +and lovable disposition; nor was his absolute devotion to philosophy of +the nature of the hermit ideal, for he passed his life among men. What +wonder then that he attracted to himself many followers and disciples! +It would have been interesting if Philostratus had told us more about +these "Apollonians," as they were called (viii. 21), and whether they +constituted a distinct school, or whether they were grouped together in +communities on the Pythagorean model, or whether they were simply +independent students attracted to the most commanding personality of the +times in the domain of philosophy. It is, however, certain that many of +them wore the same dress as himself and followed his mode of life (iv. +39). Repeated mention is also made of their accompanying Apollonius on +his travels (iv. 47; v. 21; viii. 19, 21, 24), sometimes as many as ten +of them at the same time, but none of them were allowed to address +others until they had fulfilled the vow of silence (v. 43). + +The most distinguished of his followers were Musonius, who was +considered the greatest philosopher of the time after the Tyanean, and +who was the special victim of Nero's tyranny (iv. 44; v. 19; vii. 16), +and Demetrius, "who loved Apollonius" (iv. 25, 42; v. 19; vi. 31; vii. +10; viii. 10). These names are well known to history; of names otherwise +unknown are the Egyptian Dioscorides, who was left behind owing to weak +health on the long journey to Ethiopia (iv. 11, 38; v. 43), Menippus, +whom he had freed from an obsession (iv. 25, 38; v. 43), Phaedimus (iv. +11), and Nilus, who joined him from Gymnosophists (v. 10 _sqq._, 28), +and of course Damis, who would have us think that he was always with +him from the time of their meeting at Ninus. + +On the whole we are inclined to think that Apollonius did not establish +any fresh organisation; he made use of those already existing, and his +disciples were those who were attracted to him personally by an +overmastering affection which could only be satisfied by being +continually near him. This much seems certain, that he trained no one to +carry on his task; he came and went, helping and illuminating, but he +handed on no tradition of a definite line, and founded no school to be +continued by successors. Even to his ever faithful companion, when +bidding him farewell for what he knew would be the last time for Damis +on earth, he had no word to say about the work to which he had devoted +his life, but which Damis had never understood. His last words were for +Damis alone, for the man who had loved him, but who had never known him. +It was a promise to come to him if he needed help. "Damis, whenever you +think on high matters in solitary meditation, you shall see me" (viii. +28). + +We will next turn our attention to a consideration of some of the +sayings ascribed to Apollonius and the speeches put into his mouth by +Philostratus. The shorter sayings are in all probability authentically +traditional, but the speeches are for the most part manifestly the +artistic working-up of the rough notes of Damis. In fact, they are +definitely declared to be so; but they are none the less interesting on +this account, and for two reasons. + +In the first place, they honestly avow their nature, and make no claim +of inspiration; they are confessedly human documents which endeavour to +give a literary dress to the traditional body of thought and endeavour +which the life of the philosopher built into the minds of his hearers. +The method was common to antiquity, and the ancient compilers of certain +other series of famous documents would have been struck with amazement +had they been able to see how posterity would divinise their efforts and +regard them as immediately inspired by the source of all wisdom. + +In the second place, although we are not to suppose that we are reading +the actual words of Apollonius, we are nevertheless conscious of being +in immediate contact with the inner atmosphere of the best religious +thought of the Greek mind, and have before our eyes the picture of a +mystic and spiritual fermentation which leavened all strata of society +in the first century of our era. + + + + +SECTION XV. + +FROM HIS SAYINGS AND SERMONS. + + +Apollonius believed in prayer, but how differently from the vulgar. For +him the idea that the Gods could be swayed from the path of rigid +justice by the entreaties of men, was a blasphemy; that the Gods could +be made parties to our selfish hopes and fears was to our philosopher +unthinkable. One thing alone he knew, that the Gods were the ministers +of right and the rigid dispensers of just desert. The common belief, +which has persisted to our own day, that God can be swayed from His +purpose, that compacts could be made with Him or with His ministers, was +entirely abhorrent to Apollonius. Beings with whom such pacts could be +made, who could be swayed and turned, were not Gods but less than men. +And so we find Apollonius as a youth conversing with one of the priests +of AEsculapius as follows: + +"Since then the Gods know all things, I think that one who enters the +temple with a right conscience within him should pray thus: 'Give me, +ye Gods, what is my due!'" (i. 11). + +And thus again on his long journey to India he prayed at Babylon: "God +of the sun, send thou me o'er the earth so far as e'er 'tis good for +Thee and me; and may I come to know the good, and never know the bad nor +they know me" (i. 31). + +One of his most general prayers, Damis tells us, was to this effect: +"Grant me, ye Gods, to have little and need naught" (i. 34). + +"When you enter the temples, for what do you pray?" asked the Pontifex +Maximus Telesinus of our philosopher. "I pray," said Apollonius, "that +righteousness may rule, the laws remain unbroken, the wise be poor and +others rich, but honestly" (iv. 40). + +The belief of the philosopher in the grand ideal of having nothing and +yet possessing all things, is exemplified by his reply to the officer +who asked him how he dared enter the dominions of Babylon without +permission. "The whole earth," said Apollonius, "is mine; and it is +given me to journey through it" (i. 21). + +There are many instances of sums of money being offered to Apollonius +for his services, but he invariably refused them; not only so but his +followers also refused all presents. On the occasion when King Vardan, +with true Oriental generosity, offered them gifts, they turned away; +whereupon Apollonius said: "You see, my hands, though many, are all like +each other." And when the king asked Apollonius what present he would +bring him back from India, our philosopher replied: "A gift that will +please you, sire. For if my stay there should make me wiser, I shall +come back to you better than I am" (i. 41). + +When they were crossing the great mountains into India a conversation is +said to have taken place between Apollonius and Damis, which presents us +with a good instance of how our philosopher ever used the incidents of +the day to inculcate the higher lessons of life. The question was +concerning the "below" and "above." Yesterday, said Damis, we were +_below_ in the valley; to-day we are _above_, high on the mountains, not +far distant from heaven. So this is what you mean by "below" and +"above," said Apollonius gently. Why, of course, impatiently retorted +Damis, if I am in my right mind; what need of such useless questions? +And have you acquired a greater knowledge of the divine nature by being +nearer heaven on the tops of the mountains? continued his master. Do you +think that those who observe the heaven from the mountain heights are +any nearer the understanding of things? Truth to tell, replied Damis, +somewhat crestfallen, I _did_ think I should come down wiser, for I've +been up a higher mountain than any of them, but I fear I know no more +than before I ascended it. Nor do other men, replied Apollonius; "such +observations make them see the heavens more blue, the stars more large, +and the sun rise from the night, things known to those who tend the +sheep and goats; but how God doth take thought for human kind, and how +He doth find pleasure in their service, and what is virtue, +righteousness, and common-sense, that neither Athos will reveal to those +who scale his summit nor yet Olympus who stirs the poet's wonder, unless +it be the soul perceive them; for should the soul when pure and +unalloyed essay such heights, I swear to thee, she wings her flight far +far beyond this lofty Caucasus" (ii. 6). + +So again, when at Thermopylae his followers were disputing as to which +was the highest ground in Greece, Mt. Oeta being then in view. They +happened to be just at the foot of the hill on which the Spartans fell +overwhelmed with arrows. Climbing to the top of it Apollonius cried out: +"And I think _this_ the highest ground, for those who fell here for +freedom's sake have made it high as Oeta and raised it far above a +thousand of Olympuses" (iv. 23). + +Another instance of how Apollonius turned chance happenings to good +account is the following. Once at Ephesus, in one of the covered walks +near the city, he was speaking of sharing our goods with others, and how +we ought mutually to help one another. It chanced that a number of +sparrows were sitting on a tree hard by in perfect silence. Suddenly +another sparrow flew up and began chirping, as though it wanted to tell +the others something. Whereupon the little fellows all set to a-chirping +also, and flew away after the new-comer. Apollonius' superstitious +audience were greatly struck by this conduct of the sparrows, and +thought it was an augury of some important matter. But the philosopher +continued with his sermon. The sparrow, he said, has invited his friends +to a banquet. A boy slipped down in a lane hard by and spilt some corn +he was carrying in a bowl; he picked up most of it and went away. The +little sparrow, chancing on the scattered grains, immediately flew off +to invite his friends to the feast. + +Thereon most of the crowd went off at a run to see if it were true, and +when they came back shouting and all agog with wonderment, the +philosopher continued: "Ye see what care the sparrows take of one +another, and how happy they are to share with all their goods. And yet +we men do not approve; nay, if we see a man sharing his goods with +other men, we call it wastefulness, extravagance, and by such names, and +dub the men to whom he gives a share, fawners and parasites. What then +is left to us except to shut us up at home like fattening birds, and +gorge our bellies in the dark until we burst with fat?" (iv. 3). + +On another occasion, at Smyrna, Apollonius, seeing a ship getting under +weigh, used the occasion for teaching the people the lesson of +co-operation. "Behold the vessel's crew!" he said. "How some have manned +the boats, some raise the anchors up and make them fast, some set the +sails to catch the wind, how others yet again look out at bow and stern. +But if a single man should fail to do a single one of these his duties, +or bungle in his seamanship, their sailing will be bad, and they will +have the storm among them. But if they strive in rivalry each with the +other, their only strife being that no man shall seem worse than his +mates, fair havens shall there be for such a ship, and all good weather +and fair voyage crowd in upon it" (iv. 9). + +Again, on another occasion, at Rhodes, Damis asked him if he thought +anything greater than the famous Colossus. "I do," replied Apollonius; +"the man who walks in wisdom's guileless paths that give us health" (v. +21). + +There is also a number of instances of witty or sarcastic answers +reported of our philosopher, and indeed, in spite of his generally grave +mood, he not unfrequently rallied his hearers, and sometimes, if we may +say so, chaffed the foolishness out of them (see especially iv. 30). + +Even in times of great danger this characteristic shows itself. A good +instance is his answer to the dangerous question of Tigellinus, "What +think you of Nero?" "I think better of him than you do," retorted +Apollonius, "for you think he ought to sing, and I think he ought to +keep silence" (iv. 44). + +So again his reproof to a young Croesus of the period is as witty as it +is wise. "Young sir," he said, "methinks it is not you who own your +house, but your house you" (v. 22). + +Of the same style also is his answer to a glutton who boasted of his +gluttony. He copied Hercules, he said, who was as famous for the food he +ate as for his labours. + +"Yes," said Apollonius, "for he was Hercules. But _you_, what virtue +have you, midden-heap? Your only claim to notice is your chance of being +burst" (iv. 23). + +But to turn to more serious occasions. In answer to Vespasian's earnest +prayer, "Teach me what should a good king do," Apollonius is said to +have replied somewhat in the following words: + +"You ask me what can not be taught. For kingship is the greatest thing +within a mortal's reach; it is not taught. Yet will I tell you what if +you will do, you will do well. Count not that wealth which is stored +up--in what is this superior to the sand haphazard heaped? nor that +which comes from men who groan beneath taxation's heavy weight--for gold +that comes from tears is base and black. You'll use wealth best of any +king, if you supply the needs of those in want and make their wealth +secure for those with many goods. Be fearful of the power to do whate'er +you please, so will you use it with more prudence. Do not lop off the +ears of corn that show beyond the rest and raise their heads--for +Aristotle is not just in this[116]--but rather weed their disaffection +out like tares from corn, and show yourself a fear to stirrers up of +strife not in 'I punish you' but in 'I _will_ do so.' Submit yourself to +law, O prince, for you will make the laws with greater wisdom if you do +not despise the law yourself. Pay reverence more than ever to the Gods; +great are the gifts you have received from them, and for great things +you pray.[117] In what concerns the state act as a king; in what +concerns yourself, act as a private man" (v. 36). And so on much in the +same strain, all good advice and showing a deep knowledge of human +affairs. And if we are to suppose that this is merely a rhetorical +exercise of Philostratus and not based on the substance of what +Apollonius said, then we must have a higher opinion of the rhetorician +than the rest of his writings warrant. + +There is an exceedingly interesting Socratic dialogue between +Thespesion, the abbot of the Gymnosophist community, and Apollonius on +the comparative merits of the Greek and Egyptian ways of representing +the Gods. It runs somewhat as follows: + +"What! Are we to think," said Thespesion, "that the Pheidiases and +Praxiteleses went up to heaven and took impressions of the forms of the +Gods, and so made an art of them, or was it something else that set them +a-modelling?" + +"Yes, something else," said Apollonius, "something pregnant with +wisdom." + +"What was that? Surely you cannot say it was anything else but +imitation?" + +"Imagination wrought them--a workman wiser far than imitation; for +imitation only makes what it has seen, whereas imagination makes what it +has never seen, conceiving it with reference to the thing it really is." + +Imagination, says Apollonius, is one of the most potent faculties, for +it enables us to reach nearer to realities. It is generally supposed +that Greek sculpture was merely a glorification of physical beauty, in +itself quite unspiritual. It was an idealisation of form and features, +limbs and muscles, an empty glorification of the physical with nothing +of course really corresponding to it in the nature of things. But +Apollonius declared it brings us nearer to the real, as Pythagoras and +Plato declared before him, and as all the wiser teach. He meant this +literally, not vaguely and fantastically. He asserted that the types and +ideas of things are the only realities. He meant that between the +imperfection of the earth and the highest divine type of all things, +were grades of increasing perfection. He meant that within each man was +a form of perfection, though of course not yet absolutely perfect. That +the angel in man, his daemon, was of God-like beauty, the summation of +all the finest features he had ever worn in his many lives on earth. The +Gods, too, belonged to the world of types, of models, of perfections, +the heaven-world. The Greek sculptors had succeeded in getting in +contact with this world, and the faculty they used was imagination. + +This idealisation of form was a worthy way to represent the Gods; but, +says Apollonius, if you set up a hawk or owl or dog in your temples, to +represent Hermes or Athena or Apollo, you may dignify the animals, but +you make the Gods lose dignity. + +To this Thespesion replies that the Egyptians dare not give any precise +form to the Gods; they give them merely symbols to which an occult +meaning is attached. + +Yes, answers Apollonius, but the danger is that the common people +worship these symbols and get unbeautiful ideas of the Gods. The best +thing would be to have no representations at all. For the mind of the +worshipper can form and fashion for himself an image of the object of +his worship better than any art. + +Quite so, retorted Thespesion, and then added mischievously: There was +an old Athenian, by-the-by--no fool--called Socrates, who swore by the +dog and goose as though they were Gods. + +Yes, replied Apollonius, he was no fool. He swore by them not as being +Gods, but in order that he might not swear by the Gods (iv. 19). + +This is a pleasant passage of wit, of Egyptian against Greek, but all +such set arguments must be set down to the rhetorical exercises of +Philostratus rather than to Apollonius, who taught as "one having +authority," as "from a tripod." Apollonius, a priest of universal +religion, might have pointed out the good side and the bad side of both +Greek and Egyptian religious art, and certainly taught the higher way of +symbolless worship, but he would not champion one popular cult against +another. In the above speech there is a distinct prejudice against Egypt +and a glorification of Greece, and this occurs in a very marked fashion +in several other speeches. Philostratus was a champion of Greece against +all comers; but Apollonius, we believe, was wiser than his biographer. + +In spite of the artificial literary dress that is given to the longer +discourses of Apollonius, they contain many noble thoughts, as we may +see from the following quotations from the conversations of our +philosopher with his friend Demetrius, who was endeavouring to dissuade +him from braving Domitian at Rome. + +The law, said Apollonius, obliges us to die for liberty, and nature +ordains that we should die for our parents, our friends, or our +children. All men are bound by these duties. But a higher duty is laid +upon the sage; he must die for his principles and the truth he holds +dearer than life. It is not the law that lays this choice upon him, it +is not nature; it is the strength and courage of his own soul. Though +fire or sword threaten him, it will not overcome his resolution or force +from him the slightest falsehood; but he will guard the secrets of +others' lives and all that has been entrusted to his honour as +religiously as the secrets of initiation. And I know more than other +men, for I know that of all that I know, I know some things for the +good, some for the wise, some for myself, some for the Gods, but naught +for tyrants. + +Again, I think that a wise man does nothing alone or by himself; no +thought of his so secret but that he has himself as witness to it. And +whether the famous saying "know thyself" be from Apollo or from some +sage who learnt to know himself and proclaimed it as a good for all, I +think the wise man who knows himself and has his own spirit in constant +comradeship, to fight at his right hand, will neither cringe at what the +vulgar fear, nor dare to do what most men do without the slightest shame +(vii. 15). + +In the above we have the true philosopher's contempt for death, and also +the calm knowledge of the initiate, of the comforter and adviser of +others to whom the secrets of their lives have been confessed, that no +tortures can ever unseal his lips. Here, too, we have the full knowledge +of what consciousness is, of the impossibility of hiding the smallest +trace of evil in the inner world; and also the dazzling brilliancy of a +higher ethic which makes the habitual conduct of the crowd appear +surprising--the "that which they do--not with shame." + + + + +SECTION XVI. + +FROM HIS LETTERS. + + +Apollonius seems to have written many letters to emperors, kings, +philosophers, communities and states, although he was by no means a +"voluminous correspondent"; in fact, the style of his short notes is +exceedingly concise, and they were composed, as Philostratus says, +"after the manner of the Lacedaemonian scytale"[118] (iv. 27 and vii. +35). + +It is evident that Philostratus had access to letters attributed to +Apollonius, for he quotes a number of them,[119] and there seems no +reason to doubt their authenticity. Whence he obtained them he does not +inform us, unless it be that they were the collection made by Hadrian at +Antium (viii. 20). + +That the reader may be able to judge of the style of Apollonius we +append one or two specimens of these letters, or rather notes, for they +are too short to deserve the title of epistles. Here is one to the +magistrates of Sparta: + +"Apollonius to the Ephors, greeting! + +"It is possible for men not to make mistakes, but it requires noble men +to acknowledge they have made them." + +All of which Apollonius gets into just half as many words in Greek. +Here, again, is an interchange of notes between the two greatest +philosophers of the time, both of whom suffered imprisonment and were in +constant danger of death. + +"Apollonius to Musonius, the philosopher, greeting! + +"I want to go to you, to share speech and roof with you, to be of some +service to you. If you still believe that Hercules once rescued Theseus +from Hades, write what you would have. Farewell!" + +"Musonius to Apollonius, the philosopher, greeting! + +"Good merit shall be stored for you for your good thoughts; what is in +store for me is one who waits his trial and proves his innocence. +Farewell." + +"Apollonius to Musonius, greeting! + +"Socrates refused to be got out of prison by his friends and went before +the judges. He was put to death. Farewell." + +"Musonius to Apollonius, the philosopher, greeting! + +"Socrates was put to death because he made no preparation for his +defence. I shall do so. Farewell!" + +However, Musonius, the Stoic, was sent to penal servitude by Nero. + +Here is a note to the Cynic Demetrius, another of our philosopher's most +devoted friends. + +"Apollonius, the philosopher, to Demetrius, the Dog,[120] greeting! + +"I give thee to Titus, the emperor, to teach him the way of kingship, +and do you in turn give me to speak him true; and be to him all things +but anger. Farewell!" + +In addition to the notes quoted in the text of Philostratus, there is a +collection of ninety-five letters, mostly brief notes, the text of which +is printed in most editions.[121] Nearly all the critics are of opinion +that they are not genuine, but Jowett[122] and others think that some of +them may very well be genuine. + +Here is a specimen or two of these letters. Writing to Euphrates, his +great enemy, that is to say the champion of pure rationalistic ethic +against the science of sacred things, he says: + +17. "The Persians call those who have the divine faculty (or are +god-like) Magi. A Magus, then, is one who is a minister of the Gods, or +one who has by nature the god-like faculty. You are no Magus but reject +the Gods (i.e., are an atheist)." + +Again, in a letter addressed to Criton, we read: + +23. "Pythagoras said that the most divine art was that of healing. And +if the healing art is most divine, it must occupy itself with the soul +as well as with the body; for no creature can be sound so long as the +higher part in it is sickly." + +Writing to the priests of Delphi against the practice of +blood-sacrifice, he says: + +27. "Heraclitus was a sage, but even he[123] never advised the people of +Ephesus to wash out mud with mud."[124] + +Again, to some who claimed to be his followers, those "who think +themselves wise," he writes the reproof: + +43. "If any say he is my disciple, then let him add he keeps himself +apart out of the Baths, he slays no living thing, eats of no flesh, is +free from envy, malice, hatred, calumny, and hostile feelings, but has +his name inscribed among the race of those who've won their freedom." + +Among these letters is found one of some length addressed to Valerius, +probably P. Valerius Asiaticus, consul in A.D. 70. It is a wise letter +of philosophic consolation to enable Valerius to bear the loss of his +son, and runs as follows:[125] + +"There is no death of anyone, but only in appearance, even as there is +no birth of any, save only in seeming. The change from being to becoming +seems to be birth, and the change from becoming to being seems to be +death, but in reality no one is ever born, nor does one ever die. It is +simply a being visible and then invisible; the former through the +density of matter, and the latter because of the subtlety of +being--being which is ever the same, its only change being motion and +rest. For being has this necessary peculiarity, that its change is +brought about by nothing external to itself; but whole becomes parts and +parts become whole in the oneness of the all. And if it be asked: What +is this which sometimes is seen and sometimes not seen, now in the same, +now in the different?--it might be answered: It is the way of everything +here in the world below that when it is filled out with matter it is +visible, owing to the resistance of its density, but is invisible, owing +to its subtlety, when it is rid of matter, though matter still surround +it and flow through it in that immensity of space which hems it in but +knows no birth or death. + +"But why has this false notion [of birth and death] remained so long +without a refutation? Some think that what has happened through them, +they have themselves brought about. They are ignorant that the +individual is brought to birth _through_ parents, not by parents, just +as a thing produced _through_ the earth is not produced _from_ it. The +change which comes to the individual is nothing that is caused by his +visible surroundings, but rather a change in the one thing which is in +every individual. + +"And what other name can we give to it but primal being? 'Tis it alone +that acts and suffers becoming all for all through all, eternal deity, +deprived and wronged of its own self by names and forms. But this is a +less serious thing than that a man should be bewailed, when he has +passed from man to God by change of state and not by the destruction of +his nature. The fact is that so far from mourning death you ought to +honour it and reverence it. The best and fittest way for you to honour +death is now to leave the one who's gone to God, and set to work to play +the ruler over those left in your charge as you were wont to do. It +would be a disgrace for such a man as you to owe your cure to time and +not to reason, for time makes even common people cease from grief. The +greatest thing is a strong rule, and of the greatest rulers he is best +who first can rule himself. And how is it permissible to wish to change +what has been brought to pass by will of God? If there's a law in +things, and there _is_ one, and it is God who has appointed it, the +righteous man will have no wish to try to change good things, for such a +wish is selfishness, and counter to the law, but he will think that all +that comes to pass is a good thing. On! heal yourself, give justice to +the wretched and console them; so shall you dry your tears. You should +not set your private woes above your public cares, but rather set your +public cares before your private woes. And see as well what consolation +you already have! The nation sorrows with you for your son. Make some +return to those who weep with you; and this you will more quickly do if +you will cease from tears than if you still persist. Have you not +friends? Why! you have yet another son. Have you not even still the one +that's gone? You have!--will answer anyone who really thinks. For 'that +which is' doth cease not--nay _is_ just for the very fact that it will +be for aye; or else the 'is not' is, and how could that be when the 'is' +doth never cease to be? + +"Again it will be said you fail in piety to God and are unjust. 'Tis +true. You fail in piety to God, you fail in justice to your boy; nay +more, you fail in piety to him as well. Would'st know what death is? +Then make me dead and send me off to company with death, and if you will +not change the dress you've put on it,[126] you will have straightway +made me better than yourself."[127] + + + + +SECTION XVII. + +THE WRITINGS OF APOLLONIUS. + + +But besides these letters Apollonius also wrote a number of treatises, +of which, however, only one or two fragments have been preserved. These +treatises are as follows: + +_a._ The Mystic Rites or Concerning Sacrifices.[128] This treatise is +mentioned by Philostratus (iii. 41; iv. 19), who tells us that it set +down the proper method of sacrifice to every God, the proper hours of +prayer and offering. It was in wide circulation, and Philostratus had +come across copies of it in many temples and cities, and in the +libraries of philosophers. Several fragments of it have been +preserved,[129] the most important of which is to be found in +Eusebius,[130] and is to this effect: "'Tis best to make no sacrifice to +God at all, no lighting of a fire, no calling Him by any name that men +employ for things of sense. For God is over all, the first; and only +after Him do come the other Gods. For He doth stand in need of naught +e'en from the Gods, much less from us small men--naught that the earth +brings forth, nor any life she nurseth, or even any thing the stainless +air contains. The only fitting sacrifice to God is man's best reason, +and not the word[131] that comes from out his mouth. + +"We men should ask the best of beings through the best thing in us, for +what is good--I mean by means of mind, for mind needs no material things +to make its prayer. So then, to God, the mighty One, who's over all, no +sacrifice should ever be lit up." + +Noack[132] tells us that scholarship is convinced of the genuineness of +this fragment. This book, as we have seen, was widely circulated and +held in the highest respect, and it said that its rules were engraved on +brazen pillars at Byzantium.[133] + +_b._ The Oracles or Concerning Divination, 4 books. Philostratus (iii. +41) seems to think that the full title was Divination of the Stars, and +says that it was based on what Apollonius had learned in India; but the +_kind_ of divination Apollonius wrote about was not the ordinary +astrology, but something which Philostratus considers superior to +ordinary human art in such matters. He had, however, never heard of +anyone possessing a copy of this rare work. + +_c._ The Life of Pythagoras. Porphyry refers to this work,[134] and +Iamblichus quotes a long passage from it.[135] + +_d._ The Will of Apollonius, to which reference has already been made, +in treating of the sources of Philostratus (i. 3). This was written in +the Ionic dialect, and contained a summary of his doctrines. + +A Hymn to Memory is also ascribed to him, and Eudocia speaks of many +other ([Greek: kai alla polla]) works. + +We have now indicated for the reader all the information which exists +concerning our philosopher. Was Apollonius, then, a rogue, a trickster, +a charlatan, a fanatic, a misguided enthusiast, or a philosopher, a +reformer, a conscious worker, a true initiate, one of the earth's great +ones? This each must decide for himself, according to his knowledge or +his ignorance. + +I for my part bless his memory, and would gladly learn from him, as now +he is. + + + + +SECTION XVIII. + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. + + +NINETEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE ON APOLLONIUS. + + Jacobs (F.), Observationes in ... Philostrati Vitam Apollonii + (Jena; 1804), purely philological, for the correction of the + text. + + Legrand d'Aussy (P. J. B.), Vie d'Apollonius de Tyane (Paris; + 1807, 2 vols.). + + Bekker (G. J.), Specimen Variarum Lectionum ... in Philost. + Vitae App. Librum primum (1808); purely philological. + + Berwick (E.), The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, translated from + the Greek of Philostratus, with Notes and Illustrations + (London; 1809). + + Lancetti (V.), Le Opere dei due Filostrati, Italian trs. + (Milano; 1828-31); in "Coll. degli Ant. Storici Greci + volgarizzati." + + Jacobs (F.), Philostratus: Leben des Apollonius von Tyana, in + the series "Griechische Prosaiker," German trs. (Stuttgart; + 1829-32), vols. xlviii., lxvi., cvi., cxi., each containing two + books; a very clumsy arrangement. + + Baur (F. C.), Apollonius von Tyana und Christus oder das + Verhaeltniss des Pythagoreismus zum Christenthum (Tuebingen; + 1832); reprinted from Tuebinger Zeitschrift fuer Theologie. + + Second edition by E. Zeller (Leipzig; 1876), in Drei + Abhandlungen zur Geschichte der alten Philosophie und ihres + Verhaeltnisses zum Christenthum. + + Kayser and Westermann's editions as above referred to in + section v. + + Newman (J. H.), "Apollonius Tyanaeus--Miracles," in Smedley's + Encyclopaedia Metropolitana (London; 1845), x. pp. 619-644. + + Noack (L.), "Apollonius von Tyana ein Christusbild des + Heidenthums," in his magazine Psyche: Populaerwissenschaftliche + Zeitschrift fuer die Kentniss des menschlichen Seelen- und + Geistes-lebens (Leipzig; 1858), Bd. i., Heft ii., pp. 1-24. + + Mueller (I. P. E.), Commentatio qua de Philostrati in componenda + Memoria Apoll. Tyan. fide quaeritur, I.-III. (Onoldi et + Landavii; 1858-1860). + + Mueller (E.), War Apollonius von Tyana ein Weiser oder ein + Betrueger oder ein Schwaermer und Fanatiker? Ein + Culturhistorische Untersuchung (Breslau; 1861, 4to), 56 pp. + + Chassang (A.), Apollonius de Tyane, sa Vie, ses Voyages, ses + Prodiges, par Philostrate, et ses Lettres, trad. du grec. avec + Introd., Notes et Eclaircissements (Paris; 1862), with the + additional title, Le Merveilleux dans l'Antiquite. + + Reville (A.), Apollonius the Pagan Christ of the Third Century + (London; 1866), tr. from the French. The original is not in the + British Museum. + + Priaulx (O. de B.), The Indian Travels of Apollonius of Tyana, + etc. (London; 1873), pp. 1-62. + + Moenckeberg (C.), Apollonius von Tyana, ein Weihnachtsgabe + (Hamburg; 1877), 57 pp. + + Pettersch (C. H.), Apollonius von Tyana der Heiden Heiland, ein + philosophische Studie (Reichenberg; 1879), 23 pp. + + Nielsen (C. L.), Apollonios fra Tyana og Filostrats Beskrivelse + af hans Levnet (Copenhagen; 1879); the Appendix (pp. 167 sqq.) + contains a Danish tr. of Eusebius Contra Hieroclem. + + Baltzer (E.), Apollonius von Tyana, aus den Griech. uebersetzt + u. erlaeutert (Rudolstadt i/ Th.; 1883). + + Jessen (J.), Apollonius von Tyana und sein Biograph + Philostratus (Hamburg; 1885, 4to), 36 pp. + + Tredwell (D. M.), A Sketch of the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, + or the first Ten Decades of our Era (New York; 1886). + + Sinnett (A. P.), "Apollonius of Tyana," in the Transactions + (No. 32) of the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society + (London; 1898), 32 pp. + + The student may also consult the articles in the usual + Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias, none of which, however, demand + special mention. P. Cassel's learned paper in the Vossische + Zeitung of Nov. 24th, 1878, I have not been able to see. + + +SOME INDICATIONS OF THE LITERATURE ON THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AMONG +THE GREEKS AND ROMANS. + + Boeckh (A.), Die Staatshaushaltung der Athener (1st ed. 1817). + For older literature, see i. 416, _n._ + + Van Holst, De Eranis Veterum Graecorum (Leyden; 1832). + + Mommsen (T.), De Collegiis et Sodaliciis Romanorum (Kiel; + 1843). + + Mommsen (T.), "Roemische Urkunden, iv.--Die Lex Julia de Collegiis + und die lanuvinische Lex Collegii Salutaris," art. in Zeitschr. + fuer geschichtl. Rechtswissenschaft (1850), vol. xv. 353 sqq. + + Wescher (C.), "Recherches epigraphiques en Grece, dans + l'Archipel et en Asie Mineure," arts. in Le Moniteur of Oct. + 20, 23, and 24, 1863. + + Wescher (C.), "Inscriptions de l'Ile de Rhodes relatives a des + Societes religieuses"; "Notice sur deux Inscriptions de l'Ile + de Thera relatives a une Societe religieuse"; "Note sur une + Inscription de l'Ile de Thera publiee par M. Ross et relative a + une Societe religieuse"; arts. in La Revue archeologique + (Paris; new series, 1864), x. 460 sqq.; 1865, xii. 214 sqq.; + 1866, xiii. 245 sqq. + + Foucart (P.), Des Associations religieuses chez les Grecs, + Thiases, Eranes, Orgeons, avec le Texte des Inscriptions + relatives a ces Associations (Paris; 1873). + + Lueders (H. O.), Die dionyschischen Kuenstler (Berlin; 1873). + + Cohn (M.), Zum roemischen Vereinsrecht: Abhandlung aus der + Rechtsgeschichte (Berlin; 1873). Also the notice of it in + Bursian's Philol. Jaresbericht (1873), ii. 238-304. + + Henzen (G.), Acta Fratrum Arvalium quae supersunt;... accedunt + Fragmenta Fastorum in Luco Arvalium effossa (Berlin; 1874). + + Heinrici (G.), "Die Christengemeinde Korinths und die + religioesen genossenschaften der Griechen"; "Zur Geschichte der + Anfange paulinischer Gemeinden"; arts. in Zeitschr. fuer + wissensch. Theol. (Jena, etc.; 1876), pp. 465-526, particularly + pp. 479 sqq.; 1877, pp. 89-130. + + Duruy (V.), "Du Regime municipal dans l'Empire romain," art. in + La Revue historique (Paris; 1876), pp. 355 sqq.; also his + Histoire des Romanis (Paris; 1843, 1844), i. 149 sqq. + + De Rossi, Roma Sotteranea (Rome; 1877), iii. 37 sqq., and + especially pp. 507 sqq. + + Marquardt (J.), Roemische Staatsverwaltung, iii. 131-142, in + vol. vi. of Marquardt and Mommsen's Handbuch der roemischen + Altherthuemer (Leipzig; 1878); an excellent summary with + valuable notes, especially the section "Ersatz der Gentes durch + die Sodalitates fuer fremde Culte." + + Boissier (G.), La Religion romaine d'Auguste aux Antonins + (Paris; 2nd ed. 1878), ii. 238-304 (1st ed. 1874). + + Hatch (E.), The Organization of the Early Christian Churches: + The Bampton Lectures for 1880 (London; 2nd ed. 1882); see + especially Lecture ii., "Bishops and Deacons," pp. 26-32: + German ed. Die Gesellschaftsverfassung der christlichen Kirchen + in Althertum (1883), p. 20; see this for additional literature. + + Newmann (K. J.), "[Greek: thiasotai Iesou]," art. in Jahrbb. + fuer prot. Theol. (Leipzig, etc.; 1885), pp. 123-125. + + Schuerer (E.), A History of the Jewish People in the Time of + Jesus Christ, Eng. tr. (Edinburgh; 1893), Div. ii, vol. ii. pp. + 255 and 300. + + Owen (J.), "On the Organization of the Early Church," an + Introductory Essay to the English translation of Harnack's + Sources of the Apostolic Canons (London; 1895). + + Anst (E.), Die Religion der Roemer; vol. xiii. Darstellungen aus + dem Gebiete der nichtchristlichen Religionsgeschichte (Muenster + i. W.; 1899). + +See also Whiston and Wayte's art. "Arvales Fratres," and Moyle's arts. +"Collegium" and "Universitas," in Smith, Wayte and Marindin's Dict. of +Greek and Roman Antiquities (London; 3rd ed. 1890-1891); and also, of +course, the arts. "Collegium" and "Sodalitas" in Pauly's +Realencyclopaedie der classichen Alterthumswissenschaft, though they are +now somewhat out of date. + + + FOOTNOTES: + + [1] From a fragment of The Cretans. See Lobeck's Aglaophamus, + p. 622. + + [2] Pronounced Ty[)a]na, with the accent on the first syllable + and the first a short. + + [3] Alexander sive Pseudomantis, vi. + + [4] De Magia, xc. (ed. Hildebrand, 1842, ii. 614). + + [5] [Greek: telesmata]. _Telesma_ was "a consecrated object, + turned by the Arabs into _telsam_ (_talisman_)"; see Liddell and + Scott's Lexicon, sub voc. + + [6] Justin Martyr, Opera, ed. Otto (2nd ed.; Jena, 1849), iii. + 32. + + [7] Lib. lxxvii. 18. + + [8] Life of Alexander Severus, xxix. + + [9] Life of Aurelian, xxiv. + + [10] "_Quae qui velit nosse, graecos legat libros qui de ejus + vita conscripti sunt._" These accounts were probably the books + of Maximus, Moeragenes, and Philostratus. + + [11] An Egyptian epic poet, who wrote several poetical + histories in Greek; he flourished in the last decade of the + third century. + + [12] Sidonius Apollinaris, Epp., viii. 3. See also Legrand + d'Aussy, Vie d'Apollonius de Tyane (Paris; 1807), p. xlvii. + + [13] Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, section ii., ed. Kiessling + (Leipzig; 1816). Iamblichus De Vita Pythagorica, chap. xxv., + ed. Kiessling (Leipzig; 1813); see especially K.'s note, pp. 11 + sqq. See also Porphyry, Frag., De Styge, p. 285, ed. Holst. + + [14] See Duchesne on the recently discovered works of Macarius + Magnes (Paris; 1877). + + [15] The most convenient text is by Gaisford (Oxford; 1852), + Eusebii Pamphili contra Hieroclem; it is also printed in a + number of editions of Philostratus. There are two translations + in Latin, one in Italian, one in Danish, all bound up with + Philostratus' Vita, and one in French printed apart (Discours + d'Eusebe Eveque de Cesaree touchant les Miracles attribuez par + les Payens a Apollonius de Tyane, tr. by Cousin. Paris; 1584, + 12mo, 135 pp.). + + [16] Lactantius, Divinae Institutiones, v. 2, 3; ed. Fritsche + (Leipzig; 1842), pp. 233, 236. + + [17] Arnobius, Adversus Nationes, i. 52; ed. Hildebrand (Halle; + 1844), p. 86. The Church Father, however, with that + exclusiveness peculiar to the Judaeo-Christian view, omits Moses + from the list of Magi. + + [18] John Chrysostom, Adversus Judaeos, v. 3 (p. 631); De + Laudibus Sancti Pauli Apost. Homil., iv. (p. 493 D.; ed. + Montfauc.). + + [19] Hieronymus, Ep. ad Paulinum, 53 (text ap. Kayser, praef. + ix.). + + [20] August., Epp., cxxxviii. Text quoted by Legrand d'Aussy, + op. cit., p. 294. + + [21] Isidorus Pelusiota, Epp., p. 138; ed. J. Billius (Paris; + 1585). + + [22] See Arnobius, loc. cit. + + [23] Sidonius Apollinaris, Epp., viii. 3. Also Fabricius, + Bibliotheca Graeca, pp. 549, 565 (ed. Harles). The work of + Sidonius on Apollonius is unfortunately lost. + + [24] _Amplissimus ille philosophus_ (xxiii. 7). See also xxi. + 14; xxiii. 19. + + [25] [Greek: ti theon te kai anthropou meson], meaning thereby + presumably one who has reached the grade of being superior to + man, but not yet equal to the gods. This was called by the + Greeks the "daemonian" order. But the word "daemon," owing to + sectarian bitterness, has long been degraded from its former + high estate, and the original idea is now signified in popular + language by the term "angel." Compare Plato, Symposium, xxiii., + [Greek: pan to daimonion metaxy esti theou te kai thnetou], + "all that is daemonian is between God and man." + + [26] Eunapius, Vitae Philosophorum, Prooemium, vi.; ed. + Boissonade (Amsterdam; 1822), p. 3. + + [27] Reville, Apollonius of Tyana (tr. from the French), p. 56 + (London; 1866). I have, however, not been able to discover on + what authority this statement is made. + + [28] _Insignis philosophus_; see his Chronicon, written down to + the year 519. + + [29] In his Chronographia. See Legrand d'Aussy, op. cit., p. + 313. + + [30] Chiliades, ii. 60. + + [31] Cited by Legrand d'Aussy, op. cit., p. 286. + + [32] [Greek: philosophos Pythagoreios stoicheiomatikos]--Cedrenus, + Compendium Historiarium, i. 346; ed. Bekker. The word which + I have rendered by "adept" signifies one "who has power over the + elements." + + [33] Legrand d'Aussy, op. cit., p. 308. + + [34] If we except the disputed Letters and a few quotations + from one of Apollonius' lost writings. + + [35] Philostratus de Vita Apollonii Tyanei Libri Octo, tr. by + A. Rinuccinus, and Eusebius contra Hieroclem, tr. by Z. + Acciolus (Venice; 1501-04, fol.). Rinucci's translation was + improved by Beroaldus and printed at Lyons (1504?), and again + at Cologne, 1534. + + [36] F. Baldelli, Filostrato Lemnio della Vita di Apollonio + Tianeo (Florence; 1549, 8vo). + + [37] B. de Vignere, Philostrate de la Vie d'Apollonius (Paris; + 1596, 1599, 1611). Blaise de Vignere's translation was + subsequently corrected by Frederic Morel and later by Thomas + Artus, Sieur d'Embry, with bombastic notes in which he bitterly + attacks the wonder-workings of Apollonius. A French translation + was also made by Th. Sibilet about 1560, but never published; + the MS. was in the Bibliotheque Imperiale. See Miller, Journal + des Savants, 1849, p. 625, quoted by Chassang, op. infr. cit., + p. iv. + + [38] F. Morellus, Philostrati Lemnii Opera, Gr. and Lat. + (Paris; 1608). + + [39] G. Olearius, Philostratorum quae supersunt Omnia, Gr. and + Lat. (Leipzig; 1709). + + [40] C. L. Kayser, Flavii Philostrati quae supersunt, etc. + (Zurich; 1844, 4to). In 1849 A. Westermann also edited a text, + Philostratorum et Callistrati Opera, in Didot's "Scriptorum + Graecorum Bibliotheca" (Paris; 1849, 8vo). But Kayser brought + out a new edition in 1853 (?), and again a third, with + additional information in the Preface, in the "Bibliotheca + Teubneriana" (Leipzig; 1870). + + [41] For a general summary of opinions prior to 1807, of + writers who mention Apollonius incidentally, see Legrand + d'Aussy, op. cit., ii. pp. 313-327. + + [42] L'Histoire d'Apollone de Tyane convaincue de Faussete et + d'Imposture (Paris; 1705). + + [43] An Account of the Life of Apollonius Tyaneus (London; + 1702), tr. out of the French, from vol. ii. of Lenain de + Tillemont's Histoire des Empereurs (2nd ed., Paris; 1720): to + which is added Some Observations upon Apollonius. De + Tillemont's view is that Apollonius was sent by the Devil to + destroy the work of the Saviour. + + [44] A Critical and Historical Discourse upon the Method of the + Principal Authors who wrote for and against Christianity from + its Beginning (London; 1739), tr. from the French of M. l'Abbe + Houtteville; to which is added a "Dessertation on the Life of + Apollonius Tyanaeus, with some Observations on the Platonists of + the Latter School," pp. 213-254. + + [45] Anti-Hierocles oder Jesus Christus und Apollonius von + Tyana in ihrer grossen Ungleichheit, dargestellt v. J. B. + Luederwald (Halle; 1793). + + [46] Phileleutherus Helvetius, De Miraculis quae Pythagorae, + Apollonio Tyanensi, Francisco Asisio, Dominico, et Ignatio + Lojolae tribuuntur Libellus (Draci; 1734). + + [47] See Legrand d'Aussy, op. cit., ii. p. 314, where the texts + are given. + + [48] The Two First Books of Philostratus concerning the Life of + Apollonius Tyaneus (London; 1680, fol.). Blount's notes + (generally ascribed to Lord Herbert) raised such an outcry that + the book was condemned in 1693, and few copies are in + existence. Blount's notes were, however, translated into French + a century later, in the days of Encyclopaedism, and appended to + a French version of the Vita, under the title, Vie d'Apollonius + de Tyane par Philostrate avec les Commentaires donnes en + Anglois par Charles Blount sur les deux Premiers Livres de cet + Ouvrage (Amsterdam; 1779, 4 vols., 8vo), with an ironical + dedication to Pope Clement XIV., signed "Philalethes." + + [49] Philosophiam Practicam Apollonii Tyanaei in Sciagraphia, + exponit M. Io. Christianus Herzog (Leipzig; 1709); an + academical oration of 20 pp. + + [50] Philostratus is a difficult author to translate, + nevertheless Chassang and Baltzer have succeeded very well with + him; Berwick also is readable, but in most places gives us a + paraphrase rather than a translation and frequently mistakes + the meaning. Chassang's and Baltzer's are by far the best + translations. + + [51] This would have at least restored Apollonius to his + natural environment, and confined the question of the divinity + of Jesus to its proper Judaeo-Christian ground. + + [52] I am unable to offer any opinion on Nielsen's book, from + ignorance of Danish, but it has all the appearance of a + careful, scholarly treatise with abundance of references. + + [53] Reville's Pagan Christ is quite a misrepresentation of the + subject, and Newman's treatment of the matter renders his + treatise an anachronism for the twentieth century. + + [54] Consisting of eight books written in Greek under the + general title [Greek: Ta es ton Tyanea Apollonion]. + + [55] [Greek: he philosophos], see art. "Philostratus" in + Smith's Dict. of Gr. and Rom. Biog. (London; 1870), iii. + 327_b._ + + [56] The italics are Gibbon's. + + [57] More correctly Domna Julia; Domna being not a shortened + form of Domina, but the Syrian name of the empress. + + [58] She died A.D. 217. + + [59] The contrary is held by other historians. + + [60] Gibbon's Decline and Fall, I. vi + + [61] I use the 1846 and 1870 editions of Kayser's text + throughout. + + [62] A collection of these letters (but not all of them) had + been in the possession of the Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), + and had been left in his palace at Antium (viii. 20). This + proves the great fame that Apollonius enjoyed shortly after his + disappearance from history, and while he was still a living + memory. It is to be noticed that Hadrian was an enlightened + ruler, a great traveller, a lover of religion, and an initiate + of the Eleusinian Mysteries. + + [63] Nineveh. + + [64] [Greek: tas deltous], writing tablets. This suggests that + the account of Damis could not have been very voluminous, + although Philostratus further on asserts its detailed nature + (i. 19). + + [65] One of the imperial secretaries of the time, who was + famous for his eloquence, and tutor to Apollonius. + + [66] A town not far from Tarsus. + + [67] [Greek: hos hypotheiazon ten philosophian egeneto]. The + term [Greek: hypotheiazon] occurs only in this passage, and I am + therefore not quite certain of its meaning. + + [68] This Life by Moeragenes is casually mentioned by Origenes, + Contra Celsum, vi. 41; ed. Lommatzsch (Berlin; 1841), ii. 373. + + [69] [Greek: logois daimoniois]. + + [70] Seldom is it that we have such a clear indication, for + instance, as in i. 25; "The following is what _I_ have been + able to learn ... about Babylon." + + [71] See E. A. Schwanbeck, Megasthenis Indica (Bonn; 1846), and + J. W. M'Crindle, Ancient India as described by Megasthenes and + Arrian (Calcutta, Bombay, London; 1877), The Commerce and + Navigation of the Erythraean Sea (1879), Ancient India as + described by Ktesias (1882), Ancient India as described by + Ptolemy (London; 1885), and The Invasion of India by Alexander + the Great (London; 1893, 1896). + + [72] Another good example of this is seen in the disquisition + on elephants which Philostratus takes from Juba's History of + Libya (ii. 13 and 16). + + [73] Perhaps a title, or the king of the Purus. + + [74] Not that Philostratus makes any disguise of his + embellishments; see, for instance, ii. 17, where he says: "Let + me, however, defer what _I_ have to say on the subject of + serpents, of the manner of hunting which Damis gives a + description." + + [75] Legends of the wonderful happenings at his birth were in + circulation, and are of the same nature as all such + birth-legends of great people. + + [76] [Greek: arreto tini sophia xynelabe.] + + [77] Sci., than his tutor; namely, the "memory" within him, or + his "daemon." + + [78] This aether was presumably the mind-stuff. + + [79] That is to say presumably he was encouraged in his efforts + by those unseen helpers of the temple by whom the cures were + wrought by means of dreams, and help was given psychically and + mesmerically. + + [80] "Where are you hurrying? Are you off to see the youth?" + + [81] Compare Odyssey, xx. 18. + + [82] I am inclined to think, however, that Apollonius was still + a youngish man when he set out on his Indian travels, instead + of being forty-six, as some suppose. But the difficulties of + most of the chronology are insurmountable. + + [83] [Greek: phesas ouk anthropon heauto dein, all' andron]. + + [84] [Greek: idiotropa]. + + [85] [Greek: tous houto philosophountas]. + + [86] That is to say, presumably, spend the time in silent + meditation. + + [87] That is the Br[=a]hmans and Buddhists. Sarman is the Greek + corruption of the Sanskrit Shrama[n.]a and Pali Sama[n.]o, the + technical term for a Buddhist ascetic or monk. The ignorance of + the copyists changed Sarmanes first into Germanes and then into + Hyrcanians! + + [88] This shows that Apollonius was still young, and not + between forty and fifty, as some have asserted. Tredwell (p. + 77) dates the Indian travels as 41-54 A.D. + + [89] See especially iii. 15, 41; v. 5, 10; vii. 10, 13; viii. + 28. + + [90] [Greek: ekphatnismata]. + + [91] See especially vii. 13, 14, 15, 22, 31. + + [92] The list is full of gaps, so that we cannot suppose that + Damis' notes were anything like complete records of the + numerous itineraries; not only so, but one is tempted to + believe that whole journeys, in which Damis had no share, are + omitted. + + [93] Here at any rate they came in sight of the giant + mountains, the Imaus (Himavat) or Him[=a]layan Range, where was + the great mountain Meros (Meru). The name of the Hindu Olympus + being changed into Meros in Greek had, ever since Alexander's + expedition, given rise to the myth that Bacchus was born from + the thigh (_meros_) of Zeus--presumably one of the facts which + led Professor Max Mueller to stigmatise the whole of mythology + as a "disease of language." + + [94] Referring to his instructors he says, "I ever remember my + masters and journey through the world teaching what I have + learned from them" (vi. 18). + + [95] According to some, Apollonius would be now about + sixty-eight years of age. But if he were still young (say + thirty years old or so) when he left for India, he must either + have spent a very long period in that country, or we have a + very imperfect record of his doings in Asia Minor, Greece, + Italy, and Spain, after his return. + + [96] For the most recent study in English on the subject of + AEsculapius see The Cult of Asclepios, by Alice Walton, Ph.D., + in No. III. of The Cornell Studies in Classical Philology + (Ithaca, N.Y.; 1894). + + [97] He evidently wrote the notes of the Indian travels long + after the time at which they were made. + + [98] This shows that Philostratus came across them in some work + or letter of Apollonius, and is therefore independent of Damis' + account for this particular. + + [99] I--ar[Greek: ch]as, ar[Greek: ch]a(t)s, arhat. + + [100] Tantalus is fabled to have stolen the cup of nectar from + the gods; this was the am[r.]ita, the ocean of immortality and + wisdom, of the Indians. + + [101] The words [Greek: ouden kektemenous e ta panton], which + Philostratus quotes twice in this form, can certainly not be + changed into [Greek: meden kektemenous ta panton echein] + without doing unwarrantable violence to their meaning. + + [102] See Tacitus, Historia, ii. 3. + + [103] Berwick, Life of Apollonius, p. 200 _n._ + + [104] He also built a precinct round the tomb of Leonidas at + Thermopylae (iv. 23). + + [105] A great centre of divination by means of dreams (see ii. + 37). + + [106] The word [Greek: gymnos] (naked), however, usually means + lightly clad, as, for instance, when a man is said to plough + "naked," that is with only one garment, and this is evident + from the comparison made between the costume of the + Gymnosophists and that of people in the hot weather at Athens + (vi. 6). + + [107] For they had neither huts nor houses, but lived in the + open air. + + [108] He spent, we are told, no less than a year and eight + months with Vardan, King of Babylon, and was the honoured guest + of the Indian R[=a]j[=a]h "Phraotes." + + [109] See i. 22 (cf. 40), 34; iv. 4, 6, 18 (cf. v. 19), 24, 43; + v. 7, 11, 13, 30, 37; vi. 32; viii. 26. + + [110] This expression is, however, perhaps only to be taken as + rhetorical, for in viii. 8, the incident is referred to in the + simple words "when he departed ([Greek: apelthe]) from the + tribunal." + + [111] That is to say not in a "form," but in his own nature. + + [112] See in this connection L. v. Schroeder, Pythagoras und + die Inder, eine Untersuchung ueber Herkunft und Abstammung der + pythagoreischen Lehren (Leipzig; 1884). + + [113] This has reference to the preserved hunting parks, or + "paradises," of the Babylonian monarchs. + + [114] Reading [Greek: philosopho] for [Greek: philosophon]. + + [115] Rathgeber (G.) in his Grossgriechenland und Pythagoras + (Gotha; 1866), a work of marvellous bibliographical industry, + refers to three supposed portraits of Apollonius (p. 621). (i) + In the Campidoglio Museum of the Vatican, Indicazione delle + Sculture (Roma; 1840), p. 68, nos. 75, 76, 77; (ii) in the + Musee Royal Bourbon, described by Michel B. (Naples; 1837), p. + 79, no. 363; (iii) a contorniate reproduced by Visconti. I + cannot trace his first reference, but in a Guide pour le Musee + Royal Bourbon, traduit par C. J. J. (Naples; 1831), I find on + p. 152 that no. 363 is a bust of Apollonius, 23/4 feet high, + carefully executed, with a Zeus-like head, having a beard and + long hair descending onto the shoulders, bound with a deep + fillet. The bust seems to be ancient. I have, however, not been + able to find a reproduction of it. Visconti (E. Q.) in the + atlas of his Iconographie Grecque (Paris; 1808), vol. i. plate + 17, facing p. 68, gives the reproduction of a contorniate, or + medal with a circular border, on one side of which is a head of + Apollonius and the Latin legend APOLLONIVS TEANEVS. This also + represents our philosopher with a beard and long hair; the head + is crowned, and the upper part of the body covered with a tunic + and the philosopher's cloak. The medal, however, is of very + inferior workmanship, and the portrait is by no means pleasing. + Visconti in his letterpress devotes an angry and contemptuous + paragraph to Apollonius, "ce trop celebre imposteur," as he + calls him, based on De Tillemont. + + [116] See Chassang, op. cit., p. 458, for a criticism on this + statement. + + [117] This was before Vespasian became emperor. + + [118] This was a staff, or baton, used as a cypher for writing + dispatches. "A strip of leather was rolled slantwise round it, + on which the dispatches were written lengthwise, so that when + unrolled they were unintelligible; commanders abroad had a + staff of like thickness, round which they rolled their papers, + and so were able to read the dispatches." (Liddell and Scott's + Lexicon sub voc.) Hence scytale came to mean generally a + Spartan dispatch, which was characteristically laconic in its + brevity. + + [119] See i. 7, 15, 24, 32; iii. 51; iv. 5, 22, 26, 27, 46; v. + 2, 10, 39, 40, 41; vi. 18, 27, 29, 31, 33; viii. 7, 20, 27, 28. + + [120] I.e., Cynic. + + [121] Chassang (op. cit., pp. 395 sqq.) gives a French + translation of them. + + [122] Art. "Apollonius," Smith's Dict. of Class. Biog. + + [123] That is to say, a philosopher of 600 years ago. + + [124] That is to expiate blood-guiltiness with blood-sacrifice. + + [125] Chaignet (A. E.), in his Pythagore et la Philosophie + pythagoricienne (Paris; 1873, 2nd ed. 1874), cites this as a + genuine example of Apollonius' philosophy. + + [126] That is his idea of death. + + [127] The text of the last sentence is very obscure. + + [128] The full title is given by Eudocia, Ionia; ed. Villoison + (Venet.; 1781), p. 57. + + [129] See Zeller, Phil. d. Griech, v. 127. + + [130] Praeparat. Evangel., iv. 12-13; ed. Dindorf (Leipzig; + 1867), i. 176, 177. + + [131] A play on the meanings of [Greek: logos], which signifies + both reason and word. + + [132] Psyche, I. ii. 5. + + [133] Noack, ibid. + + [134] See Noack, Porphr. Vit. Pythag., p. 15. + + [135] Ed. Amstelod., 1707, cc. 254-264. + + +_WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR._ + ++THE PISTIS SOPHIA: A Gnostic Gospel.+ + + (With Extracts from the Books of the Saviour appended). + Originally translated from Greek into Coptic, and now for the + first time Englished from Schwartze's Latin Version of the + only known Coptic MS., and checked by Amelineau's French + Version. With an Introduction and Bibliography. 394 pp., large + octavo. Cloth, 7s. 6d. net. + + +_SOME PRESS OPINIONS._ + + "The Pistis Sophia has long been recognised as one of the most + important Gnostic documents we possess, and Mr Mead deserves the + gratitude of students of Church History and of the History of + Christian Thought, for his admirable translation and edition of + this curious Gospel."--_Glasgow Herald._ + + "Mr Mead has done a service to other than Theosophists by his + translation of the Pistis Sophia. This curious work has not till + lately received the attention which it deserves.... He has prefixed + a short Introduction, which includes an excellent bibliography. + Thus, the English reader is now in a position to judge for himself + of the scientific value of the only Gnostic treatise of any + considerable length which has come down to us."--_Guardian._ + + "From a scholar's point of view the work is of value as + illustrating the philosophico-mystical tendencies of the second + century."--_Record._ + + "Mr Mead deserves thanks for putting in an English dress this + curious document from the early ages of Christian + philosophy."--_Manchester Guardian._ + + +THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY, + +LONDON AND BENARES. + + ++FRAGMENTS OF A FAITH FORGOTTEN.+ + +Some short Sketches among the Gnostics, mainly of the First Two +Centuries--a Contribution to the Study of Christian Origins based on the +most Recently Discovered Materials. + + +I. Introduction.+--Outlines of the Background of the Gnosis; + Literature and Sources of Gnosticism. + + +II. The Gnosis according to its Foes.+--Gnostic Fragments + recovered from the Polemical Writings of the Church Fathers; + the Gnosis in the Uncanonical Acts. + + +III. The Gnosis according to its Friends.+--Greek Original + Works in Coptic Translation; the Askew, Bruce, and Akhmim + Codices. + +Classified Bibliographies are appended. 630, xxviii. pp., Large Octavo, +Cloth. 10s. 6d. net. + + +SOME PRESS NOTICES. + + "Mr Mead has done his work in a scholarly and painstaking + fashion."--_The Guardian._ + + "The ordinary student of Christian evidences, if he confines + his reading to the 'Fathers,' learns nothing of these opinions + [the so-called Gnostic 'heresies'] except by way of refutation + and angry condemnation. In Mr Mead's pages, however, they are + treated with impartiality and candour.... These remarks will + suffice to show the unique character of this volume, and to + indicate that students may find here matter of great service + to the rational interpretation of Christian + thought."--_Bradford Observer._ + + "The book, Mr Mead explains, is not intended primarily for the + student, but for the general reader, and it certainly should + not be neglected by anyone who is interested in the history of + early Christian thought."--_The Scotsman._ + + "The work is one of great labour and learning, and deserves + study as a sympathetic estimate of a rather severely-judged + class of heretics."--_Glasgow Herald._ + + "Written in a clear and elegant style.... The bibliographies + in the volume are of world-wide range, and will be most + valuable to students of theosophy."--_Asiatic Quarterly._ + + "Mr Mead writes with a precision and clearness on subjects + usually associated with bewildering technicalities and + mystifications. Even the long-suffering 'general reader' could + go through this large volume with pleasure. That is a great + deal to say of a book on such a subject."--_Light._ + + "This striking work will certainly be read not only with the + greatest interest in the select circle of the cultured, but by + that much larger circle of those longing to learn all about + Truth.... May be summed up as an extraordinary clear + exposition of the Gnosis of Saints and the Sages of + philosophic Christianity."--_The Roman Herald._ + + "Comprehensive, interesting, and scholarly.... The chapters + entitled 'Some Rough Outlines of the Background of the Gnosis' + are well written, and they tend to focus the philosophic and + religious movement of the ancient world. There is a very + excellent bibliography."--_The Spectator._ + + "Mr Mead does us another piece of service by including a + complete copy of the Gnostic _Hymn of the Robe of Glory_ ... + and a handy epitome of the _Pistis Sophia_ is another item for + which the student will be grateful."--_The Literary Guide._ + + "The author has naturally the interest of a theosophist in + Gnosticism, and approaches the subject accordingly from a + point of view different from our own. But while his point of + view emerges in the course of the volume, this does not affect + the value of his work for those who do not share his special + standpoint.... Mr Mead has at any rate rendered us an + excellent service, and we shall look forward with pleasure to + his future studies."--_The Primitive Methodist Quarterly._ + +This is the First Attempt that has been made to bring together All the +Existing Sources of Information on the Earliest Christian Philosophers. + + ++SIMON MAGUS: An Essay.+ + + The most complete work on the subject. Quarto. Price: 5s. net. + Wrappers. + ++THE WORLD MYSTERY: Four Essays.+ + + Contents: The World-Soul; The Vestures of the Soul; The Web of + Destiny; True Self-reliance. Octavo. Price: cloth, 3s. 6d. + net. + ++THE THEOSOPHY OF THE GREEKS.+ + ++PLOTINUS.+ + + With an exhaustive Bibliography. Octavo. Price: cloth, 1s. + net. + ++ORPHEUS.+ + + With three Charts and Bibliography. Will serve as an + Introduction to Hellenic Theology. Octavo. Price: cloth, 4s. + 6d. net. + ++THE THEOSOPHY OF THE VEDAS.+ + ++THE UPANI[S.]HADS: 2 Volumes.+ + + Half Octavo. Paper, 6d.; cloth, 1s. 6d. each net. + + VOLUME I. + + Contains a Translation of the [)I]sha, Kena, Ka[t.]ha, + Prashna, Mu[n.][d.]aka, and M[=a][n.][d.][=u]kya + Upani[s.]hads, with a General Preamble, Arguments, and Notes + by G. R. S. Mead and J. C. Cha[t.][t.]op[=a]dhy[=a]ya (Roy + Choudhuri). + + VOLUME II. + + Contains a Translation of the Taittiriya, Aitareya, and + Shvet[=a]shvatara Upani[s.]hads, with Arguments and Notes. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Apollonius of Tyana, the +Philosopher-Reformer of the First Century A.D., by George Robert Stowe Mead + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APOLLONIUS OF TYANA *** + +***** This file should be named 35460.txt or 35460.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/4/6/35460/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Turgut Dincer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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