9. Tacitus, Histories, 5.2-5.13 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •life of apollonius of tyana (philostratus) Found in books: Neusner Green and Avery-Peck (2022) 157 | 5.2. However, as I am about to describe the last days of a famous city, it seems proper for me to give some account of its origin. It is said that the Jews were originally exiles from the island of Crete who settled in the farthest parts of Libya at the time when Saturn had been deposed and expelled by Jove. An argument in favour of this is derived from the name: there is a famous mountain in Crete called Ida, and hence the inhabitants were called the Idaei, which was later lengthened into the barbarous form Iudaei. Some hold that in the reign of Isis the superfluous population of Egypt, under the leadership of Hierosolymus and Iuda, discharged itself on the neighbouring lands; many others think that they were an Egyptian stock, which in the reign of Cepheus was forced to migrate by fear and hatred. Still others report that they were Assyrian refugees, a landless people, who first got control of a part of Egypt, then later they had their own cities and lived in the Hebrew territory and the nearer parts of Syria. Still others say that the Jews are of illustrious origin, being the Solymi, a people celebrated in Homer's poems, who founded a city and gave it the name Hierosolyma, formed from their own. 5.3. Most authors agree that once during a plague in Egypt which caused bodily disfigurement, King Bocchoris approached the oracle of Ammon and asked for a remedy, whereupon he was told to purge his kingdom and to transport this race into other lands, since it was hateful to the gods. So the Hebrews were searched out and gathered together; then, being abandoned in the desert, while all others lay idle and weeping, one only of the exiles, Moses by name, warned them not to hope for help from gods or men, for they were deserted by both, but to trust to themselves, regarding as a guide sent from heaven the one whose assistance should first give them escape from their present distress. They agreed, and then set out on their journey in utter ignorance, but trusting to chance. Nothing caused them so much distress as scarcity of water, and in fact they had already fallen exhausted over the plain nigh unto death, when a herd of wild asses moved from their pasturage to a rock that was shaded by a grove of trees. Moses followed them, and, conjecturing the truth from the grassy ground, discovered abundant streams of water. This relieved them, and they then marched six days continuously, and on the seventh seized a country, expelling the former inhabitants; there they founded a city and dedicated a temple. 5.4. To establish his influence over this people for all time, Moses introduced new religious practices, quite opposed to those of all other religions. The Jews regard as profane all that we hold sacred; on the other hand, they permit all that we abhor. They dedicated, in a shrine, a statue of that creature whose guidance enabled them to put an end to their wandering and thirst, sacrificing a ram, apparently in derision of Ammon. They likewise offer the ox, because the Egyptians worship Apis. They abstain from pork, in recollection of a plague, for the scab to which this animal is subject once afflicted them. By frequent fasts even now they bear witness to the long hunger with which they were once distressed, and the unleavened Jewish bread is still employed in memory of the haste with which they seized the grain. They say that they first chose to rest on the seventh day because that day ended their toils; but after a time they were led by the charms of indolence to give over the seventh year as well to inactivity. Others say that this is done in honour of Saturn, whether it be that the primitive elements of their religion were given by the Idaeans, who, according to tradition, were expelled with Saturn and became the founders of the Jewish race, or is due to the fact that, of the seven planets that rule the fortunes of mankind, Saturn moves in the highest orbit and has the greatest potency; and that many of the heavenly bodies traverse their paths and courses in multiples of seven. 5.5. Whatever their origin, these rites are maintained by their antiquity: the other customs of the Jews are base and abominable, and owe their persistence to their depravity. For the worst rascals among other peoples, renouncing their ancestral religions, always kept sending tribute and contributions to Jerusalem, thereby increasing the wealth of the Jews; again, the Jews are extremely loyal toward one another, and always ready to show compassion, but toward every other people they feel only hate and enmity. They sit apart at meals, and they sleep apart, and although as a race, they are prone to lust, they abstain from intercourse with foreign women; yet among themselves nothing is unlawful. They adopted circumcision to distinguish themselves from other peoples by this difference. Those who are converted to their ways follow the same practice, and the earliest lesson they receive is to despise the gods, to disown their country, and to regard their parents, children, and brothers as of little account. However, they take thought to increase their numbers; for they regard it as a crime to kill any late-born child, and they believe that the souls of those who are killed in battle or by the executioner are immortal: hence comes their passion for begetting children, and their scorn of death. They bury the body rather than burn it, thus following the Egyptians' custom; they likewise bestow the same care on the dead, and hold the same belief about the world below; but their ideas of heavenly things are quite the opposite. The Egyptians worship many animals and monstrous images; the Jews conceive of one god only, and that with the mind alone: they regard as impious those who make from perishable materials representations of gods in man's image; that supreme and eternal being is to them incapable of representation and without end. Therefore they set up no statues in their cities, still less in their temples; this flattery is not paid their kings, nor this honour given to the Caesars. But since their priests used to chant to the accompaniment of pipes and cymbals and to wear garlands of ivy, and because a golden vine was found in their temple, some have thought that they were devotees of Father Liber, the conqueror of the East, in spite of the incongruity of their customs. For Liber established festive rites of a joyous nature, while the ways of the Jews are preposterous and mean. 5.6. Their land is bounded by Arabia on the east, Egypt lies on the south, on the west are Phoenicia and the sea, and toward the north the people enjoy a wide prospect over Syria. The inhabitants are healthy and hardy. Rains are rare; the soil is fertile; its products are like ours, save that the balsam and the palm also grow there. The palm is a tall and handsome tree; the balsam a mere shrub: if a branch, when swollen with sap, is pierced with steel, the veins shrivel up; so a piece of stone or a potsherd is used to open them; the juice is employed by physicians. of the mountains, Lebanon rises to the greatest height, and is in fact a marvel, for in the midst of the excessive heat its summit is shaded by trees and covered with snow; it likewise is the source and supply of the river Jordan. This river does not empty into the sea, but after flowing with volume undiminished through two lakes is lost in the third. The last is a lake of great size: it is like the sea, but its water has a nauseous taste, and its offensive odour is injurious to those who live near it. Its waters are not moved by the wind, and neither fish nor water-fowl can live there. Its lifeless waves bear up whatever is thrown upon them as on a solid surface; all swimmers, whether skilled or not, are buoyed up by them. At a certain season of the year the sea throws up bitumen, and experience has taught the natives how to collect this, as she teaches all arts. Bitumen is by nature a dark fluid which coagulates when sprinkled with vinegar, and swims on the surface. Those whose business it is, catch hold of it with their hands and haul it on shipboard: then with no artificial aid the bitumen flows in and loads the ship until the stream is cut off. Yet you cannot use bronze or iron to cut the bituminous stream; it shrinks from blood or from a cloth stained with a woman's menses. Such is the story told by ancient writers, but those who are acquainted with the country aver that the floating masses of bitumen are driven by the winds or drawn by hand to shore, where later, after they have been dried by vapours from the earth or by the heat of the sun, they are split like timber or stone with axes and wedges. 5.7. Not far from this lake is a plain which, according to report, was once fertile and the site of great cities, but which was later devastated by lightning; and it is said that traces of this disaster still exist there, and that the very ground looks burnt and has lost its fertility. In fact, all the plants there, whether wild or cultivated, turn black, become sterile, and seem to wither into dust, either in leaf or in flower or after they have reached their usual mature form. Now for my part, although I should grant that famous cities were once destroyed by fire from heaven, I still think that it is the exhalations from the lake that infect the ground and poison the atmosphere about this district, and that this is the reason that crops and fruits decay, since both soil and climate are deleterious. The river Belus also empties into the Jewish Sea; around its mouth a kind of sand is gathered, which when mixed with soda is fused into glass. The beach is of moderate size, but it furnishes an inexhaustible supply. 5.8. A great part of Judea is covered with scattered villages, but there are some towns also; Jerusalem is the capital of the Jews. In it was a temple possessing enormous riches. The first line of fortifications protected the city, the next the palace, and the innermost wall the temple. Only a Jew might approach its doors, and all save the priests were forbidden to cross the threshold. While the East was under the dominion of the Assyrians, Medes, and Persians, the Jews were regarded as the meanest of their subjects: but after the Macedonians gained supremacy, King Antiochus endeavoured to abolish Jewish superstition and to introduce Greek civilization; the war with the Parthians, however, prevented his improving this basest of peoples; for it was exactly at that time that Arsaces had revolted. Later on, since the power of Macedon had waned, the Parthians were not yet come to their strength, and the Romans were far away, the Jews selected their own kings. These in turn were expelled by the fickle mob; but recovering their throne by force of arms, they banished citizens, destroyed towns, killed brothers, wives, and parents, and dared essay every other kind of royal crime without hesitation; but they fostered the national superstition, for they had assumed the priesthood to support their civil authority. 5.9. The first Roman to subdue the Jews and set foot in their temple by right of conquest was Gnaeus Pompey; thereafter it was a matter of common knowledge that there were no representations of the gods within, but that the place was empty and the secret shrine contained nothing. The walls of Jerusalem were razed, but the temple remained standing. Later, in the time of our civil wars, when these eastern provinces had fallen into the hands of Mark Antony, the Parthian prince, Pacorus, seized Judea, but he was slain by Publius Ventidius, and the Parthians were thrown back across the Euphrates: the Jews were subdued by Gaius Sosius. Antony gave the throne to Herod, and Augustus, after his victory, increased his power. After Herod's death, a certain Simon assumed the name of king without waiting for Caesar's decision. He, however, was put to death by Quintilius Varus, governor of Syria; the Jews were repressed; and the kingdom was divided into three parts and given to Herod's sons. Under Tiberius all was quiet. Then, when Caligula ordered the Jews to set up his statue in their temple, they chose rather to resort to arms, but the emperor's death put an end to their uprising. The princes now being dead or reduced to insignificance, Claudius made Judea a province and entrusted it to Roman knights or to freedmen; one of the latter, Antonius Felix, practised every kind of cruelty and lust, wielding the power of king with all the instincts of a slave; he had married Drusilla, the grand-daughter of Cleopatra and Antony, and so was Antony's grandson-inâlaw, while Claudius was Antony's grandson. 5.10. Still the Jews' patience lasted until Gessius Florus became procurator: in his time war began. When Cestius Gallus, governor of Syria, tried to stop it, he suffered varied fortunes and met defeat more often than he gained victory. On his death, whether in the course of nature or from vexation, Nero sent out Vespasian, who, aided by his good fortune and reputation as well as by his excellent subordinates, within two summers occupied with his victorious army the whole of the level country and all the cities except Jerusalem. The next year was taken up with civil war, and thus was passed in inactivity so far as the Jews were concerned. When peace had been secured throughout Italy, foreign troubles began again; and the fact that the Jews alone had failed to surrender increased our resentment; at the same time, having regard to all the possibilities and hazards of a new reign, it seemed expedient for Titus to remain with the army. 5.11. Therefore, as I have said above, Titus pitched his camp before the walls of Jerusalem and displayed his legions in battle array: the Jews formed their line close beneath their walls, being thus ready to advance if successful, and having a refuge at hand in case they were driven back. Some horse and light-armed foot were sent against them, but fought indecisively; later the enemy retired, and during the following days they engaged in many skirmishes before their gates until at last their continual defeats drove them within their walls. The Romans now turned to preparations for an assault; for the soldiers thought it beneath their dignity to wait for the enemy to be starved out, and so they began to clamour for danger, part being prompted by bravery, but many were moved by their savage natures and their desire for booty. Titus himself had before his eyes a vision of Rome, its wealth and its pleasures, and he felt that if Jerusalem did not fall at once, his enjoyment of them was delayed. But the city stands on an eminence, and the Jews had defended it with works and fortifications sufficient to protect even level ground; for the two hills that rise to a great height had been included within walls that had been skillfully built, projecting out or bending in so as to put the flanks of an assailing body under fire. The rocks terminated in sheer cliffs, and towers rose to a height of sixty feet where the hill assisted the fortifications, and in the valleys they reached one hundred and twenty; they presented a wonderful sight, and appeared of equal height when viewed from a distance. An inner line of walls had been built around the palace, and on a conspicuous height stands Antony's Tower, so named by Herod in honour of Mark Antony. 5.12. The temple was built like a citadel, with walls of its own, which were constructed with more care and effort than any of the rest; the very colonnades about the temple made a splendid defence. Within the enclosure is an ever-flowing spring; in the hills are subterraneous excavations, with pools and cisterns for holding rain-water. The founders of the city had foreseen that there would be many wars because the ways of their people differed so from those of the neighbours: therefore they had built at every point as if they expected a long siege; and after the city had been stormed by Pompey, their fears and experience taught them much. Moreover, profiting by the greed displayed during the reign of Claudius, they had bought the privilege of fortifying the city, and in time of peace had built walls as if for war. The population at this time had been increased by streams of rabble that flowed in from the other captured cities, for the most desperate rebels had taken refuge here, and consequently sedition was the more rife. There were three generals, three armies: the outermost and largest circuit of the walls was held by Simon, the middle of the city by John, and the temple was guarded by Eleazar. John and Simon were strong in numbers and equipment, Eleazar had the advantage of position: between these three there was constant fighting, treachery, and arson, and a great store of grain was consumed. Then John got possession of the temple by sending a party, under pretence of offering sacrifice, to slay Eleazar and his troops. So the citizens were divided into two factions until, at the approach of the Romans, foreign war produced concord. 5.13. Prodigies had indeed occurred, but to avert them either by victims or by vows is held unlawful by a people which, though prone to superstition, is opposed to all propitiatory rites. Contending hosts were seen meeting in the skies, arms flashed, and suddenly the temple was illumined with fire from the clouds. of a sudden the doors of the shrine opened and a superhuman voice cried: "The gods are departing": at the same moment the mighty stir of their going was heard. Few interpreted these omens as fearful; the majority firmly believed that their ancient priestly writings contained the prophecy that this was the very time when the East should grow strong and that men starting from Judea should possess the world. This mysterious prophecy had in reality pointed to Vespasian and Titus, but the common people, as is the way of human ambition, interpreted these great destinies in their own favour, and could not be turned to the truth even by adversity. We have heard that the total number of the besieged of every age and both sexes was six hundred thousand; there were arms for all who could use them, and the number ready to fight was larger than could have been anticipated from the total population. Both men and women showed the same determination; and if they were to be forced to change their home, they feared life more than death. Such was the city and people against which Titus Caesar now proceeded; since the nature of the ground did not allow him to assault or employ any sudden operations, he decided to use earthworks and mantlets; the legions were assigned to their several tasks, and there was a respite of fighting until they made ready every device for storming a town that the ancients had ever employed or modern ingenuity invented. |
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13. Philostratus The Athenian, Life of Apollonius, 1.1, 1.31, 2.37.2, 3.41, 4.45, 5.27, 5.33-5.34, 6.19, 6.34 (2nd cent. CE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •philostratus, life of apollonius •dreams (in greek and latin literature), philostratus, life of apollonius of tyana •philostratus, life of apollonius of tyana •life of apollonius of tyana (philostratus) •life of apollonius (apollonios) Found in books: Joosse (2021) 37; Neusner Green and Avery-Peck (2022) 157; Pinheiro Bierl and Beck (2013) 70, 204; Renberg (2017) 312, 313| 1.1. οἱ τὸν Σάμιον Πυθαγόραν ἐπαινοῦντες τάδε ἐπ' αὐτῷ φασιν: ὡς ̓́Ιων μὲν οὔπω εἴη, γένοιτο δὲ ἐν Τροίᾳ ποτὲ Εὔφορβος, ἀναβιοίη τε ἀποθανών, ἀποθάνοι δέ, ὡς ᾠδαὶ ̔Ομήρου, ἐσθῆτά τε τὴν ἀπὸ θνησειδίων παραιτοῖτο καὶ καθαρεύοι βρώσεως, ὁπόση ἐμψύχων, καὶ θυσίας: μὴ γὰρ αἱμάττειν τοὺς βωμούς, ἀλλὰ ἡ μελιττοῦτα καὶ ὁ λιβανωτὸς καὶ τὸ ἐφυμνῆσαι, φοιτᾶν ταῦτα τοῖς θεοῖς παρὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τούτου, γιγνώσκειν τε, ὡς ἀσπάζοιντο τὰ τοιαῦτα οἱ θεοὶ μᾶλλον ἢ τὰς ἑκατόμβας καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν ἐπὶ τοῦ κανοῦ: ξυνεῖναι γὰρ δὴ τοῖς θεοῖς καὶ μανθάνειν παρ' αὐτῶν, ὅπη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις χαίρουσι καὶ ὅπη ἄχθονται, περί τε φύσεως ἐκεῖθεν λέγειν: τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἄλλους τεκμαίρεσθαι τοῦ θείου καὶ δόξας ἀνομοίους ἀλλήλαις περὶ αὐτοῦ δοξάζειν, ἑαυτῷ δὲ τόν τε ̓Απόλλω ἥκειν ὁμολογοῦντα, ὡς αὐτὸς εἴη, ξυνεῖναι δὲ καὶ μὴ ὁμολογοῦντας τὴν ̓Αθηνᾶν καὶ τὰς Μούσας καὶ θεοὺς ἑτέρους, ὧν τὰ εἴδη καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα οὔπω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους γιγνώσκειν. καὶ ὅ τι ἀποφήναιτο ὁ Πυθαγόρας, νόμον τοῦτο οἱ ὁμιληταὶ ἡγοῦντο καὶ ἐτίμων αὐτὸν ὡς ἐκ Διὸς ἥκοντα, καὶ ἡ σιωπὴ δὲ ὑπὲρ τοῦ θείου σφίσιν ἐπήσκητο: πολλὰ γὰρ θεῖά τε καὶ ἀπόρρητα ἤκουον, ὧν κρατεῖν χαλεπὸν ἦν μὴ πρῶτον μαθοῦσιν, ὅτι καὶ τὸ σιωπᾶν λόγος. καὶ μὴν καὶ τὸν ̓Ακραγαντῖνον ̓Εμπεδοκλέα βαδίσαι φασὶ τὴν σοφίαν ταύτην. τὸ γὰρ χαίρετ', ἐγὼ δ' ὔμμιν θεὸς ἄμβροτος, οὐκέτι θνητός καὶ ἤδη γάρ ποτ' ἐγὼ γενόμην κόρη τε κόρος τε καὶ ὁ ἐν ̓Ολυμπίᾳ βοῦς, ὃν λέγεται πέμμα ποιησάμενος θῦσαι, τὰ Πυθαγόρου ἐπαινοῦντος εἴη ἄν. καὶ πλείω ἕτερα περὶ τῶν τὸν Πυθαγόρου τρόπον φιλοσοφησάντων ἱστοροῦσιν, ὧν οὐ προσήκει με νῦν ἅπτεσθαι σπεύδοντα ἐπὶ τὸν λόγον, ὃν ἀποτελέσαι προὐθέμην: 1.31. προϊδὼν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς προσιόντα, καὶ γάρ τι καὶ μῆκος ἡ τοῦ ἱεροῦ αὐλὴ εἶχε, διελάλησέ τε πρὸς τοὺς ἐγγύς, οἷον ἀναγιγνώσκων τὸν ἄνδρα, πλησίον τε ἤδη γιγνομένου μέγα ἀναβοήσας “οὗτος” ἔφη “ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος, ὃν Μεγαβάτης ὁ ἐμὸς ἀδελφὸς ἰδεῖν ἐν ̓Αντιοχείᾳ φησὶ θαυμαζόμενόν τε καὶ προσκυνούμενον ὑπὸ τῶν σπουδαίων, καὶ ἀπεζωγράφησέ μοι τότε τοιοῦτον αὐτόν, ὁποῖος ἥκει.” προσελθόντα δὲ καὶ ἀσπασάμενον προσεῖπέ τε ὁ βασιλεὺς φωνῇ ̔Ελλάδι καὶ ̔δὴ̓ ἐκέλευσε θύειν μετ' αὐτοῦ: λευκὸν δὲ ἄρα ἵππον τῶν σφόδρα Νισαίων καταθύσειν ἔμελλε τῷ ̔Ηλίῳ φαλάροις κοσμήσας, ὥσπερ ἐς πομπήν, ὁ δ' ὑπολαβὼν “σὺ μέν, ὦ βασιλεῦ, θῦε,” ἔφη, “τὸν σαυτοῦ τρόπον, ἐμοὶ δὲ ξυγχώρησον θῦσαι τὸν ἐμαυτοῦ:” καὶ δραξάμενος τοῦ λιβανωτοῦ, “̔́Ηλιε,” ἔφη, “πέμπε με ἐφ' ὅσον τῆς γῆς ἐμοί τε καὶ σοὶ δοκεῖ, καὶ γιγνώσκοιμι ἄνδρας ἀγαθούς, φαύλους δὲ μήτε ἐγὼ μάθοιμι μήτε ἐμὲ φαῦλοι.” καὶ εἰπὼν ταῦτα τὸν λιβανωτὸν ἐς τὸ πῦρ ἧκεν, ἐπισκεψάμενος δὲ αὐτὸ ὅπη διανίσταται καὶ ὅπη θολοῦται καὶ ὁπόσαις κορυφαῖς ᾅττει καί που καὶ ἐφαπτόμενος τοῦ πυρός, ὅπη εὔσημόν τε καὶ καθαρὸν φαίνοιτο “θῦε,” ἔφη, “λοιπόν, ὦ βασιλεῦ, κατὰ τὰ σαυτοῦ πάτρια, τὰ γὰρ πάτρια τἀμὰ τοιαῦτα.” 3.41. τῆς μὲν οὖν διαλεκτικῆς ξυνουσίας ἄμφω μετεῖχον, τὰς δὲ ἀπορρήτους σπουδάς, αἷς ἀστρικὴν ἢ μαντείαν κατενόουν καὶ τὴν πρόγνωσιν ἐσπούδαζον θυσιῶν τε ἥπτοντο καὶ κλήσεων, αἷς θεοὶ χαίρουσι, μόνον φησὶν ὁ Δάμις τὸν ̓Απολλώνιον ξυμφιλοσοφεῖν τῷ ̓Ιάρχᾳ, καὶ ξυγγράψαι μὲν ἐκεῖθεν περὶ μαντείας ἀστέρων βίβλους τέτταρας, ὧν καὶ Μοιραγένης ἐπεμνήσθη, ξυγγράψαι δὲ περὶ θυσιῶν καὶ ὡς ἄν τις ἑκάστῳ θεῷ προσφόρως τε καὶ κεχαρισμένως θύοι. τὰ μὲν δὴ τῶν ἀστέρων καὶ τὴν τοιαύτην μαντικὴν πᾶσαν ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν ἡγοῦμαι φύσιν καὶ οὐδ' εἰ κέκτηταί τις οἶδα, τὸ δὲ περὶ θυσιῶν ἐν πολλοῖς μὲν ἱεροῖς εὗρον, ἐν πολλαῖς δὲ πόλεσι, πολλοῖς δὲ ἀνδρῶν σοφῶν οἴκοις, καὶ τί ἄν τις ἑρμηνεύοι αὐτὸ σεμνῶς ξυντεταγμένον καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἠχὼ τοῦ ἀνδρός; φησὶ δὲ ὁ Δάμις καὶ δακτυλίους ἑπτὰ τὸν ̓Ιάρχαν τῷ ̓Απολλωνίῳ δοῦναι τῶν ἑπτὰ ἐπωνύμους ἀστέρων, οὓς φορεῖν τὸν ̓Απολλώνιον κατὰ ἕνα πρὸς τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν ἡμερῶν. 4.45. κἀκεῖνο ̓Απολλωνίου θαῦμα: κόρη ἐν ὥρᾳ γάμου τεθνάναι ἐδόκει καὶ ὁ νυμφίος ἠκολούθει τῇ κλίνῃ βοῶν ὁπόσα ἐπ' ἀτελεῖ γάμῳ, ξυνωλοφύρετο δὲ καὶ ἡ ̔Ρώμη, καὶ γὰρ ἐτύγχανεν οἰκίας ἡ κόρη τελούσης ἐς ὑπάτους. παρατυχὼν οὖν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος τῷ πάθει “κατάθεσθε” ἔφη “τὴν κλίνην, ἐγὼ γὰρ ὑμᾶς τῶν ἐπὶ τῇ κόρῃ δακρύων παύσω.” καὶ ἅμα ἤρετο, ὅ τι ὄνομα αὐτῇ εἴη. οἱ μὲν δὴ πολλοὶ ᾤοντο λόγον ἀγορεύσειν αὐτόν, οἷοι τῶν λόγων οἱ ἐπικήδειοί τε καὶ τὰς ὀλοφύρσεις ἐγείροντες, ὁ δὲ οὐδὲν ἀλλ' ἢ προσαψάμενος αὐτῆς καί τι ἀφανῶς ἐπειπὼν ἀφύπνισε τὴν κόρην τοῦ δοκοῦντος θανάτου, καὶ φωνήν τε ἡ παῖς ἀφῆκεν ἐπανῆλθέ τε ἐς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ πατρός, ὥσπερ ἡ ̓́Αλκηστις ὑπὸ τοῦ ̔Ηρακλέους ἀναβιωθεῖσα. δωρουμένων δὲ αὐτῷ τῶν ξυγγενῶν τῆς κόρης μυριάδας δεκαπέντε φερνὴν ἔφη ἐπιδιδόναι αὐτὰς τῇ παιδί. καὶ εἴτε σπινθῆρα τῆς ψυχῆς εὗρεν ἐν αὐτῇ, ὃς ἐλελήθει τοὺς θεραπεύοντας — λέγεται γάρ, ὡς ψεκάζοι μὲν ὁ Ζεύς, ἡ δὲ ἀτμίζοι ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου — εἴτ' ἀπεσβηκυῖαν τὴν ψυχὴν ἀνέθαλψέ τε καὶ ἀνέλαβεν, ἄρρητος ἡ κατάληψις τούτου γέγονεν οὐκ ἐμοὶ μόνῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς παρατυχοῦσιν. 5.27. Οὐεσπασιανοῦ δὲ τὴν αὐτοκράτορα ἀρχὴν περινοοῦντος περὶ τὰ ὅμορα τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἔθνη καὶ προχωροῦντος ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον Δίωνες μὲν καὶ Εὐφρᾶται, περὶ ὧν μικρὸν ὕστερον εἰρήσεται, χαίρειν παρεκελεύοντο: μετὰ γὰρ τὸν πρῶτον αὐτοκράτορα, ὑφ' οὗ τὰ ̔Ρωμαίων διεκοσμήθη, τυραννίδες οὕτω χαλεπαὶ ἴσχυσαν ἐπὶ πεντήκοντα ἔτη, ὡς μηδὲ Κλαύδιον τὰ μέσα τούτων τρισκαίδεκα ἄρξαντα χρηστὸν δόξαι: καίτοι πεντηκοντούτης μὲν ἐς τὸ ἄρχειν παρῆλθεν, ὅτε νοῦς μάλιστα ὑγιαίνει ἀνθρώπων, παιδείας δὲ ξυμπάσης ἐδόκει ἐρᾶν: ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνος τηλικόσδε ὢν πολλὰ μειρακιώδη ἔπαθε καὶ μηλόβοτον γυναίοις τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀνῆκεν, ὑφ' ὧν οὕτω ῥᾳθύμως ἀπέθανεν, ὡς καίτοι προγιγνώσκων, ἃ ἔμελλε πείσεσθαι, μηδ' ἃ προῄδει, φυλάξασθαι. ̓Απολλώνιος δὲ παραπλησίως μὲν Εὐφράτῃ καὶ Δίωνι περὶ τούτων ἔχαιρε, μελέτην δ' αὐτὰ οὐκ ἐποιεῖτο ἐς πάντας ῥητορικωτέραν ἡγούμενος τὴν τοιάνδε ἰδέαν τοῦ λόγου, προσιόντι δὲ τῷ αὐτοκράτορι τὰ μὲν ἱερὰ πρὸ πυλῶν ἀπήντα καὶ τὰ τῆς Αἰγύπτου τέλη καὶ οἱ νομοί, καθ' οὓς Αἴγυπτος τέτμηται, φιλόσοφοί τε ὡσαύτως καὶ σοφία πᾶσα, ὁ δὲ ̓Απολλώνιος οὐδὲν ἐπολυπραγμόνει τούτων, ἀλλὰ ἐσπούδαζεν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ. διαλεχθεὶς δὲ ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ γενναῖά τε καὶ ἥμερα καὶ διελθὼν λόγον οὐ μακρὸν “ἐπιδημεῖ” ἔφη “ὁ Τυανεύς;” “ναὶ” ἔφασαν “βελτίους γε ἡμᾶς ἐργασάμενος”. “πῶς ἂν οὖν ξυγγένοιτο ἡμῖν;” ἔφη “σφόδρα γὰρ δέομαι τοῦ ἀνδρός”. “ἐντεύξεταί σοι περὶ τὸ ἱερόν,” ὁ Δίων εἶπε “πρὸς ἐμὲ γὰρ δεῦρο ἥκοντα ὡμολόγει ταῦτα”. “ἴωμεν” ἔφη ὁ βασιλεὺς “προσευξόμενοι μὲν τοῖς θεοῖς, ξυνεσόμενοι δὲ ἀνδρὶ γενναίῳ.” ἐντεῦθεν ἀνέφυ λόγος, ὡς ἐνθύμιος μὲν αὐτῷ ἡ ἀρχὴ γένοιτο πολιορκοῦντι τὰ Σόλυμα, μεταπέμποιτο δὲ τὸν ̓Απολλώνιον ὑπὲρ βουλῆς τούτων, ὁ δὲ παραιτοῖτο ἥκειν ἐς γῆν, ἣν ἐμίαναν οἱ ἐν αὐτῇ οἰκοῦντες οἷς τε ἔδρασαν οἷς τε ἔπαθον: ὅθεν αὐτὸς ἐλθεῖν ἐς Αἴγυπτον τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν κεκτημένος, διαλεξόμενος δὲ τῷ ἀνδρὶ ὁπόσα δηλώσω: 5.33. ὁ δ' Εὐφράτης ἀφανῶς μὲν ἤδη ἐβάσκαινε τῷ ̓Απολλωνίῳ προσκείμενον αὐτῷ τὸν βασιλέα ὁρῶν μᾶλλον ἢ τοῖς χρηστηρίοις τοὺς ἐς αὐτὰ ἥκοντας, ἀνοιδήσας δὲ ὑπὲρ τὸ μέτρον τότε καὶ τὴν φωνὴν ἐπάρας παρ' ὃ εἰώθει “οὐ χρὴ” ἔφη “κολακεύειν τὰς ὁρμάς, οὐδὲ ἀνοήτως συνεκφέρεσθαι τοῖς παρὰ τὴν ἡνίαν τι πράττουσι, καταρρυθμίζειν δὲ αὐτούς, εἴπερ φιλοσοφοῦμεν: ἃ γὰρ εἰ προσήκει πράττειν, ἔδει βουλευομένους φαίνεσθαι, ταῦθ' ὃν πεπράξεται τρόπον κελεύεις λέγειν οὔπω μαθών, εἰ ὑπὲρ πρακτέων οἱ λόγοι. ἐγὼ δὲ Βιτέλιον μὲν καταλυθῆναι κελεύω, μιαρὸν γὰρ τὸν ἄνθρωπον οἶδα καὶ μεθύοντα ἀσελγείᾳ πάσῃ, σὲ δ' ἄνδρα εἰδὼς ἀγαθὸν καὶ γενναιότητι προὔχοντα οὔ φημι χρῆναι τὰ μὲν Βιτελίου διορθοῦσθαι, τὰ σεαυτοῦ δὲ μήπω εἰδέναι. ὅσα μὲν δὴ αἱ μοναρχίαι ὑβρίζουσιν, οὐκ ἐμοῦ χρὴ μανθάνειν, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς εἴρηκας, γιγνώσκοις δ' ἄν, ὡς νεότης μὲν ἐπὶ τυραννίδα πηδῶσα προσήκοντα ἑαυτῇ που πράττει, τὸ γὰρ τυραννεύειν οὕτως ἔοικε νέοις, ὡς τὸ μεθύειν, ὡς τὸ ἐρᾶν, καὶ νέος μὲν τυραννεύσας οὔπω κακός, ἢν μιαιφόνος παρὰ τὴν τυραννίδα καὶ ὠμὸς καὶ ἀσελγὴς δόξῃ, γέροντος δὲ ἐπὶ τυραννίδα ἥκοντος πρώτη αἰτία τὸ τοιαῦτα βούλεσθαι: καὶ γὰρ ἢν φιλάνθρωπος φαίνηται καὶ κεκοσμημένος, οὐκ ἐκείνου ταῦτα νομίζουσιν, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἡλικίας καὶ τοῦ κατηρτυκέναι, δόξει δὲ καὶ πάλαι τούτου καὶ νέος ἔτι ἐπιθυμήσας ἁμαρτεῖν, αἱ δὲ τοιαῦται ἁμαρτίαι πρόσκεινται μὲν δυστυχίᾳ, πρόσκεινται δὲ δειλίᾳ: δοκεῖ γάρ τις ἢ καταγνοὺς τῆς ἑαυτοῦ τύχης τὸ ἐν νῷ τυραννεῦσαι παρεῖναι ἢ τυραννησείοντι ἐκστῆναι ἑτέρῳ δείσας δήπου αὐτὸν ὡς ἄνδρα. τὸ μὲν δὴ τῆς δυστυχίας ἐάσθω, τὸ δὲ τῆς δειλίας πῶς παραιτήσῃ καὶ ταῦτα Νέρωνα δοκῶν δεῖσαι τὸν δειλότατόν τε καὶ ῥᾳθυμότατον; ἃ γὰρ ἐνεθυμήθη Βίνδιξ ἐπ' αὐτόν, σέ, νὴ τὸν ̔Ηρακλέα, ἐκάλει πρῶτον. καὶ γὰρ στρατιὰν εἶχες καὶ ἡ δύναμις, ἣν ἐπὶ τοὺς ̓Ιουδαίους ἦγες, ἐπιτηδειοτέρα ἦν τιμωρεῖσθαι Νέρωνα: ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ πάλαι ἀφεστᾶσιν οὐ μόνον ̔Ρωμαίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων: οἱ γὰρ βίον ἄμικτον εὑρόντες καὶ οἷς μήτε κοινὴ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους τράπεζα μήτε σπονδαὶ μήτε εὐχαὶ μήτε θυσίαι, πλέον ἀφεστᾶσιν ἡμῶν ἢ Σοῦσα καὶ Βάκτρα καὶ οἱ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα ̓Ινδοί: οὐκοῦν οὐδ' εἰκὸς ἦν τιμωρεῖσθαι τούτους ἀφισταμένους, οὓς βέλτιον ἦν μηδὲ κτᾶσθαι. Νέρωνα δὲ τίς οὐκ ἂν ηὔξατο τῇ ἑαυτοῦ χειρὶ ἀποκτεῖναι μονονοὺ πίνοντα τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων αἷμα καὶ ἐν μέσοις τοῖς φόνοις ᾅδοντα; καίτοι ἐμοῦ τὰ ὦτα ὀρθὰ ἦν πρὸς τοὺς ὑπὲρ σοῦ λόγους καὶ ὁπότε τις ἐκεῖθεν ἀφίκοιτο τρισμυρίους ̓Ιουδαίων ἀπολωλέναι φάσκων ὑπὸ σοῦ καὶ πεντακισμυρίους κατὰ τὴν ἐφεξῆς μάχην, ἀπολαμβάνων τὸν ἥκοντα ξυμμέτρως ἠρώτων, τί δ' ὁ ἀνήρ; μὴ μεῖζόν τι τούτων; ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν Βιτέλιον εἴδωλον πεποιημένος τοῦ Νέρωνος ἐπ' αὐτὸν στρατεύεις, ἃ μὲν βεβούλευσαι, πρᾶττε, καλὰ γὰρ καὶ ταῦτα, τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις ὧδε ἐχέτω: ̔Ρωμαίοις τὸ δημοκρατεῖσθαι πολλοῦ ἄξιον καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ὄντων αὐτοῖς ἐπ' ἐκείνης τῆς πολιτείας ἐκτήθη: παῦε μοναρχίαν, περὶ ἧς τοιαῦτα εἴρηκας, καὶ δίδου ̔Ρωμαίοις μὲν τὸ τοῦ δήμου κράτος, σαυτῷ δὲ τὸ ἐλευθερίας αὐτοῖς ἄρξαι.” 5.34. τοσαῦτα τοῦ Εὐφράτου εἰπόντος ὁρῶν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος τὸν Δίωνα προστιθέμενον τῇ γνώμῃ, τουτὶ γὰρ καὶ τῷ νεύματι ἐπεδήλου καὶ οἷς ἐπῄνει λέγοντα, “μή τι,” ἔφη “Δίων, τοῖς εἰρημένοις προστίθης;” “νὴ Δί',” εἶπε “πὴ μὲν ὅμοια, πὴ δὲ ὀνόμοια: τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὡς πολλῷ βελτίων ἂν ἦν Νέρωνα καταλύων μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ τῶν ̓Ιουδαίων διορθούμενος, ἡγοῦμαι κἀμοὶ πρὸς σὲ εἰρῆσθαι, σὺ δὲ ἐῴκεις ἀγῶνα ποιουμένῳ μὴ καταλυθῆναί ποτε αὐτόν: ὁ γὰρ τὴν ταραχὴν τῶν ἐκείνου πραγμάτων εὖ τιθέμενος ἐρρώννυέ που τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπὶ πάντας, οὓς κακῶς ἔρρωτο. τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν Βιτέλιον ὁρμὴν ἐπαινῶ: τοῦ γὰρ τυραννίδα καθεστηκυῖαν παῦσαι μεῖζον ἡγοῦμαι τὸ μηδὲ ἐᾶσαι φῦναι. δημοκρατίαν δὲ ἀσπάζομαι μέν — καὶ γὰρ εἰ τῆς ἀριστοκρατίας ἥττων ἥδε ἡ πολιτεία, ἀλλὰ τυραννίδων τε καὶ ὀλιγαρχιῶν αἱρετωτέρα τοῖς σώφροσι — δέδια δέ, μὴ χειροήθεις ἤδη ̔Ρωμαίους αὗται αἱ τυραννίδες πεποιηκυῖαι χαλεπὴν ἐργάσωνται τὴν μεταβολὴν καὶ μὴ δύνωνται μήτε ἐλευθεριάζειν μήτε πρὸς δημοκρατίαν ἀναβλέπειν, ὥσπερ οἱ ἐκ σκότους ἐς ἀθρόον φῶς βλέψαντες: ὅθεν φημὶ δεῖν τὸν μὲν Βιτέλιον ἐξωθεῖν τῶν πραγμάτων, καὶ ὡς τάχιστά γε καὶ ἄριστα τοῦτο ἔσται, γιγνέσθω, δοκεῖ δέ μοι παρασκευάζεσθαι μὲν ὡς πολεμήσοντα, πόλεμον δὲ αὐτῷ μὴ προκηρύττειν, ἀλλὰ τιμωρίαν, εἰ μὴ μεθεῖτο. τῆς ἀρχῆς, κἂν ἕλῃς αὐτόν, τουτὶ δ' ὑπάρξειν ἡγοῦμαί σοι μηδὲ πονήσαντι, δίδου ̔Ρωμαίοις αἵρεσιν τῆς αὑτῶν πολιτείας, κἂν μὲν αἱρῶνται δημοκρατίαν, ξυγχώρει: τουτὶ γάρ σοι πολλῶν μὲν τυραννίδων, πολλῶν δὲ ̓Ολυμπιάδων μεῖζον καὶ πανταχοῦ μὲν γεγράψῃ τῆς πόλεως, πανταχοῦ δὲ ἑστήξεις χαλκοῦς, ἡμῖν δ' ἀφορμὰς παραδώσεις λόγων, αἷς οὔτε ̔Αρμόδιος οὔτε ̓Αριστογείτων παραβεβλήσεταί τις. εἰ δὲ μοναρχίαν προσδέχοιντο, τίνι λοιπὸν ἀλλ' ἢ σοὶ ψηφίσασθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν πάντας; ἃ γὰρ ἔχων ἤδη τῷ κοινῷ παρήσεις, σοὶ δήπου μᾶλλον ἢ ἑτέρῳ δώσουσιν.” 6.19. “ἐρώτα,” ἔφασαν “ἕπεται γάρ που ἐρωτήσει λόγος.” καὶ ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “περὶ θεῶν” εἶπεν “ὑμᾶς ἐρήσομαι πρῶτον, τί μαθόντες ἄτοπα καὶ γελοῖα θεῶν εἴδη παραδεδώκατε τοῖς δεῦρο ἀνθρώποις πλὴν ὀλίγων: ὀλίγων γάρ; πάνυ μέντοι ὀλίγων, ἃ σοφῶς καὶ θεοειδῶς ἵδρυται, τὰ λοιπὰ δ' ὑμῶν ἱερὰ ζῴων ἀλόγων καὶ ἀδόξων τιμαὶ μᾶλλον ἢ θεῶν φαίνονται.” δυσχεράνας δὲ ὁ Θεσπεσίων “τὰ δὲ παρ' ὑμῖν” εἶπεν “ἀγάλματα πῶς ἱδρῦσθαι φήσεις;” “ὥς γε” ἔφη “κάλλιστόν τε καὶ θεοφιλέστατον δημιουργεῖν θεούς.” “τὸν Δία που λέγεις” εἶπε “τὸν ἐν τῇ ̓Ολυμπίᾳ καὶ τὸ τῆς ̓Αθηνᾶς ἕδος καὶ τὸ τῆς Κνιδίας τε καὶ τὸ τῆς ̓Αργείας καὶ ὁπόσα ὧδε καλὰ καὶ μεστὰ ὥρας.” “οὐ μόνον” ἔφη “ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ καὶ καθάπαξ τὴν μὲν παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀγαλματοποιίαν ἅπτεσθαί φημι τοῦ προσήκοντος, ὑμᾶς δὲ καταγελᾶν τοῦ θείου μᾶλλον ἢ νομίζειν αὐτό.” “οἱ Φειδίαι δὲ” εἶπε:“καὶ οἱ Πραξιτέλεις μῶν ἀνελθόντες ἐς οὐρανὸν καὶ ἀπομαξάμενοι τὰ τῶν θεῶν εἴδη τέχνην αὐτὰ ἐποιοῦντο, ἢ ἕτερόν τι ἦν, ὃ ἐφίστη αὐτοὺς τῷ πλάττειν;” “ἕτερον” ἔφη “καὶ μεστόν γε σοφίας πρᾶγμα.” “ποῖον;” εἶπεν “οὐ γὰρ ἄν τι παρὰ τὴν μίμησιν εἴποις.” “φαντασία” ἔφη “ταῦτα εἰργάσατο σοφωτέρα μιμήσεως δημιουργός: μίμησις μὲν γὰρ δημιουργήσει, ὃ εἶδεν, φαντασία δὲ καὶ ὃ μὴ εἶδεν, ὑποθήσεται γὰρ αὐτὸ πρὸς τὴν ἀναφορὰν τοῦ ὄντος, καὶ μίμησιν μὲν πολλάκις ἐκκρούει ἔκπληξις, φαντασίαν δὲ οὐδέν, χωρεῖ γὰρ ἀνέκπληκτος πρὸς ὃ αὐτὴ ὑπέθετο. δεῖ δέ που Διὸς μὲν ἐνθυμηθέντα εἶδος ὁρᾶν αὐτὸν ξὺν οὐρανῷ καὶ ὥραις καὶ ἄστροις, ὥσπερ ὁ Φειδίας τότε ὥρμησεν, ̓Αθηνᾶν δὲ δημιουργήσειν μέλλοντα στρατόπεδα ἐννοεῖν καὶ μῆτιν καὶ τέχνας καὶ ὡς Διὸς αὐτοῦ ἀνέθορεν. εἰ δὲ ἱέρακα ἢ γλαῦκα ἢ λύκον ἢ κύνα ἐργασάμενος ἐς τὰ ἱερὰ φέροις ἀντὶ ̔Ερμοῦ τε καὶ ̓Αθηνᾶς καὶ ̓Απόλλωνος, τὰ μὲν θηρία καὶ τὰ ὄρνεα ζηλωτὰ δόξει τῶν εἰκόνων, οἱ δὲ θεοὶ παραπολὺ τῆς αὑτῶν δόξης ἑστήξουσιν.” “ἔοικας” εἶπεν “ἀβασανίστως ἐξετάζειν τὰ ἡμέτερα: σοφὸν γάρ, εἴπερ τι Αἰγυπτίων, καὶ τὸ μὴ θρασύνεσθαι ἐς τὰ τῶν θεῶν εἴδη, ξυμβολικὰ δὲ αὐτὰ ποιεῖσθαι καὶ ὑπονοούμενα, καὶ γὰρ ἂν καὶ σεμνότερα οὕτω φαίνοιτο.” γελάσας οὖν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “ὦ ἄνθρωποι,” ἔφη “μεγάλα ὑμῖν ἀπολέλαυται τῆς Αἰγυπτίων τε καὶ Αἰθιόπων σοφίας, εἰ σεμνότερον ὑμῶν καὶ θεοειδέστερον κύων δόξει καὶ ἶβις καὶ τράγος, ταῦτα γὰρ Θεσπεσίωνος ἀκούω τοῦ σοφοῦ. σεμνὸν δὲ δὴ ἢ ἔμφοβον τί ἐν τούτοις; τοὺς γὰρ ἐπιόρκους καὶ τοὺς ἱεροσύλους καὶ τὰ βωμολόχα ἔθνη καταφρονεῖν τῶν τοιούτων ἱερῶν εἰκὸς μᾶλλον ἢ δεδιέναι αὐτά, εἰ δὲ σεμνότερα ταῦτα ὑπονοούμενα, πολλῷ σεμνότερον ἂν ἔπραττον οἱ θεοὶ κατ' Αἴγυπτον, εἰ μὴ ἵδρυτό τι αὐτῶν ἄγαλμα, ἀλλ' ἕτερον τρόπον σοφώτερόν τε καὶ ἀπορρητότερον τῇ θεολογίᾳ ἐχρῆσθε: ἦν γάρ που νεὼς μὲν αὐτοῖς ἐξοικοδομῆσαι καὶ βωμοὺς ὁρίζειν καὶ ἃ χρὴ θύειν καὶ ἃ μὴ χρὴ καὶ ὁπηνίκα καὶ ἐφ' ὅσον καὶ ὅ τι λέγοντας ἢ δρῶντας, ἄγαλμα δὲ μὴ ἐσφέρειν, ἀλλὰ τὰ εἴδη τῶν θεῶν καταλείπειν τοῖς τὰ ἱερὰ ἐσφοιτῶσιν, ἀναγράφει γάρ τι ἡ γνώμη καὶ ἀνατυποῦται δημιουργίας κρεῖττον, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀφῄρησθε τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ τὸ ὁρᾶσθαι καλῶς καὶ τὸ ὑπονοεῖσθαι.” πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Θεσπεσίων, “ἐγένετό τις” ἔφη “Σωκράτης ̓Αθηναῖος ἀνόητος, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς, γέρων, ὃς τὸν κύνα καὶ τὸν χῆνα καὶ τὴν πλάτανον θεούς τε ἡγεῖτο καὶ ὤμνυ.” “οὐκ ἀνόητος,” εἶπεν “ἀλλὰ θεῖος καὶ ἀτεχνῶς σοφός, ὤμνυ γὰρ ταῦτα οὐχ' ὡς θεούς, ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ θεοὺς ὀμνύοι.” 6.34. οἱ δὲ τοὺς Ταρσοὺς οἰκοῦντες τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον ἤχθοντο τῷ ̓Απολλωνίῳ διά τε τὰς ἐπιπλήξεις, ἐπειδὴ ξυντόνους αὐτὰς ἐποιεῖτο, διά τε τὸ ἀνειμένοι καὶ τρυφῶντες μηδὲ τὴν τοῦ λόγου ἀνέχεσθαι ῥώμην, τότε δ' οὕτω τι ἡττήθησαν τοῦ ἀνδρός, ὡς οἰκιστήν τε αὐτὸν ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ στήριγμα τοῦ ἄστεος. ἔθυε μὲν γὰρ δημοσίᾳ ὁ βασιλεύς, ξυνελθοῦσα δὲ ἡ πόλις ἱκέτευεν ὑπὲρ τῶν μεγίστων, ὁ δὲ μεμνήσεσθαι τούτων πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ἔφη καὶ πρεσβεύσειν αὐτὸς ὑπὲρ ὧν δέονται: παρελθὼν δὲ ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “εἰ δὲ ἐνίους” ἔφη “τούτων ἐλέγξαιμι σοὶ μὲν καὶ πατρὶ τῷ σῷ πολεμίους, πεπρεσβευμένους δὲ ὑπὲρ νεωτέρων ἐς τὰ Σόλυμα, ξυμμάχους δ' ἀφανεῖς τῶν σοι φανερωτάτων ἐχθρῶν, τί πείσονται;” “τί δὲ ἄλλο γε,” εἶπεν “ἢ ἀπολοῦνται;” “εἶτα οὐκ αἰσχρὸν” ἔφη “τὰς μὲν τιμωρίας αὐτίκα ἀπαιτεῖν, τὰς δὲ εὐεργεσίας ὀψὲ διδόναι, καὶ τὰς μὲν καθ' ἑαυτὸν ποιεῖσθαι, τὰς δὲ ἐς κοινωνίαν γνώμης ἀνατίθεσθαι;” ὑπερησθεὶς δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς “δίδωμι τὰς δωρεάς,” εἶπεν “οὐ γάρ μοι ἀχθέσεται ὁ πατὴρ ἀληθείας ἡττωμένῳ καὶ σοῦ.” | 1.1. The votaries of Pythagoras of Samos have this story to tell of him, that he was not an Ionian at all, but that, once on a time in Troy, he had been Euphorbus, and that he had come to life after death, but had died as the songs of Homer relate. And they say that he declined to wear apparel made from dead animal products and, to guard his purity, abstained from all flesh diet, and from the offering of animals in sacrifice. For that he would not stain the altars with blood; nay, rather the honey-cake and frankincense and the hymn of praise, these they say were the offerings made to the Gods by this man, who realized that they welcome such tribute more than they do the hecatombs and the knife laid upon the sacrificial basket. For they say that he had of a certainty social intercourse with the gods, and learnt from them the conditions under which they take pleasure in men or are disgusted, and on this intercourse he based his account of nature. For he said that, whereas other men only make conjectures about divinity and make guesses that contradict one another concerning it, — in his own case he said that Apollo had come to him acknowledging that he was the god in person; and that Athena and the Muses and other gods, whose forms and names men did not yet know, had also consorted with him though without making such acknowledgment. And the followers of Pythagoras accepted as law any decisions communicated by him, and honored him as an emissary from Zeus, but imposed, out of respect for their divine character, a ritual silence on themselves. For many were the divine and ineffable secrets which they had heard, but which it was difficult for any to keep who had not previously learnt that silence also is a mode of speech.Moreover they declare that Empedocles of Acragas had trodden this way of wisdom when he wrote the lineRejoice ye, for I am unto you an immortal God, and no more mortal.And this also:For erewhile, I already became both girl and boy.And the story that he made at Olympia a bull of pastry and sacrificed it to the god also shows that he approved of the sentiments of Pythagoras. And there is much else that they tell of those sages who observe the rule of Pythagoras; but I must not now enter upon such points, but hurry on to the work which I have set myself to complete. 1.31. Now the king caught sight of Apollonius approaching, for the vestibule of the Temple was of considerable length, and insisted to those by him that he recognized the sage; and when he came still nearer he cried out with a loud voice and said: This is Apollonius, whom Megabates, my brother, said he saw in Antioch, the admired and respected of serious people; and he depicted him to me at that time just such a man as now comes to us. And when Apollonius approached and saluted him, the king addressed him in the Greek language and invited him to sacrifice with him; and it chanced that he was on the point of sacrificing to the Sun as a victim a horse of the true Nisaean breed, which he had adorned with trappings as if for a triumphal procession. But Apollonius replied: Do you, O king, go on with your sacrifice, in your own way, but permit me to sacrifice in mine. And he took up a handful of frankincense and said: O thou Sun, send me as far over the earth as is my pleasure and thine, and may I make the acquaintance of good men, but never hear anything of bad ones, nor they of me. And with these words he threw the frankincense into the fire, and watched to see how the smoke of it curled upwards, and how it grew turbid, and in how many points it shot up; and in a manner he caught the meaning of the fire, and watched how it appeared of good omen and pure. Then he said: Now, O king, go on with your sacrifice in accordance with your own traditions, for my traditions are such as you see. 3.41. BOTH Apollonius and Damis then took part in the interviews devoted to abstract discussions; not so with the conversations devoted to occult themes, in which they pondered the nature of astronomy or divination, and considered the problem of foreknowledge, and handled the problems of sacrifice and of the invocations in which the gods take pleasure. In these Damis says that Apollonius alone partook of the philosophic discussion together with Iarchas, and that Apollonius embodied the results in four books concerning the divination by the stars, a work which Moeragenes has mentioned. And Damis says that he composed a work on the way to offer sacrifice to the several gods in a manner pleasing to them. Not only then do I regard the work on the science of the stars and the whole subject of such divination as transcending human nature, but I do not even know if anyone has these gifts; but I found the treatise on sacrifices in several cities, and in the houses of several learned men; moreover, if anyone should translate [ 1] it, he would find it to be a grave and dignified composition, and one that rings of the author's personality. And Damis says thatIarchas gave seven rings to Apollonius named after the seven stars, and that Apollonius wore each of these in turn on the day of the week which bore its name. 4.45. Here too is a miracle which Apollonius worked: A girl had died just in the hour of her marriage, and the bridegroom was following her bier lamenting as was natural his marriage left unfulfilled, and the whole of Rome was mourning with him, for the maiden belonged to a consular family. Apollonius then witnessing their grief, said: Put down the bier, for I will stay the tears that you are shedding for this maiden. And withal he asked what was her name. The crowd accordingly thought that he was about to deliver such an oration as is commonly delivered to grace the funeral as to stir up lamentation; but he did nothing of the kind, but merely touching her and whispering in secret some spell over her, at once woke up the maiden from her seeming death; and the girl spoke out loud, and returned to her father's house, just as Alcestis did when she was brought back to life by Heracles. And the relations of the maiden wanted to present him with the sum of 150,000 sesterces, but he said that he would freely present the money to the young lady by way of dowry. Now whether he detected some spark of life in her, which those who were nursing her had not noticed — for it is said that although it was raining at the time, a vapor went up from her face — or whether her life was really extinct, and he restored it by the warmth of his touch, is a mysterious problem which neither I myself nor those who were present could decide. 5.27. Vespasian was harboring thoughts of seizing the absolute power, and was at this time in the countries bordering upon Egypt; and when he advanced as far as Egypt, people like Dion and Euphrates, of whom I shall have something to say lower down, urged that a welcome should be given to him. For the first autocrat, by whom the Roman state was organized, was succeeded for the space of fifty years by tyrants so harsh and cruel, that not even Claudius, who reigned thirteen years in the interval between them, could be regarded as a good ruler, and that, although he was fifty years of age when he succeeded to the throne, an age when a man's judgment is most likely to be sane, and though he had the reputation of being fond of culture of all kinds; nevertheless he too in spite of his advanced age committed many youthful follies, and gave up the empire to be devoured, as sheep devour a pasture, by silly women, who murdered him, because he was so indolent that, though he knew beforehand what was in store for him, he would not be on his guard even against what he foresaw. Apollonius no less than Euphrates and Dion rejoiced in the new turn of events; but he did not make use of them as a theme in his public utterances, because he considered such an argument too much in the style of a rhetor. When the autocrat approached the city, the priests met him before the gates, together with the magistrates of Egypt and the representatives of the different provinces into which Egypt is divided. The philosophers also were present and all their schools. Apollonius however did not put himself forward in this way, but remained conversing in the temple. The autocrat delivered himself of noble and gentle sentiments, and after making a short speech, said: Is the man of Tyana living here? Yes, they replied, and he has much improved us thereby. Can he then be induced to give us an interview? said the emperor. For I am very much in want of him. He will meet you, said Dion, at the temple, for he admitted as much to me when I was on my way here. Let us go on, said the king, at once to offer our prayers to the gods, and to meet so noble a man. This is how the story grew up, that it was during his conduct of the siege of Jerusalem that the idea of making himself emperor suggested itself to him; and that he sent for Apollonius to ask his advice on the point; but that the latter declined to enter a country which its inhabitants polluted both by what they did and by what they suffered, which was the reason why Vespasian came in person to Egypt, as well because he now had possession of the throne, as in order to hold with our sage the conversations which I shall relate. 5.33. While Apollonius spoke, Euphrates concealed the jealousy he already felt of one whose utterances clearly interested the emperor hardly less than those of an oracular shrine interest those who repair to it for guidance. But now at last his feelings overcame him, and, raising his voice above its usual pitch, he cried: We must not flatter men's impulses, nor allow ourselves to be carried away against our better judgment by men of unbridled ambition; but we should rather, if we are enamored of wisdom, recall them to the sober facts of life. Here is a policy about the very expediency of which we should first calmly deliberate, and yet you would have us prescribe a way of executing it, before you know if the measures under discussion are desirable. For myself, I quite approve of the deposition of Vitellius, whom I know to be a ruffian drunk with every sort of profligacy; nevertheless, although I know you to be a worthy man and of pre-eminent nobility of character, I deny that you ought to undertake the correction of Vitellius without first establishing an ideal for yourself. I need not instruct you in the excesses chargeable to monarchy as such, for you have yourself described them; but this I would have you recognize, that whereas youth leaping into the tyrant's saddle does but obey its own instincts — for playing the tyrant comes natural to young men as wine or women, and we cannot reproach a young man merely for making himself a tyrant, unless in pursuit of his role he shows himself a murderer, a ruffian, or a debauchee — on the other hand when an old man makes himself a tyrant, the first thing we blame in him is that he ever nursed such an ambition. It is no use his showing himself an example of humanity and moderation, for of these qualities we shall give the credit not to himself, but to his age and mature training. And men will believe that he nursed the ambition long before, when he was still a stripling, only that he failed to realize it; and such failures are partly attributed to ill luck, partly to pusillanimity. I mean that he will be thought to have renounced his dream of becoming a tyrant, because he distrusted his own star, or that he stood aside and made way for another who entertained the same ambition and whose superior manliness was dreaded. As for the count of ill luck, I may dismiss it; but as for that of cowardice, how can you avoid it? How escape the reproach of having been afraid of Nero, the most cowardly and supine of rulers? Look at the revolt against him planned by Vindex, you surely were the man of the hour, its natural leader, not he! For you had an army at your back, and the forces you were leading against the Jews, would they not have been more suitably employed in chastising Nero? For the Jews have long been in revolt not only against the Romans, but against humanity; and a race that has made its own a life apart and irreconcilable, that cannot share with the rest of mankind in the pleasures of the table nor join in their libations or prayers or sacrifices, are separated from ourselves by a greater gulf than divides us from Susa or Bactra or the more distant Indies. What sense then or reason was there in chastising them for revolting from us, whom we had better have never annexed? As for Nero, who would not have prayed with his own hand to slay a man well-nigh drunk with human blood, singing as he sat amidst the hecatombs of his victims? I confess that I ever pricked up my ears when any messenger from yonder brought tidings of yourself, and told us how in one hand battle you had slain thirty thousand Jews and in the next fifty thousand. In such cases I would take the courier aside and ask him: “But what of the great man? Will he not rise to higher things than this?' Since then you have discovered in Vitellius an image and ape of Nero, and are turning your arms against him, persist in the policy you have embraced, for it too is a noble one, only let its sequel be noble too. You know how dear to the Romans are the popular institutions, and how nearly all their conquests were won under a free polity. Put then an end to monarchy, of which you have repeated to us so evil a record; and bestow upon Romans a popular government, and on yourself the glory of inaugurating for them a reign of liberty. [ 1] 5.34. Throughout Euphrates' long speech, Apollonius noticed that Dion shared his sentiments, for he manifested his approval both by his gestures and the applause with which he hailed his words; so he asked him he could not add some remarks of his own to what he had just heard. By heaven, I can, answered Dion, and I should agree in part and in part disagree with his remarks; for I think I have myself told you that you would have been much better employed deposing Nero than setting Jewry to rights. But your anxiety appeared to be never to have him deposed, for anyone who composed the disorder of his affairs merely strengthened the fellow against all the victims in his power. I approve however of the campaign against Vitellius; for I consider it a greater achievement to prevent a tyranny from ever growing up, than to put an end to it when it is established. And while I welcome the idea of democracy — for though this form of polity is inferior to an aristocracy, nevertheless moderate men will prefer it to tyrannies and oligarchies — I fear lest the servility to which these successive tyrannies have reduced the Romans will render any change difficult to effect; I doubt if they are able to comport themselves as free men or even to lift their eyes to a democracy, any more than people who have been kept in the dark are able to look on a sudden blaze of light. I conclude that Vitellius ought to be driven from power, and would fain see this effected as quickly and as well as can be; I think however that though you should be prepared for war, yet you yourself instead of declaring war against him, ought rather to threaten him with condign punishment, in case you capture him, as I believe you will easily do, then I would fain see you give the people of Rome the right to choose their own polity, and, if they choose a democracy, allow it them. For this will bring you greater glory than many tyrannies and many victories at Olympia. Your name will be inscribed all over the city, and brazen statues will be erected everywhere; and you will furnish us with a theme for harangues in which neither Harmodius nor Aristogeiton will bear comparison with you. If however they accept monarchy, whom can they all possibly decree the throne except yourself? For what you already possess, and are about to resign into the hands of the public, they will surely rather confer on yourself than on another. 6.19. Ask, they said, for you know question comes first and argument follows on it. It is about the gods that I would like to ask you a question first, namely, what induced you to impart, as your tradition, to the people of this country forms of the gods that are absurd and grotesque in all but a few cases? In a few cases, do I say? I would rather say that in very few are the gods' images fashioned in a wise and god-like manner, for the mass of your shrines seem to have been erected in honor rather of irrational and ignoble animals than of gods. Thespesion, resenting these remarks, said: And your own images in Greece, how are they fashioned? In the way, he replied, in which it is best and most reverent to construct images of the gods. I suppose you allude, said the other, to the statue of Zeus in Olympia, and to the image of Athena and to that of the Cnidian goddess and to that of the Argive goddess and to other images equally beautiful and full of charm? Not only to these, replied Apollonius, but without exception I maintain, that whereas in other lands statuary has scrupulously observed decency and fitness, you rather make ridicule of the gods than really believe in them. Your artists, then, like Phidias, said the other, and like Praxiteles, went up, I suppose, to heaven and took a copy of the forms of the gods, and then reproduced these by their art or was there any other influence which presided over and guided their molding? There was, said Apollonius, and an influence pregt with wisdom and genius. What was that? said the other, for I do not think you can adduce any except imitation. Imagination, said Apollonius, wrought these works, a wiser and subtler artist by far than imitation; for imitation can only create as its handiwork what it has seen, but imagination equally what it has not seen; for it will conceive of its ideal with reference to the reality, and imitation is often baffled by terror, but imagination by nothing; for it marches undismayed to the goal which it has itself laid down. When you entertain a notion of Zeus you must, I suppose, envisage him along with heaven and seasons and stars, as Phidias in his day endeavoured to do, and if you would fashion an image of Athena you must imagine in your mind armies and cunning, and handicrafts, and how she leapt out of Zeus himself. But if you make a hawk or an owl or a wolf or a dog, and put it in your temples instead of Hermes or Athena or Apollo, your animals and your birds may be esteemed and of much price as likenesses, but the gods will be very much lowered in their dignity. I think, said the other, that you criticize our religion very superficially; for if the Egyptians have any wisdom, they show it by their deep respect and reverence in the representation of the gods, and by the circumstance that they fashion their forms as symbols of a profound inner meaning, so as to enhance their solemnity and august character. Apollonius thereon merely laughed and said: My good friends, you have indeed greatly profited by the wisdom of Egypt and Ethiopia, if your dog and your ibis and your goat seem particularly august and god-like, for this is what I learn from Thespesion the sage.But what is there that is august or awe-inspiring in these images? Is it not likely that perjurers and temple-thieves and all the rabble of low jesters will despise such holy objects rather than dread them; and if they are to be held for the hidden meanings which they convey, surely the gods in Egypt would have met with much greater reverence, if no images of them had ever been set up at all, and if you had planned your theology along other lines wiser and more mysterious. For I imagine you might have built temples for them, and have fixed the altars and laid down rules about what to sacrifice and what not, and when and on what scale, and with what liturgies and rites, without introducing any image at all, but leaving it to those who frequented the temples to imagine the images of the gods; for the mind can more or less delineate and figure them to itself better than can any artist; but you have denied to the gods the privilege of beauty both of the outer eye and of an inner suggestion. Thespesion replied and said: There was a certain Athenian, called Socrates, a foolish old man like ourselves, who thought that the dog and the goose and the plane tree were gods and used to swear by them. He was not foolish, said Apollonius, but a divine and unfeignedly wise man; for he did not swear by these objects on the understanding that they were gods, but to save himself from swearing by the gods. 6.34. Now the inhabitants of Tarsus had previously detested Apollonius, because of the violent reproaches which he addressed to them, owing to the fact that through their languid indifference and sensual indolence they could not put up with the vigor of his remarks. But on this occasion they became such devoted admirers of our hero as to regard him as their second founder and the mainstay of their city. For on one occasion the Emperor was offering a sacrifice in public, when the whole body of citizens met and presented a petition to him asking for certain great favors; and he replied that he would mention the matter to his father, and be himself their ambassador to procure them what they wanted; whereupon Apollonius stepped forward and said: Supposing I convicted some who are standing here of being your own and your father's enemies, and of having sent legates to Jerusalem to excite a rebellion, and of being the secret allies of your most open enemies, what would happen to them? Why, what else, said the Emperor, than instant death? Then is it not disgraceful, replied Apollonius, that you should be instant in demanding their punishment, and yet dilatory in conferring a boon; and be ready yourself to undertake the punishment, but reserve the benefaction until you can see and consult your father? But the king, over-delighted with this remark, said: I grant the favors they ask for, for my father will not be annoyed at my yielding to truth and to yourself. |
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