mm ui 
 
 HHH 
 
 Wmm 
 
 ■■flMinKKixni 
 
 WSmm 
 
 H 
 
 m 
 m I1H 
 
 Hi 
 
 BBS 
 
 9im 
 
 HOTr 
 
 ■MB 
 
 Ililll 
 
 ■MM 
 
 11 
 
 vnagnKB 
 
 J8K 
 
 5H 
 
 SSBSsS 
 
 KB 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 rain 
 
 llHi 
 
 311!§Hffil 
 
 1 I IIP MIT 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 APOLLONIUS OF TYANA, 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK OF 
 
 "PHILOSTRATUS. 
 
 WITH 
 
 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, 
 
 BY THE REV. EDWARD BERWICK, 
 
 VICAR OF LE1XLIP IN IRELAND. 
 
 THE FEAR OF OFFENDING FOOLS HAS MADE MANY MEN OF UN- 
 DERSTANDING UNHAPPY ; AND THE AMBITION OF APPLAUSE 
 HAS MADE MANY GREAT MEN COMMIT GREAT ERRORS. 
 
 Philosophical Visions. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR T. PAYNE, PALL MALL, 
 BY J. M'CREERY, BLACK-HORSE-COURI. 
 
 1809. 
 
fts^ 
 
 ,K»* 
 
 ts 
 
 vt<* 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 THE Life of Apollonius of Tyana, which is 
 now for the first time presented entire to the 
 consideration of the English Reader, was com- 
 piled by Philostratus about the year of Christ 
 210, at the desire of Julia Domna, wife to the 
 Emperor Severus. Flaccus Philostratus, the 
 writer of it, was the son of Verus, and had the 
 title of Sophist conferred on him for his superior 
 eloquence. According to some writers he was 
 born in the isle of Lemnos, but according to 
 others, in Athens, where he taught rhetoric, 
 and composed many speeches and ingenious 
 tracts. From Athens he passed to Rome, where 
 he was soon received into the society of the lite- 
 rary men, who then frequented and adorned the 
 court of the Empress Julia.— From her, he 
 says, he obtained whatever documents had been 
 communicated to her by the friends of Apollo- 
 nius, relative to his life and opinions, and which, 
 at her particular request, he not only revised, but 
 embellished in the manner they are at present to 
 be found. 
 
( K ) 
 
 Mr. Gibbon, in speaking of the Empress 
 Julia, says, " She applied herself to letters and 
 philosophy with some success, and great appli- 
 cation ; and was the patroness of every art, and 
 the friend of every man of genius." The same 
 elegant writer, in speaking of her husband, 
 adds, " that he was passionately addicted to the 
 vain studies of magic and divination, was deeply 
 versed in the interpretation of dreams and 
 omens, and perfectly acquainted with the sci- 
 ence of judicial astrology." In a court which 
 patronized such studies and pursuits, we are not 
 surprised to learn that the talents of Philostra- 
 tus were encouraged, his skill in rhetoric ap- 
 plauded, and the wishes of the Empress obeyed 
 with alacrity. A woman like Julia, attached so 
 much to letters, was naturally desirous of know- 
 ing every circumstance respecting so extraordi- 
 nary a person as she might have been informed 
 Apollonius was, in whose particular character 
 were combined all the leading features and pre- 
 vailing sentiments then so fashionable in the 
 court of her husband. Philostratus was a pas- 
 sionate admirer of Pythagoras, and as such must 
 have had great pleasure in bringing into public 
 notice and esteem, the character of one who was 
 so strict and zealous a follower of the rules and 
 maxims of the enlightened Sage of Samos. His 
 history of Apollonius he composed in eight 
 books, which have been translated at different 
 times into Latin ; but the translation of Olearius, 
 
( # ) 
 
 in the beginning of the last century, is to be pre- 
 ferred to all the others, on account of the care 
 and fidelity with which it is executed. It was 
 translated into Italian so early as the year 1549, 
 and printed at Venice by Gabriel Giolito de 
 Ferrari. — In 1611, Frederick Morel, at Paris, 
 revised and corrected the French translation of 
 Blaise de Vigenere of 1609, and published it in 
 two volumes quarto, with a very ample com- 
 mentary by Artus Thomas Sieur D'Embry. — 
 A new translation has lately appeared in French, 
 in four volumes duodecimo, dedicated to Cle- 
 ment XIV. to which is added a literal transla- 
 tion of all the notes that are to be found in the 
 English version of the first two books by Mr. 
 Charles Blount, in 1680, who, in his preface 
 £o the same, says, he had translated the whole, 
 but was prevented from publishing, by reason 
 of the outcry raised against him of the danger 
 which was to follow its publication. The truth 
 is, it was considered at the time (but in my opi- 
 nion erroneously) as so dangerous an attempt to 
 injure the Christian religion, that it was soon 
 suppressed, so that few copies of it then got 
 abroad. — Yet, notwithstanding the alarm excit- 
 ed, it appears to me, that whatever danger was 
 to have followed, (of which there was none) 
 must have arisen from the peculiar nature of 
 the notes with which it is furnished, almost all 
 of them being of so deistical a tendency as to 
 make it supposed they were written by the fa- 
 
 b 
 
( 'V ) 
 
 mous Lord Herbert of Cherbury ; and not from 
 a faithful translation of the text, which I think 
 perfectly harmless. In saying this, I feel my- 
 self supported by the sentiments of the judicious 
 Dr. Lardner, who, after examining and weigh- 
 ing the opinions for and against the tendency of 
 the work, supposes it written as a counterpart to 
 the life of Pythagoras, and free from any direct 
 allusion to the life of Christ.* Even in such 
 parts of his work as might be supposed to bear, 
 on particular passages in the history of our 
 blessed Saviour, neither the language (save in 
 one solitary instance) nor the artless simplicity 
 of the scriptures, are so much as followed. — 
 Nothing can be imagined, says Mr. John Le- 
 land, more different than Philostratus's manner 
 of writing, stuffed with rhetorical flourishes 
 and vain ostentations of learning, is from the 
 plain sober narrative <jf the evangelists, which 
 hath all the characters of genuine unaffected 
 simplicity, and a sincere regard for truth. 
 
 Dr. Lardner observes, he was confirmed in 
 his opinion by perusing the judicious reflections 
 of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, on the charac- 
 
 * Gibbon allpws that, " tho* ancient stories of Pythagoras 
 and Aristeas, the cures performed at the shrine of iEsculapius, 
 and the fables related of Apollonius of Tyana, were frequent- 
 ly oppose to the miracles of Christ; yet he agrees with Dr. 
 Lardner, in thinking, that when Philostratus composed his 
 Life of Apollonius, he had no such intention." 
 
( v ) 
 
 ter of Apollonius, and his history as written by 
 Philostratus. * To the above opinions I can 
 add those of the learned and liberal compilers 
 of the new Biographical Dictionary, in con- 
 firmation of my own opinion, who say in their 
 account of Apollonius, that Dr. Lardner has 
 fully shewn that Philostratus did not write his 
 life with any reference to that of Christ, and 
 that his design was to exhibit this philosopher 
 as a counterpart to Pythagoras. As such, they 
 conclude, he is doubtless to be considered, and 
 we shall not, I think, pronounce unfairly con- 
 cerning him, if we assert that in him were unit- 
 ed the characters of both the sage and the im- 
 postor. 
 
 From fairly weighing the sentiments of the 
 aforesaid learned and judicious scholars, and 
 from a careful perusal of the work itself, I agree 
 with them in thinking it written after the style 
 and manner in which the Life of Pythagoras is 
 written ; that a faithful translation of the work 
 cannot do the least harm to the Christian reli- 
 gion, and that all the supernatural tales* related 
 
 * Accounts of supernatural events found only in historians 
 by some ages posterior to the transactions, and of which it is 
 evident that the historian could know little more than his 
 reader, offer no evidence that is satisfactory or can be de- 
 pended on. This judicious observation of Mr. Paley, de- 
 serves the utmost attention, as it applies with considerable 
 
 force 
 
( * ) 
 
 in it are false, and founded on the miracles as- 
 cribed to Pythagoras by his fanatical followers. 
 Had Lucian written the life of Apollonius, as 
 he did that of his pupil, Alexander, the pseudo- 
 prophet, little or no alarm would ever have 
 been excited in the breast of either Christian or 
 Pagan. However, the English reader may now 
 form an opinion for himself, and judge of the 
 man, and the design Philostratus had in writing 
 it : he has, for the first time, an opportunity of 
 perusing the whole life in his own language, 
 accompanied with such notes and observations, 
 as may in some respect tend to illustrate, and 
 render it more intelligible. Should it be asked 
 why this history should be now given to the 
 English reader, after having been so long with- 
 held from him, I will first give in' answer the 
 reasons which induced Meric Casaubon to think 
 
 force to the miracles ascribed to Apollonius in the following 
 solitary history, published by Philostratus above one hundred 
 years after] his death, and in which, whether the writer had 
 any prior account, depends upon his single unsupported evi- 
 dence. Besides, continues the same learned writer, accounts 
 of supernatural events published in one country, of what 
 passed in a distant country, without any proof that such accounts 
 were known, or received at home, can offer no evidence that 
 is to be depended on. This distinction, he adds, disposes of 
 the aforesaid miracles of Apollonius, most of which are relat- 
 ed to have been performed in India, of which no evidence 
 remains, that either the miracles ascribed to him, or the 
 history of those miracles, were ever heard of in India. 
 

 ( vii ) 
 
 it ought to be better known than what it is, and 
 next, those which but ostensibly engaged Mr. 
 Charles Blount to offer his translation to the 
 public. I say but ostensibly, for Blount's real 
 design, it is well known, was to use the text 
 of Philostratns as a vehicle to convey a deep 
 digested series of notes and observations, which, 
 in the vain imagination of his heart, he thought 
 would injure the Christian religion, but which 
 only tended, as all such impotent attacks have 
 done, to serve it, and to exalt the character of 
 its Divine Author, and humble that of its feeble 
 and- wicked opponent: for feeble and wicked 
 must that man be, whose real design is to cast 
 the slightest reflection on a religion " which 
 from Heaven proclaimed peace on earth, and good 
 will amongst all its inhabitants." 
 
 Though the books of Philostratus, says Ga- 
 saubon, contain many fabulous things, as any man 
 may expect from the undertaking, yet they have 
 so much truth and variety of ancient learning, 
 that I think they deserve a more attentive con- 
 sideration than what has fallen to their lot. 
 I thought, writes Blount in his Preface, the 
 many descriptions in Philostratus of remote 
 countries and former customs, so different 
 from our own ; the various hints of ancient his- 
 tory, wherein our author is esteemed authentic, 
 as well as the philosophical discourses on the 
 subject of morality, might be not only enter- 
 taining, but useful to every reader that perused 
 
( viii ) 
 
 him. „ Besides the aforesaid reasons, which 1 
 deem, independent of others, fully sufficient to 
 justify the undertaking at this day, I thought 
 the want of such a translation a defect in English 
 literature, and in some respects a reflection on 
 the liberal and enlightened character of the 
 country. I thought it also necessary to lay 
 before the English reader an entire translation 
 of the whole history of Apollonius, to enable 
 him the better to form his opinion of the cha- 
 racter of the man, it being the only account of 
 him which was referred to about a century after 
 its appearance, in preference to all others, by 
 Hierocles, who first endeavoured to draw a 
 comparison between Christ and Apollonius, and 
 which account was fully admitted by Eusebius 
 in the reply he made to his foolish and impious 
 attack. Next I wished to shew the fallacy of 
 the comparison, w r hich could only fairly be 
 done by a perusal of the whole life, from which 
 I think it will appear, that Apollonius was one 
 of those cunning impostors, who, by his supe- 
 rior skill, could perform certain wonderful 
 things, for the purpose of acquiring character 
 and consequence among the vulgar, and that it 
 was in the light of a magician he was considered 
 by his two contemporaries, Lucian and Apuleius, 
 of whom the one says, his false prophet was 
 educated in his school, (and from the .pupil we 
 may judge of the master) and the other ranks 
 him amongst the most celebrated magician*. 
 
 i i 
 
( * ) 
 
 I have only now to add, that had any English 
 translation of the work existed, I should not 
 have undertaken the present one, which is sub- 
 mitted with the greatest deference to the public, 
 in the hopes that it will fully serve to set in its 
 true light the character of Apollonius, and to 
 wipe away an uncandid insinuation of Mr. Gib- 
 bon, who seems glad (as he does on every occa- 
 sion) to fix a stigma on the Divine Author of our 
 religion : an insinuation which I believe he 
 never would have made, had any translation of 
 the work been extant in his own language, to 
 which the reader might have had an easy access. 
 The insinuation I allude to, is couched in a note* 
 to the first volume of his Roman History, in 
 which he wishes to confound the character of 
 our blessed Saviour, with that of an impostor 
 
 * " Apollonius of Tyana," says Gibbon, " was bom about 
 the same time as Jesus Christ. His life [that of the former) 
 is related in so fabulous a manner by his fanatic disciples, that 
 we are at a loss to discover whether he was a sage, or an im- 
 postor." 
 
 A sneer, which is but an expression of ludicrous scorn, is 
 the favourite and general weapon with which Mr. Gibbon 
 throughout his whole history assails the character and religion of 
 Christ: but the imbecility of this mode of attack, (for it cannot 
 be termed any thing like argument) is always best exposed by a 
 simple recital of the real circumstances attending the case against 
 which his sneer is directed. I trust the truth of this will appear 
 by the following account of the man whom the historian of the 
 Roman empire, so unbecomingly, and irreverently, compares 
 to that of our blessed Saviour. 
 
( * ) 
 
 and a magician, though the dissimilarity, in 
 every point of view, is so great between the 
 two persons, that one is surprised how the 
 liberal candour of a gentleman, and a scholar, 
 could adopt it, and give it to a discerning pub- 
 lic. In fine, if I should succeed in removing 
 this unfair and unfounded imputation, I will 
 think myself well repaid for the time and trouble 
 expended in this work. 
 
 JV. B. Since I wrote the above address to the 
 reader, I have read the learned and liberal criti- 
 cism of Doctor Douglas, late bishop of Salisbury, 
 with which I have been much edified; and though 
 a slight difference of opinion exists between his 
 lordship and me, respecting the object with 
 which Philostratus compiled his history, none 
 whatever, I am happy to say, exists respecting 
 the character of his hero. 
 
 E. B. 
 
 Esker t near Leixlip, 
 September, 1809. 
 
THE LIFE 
 
 8cc. 
 
 BOOK I.— Contents. 
 
 Observations on the Doctrine of Pythagoras, fyc. — 
 Country of Apollonius — his Birth — Education, Pro- 
 gress in the Pythagorean Philosophy — Residence in 
 the Temple of Esculapius — Death of his parents — 
 Goes to Anlioch — Meets Dames at Ninus—Goes to 
 Babylon — Interview with King Bardanes — Conver- 
 sation with the Magi — Sets out on his journey to 
 India. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 1 HEY who commend* Pythagoras the Samian, say o£ 
 him, that before his birth in Ionia, he was Euphort^T 
 at Troy ; and that after his death at that place, vnich is 
 recorded by Homer, he returned again to life. Hiey add, 
 
 * Whoever is desirous to understand fully the cha/aeter of Apollo- 
 nius, as given here by Philostratus, should read with care and attention 
 all that is written of Pythagoras, of whom he was t strict follower and 
 rigorous disciple. The best accounts of Pythagoras, and his phi- 
 losophical tenets, are to be found in Diogenes Laertius, Porphyry, 
 and Iamblichus, among the ancients ; and in Stanley's Lives of the 
 Philosophers, and Brucker's Histoiia Critica among the moderns. 
 
 t Homer, in the 17th book of the Iliad, describes the death of 
 Euphorbus, and the simile by which he illustrates his beauty and sud- 
 den fall is exquisitely fine. From Porphyry and Iamblichus it appears, 
 
 that 
 B 
 
z 
 
 that he rejected the use of all clothing made from the 
 skins of animals, and abstained both from eating and 
 sacrificing them. He never polluted with blood the altars 
 of the Gods, to whom he offered cakes of honey, and 
 frankincense, and hymns ; for such oblations he knew were 
 more acceptable to them than whole hecatombs, and the 
 
 \^ sacrificial knife. He conversed with the Gods, and learnt 
 ^ from them, how men may do what is pleasing to them, 
 
 I and how the contrary. Hence ^he spoke of the nature 
 of things as a man inspired: for he said other men 
 guessed only of the divine will, but that Apollo had visit- 
 ed him and declared his Godhead. Pallas and the Muses, 
 he also said, had conversed with him, without declaring 
 who they were, and other deities whose names and aspects 
 were not as yet known to mortals. Whatever was taught 
 by Pythagoras, was observed as a law by his disciples, who 
 reverenced him as a man come from Jove; and the 
 silence he enjoined was most vigilantly adhered to by them, 
 with a zeal which a doctrine so sublime merited; for 
 whilst it continued, they heard many things of a divine and 
 mysterious nature, which would have been difficult for 
 them to retain and comprehend, had they not first learnt 
 
 that Pytihgoras admired the verses so much, that he had them set to 
 the harp. His admiration of them probably induced him to say, that 
 his soul transmigrated to him from that hero. Pope has well trans- 
 lated them. 
 
 ' As the young olive, in some sylvan scene, 
 ' Crown'o. by fresh fountains with eternal green, 
 
 * Lifts the gay head, in snowy flow'rets fair, 
 ' And plays, and dances to the gentle air j 
 
 * When lo ! a whirlwind from high heaven invades 
 ' The tender plant, and withers all its shades ; 
 
 ' It lies uprooted from its genial bed, 
 ' A lovely ruin, now defae'd and dead. 
 
 * Thus young, thus beautiful, Enphorbus lay, 
 
 * While the fierce Spartan tore his arms away.* 
 
that silence* itself was the beginning and rudiment of 
 wisdom. This mode of philosophizing, it is said,f Em- 
 pedocles of Agrigentum pursued, who says in some of his 
 poems, " Farewel, my friends, mortal I shall be no 
 more," and also — " A boy I was, then did a maid be- 
 come." Besides,^ the ox which he made of honey and 
 barley, and sacrificed at Olympia, shews that he approved 
 of the system of Pythagoras. Many other things are re- 
 lated of the followers of Pythagoras which I think not 
 now necessary to notice, as I am anxious to go on with 
 my proposed narrative. 
 
 * The to <ri*m<Li \oyoq of Pythagoras is illustrated by what Claudian 
 says in speaking of the consulship of Mallius Theodoras, 
 " Quicquid Deraocritus risit, dixitque tacendo 
 Pythagoras." 
 
 Isocrates acknowledges the force of the above expression, Solomon 
 says, " the words of wise men are heard in quiet." 
 
 t For an account of Empedocles see Diogenes Laertius, Stanley's 
 lives of the Philosophers, and Brucker's Historia Critica. 
 
 $ Plutarch says Pythagoras sacrificed an ox on the discovery of a 
 certain mathematical proposition ; now as we know that Pythagoras 
 abstained entirely from the shedding of blood, the ox he sacrificed to 
 the Gods on that occasion must have been of the same composition 
 with that of Empedocles. Porphyry says, Pythagoras offered an ox 
 in sacrifice, not a living ox, but one made of paste. Athenaeus re- 
 ports in like manner, that Empedocles, a disciple of Pythagoras, 
 having been crowned at the Olympic games, distributed to those who 
 were present an ox made of myrrh, incense, and all sorts of aromatic 
 drugs. 
 
 B 2 
 
K> 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 APOLLONIUS, who engaged in like pursuits and stu- 
 dies, devoted himself to philosophy with a more divine 
 enthusiasm than Pythagoras. He vanquished tyrannies, 
 and lived in times neither remote nor modem, and yet he 
 is not recognised by that true wisdom which he cultivated 
 with such a chaste philosophical spirit, and is amongst 
 men still mentioned with various praise. Some consider 
 him as one of the Magi, because he conversed with the 
 wise men of Babylon, and the Brachmans of India, and 
 the Gymnosophists of Egypt, and even his wisdom is re- 
 viled, as being acquired by means of the magic art ; so 
 erroneous are the opinions formed of him. Whereas, 
 Empedocles, and Pythagoras, and Democritus, though 
 they conversed with the same magi, and advanced many 
 paradoxical sentiments, have not fallen under like imputa- 
 tion. Even Plato, who travelled into Egypt, and blended 
 with his doctrines many opinions collected there from the 
 priests and prophets, like a painter who improves his 
 sketches with new colouring, incurred not such a suspicion, 
 though envied above all men on account of his superior 
 wisdom. The faculty Apollonius possessed of foreseeing 
 and foretelling many things, should not call in question his 
 wisdom, else might Socrates* be arraigned for the infor- 
 mation he received from his demon, and Anaxagorasf for 
 
 * Ammianus Marcellinus ranks Apollonius among those eminent 
 men who have been assisted by the supernatural aid of a daemon, or 
 genius, as Socrates or Numa. 
 
 t Read the life of Anaxagoras in Diogenes Laertius and Stanley. 
 Ammianus Marcellinus says, that Anaxagoras, instructed in the science 
 of Egypt, foretold the falling of stones from Heaven, and that there 
 should be earthquakes, in consequence of the mud which he perceived 
 on the surface of the wells. B. 22. c. 16. 
 
his predictions. For who is ignorant that the latter, during 
 the Olympic games, at a time when there was not the least 
 appearance of rain, entered the stadium wrapt in a thick 
 woollen cloak, under the full conviction of a shower, that 
 he foretold the fall of a certain house* that day should be 
 turned into night, and that stones should fall from Heaven 
 at iEgos-Potamos ;* and does not every one know that 
 these things happened according to his predictions ? and 
 yet they who ascribe the predictions of Anaxagoras to his 
 superior wisdom, act not very consistently in depreciating 
 the wisdom of Apollonius, and in saying he performed all 
 by the means of magic ?+ I have therefore thought it 
 proper to oppose the ignorance of the multitude, and to 
 examine minutely the character of the man both as to 
 what he said and did, together with the times in which he 
 lived — and to mark that peculiar mode of philosophising, 
 by which he acquired the reputation of being not only 
 under the influence of a demon, but of being divine.^ 
 The history I mean to give of the man has been drawn in 
 part from the cities wherein he was held in high esteem, 
 in part from the temples whose long disused rites he 
 restored, in part from what tradition has preserved of him, 
 and lastly from his own epistles, which were addressed to 
 kings, and sophists, and philosophers — to Eleans, Del- 
 phians, Indians, and Egyptians, all written on the subject 
 of their deities, countries, morals, and laws : it being his 
 constant practice to redress whatever he found wrong. 
 
 * jEgos-Potamos, a river in the Thracian Chersonesus, situate to the 
 north of Sestos. Pliny mentions a stone, " ad aegos flumen qui 
 etiam nunc ostenditur, magnitudine vehis colore adusto." L. %. c. 58. 
 He says Anaxagoras foretold its falling from the sun. 
 
 t Eusebius says, that in his time there were persons who pretended 
 to perform magical incantations by invoking of Appollonius. 
 
 % Eusebius, in his refutation of Hierocles cites him ascribing to 
 Apollonius a divine and hidden wisdom, by which, and not by magi- 
 cal art, he had performed great wonders. 
 
The most probable account I have been able to collect 
 from the above sources, will appear in the following rela- 
 tion. 
 
 CHAP. lit 
 
 THERE was a certain man named Damis, who was well 
 read in philosophy, a citizen of the ancient Ninus,* who 
 became one of the disciples of Apollonius, and wrote the 
 account of his travels, wherein he set down his opinions, 
 discourses, and predictions. A person nearly allied to 
 Damis introduced the empressf Julia Augusta to a know- 
 ledge of his commentaries, which till then were not 
 known ; as I was a good deal conversant in the imperial 
 family from the encouragement given by the empress to 
 rhetoric and its professors, she commanded me to trans- 
 cribe and revise these commentaries,;); and pay particular 
 attention to the style and language ; for the narrative of 
 the Ninevite was plain, but not eloquent. To assist me in 
 the work, I was fortunate in procuring the book of Maxi- 
 mus§ the iEgean, which contained all the actions of 
 
 * I shall speak of Ninus in a future note. 
 
 t Some account of the empress Julia is given in the preface to the 
 reader, for further particulars see Gibbon's Roman history, vol. i. 
 c. 6. Severus, the husband of Julia, died, A.D. 211, and his wife, 
 after experiencing all the vicissitudes of fortune, put an end to her own 
 life about the year 218. 
 
 $ They were now, says Mr. Charles Leslie, to be adapted to the 
 ears of an empress, who loved rhetoric, alias, romancing, and fine 
 stories. Meragenes's Commentaries, adds he, were not so romantic 
 as those of Damis, and consequently not so fit for the entertainment of 
 an empress, besides, it is supposed Meragenes considered him as a 
 magician. 
 
 § Of Maximus ^Egiensis, and Meragenes, little is known except 
 what is found in the text, the writings of the latter were perhaps not 
 
 favorabh 
 
Apollonius at iEgae, and a transcript of his will, from 
 which it appeared how much his philosophy was under 
 the influence of a sacred enthusiasm. I also happened to 
 meet with the four books of one Meragenes, which were 
 not of great value on account of the ignorance of the 
 writer. I have now explained the manner of my collecting 
 my materials, and the care taken in their compilation. I 
 trust the work may do honor to the man who is the sub- 
 ject of it, and be of use to the lovers of literature, inas- 
 much as it will introduce them to the knowledge of things 
 with which they were before unacquainted.* 
 
 favorable to Apollonins, and on that account were not valued by 
 Philostratus, who appears through this whole work to be more the 
 panegyrist, than the historian of his life. From the accounts given of 
 Damis and Meragenes, Lardner is inclined to think that Philostratus 
 used only such materials in his history, as were to the advantage of his 
 hero. Philostratns's principal author, Damis, is an obscure person, his 
 memoirs were unknown, till brought to the empress Julia ; his friend 
 who brought them is not named. Meragenes's four books were little 
 regarded, probably from not being favorable to his hero. From such 
 sources, must not the accounts be uncertain and deserving of little 
 credit. Naudaeus, in his history of magic, considers this whole his- 
 tory, dressed up as it is by the pen of Philostratus, in the same light, 
 as are at present the love-stories and romances which have been 
 written for the entertaiment of queens and princesses. 
 
 * But how can things be received, says Lardner, which were not 
 known till more than an hundred years after the death of the person 
 spoken of. So extremely slight, says Mr. Charles Leslie, is the 
 authority on which Philostratus has introduced his history, that some 
 learned men have, not without reason, doubted whether there ever 
 was such a man as Apollonius. Had he been such a man as he is here 
 represented to have been, it is not possible he could have been so 
 totally forgotten, as that no mention should have been made of him 
 for one hundred years after such extraordinary things were said to 
 have been done. Is it possible, that the death of so famous a person 
 should not have been greatly noticed ? and his sepulchre honored and 
 visited ? 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 APOLLO NIUS was born in Tyana, a town founded 
 by Greeks in Cappadocia. He was called Apollonius 
 from his father, his family was ancient, and might be 
 traced to the original settlers. His fortune was consider- 
 able, but the country abounded in riches. Whilst his 
 mother was with child of him, Proteus* the Egyptian 
 god appeared to her, who, as Homer writes, has the 
 power of assuming such a variety of shapes. The woman 
 without being much alarmed, asked him what she should 
 bring forth ? to which he replied, Thou shalt bring forth 
 me. This you may suppose excited her curiosity to ask 
 again who he was, and he said the Egyptian god Proteus. 
 But why need I mention the great wisdom of Proteus to 
 those who have learnt from the poets his various and 
 versatile transformations, the great difficulty in seizing 
 him, and how he seemed not only to know, but to fore- 
 know all things. It is however necessary to mention him, 
 since it will appear in the sequel of this history, that 
 Apollonius had a foreknowledge of what was to come to 
 pass, much above Proteus; and was wont to solve many 
 things which were difficult, and almost impossible to human 
 capacity, and particularly at the time when he seemed to 
 be most reduced to his ne plus ultra.f 
 
 * Homer gives us a very particular account of Proteus in the 4th 
 book of his Odyssey. His story, which has been always considered 
 as a subject of just ridicule by the dealers in fiction, is agreeably laughed 
 at by Lucian in his Dialogues. 
 
 t On which Du Pin observes, " Ne voit-on pas clairement que cette 
 apparition de Protle a la mere d'Apollone, est une fable de l'invention 
 de Philostrate." 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 APOLLON1US is said to have been born in a certain 
 meadow, near which stands a temple dedicated to him. 
 Of the manner of his birth* no one should be ignorant. 
 When his mother was near the time of her delivery, she 
 was warned in a dream to go and gather flowers in a 
 meadow; when she came there, whilst her maidens 
 were dispersed up and down employed in their several 
 amusements, she fell asleep on the grass. In this situ- 
 ation a flock of swansi* that was feeding in the meadow, 
 formed a chorus around her, and clapping their wings, as 
 their custom is, sung in unison, all the time the air was 
 fanned by a gentle zephyr. The singing of the birds 
 
 * Born about the latter end of the reign of Augustus. 
 t The idea of swans singing at the birth of Apollonius, is taken from 
 Callimachus's hymn in Delum, in which these poetical birds perform 
 the same office for Latona. The following version comes from the pen 
 of Mr. Boyd, the elegant translator of Dante — whose character is too 
 well known in the literary world to require any tiling more than my 
 thanks. — And 
 
 " Thanks to men 
 Of noble minds is honourable meed." — 
 
 She spoke — the swans, Apollo's plumy choir, 
 
 Upsoaring from Pactolus, with loud clang 
 
 Circled the happy island. Seven times round 
 
 They skimm'd the shores, as oft the swelling strain 
 
 Floated melodious in the winnow'd breeze. 
 
 Accordant to Latoua's wailing cries 
 
 They chanted, first in favor with the maids 
 
 Of Pindus, and in harmony excelling 
 
 All the plum'd choiristers that wing the winds. 
 
 'Twas thence for every lay that chear'd the pangs 
 
 Of his sad mother, Phoebus to his lyre 
 
 Fixt a respondent chord ; again they rais'd 
 
 The heavenly concert, and the Lord of day 
 
 In jubilee was born. Sweet sung the nymphs 
 
 Symphonious, and the deep flood's solemn base, 
 
 Joined in full chorus to Lucina's praise. Boyd. 
 
10 
 
 caused her to start out of her sleep, and at that moment 
 she was delivered of a son — premature labours being 
 sometimes the effects of sudden alarms. The natives 
 of the place affirm, that at the instant of her deliver), 
 a thunderbolt which seemed ready to fall on the 
 ground, rose aloft, and suddenly disappeared. By this 
 the Gods prefigured, I think, the splendor of the child, 
 his superiority over earthly beings, his intercourse with 
 them, and what he was to do when arrived to man^ 
 hood. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 IN the vicinity of Tyana is a fountain consecrated to 
 Jupiter, whose water is esteemed the water of oaths, and is 
 called by the natives Asbamoean. # Its source is cold, 
 but it bubbles up as a cauldron does over a fire. The 
 water of this fountain is mild and sweet to the taste of all 
 who respect an oath, but to all who do not, is a present 
 punishment, by the manner in which it affects the eyes, 
 and hands, and feet, and by the dropsies and consumptions 
 which are said to be the consequence of drinking it. The 
 guilty are not able to leave it, but there are detained, 
 
 * Aqua Asbamcea — Ammianus Marcelliuus confirms the reading 
 of Asbamcea in book 23, chap. 7, of his history. u Apud Asbamai 
 quoque Jovis templum in Cappadocia, ubi amplissimus tile Philosophus 
 Apollonius traditur natus, prope oppidum Tyana stagno effluens fons 
 cernitur,qui magnitudine aquaruminflatus seseque resorbens, numquam 
 extra margines intumescit." 
 
 Diodorus Siculus speaks of certain sulphureous springs at Palica in 
 Sicily, which were something of the same nature with those mentioned in 
 the text, he says the natives swore by their waters in the most solemn 
 manner, and adds, that adjoining to them stood the temple of Palici, 
 indigenous divinities, who were supposed to punish perjury. Trials by 
 fire and water were long in use, especially, even after the establishment 
 of Christianity. 
 
11 
 
 lamentiug and confessing their sins.* All the people of 
 the country say that Apollonius was the son of Jupiter, 
 but he constantly called himself the son of Apol- 
 lonius. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 WHEN he grew up,+ and was capable of instruction, 
 he gave signs of great strength of memory and persevering 
 application. He used the attic dialect, and never suffered 
 his speech to be corrupted by the place of his birth. The 
 eyes of all were attracted by his beauty. When .he was 
 fourteen years of age his father carried him to Tarsus,J 
 and committed him to the care of Euthydemus the Phe- 
 nician, a celebrated rhetorician. Apollonius became 
 attached to his master, but thought the manners of the 
 town absurd, and not suited to philosophical pursuits, 
 inasmuch as the people of it were insolent scoffers — ad- 
 dicted to pleasure, and more passionately fond of fine 
 clothes, than the Athenians ever were of philosophy. 
 The Cydnus § runs through it, on whose banks the citi- 
 
 * Cette relation, says Du Pin, est une episode qui n'a rien de com- 
 mun avec la vie d'Apollone ; mais qui fait voir que Philostrate s'est 
 etudie a faire entrer dans son histoire tout ce qu'il a pu ap- 
 prendre de marveilleux, sans se soucir qu'il fut veritable. 
 
 t Here is an imitation of Pythagoras, of whom the same is said by 
 the writers of his life. 
 
 t Tarsus, the metropolis of Cilicia, called by Strabo the Mother of 
 Cities, from its great learning, and which St. Paul says, was no mean 
 city. 
 
 § The Cydnus runs through Tarsus, and falls into the sea about a 
 mile from its walls. 
 
 An te, Cydne, tacitis qui leniter undis 
 
 Coeruleis placidus per vada serpis aquis? Ti bullus. 
 
10. 
 
 zens are wont to sit like water-fowl ; Apollonius wrote 
 them a letter, in which he desired them to cease intoxi- 
 cating themselves with water. On obtaining his father's 
 permission he retired with his master to iEgae,* a town 
 in the neighbourhood of Tarsus, where he found a tran- 
 quillity more adapted to science, and studies more suitable 
 to his years ; besides a temple of Esculapius, where the 
 God sometimes shewed himself to his votaries, and here he 
 enjoyed the conversation of the disciples of Plato, and 
 Chrysippus, and Aristotle. He listened to, but did not 
 contemn the opinions of Epicurus. Those of Pythagoras 
 he embraced with an ineffable zeal, though his master was 
 not well read in the discipline of that philosopher, nor 
 devoted to any efficient study. He was of an amorous 
 temperament, and fond of good living, his manner of life 
 was formed according to the doctrine of Epicurus, and 
 his name was Euxenus, born in Heraclea, a town of Pon- 
 tus. He knew some of the sayings — of Pythagoras, as 
 birds know what they are taught by men. For there are 
 some birds that can say^«^ E , and ev wpotTrs, and Ztvq ^suq f 
 and such like phrases of compliment — but know not what 
 they say, neither do they mean by them any kindness to 
 men, but only utter them from being taught such a certain 
 modulation of sounds. As the young eagle never quits 
 the side of its parent, when learning to fly; but grown 
 stronger, assumes a bolder flight, sometimes soaring obove 
 her, and sometimes skimming along the ground, lured by 
 the scent of prey ; so did Apollonius, whilst a bov, submit 
 to the authority of Euxenus, and was guided by his advice 
 
 * JEgaD, a maritime town of Cilicia, situate at the mouth of the river 
 Pyramus, and not far from Tarsus, in which was a temple consecrated 
 to the God Esculapius, which had a regular establishment of priests 
 and ceremonies, and was famous through all the country for mira- 
 culous cures performed on sick persons by the God of Health. 
 
 
IS 
 
 in the ways of knowledge* But when arrived at the age 
 of sixteen, he became an enthusiastic disciple of Pytha- 
 goras, and a zealous admirer of his doctrine, winged 
 thereto by a superior intelligei ce. Nevertheless, he always 
 continued to respect Euxenus, and as a proof of his re- 
 gard, gave him a house which his father purchased for 
 him, with a garden and fountains belonging to it, at the 
 same time saying, " live you in what manner you please," 
 but for me, " I shall live after the manner of Pytha- 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 FROM this declaration,*]- Euxenus naturally supposed 
 Apollonius had higher objects in view, and one day he 
 asked him how he intended to begin his course of life, to 
 which he replied, he would begin like physicians, who by 
 means of purifying the human body, prevent distempers 
 in some, and cure them in others. After this avowal he 
 declined eating any thing which had life, from an idea of 
 its being impure, and capable of weakening the under- 
 standing. He lived on fruits and vegetables, declaring that 
 the productions of the earth were alone pure. He allowed 
 that wine was a pure beverage, as produced from a tree 
 not injurious to man. Howbeit, he reckoned it adverse to 
 a composed state of mind by reason of the power it pos- 
 sessed of disturbing the divine particle of air of which it is 
 
 * In this account, Apollonius is drawn by Philostratus in perfect 
 resemblance of Pythagoras. 
 
 t The course of life laid down by Apollonius in this chapter, and 
 to which he adhered throughout, is exactly conformable to what was 
 enjoined by Pythagoras to his disciples. 
 
14 
 
 formed. After making this regulation in his mode of diet, 
 he set about an alteration in his dress. He went bare- 
 footed, clothed himself in linen, and rejected the use of 
 all garments made from living creatures. He next let his 
 hair grow, and spent most of his time in the temple of 
 Esculapius,* all the officers of which were astonished at 
 his conduct, and even the God himself sometimes accosted 
 the officiating priest, and said he had pleasure in perform- 
 ing his cures in the presence of such a witness as Apollo- 
 nius. His fame soon spread far and near, so that the 
 Cilicians, and all the dwellers in and about the country, 
 came and visited him ; and the saying of the Cilicians, 
 " Whither run you so fast?" " Is it to see the young man?** 
 first applied on this occasion, obtained the authority of 
 becoming proverbial. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 IN writing the life of a man who was in some estimation 
 with the Gods, I think it not foreign to my purpose to 
 mention a transaction which took place in the temple. A 
 young Assyrian happened to visit Esculapius, who during 
 his illness lived in a state of great luxury. He spent his 
 
 * Esculapius rejoiced to have Apollonius a witness of his cures, that 
 is, as Blount observes, the priests of the temple were exceeding glad 
 to have so crafty a man as Apollonius in collusion with them. In the 
 temples of Esculapius, all kinds of diseases were believed to be pub- 
 lickly cured by the pretended help of that deity :^ in proof of which 
 there were erected in each temple columns, or tables of brass, or 
 marble, on which a distinct narrative of each particular cure was in- 
 scribed. This account is confirmed by Pausanias and Strabo, and 
 thews that no school could have been better adapted for the education 
 of an impostor, than a temple of Esculapius. 
 
15 
 
 life, or rather I would say, he consumed his life, in 
 drinking. This youth was attacked with a dropsy, and 
 from the pleasure he had in inebriating himself, neglected 
 every remedy to be applied in the way of exsiccation. 
 This was the reason why Esculapius overlooked him, and 
 did not favor him with a dream.* On the youth's com- 
 plaining of this usage, the God appeared to him, and 
 said, " if thou wilt consult Apollonius, thou shalt be well." 
 In consequence of this, the young man waited on Apol- 
 lonius, and asked what benefit can I receive from your 
 wisdom, for to you Esculapius has commanded me to 
 make my application. That, answered Apollonius, which 
 can be of most service to you in your present condition : 
 and is not health that which you stand most in need of ? 
 Certainly said the youth, and is what Esculapius promised, 
 but has not performed. Take care of what you say, said 
 Apollonius. The God bestows health on all who are 
 willing to receive it, but you on the contrary, feed your 
 disease. You live in total subjection to your appetite, 
 and overload with delicacies a weak and dropsical con- 
 stitution, adding clay to water. Here Apollonius shewed a 
 knowledge above that of Heraclitus,+ who when attacked 
 with a similar disease, said, he required the aid of one who 
 could extract dryness from humidity, words of dark and 
 difficult meaning. Whereas Apollonius, after a clear de- 
 
 * To understand this, the reader must be informed, that for the 
 recovery from sickness, the ancients used to bring the patient into the 
 temple of Esculapius, where he was to compose himself on a 
 couch, and the God of the place was supposed to visit him in his 
 sleep. Consequently, whatever the sick person dreamed of, that 
 was thought to be the remedy prescribed by Esculapius for his re- 
 covery. 
 
 t See the life of Heraclitns in Stanley, with the account of his last 
 illness, and his two epistles to Amphidamas. 
 
16 
 
 claration of his opinion, restored the Assyrian to 
 health * 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 APOLLON1US on a particular occasion, beholding 
 much blood sprinkled on the altars, and many sacrifices 
 laid thereon, together with several Egyptian oxen, and 
 swine of immense size slain ; observing the officers em- 
 ployed, some in flaying them, and others cutting them 
 in pieces, also two consecrated bowls of gold filled with 
 the most precious stones of India: when he considered 
 what he saw, he said to the priest, what is the meaning 
 of all this ? I suppose some great man is paying his court 
 to the deity. You will be more surprised, I think, said 
 the priest, when I tell you that the man has not yet pre- 
 ferred his petition, nor stayed his fixed time, nor received 
 benefit from the God, nor in short obtained any one of 
 the things for which he is come, (he came I. think but 
 yesterday) and yet he sacrifices with so much generosity. 
 He has even promised to make richer, and more splendid 
 presents, provided Esculapius grants the prayer of his 
 petition. I understand he is rich, and has greater posses- 
 sions in Cilicia, than all the rest of the Cilicians besides : 
 and the request I understand which he makes, is, that the 
 God will restore him the eye he has lost. Apollonius 
 fixing his eyes on the ground, (as his manner was in his 
 old age) asked what his name was ? which, when he heard, 
 
 * He instructed him, that the God always bestowed health upon 
 those who were willing to receive it, and by persuading him to prac- 
 tise abstinence, he cured his disease. Here he attempted nothing 
 miraculous, but merely employed the authority of the God in enforcing 
 sound morality. 
 
17 
 
 iie said, I think the man should not be admitted into the 
 temple, for he is unclean, and met widi the accident in a 
 bad cause. I am of opinion that the bare circumstance of 
 his making such costly sacrifices before the granting of 
 his request, proves not so much the honest sacrificer, as 
 one who wishes to deprecate the wrath of Heaven for 
 some enormous offence. Such was the discourse of 
 Apollonius. But Esculapius appearing by night to the 
 priest, said, let both him and his offerings depart together ; 
 for he is not deserving of the eye which remains . # When 
 the priest made inquiries concerning him, he was informed 
 that he was married to a woman who had a daughter by a 
 former husband, that he had fallen in love with his step- 
 daughter, with whom he lived in most scandalous com- 
 merce; that her mother, as soon as she discovered the 
 intrigue, surprised the two in bed, and with a needle 
 put out both the eyes of her daughter, and one of her 
 husband. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 IN this way Apollonius shewed the propriety of offering- 
 such sacrifices, and making such presents, as should not ex 
 ceed the bounds of moderation. When it was no>-" 
 
 * I agree with Dr. Lardner in thinking that the cure ** ras a° ove 
 their ability. Hence the patient was dismissed as a pi & ne wretch, 
 unworthy of cure. Apollonius dismissed him as unwor»»y °f admission 
 into the temple ; at the same time instructing the people who fl <> cked 
 thither, ihat he who comes to the temples of the all-seeing Gods, should 
 pray, " Ye Gods, grant unto us that which is fit we should receive," 
 and that the wicked, though they presented to the Gods the wealth of 
 the Indies, would be rejected, because they make their offerings 
 not to honour the Deity, but to purchase redemption from deserved 
 punishment. 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 abroad, that the request of the Cilician was rejected, 
 many people flocked to the temple. Then Apollonius 
 asked the priest whether the Gods were just? who replied, 
 Most just. And are they intelligent ? What, said the priest, 
 can be more intelligent than God ? Apollonius proceeded, 
 Are they acquainted with the affairs of men or not? 
 Herein, said the priest, the Gods most excel mortals, who 
 by reason of their manifold infirmities are not acquainted 
 with their own affairs ; but to the Gods alone it belongeth 
 not only to know their own affairs, but the affairs ot 
 men likewise. Well and truly answered, O priest ! said 
 Apollonius. Seeing then it is allowed the Gods know 
 all things, I think that he who approaches them with 
 a good conscience should pray after this wise, " O ye 
 Gods, grant what is convenient for me !" Consequently, 
 continued Apollonius, good things are due to the good, 
 and the contrary to the wicked. Hence the Gods, who 
 always act right, send away him whom they find to be 
 of a sound mind and free from sin, crowned not with 
 crowns of gold, but with all manner of good things ; and him 
 whom they discover to be corrupt and polluted with vice, 
 they give over to punishment, being the more offend- 
 ed with him for presuming to approach their temples 
 Wiscious of his own unworthiness. After having thus 
 S P v en, he turned towards Esculapius and said, you, Es- 
 cula^g^ exercise a philosophy at once ineffable and be- 
 coming vourself, not suffering the wicked to come near 
 thy shrill**^ even were they to bring with them the 
 treasures o± India and Sardis; and this prohibition is given 
 from knowing that such supplicants do not sacrifice and 
 burn incense from reverence to the Gods, but from the 
 selfish motive of making atonement for their own sins, to 
 which you will never consent from the love you bear to 
 justice. Many other philosophical discourses of this kind 
 wexe held by Apollonius whilst he was but a youth. 
 
19 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 ALL this happened whilst Apollonius remained at iEga?, 
 to which may be added what follows. Cilicia was then 
 governed by a man of infamous conduct, whose amorous 
 inclinations were of the most detestable kind. No sooner 
 was he informed of the beauty of Apollonius, than he laid 
 aside the business in which he was engaged (he was then 
 holding a court at Tarsus) and made all the haste he could 
 to iEgae, where on his arrival he pretended illness, and 
 gave out he came to consult the God. The moment he 
 saw Apollonius, he accosted him when walking alone, and 
 said, I pray thee to recommend me to the God. What 
 necessity is there for my recommending you, said Apollo- 
 nius, if you are good : for such as are good, the Gods 
 love without the intercession of any advocate. But said 
 the ruler, the God, O Apollonius, has made you his 
 guest, and not me. Then said Apollonius, the virtue I 
 have exercised as far as a young man is capable, has re- 
 conciled to me the God whose servant and companion I 
 am : if you make virtue the study of your life, you may 
 with equal boldness draw near to the God and ask whatever 
 you please. I will do, said he, as you desire, if I am first 
 permitted to ask one favor of you. And what is that, said 
 Apollonius? It is that favour, replied the ruler, which 
 alone can be asked of the beautiful, and which is, that they 
 may grant the participation of their beauty to others, and 
 not envy them the enjoyment of their persons. All this he 
 uttered with the most vile tokens of a corrupt and deprav- 
 ed appetite. On this, Apollonius regarding him with a 
 most stern countenance, cried out, " Wretch, thou art 
 mad. But the other, who only listened to the violence of 
 his passion, threatened to cut off his head. At which 
 
 c 8 
 
20 
 
 Apollonius smiling, said, that day.* Three days after- 
 wards this infamous wretch was slain by the hands of the 
 public executioner on the highway, for being privy to a con- 
 spiracy formed by Archelausf king of Cappadocia, against 
 the Romans. These and many other things of like kind 
 were written by Maximus the iEgaean, who for his repu- 
 tation in eloquence, was deemed worthy of being appointed 
 one of the emperor's secretaries. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 AS soon as he heard of the death of his father, he has- 
 tened to Tyana, and there, with his own hands, interred 
 him near the tomb of his mother, who died some time before. 
 The fortune left was considerable, which he divided with 
 his elder brother, who was very dissipated, and much given 
 to wine. The elder was in his twenty- third year, J a period 
 of life which exempted him from the care of guardians, 
 and Apollonius in his twentieth year, and of course still 
 under their protection. After this he returned to iEgae, 
 where during his stay he changed the temple of Esculapius 
 into a Lyceum and Academy, in which resounded all man- 
 
 * " O that day" — tkis expression, as well here, as throughout this 
 history, always relates to the time to come. 
 
 t Archelaus, after swaying the sceptre of Cappadocia above 50 years, 
 was at last arraigned before the senate, probably for the conspiracy 
 alluded to in the text, and though the charge was unfounded, he died 
 soon after of a broken heart, in the reign of Tiberius. Tacitus, an. b. 
 ii. c. 42. A. D. 17 — Apollonius was now in his twentieth year. 
 
 $ The age of one and twenty freed youth from the power of masters 
 and tutors, which makes Philostratussay, that Apollonius's brother being 
 arrived to the age of twenty three, was exempted from the jurisdiction 
 of a tutor. 
 
21 
 
 ner of philosophical disputation. When he became of 
 age, and his own master, he returned to Tyana, where it 
 was hinted to him by a friend, that he ought to reform his 
 brother. I fear, said Apollonius, it would look like ar- 
 rogance in me, who am the younger, were I to presume to 
 correct the elder ; however, as far as it is in my power, I 
 will try to do it. To this end he divided with his brother 
 half his own inheritance, saying, that he wanted much, and 
 himself little, and then in pursuance of his plan, he led 
 him by degrees to the necessity of submitting to advice. 
 Our father, said Apollonius, is dead, who used to be our 
 instructor. What else remains now than that of our con- 
 sulting each other's interest and happiness. If I offend in 
 any thing, I request you may advise me, and I will correct 
 whatever is wrong : and if you offend, I hope you will 
 yield to my advice.* By such gentle treatment, Apollonius, 
 like those who break wild and stubborn colts, first made 
 him subject to obedience, and by degrees prevailed on 
 him to part with his vices, of which he had full share of 
 whatever were fashionable, as gaming, drinking, &c. to 
 which were added a foolish admiration of his hair, which 
 he used to dye, and an insolent and haughty air in his 
 manner of walking. After this success with his brother, 
 
 * In this advice, which Apollonius gives to his brother, he points out 
 the true way of conveying it with profit, for such is the nature of the 
 mind, that it hates being passive in receiving admonition, and the 
 generality of mankind do not easily brook the idea of the inferiority 
 which is implied in listening patiently to preceptive lectures. There 
 seldom is better advice given to those who would commence advisers 
 themselves, than this practice of Apollonius, who takes the surest 
 method of conciliating his brother's affections by requesting advice 
 from him. In proportion as we are supposed deficient in wisdom, 
 (a supposition on which every unskilful monitor proceeds) so far we 
 resent the awkward attempt of the self-constituted dogmatical pre- 
 ceptor. 
 
'22 
 
 he turned his thoughts to the conversion of his other rela- 
 tions, and to render them more attentive to what he said, 
 he bestowed the remainder of his fortune on such of them 
 as stood most in need of it, stiir however reserving what 
 was sufficient for his own use. He was wont to say, that 
 Anaxagoras* the Clazomenian, who left his lands to be 
 eaten up by his sheep and oxen, read philosophy to beasts 
 rather than men : and that Crates the Theban, who cast 
 his money into the sea, profited neither man nor beast. 
 The saying of Pythagoras, which was so much celebrated, 
 " that a man should have no connexion except with his 
 own wife/' was intended, Apollonius said, for the use of 
 other men, and not for him, as he was determined never 
 to marry, nor have any commerce whatever with the fair 
 sex. By laying this restraint on his passions, he was su- 
 perior to Sophocles, who, when old, said he had got rid 
 of a furious master. Whereas Apollonius, by temperance 
 and virtue, subdued the wild beast in his youth, and in the 
 vigor of life triumphed over the tyrant. Yet some still 
 accuse him of sacrificing to Venus, and of indulging in the 
 pleasures of love, adding, that he passed a whole year in 
 Scythia for that purpose. The truth is, he never went to 
 that country, nor was ever known to be enslaved to love. 
 Even Euphrates, though he has brought many false ac- 
 cusations against him, as we shall shew in the sequel, 
 never once accused him of incontinency. This Euphrates 
 had matter of variance with Apollonius, because he laughed 
 at him for his fondness for money, and endeavoured to 
 withdraw him from filthy lucre, and the making a merchan- 
 dize of his wisdom. But of these matters let us not treat 
 till a more convenient time. s 
 
 * Suidas affirms, Anaxagoras left his ground to sheep and camels to 
 be eaten up ; and therefore Apollonius said, he read philosophy to 
 beasts, rather than men. Stanley's History of Philosophy. 
 
25 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 EUXENUS once asked Apollonius why he did not com- 
 mit his thoughts to writing, particularly as he possessed 
 such a fund of philosophical knowledge, and was used to 
 such a popular and approved stile of speaking. To which 
 he answered, that he had not exercised silence,* and from 
 that time forward he began to put it in practice. He 
 laid a restraint on his tongue, but he read much with his 
 eyes, and comprehended much by his understanding, and 
 committed all to memory, by the exercise of which, at the 
 age of an hundred, he far excelled Simonides. There 
 was a hymn addressed to memory, and composed by 
 Simonides,*!* which used to be sung by him, in which the 
 author says, " that time causes all things to fade away, but 
 that time itself never fades, or grows old, being made im- 
 mortal by memory." The manner he used in expressing 
 his sentiments during his silence, had something interesting 
 and graceful in it, inasmuch as his eyes and hands, and 
 the motions of his head, made significant answers to what- 
 ever was said. He never seemed morose, or out of 
 
 * As a true disciple of Pythagoras, he observed the five years silence, 
 notwithstanding the great difficulty with which it was attended. It is 
 said that Numa, king of Rome, who knew the advantage of silence, 
 commanded the Romans particularly to honour one of the muses under 
 the name of the Silent Muse. 
 
 t Simonides of Ceos, the son of Leoprepes, is reported to have first 
 inveuted an artificial memory. See Cic. de Oratore I. ii. c. 86. He 
 discovered that it was order chiefly which threw a light on memory. 
 There are some persons who have said, that Simonides had taken medi- 
 cines to procure a strong memory, and that they produced that effect. 
 Mr. Hume remarks, that the faculty of memory was much more valued 
 in ancient times than at present ; and that there is scarce any great 
 genius celebrated in antiquity who is not celebrated for this talent, and 
 itis enumerated by Cicero amongst the sublime qualities of Ca?sar. 
 
84 
 
 spirits, and always preserved an even placid temper. He 
 was wont to say, that this kind of life, which he passed for 
 the space of five years, was often very irksome to him, foras- 
 much as during it, he had many things to say, which he 
 did not say ; heard many things of a disagreeable nature 
 which he afTected not to hear ; and when provoked to 
 anger, could only say to himself — 
 
 " Alas poor sufPring heart,* support the pain 
 
 " Of woundedJionour, and thy rage sustain." Pope. 
 
 In this way he passed over with a dignified silence many 
 injurious things uttered against him. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 THE period of his silence was passed partly in Pamphy- 
 lia and partly in Cilicia. Though he travelled through 
 countries whose manners were corrupt and effeminate, he 
 never uttered a word ; no, not even a murmur escaped his 
 lips. Whenever he entered a town, which happened to 
 be in a state of noise and uproar (and many were so on 
 account of the vain shews and illaudable spectacles exhi- 
 bited in them) he always pressed forward into the croud, 
 where presenting himself, he shewed by his countenance, 
 and the waving of his hand,f the reproof he intended to 
 express : the consequence was, the tumult ceased, and all 
 kept a silence, as if engaged in the most mysterious cere- 
 monies of religion. But little merit he took to himself 
 for preserving peace amongst men clamorous only about 
 
 * Homer, Odyssey. B. xx. 1. 18. 
 
 t The Reverend Gilbert Austin, in his ingenious dissertation on Rhe- 
 torical Delivery, has adduced this waving of Apollonius's hand, as an 
 argument to prove the effects of the eloquence of the hand, without 
 the aid of language. 
 
0,5 
 
 horses and pantomimes ; for they who are inclined to riot 
 on such accounts, whenever a man of gravity appears, 
 blush and condemn themselves, and soon return to their 
 right mind.* But the matter is very different, when a city 
 sore oppressed with famine, is to be appeased by mild and 
 persuasive language, and to be disarmed of its anger ; and 
 yet in the instance which I am going to mention, the 
 silence of Apollonius prevailed with a people who were 
 enraged, and well disposed to mutiny. On coming into 
 Aspendus, a city of Pamphylia (it is situate on the banks of 
 the river Eurymedon, and holds the third rank among the 
 cities of the country) he found the inhabitants existing on 
 whatever pulse could be purchased, and whatever other 
 things necessity compelled them to use for the support of 
 life. All the corn was hoarded up by the more wealthy, 
 in order that they might sell it out to foreigners at what- 
 ever price they might please to put upon it. The people 
 both young and old were stirred up against the governor, 
 and were preparing to burn him alive, if even found at the 
 feet of the statuesf of Tiberius, which were then more 
 
 * Turn pictate gravem, ac mentis si forte virum quem 
 Conspexere, silent, arrectisque auribus adstant. 
 Me regit dictis animos, ac pectora mulcet. Virgil. 
 
 Such a one must speak, says Bayle, if he hopes to stop the fury of 
 a mutinous people. But here Apollonius had no need of words, his 
 Pythagorean silence did all that the finest figures of oratory could 
 effect. His talent was as different from that of Virgil's pious orator, 
 as a mummer's from a wise justice of peace. 
 
 " If some grave Sire appears amid the strife, 
 " In morals strict, and innocence of life, 
 " All stand attentive j. while the sage controls 
 u Their wrath, and calms the tumult of their souls." 
 t Tacitus says, that the statues of the Caesars were a sanctuary, 
 where the assassins of every honest name obtained protection, and 
 that slaves, after lifting their hands against their masters, found an 
 asylum— An. b. iii. ch. 36. Suetonius says, this kind of process grew 
 to such a height, that it became capital for a man to beat his slave, or 
 change cloaths near the statue of Augustus, &c. Tib. c. 58. 
 
26 
 
 feared, and afforded greater security, than the statues of 
 Jupiter at Olyinpia, insomuch that a man, in his reign, was 
 accused of impiety for beating a slave who happened to 
 have in his possession but a silver drachma stamped with 
 the emperor's image. Apollonius, approaching the gover- 
 nor, asked him by waving his hand, what was the matter ? 
 who replied, that he was guilty of no injustice, that 
 he was wronged along with the people, and must perish 
 with them if not allowed to speak. Then Apollonius, 
 turning to the populace; shewed by a sign, that the 
 governor must be heard. On which an immediate 
 silence ensued, the people stood in awe of Apollonius, 
 and the fire was replaced on the altars which were pre- 
 pared for sacrifice. When the governor saw this, he took 
 courage, and cried out, " It is this, and that man (mention- 
 ing several citizens by name) who have produced the 
 present scarcity, it is they who have hoarded up the corn, 
 which at present is concealed in different parts of the 
 country. When the Aspendians heard this, they began to 
 stir up each other to sally forth into the country, and 
 take it by force ; but Apollonius by a sign prevailed on 
 them not to act so ; he advised them to summon the 
 guilty, and take the corn from them with their own con- 
 sent. As soon as the monopolisers arrived, he was almost 
 tempted to break through his silence, moved thereto by 
 the tears of the multitude : for the women and children 
 flocked together, and even the old men wept, as if just 
 ready to drop down with hunger. However, his respect 
 for his law of silence had effect, and he wrote on a table t 
 the reproof he wished to convey, and gave it to the go- 
 vernor to read aloud. 
 
 APOLLONIUS 
 To the monopolisers of corn in Aspendus, 
 
 GREETING; 
 
 tl The earth is the common mother of all, for she is 
 " just. You are unjust, for you have made her only the 
 
" mother of yourselves : and if you will not cease from 
 " acting thus, I will not suffer you to remain upon 
 " her." 
 
 Intimidated by these words, they filled the market with 
 grain, and the city recovered from its distress.* 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 APOLLONIUS, as soon as he fulfilled his law of silence, 
 came to Antioch, sir-named the great, and entered the 
 temple of Apollo Daphneus,^ to whom the Assyrians ap- 
 ply the Arcadian fable, saying that Daphne, the daughter 
 of Ladon, was metamorphosed in this place ; for they have 
 a river called Ladon, and the laurel into which, it is said, 
 the virgin Daphne was changed, and which is held by 
 them in high estimation. Cypress trees of an immense 
 size grow round the temple, and the country abounds in 
 refreshing springs of water, wherein Apollo is accustomed 
 to bathe. The soil here is that which first produced the 
 cypress, in commemoration of the Assyrian youth Cypa- 
 rissus, and the beauty of the tree gives credit to the 
 change. I fear I may be considered as not treating my 
 
 * " Quelque apparence qu' il y ait que tout cela est de l'invention de 
 Philostrate, en supposant que la chose est arrivee comrae il la raconte, 
 elle prouve seulement qu' Apollone etoit un homme adroit et prudent, 
 et qui avoit des manieres propres a s'insinuer dans l'esprit du peu- 
 ple."— Du Pin.— L'Histoire D'Apollone. 
 
 t From the text it might be supposed that the temple of Daphne 
 was in Antioch, when it was in fact five miles distant from it. For an 
 account of the temple, and the sacred grove, see Gibbon, who has 
 described both iu his usual style of luminous eloquence. The words of 
 Ammianus Marcellinus relative to the situation of Daphne are, " Tunc 
 apud Dapluieu amoenum illud & ambitiosum Antiochiae Suburba- 
 num, &c. 
 
28 
 
 readers with sufficient respect, by alluding to such puerile 
 stories, but they are only noticed for what is to follow. 
 Apollonius perceiving that this temple stood in a pleasant 
 situation, but that no rational worship was performed in 
 it ; and that it was in the possession of a people semi- 
 barbarous, and enemies of all science, he said, O Apollo, 
 change these mutes into trees, that they at least may make 
 some noise like the cypresses." Also, when he saw how 
 still and noiseless were the fountains, he said, " The torpid 
 silence that reigns in this place, does not even suffer the 
 waters to murmur." Then turning his eyes to the Ladon, 
 he cried, " not only was thy daughter changed, but thou 
 thyself from having been a Greek and an Arcadian, art 
 become a barbarian." Afterwards, when he was resolved 
 to discourse with them, he avoided all promiscuous multi- 
 tudes, and places of much resort, saying, it was not the 
 company of illiterate rustics he sought, but that of men. 
 In consequence of this determination he frequented places 
 more retired, and made his abode in whatever temples he 
 found open. At sun-rise he performed apart from all, 
 certain ceremonies, which he communicated only to those 
 who had exercised a quadrennial . silence. ' Whenever he 
 visited a city which happened to be of Greek origin, and 
 was in possession of an established code of religious wor- 
 ship, he called together the priests, and discoursed to them 
 concerning the nature of their Gods; and if he found 
 they had departed from their usual forms, he always set 
 them right. But when he came to a city whose religious 
 rites and customs were barbarous, and different from 
 others, he enquired by whom they were established, and 
 for what they were intended : and afterwards in what man- 
 ner they were observed, at the same time suggesting what- 
 ever occurred to him as better and more becoming. 
 Next he visited his followers, and commanded them to ask 
 what they pleased, telling them that they who cultivated 
 philosophy in the manner he enjoined, should in the morn- 
 
29 
 
 ing converse with the Gods, at mid-day concerning the 
 Gods, and in the evening of human affairs. When he 
 had answered all the questions proposed by his friends, and 
 talked as much as he thought sufficient, he addressed the 
 multitude, with whom he always discoursed in the evening, 
 but never before noon. After he ended these discourses, 
 he had himself anointed and rubbed, and then he plunged 
 into the cold bath, saying, that hot baths were the old age 
 of men. To the people of Antioch who were forbidden 
 the use of the hot baths, on account of their crimes, he 
 said, that the emperor had given them long life for their 
 wickedness; and to the Ephesians who were going to stone 
 the master of the baths for not having made them hot 
 enough, he once replied, you accuse the master of the 
 baths for your not bathing to your satisfaction, but I ac- 
 cuse you for your bathing at all. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 APOLLONIUS used a style of speaking not elevated, 
 nor swoln with the language of poetry, nor yet one too 
 refined, nor too Attic ; for whatever exceeded the Attic 
 mediocrity, was considered by him as dissonant and unplea- 
 sant. He made use of no fastidious nicety in the division 
 of his discourses, nor any fine-spun sentences ; nor was he 
 even known to adopt an ironical manner, nor any kind of 
 apostrophising with his hearers. He spoke as it were 
 from a tripod* — to wit, I know, and It seems to me — 
 
 * To speak from a tripod appears to have been a proverbial expres- 
 sion. Atheneus, in the 2d chap, of his 2d book, says, the prize of the 
 victor in all sports in honour of Bacchus is a tripod : because we say 
 that he speaks from a tripod, who speaks truth. A tiipod is the pro- 
 perty of Apollo, on account of the truth of his oracles, and is also that 
 of Bacchus, on account of the truth which is the consequence of 
 d i inking wine. 
 
30 
 
 and to what purpose is this, and you must know. His 
 sentences were short and adamantine — his words authorita- 
 tive, and adapted to the sense, and the bare utterance of 
 them conveyed a sound as if they were sanctioned by the 
 sceptre of royalty. Being asked once by a subtile dispu- 
 tant why he did not propose what side of a question he 
 should take in argument ? — he replied, when I was a young 
 man, I used to follow that practice, but that it was no 
 longer necessary, as it was now become his duty not to 
 investigate, but to teach the result of his investigations. 
 When he was asked by the same logician, how a wise 
 man should speak, he said, as a legislator, for it was the 
 part of a legislator to command the multitude to do, 
 what he himself was convinced ought to be done. In 
 this way he conducted himself at Antioch, and converted 
 many who were strangers to all knowledge. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 AFTER this he resolved to extend his travels; and visit 
 the Indies, and the wise men of that country who were 
 called Brachmans, and Germanes ;* saying, it was the 
 business of young men to travel, and make themselves 
 known in foreign lands. To converse with the magi, 
 who inhabit Babylon and Susa, and to learn all they 
 knew, he considered would be cause sufficient for under- 
 taking the journey. He then disclosed his intentions to 
 his companions, seven in number, who, as they thought 
 differently on that subject, endeavoured to divert him from 
 going. On this he said to them, " I have consulted the 
 
 * Germanes were a cast of the Gymnosophistae (a common name for 
 Indian philosophers) who led a solitary life in the woods, abstaining 
 from wine and women, and using many severities. 
 
31 
 
 Gods, I have declared to you their will, to make trial of 
 your com age, whether you will go with me or not ; and 
 since 1 rind you have not resolution to go, I bid you fare- 
 wel, and desire you may study philosophy. It is my 
 duty to go where wisdom and my demon lead me." 
 After this declaration, he departed from Antioch, at- 
 tended only by two domestics of his own family, who were 
 expert scribes, the one eminent for the dispatch with 
 which he wrote, and the other for the beauty of his hand- 
 writing. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 ON his coming to the ancient Ninus,* he found a statue 
 erected after a barbarous taste. It was Io, the daughter 
 of Inachus, whose horns appeared small, and just as if 
 budding. Whilst he remained in this city, and learnt all 
 he could of the statue from the priests and prophets, he 
 met with Damis, whom I have noticed in the beginning 
 of this book, as his fellow-traveller and companion ; and 
 one to whom we are indebted for the knowledge of many 
 particulars concerning Apollonius. The Ninevite soon 
 became attached to him, and being fond of travelling, said, 
 Let us go — " God shall be your guide, and you shall be 
 
 * This ancient Nimis, from the account given of it here by Philostratus, 
 must have been situate some where between Antioch and Zeugma, 
 on the Euphrates, and cannot refer to that which stood on the banks 
 of the Tigris, and was destroyed 700 years before Christ. In the fol- 
 lowing passage from Ammianus Marcellinus, the town itself appears 
 marked out as in Commagena, a district of Syria. " Commagena 
 nunc Euphratensis clementer assurgit, Hierapoli, Vetere Nineve, & 
 Samosata civitatibus amplis illustres." Now what place can be un- 
 derstood by the Vetere Nineve of Marcellinus in Commageua, except 
 the antiqua Ninus, the birth-place of Damis, and the town visited by 
 Apollonius on his way from Antioch to Zeugma. 
 
mine. I think I may serve you on the journey, for if I 
 know any thing, it is the road leading to Babylon, together 
 with the towns and villages on the way, wherein can be 
 found any accommodation, it being not long since I re- 
 turned from thence. I am, besides, acquainted with the 
 languages of the barbarians,* namely, the Armenians, 
 Medes, Persians, and Cadusians. But, my friend, re- 
 turned Apollonius, I know them all myself, though I 
 never learnt them. Whilst Damis stood in amaze at 
 what he heard : do not be surprised, continued Apollonius, 
 at my knowing all tongues, for I know the very thoughts 
 of men, even what they do not say. When Damis heard 
 this he adored him, considering him as a demon.f He 
 then became a proselyte to his opinions, and whatever he 
 learnt from him, he did not forget. This Assyrian had 
 some eloquence, though from his education among barba- 
 rians, ignorant of all the rules which constitute elegance in 
 writing. Yet his observation of whatever was either 
 said or done in company, was acute, and he kept an exact 
 account of all that passed, which appears from a book he 
 wrote called the Apolloniana. — Damis was desirous to 
 
 * If Apollonius knew all the languages of the several nations men- 
 tioned in the text, Eusebius says, he must have been an apt scholar, 
 and possessed of an excellent memory. When we add to this, that he 
 afterwards attained to the knowledge of the language of brute animals,, 
 we must say, that the man who undertakes that, may ascribe what 
 meaning he pleases to their sounds, without any fear of confutation : 
 but when he goes further, and says he understood the very thoughts of 
 men, we can only laugh at his presumption, or at Philostratus's folly 
 in taking notice of it. If Damis was such a simpleton as to believe 
 all this, we need not be surprised at his adoring him, and taking him 
 for a demon. Dr. Jortin supposes he could speak a little of several 
 languages, for he was, says he, a man of parts, and a strolling vaga- 
 bond. 
 
 t The French translator has a note which marks the difference of 
 feeling between himself and Damis— it is this " J'avoue ma malice ; je 
 me serois mis a rire, & j'aurois pris Apollonius pour un fou." Damis 
 thought otherwise, " Maluit esse Deum." 
 
33 
 
 learn every thing of Apollonius, and as desirous to put 
 down in his book every circumstance, however minute and 
 trifling. The answer he made to one who condemned this 
 kind of writing was neat and apposite. It was to an en- 
 vious impertinent fellow who said that there were some 
 things he wrote of Apollonius well enough, particularly 
 his opinions and sayings, but that the crumbs he collected, 
 put him in mind of die dogs that eat of whatever falls 
 from their master's table. To this criticism Damis made 
 the following reply : if the Gods have feasts, and eat at 
 them, they have also attendants who wait on them ; and 
 whose business it is to take care that none of the ambrosia 
 be lost. Such was the friend and companion by whom 
 Apollonius was accompanied during a great part of his life. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 WHEN our travellers were passing into Mesopotamia, 
 the publican at the bridge of Zeugma* carried them to 
 the toll-books, and asked what they brought with them. 
 To whom Apollonius said, I bring with me temperance, 
 justice, continence, fortitude, patience, and many other 
 virtues, which he called by feminine names. The tax- 
 gatherer, who thought of nothing but his fees, said — he 
 had written down the names of his maids — but returned 
 Apollonius, they are rfot maids — they are mistresses, who 
 travel with me.f Mesopotamia is formed by the Tigris 
 and Euphrates, two rivers running out of Armenia, and 
 the farthest parts of mount Taurus, and encompassing the 
 
 * Zeugma, a town on the Euphrates, the great pass from Syria to 
 Osroene, the northern district of Mesopotamia : the two countries 
 being joined by a bridge, as is intimated by the name. 
 
 t Ce conte, says Du Pin, sent bien la fiction, et paroit invent^ par 
 Damis, ou par Philostrate. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 and in which are some cities and many villages. It is 
 inhabited by a people who came from Armenia and 
 Arabia, and who being shut in by these rivers,* wander 
 up and down without any fixed habitations. They look 
 on themselves so much as islanders, that they use the 
 phrase of going down to the sea, whenever they go to 
 these rivers, within whose course they have fixed the bound- 
 aries of the earth, because these rivers, after having formed 
 the country we are speaking of, run into the sea.f Some 
 writers say that a great part of the Euphrates disappears in 
 a marsh, and is lost under ground. But others, adopting a 
 bolder language, assert that after it disappears in Mesopo- 
 tamiai it rises again in Egypt, and mixes with the waters 
 of the Nile. To preserve greater accuracy in my narra- 
 tive, and omit nothing material noticed by Damis in 
 his journal, it was my intention to give a particular account 
 of the manner in which Apollonius spent his time among 
 the barbarians, but my subject calls me to higher and more 
 wonderful objects. Yet two circumstances are not to be 
 cursorily passed over, first the fortitude which supported 
 him in travelling through countries that were barbarous, 
 and infested with robbers, and unsubdued by the Roman 
 arms ; aud next, the wisdom which led him after the man- 
 ner of the Arabians, to make himself acquainted with the 
 language of animals. This knowledge he acquired when 
 amongst the Arabians, who of all people are best versed 
 in its theory and practice ; for augury is still in credit with 
 them, and the divination by birds J is as much respected 
 
 * Called in the text Nomades a pennutandis pabulis, — that is, as 
 Pliny says, raapalia sua, seilicet-domos plaustris circumferentes. 
 
 t We know now that the rivers unite at Apamea or Coma, into the 
 broad stream of the Pasitigris, and run into the Persian Gulf, about oue 
 hundred miles from the junction. D'Anville. 
 
 X He understood the speech of birds 
 As well as they themselves do words : 
 
 Could 
 
 
95 
 
 by them, at that by oracles. This talent is obtained ac- 
 cording to some, by their feeding on the heart, and accord- 
 ing to others, on the liver of dragons. 
 
 CHAP. xxr. 
 
 AFTER passing beyond Ctesiphon, # Apollonius entered 
 the territories of Babylon, where he was met by the King's 
 guard, whose orders were to let none pass without exami- 
 nation ; and having first answered the questions, " who 
 they were," " whence they came," and " the cause of 
 their coming." The officer who commanded the guard, 
 was by way of distinction called one of the king's-eyes,*]- 
 for the Mede,{ who had lately obtained the supreme 
 power, was not as yet fully settled on his throne, and from 
 being alarmed at every flying rumour, whether true or 
 false, had fallen into a state of perpetual apprehension. 
 In consequence of this vigilance, Apollonius and his com- 
 
 Could tell what subtlest parrots mean 
 That speak and think contrary clean : 
 What member 'tis of whom they talk, 
 
 When they cry rope, and walk knave, walk. Hudibras. 
 Inveterata fuit gentilium opinio, inter se colloqui Bruta et corum 
 sermones a multis intelligi : unde ars vel interpretandi voces aniraa- 
 lium; in qua excelluisse dicuntur apud veteres, Melampus, Tiresias, 
 Thales Milesius, Apollonius Tyaneus. 
 
 * Ctesiphon, a city of Assyria, on the east side of the Tigris, opposite 
 to Seleucia. 
 
 t It appears from Apuleius, that the faithful friends of the Persian 
 kings were called aures regioe, and imperatoris oeuli. 
 
 $ The Mede — called Baraancs Arsacida ; it may be noticed here 
 that the names of Persian, Mede, and Parthian, are often confounded 
 in history. This Bardanes, or Vardanes, was the son of Arta- 
 banus, whose story is told by Tacitus, in the 6th and 11th book 
 of his annals; he succeeded to the throne in consequence of the 
 misfortunes which befel his two elder brothers, Arsaces and 
 Partus. 
 
 T) <2 
 
96 
 
 panions were carried before the Satrap, who just at that 
 moment was taking the air in his palanquin. As soon as 
 he saw the squalid, meagre figure of the man, he screamed 
 out in fright like a woman, and covered his face. At 
 length, when he ventured to look up, he addressed him as 
 a demon, and asked, " whence art thou sent to us ?" 
 From myself, replied Apollonius, to instruct you to be- 
 come men, in defiance of yourselves. Then the Satrap asked 
 who he was, who dared to enter the King's dominions ? 
 To this Apollonius calmly answered, the whole earth is 
 mine,* and I have leave to go wherever I please through 
 it. When the Satrap heard this, he said, if you answer 
 me not explicitly I will put you to the torture. To this 
 Apollonius said, " O that the punishment were to be in- 
 flicted by your own hands, that you might pay the merited 
 penalty for daring to touch such a man. The eunuch, 
 astonished at finding that the man required no interpreter, 
 and that he comprehended and answered every thing with- 
 out the least hesitation, changed his voice and manner, 
 and adjured him in the name of the Gods, to say who he 
 was — As you condescend, said Apollonius, to ask me 
 with so much civil courtesy, hear then who I am. I am 
 Apollonius of Tyana, I am going to the King of the 
 Indians, to learn from him what is doing in that country. 
 I should be glad to see your King, for all who have con- 
 versed with him, say he is not without virtue, and I am 
 inclined to credit this report, if it is Vardanes who has just 
 recovered his lost kingdom. He is the very man, divine 
 Apollonius, returned the Satrap, (for of you we have 
 heard long ago ;) and he is one who would resign his crown 
 to a wise man ; and will take care to have you and your 
 companions forwarded to the Indies, each mounted on a 
 
 * This expression is agreeable to the Cynic and Stoic paradox, 
 which says, that the wise man possesses all things ; Sapienti omnia esse 
 
3? 
 
 camel.* For my part I make you my guest, and offer 
 you these treasures (at the same time he shewed him heaps 
 of gold) to take what you please, not only once, but ten 
 times. When the governor found he refused the money, 
 he said, take I pray thee this Babylonish wine,f it is of 
 that kind which the King gives to his ten satraps. Besides, 
 I request you may take these pieces of roasted swine and 
 goat ; and also some flower and bread, and whatever else 
 you please : for the journey you are about to undertake is 
 one of many stadia, wherein are many villages, but indif- 
 ferently supplied with accommodations. The eunuch was 
 shocked the moment he recollected the way in which he 
 was going to entertain a man, whom fame represented as 
 abstaining from all animal food and wine. But Apollonius 
 without being offended, said, you may treat me sump- 
 tuously, if you provide me with bread and herbs. I will 
 give you, continued the eunuch, leavened bread, and 
 datesj from the palm-tree, that are large and resemble 
 amber; and herbs, the growth of the gardens of the Tigris. 
 Apollonius said, he would rather have the herbs that 
 grew wild and spontaneously, than what were forced and 
 
 * Qui croira, says Du Pin, que la reputation d'Apollone, encore 
 jeune, qui n'etoit jamais sorti de la Grece, eut deja £te portee 
 en Babylone, y fut deja si publique et si bien etablie, qu'un Satrape lui 
 fit tant d'honneur sur son seul nom, et le traitat du premier abord 
 d'homme divin. 
 
 t Babylonish wine— the produce of the palm-tree ; it is the wine 
 which Pliny says is in general use all over the East, and is that which 
 is given by the King to his ten Satraps. The whole empire under 
 the Parthians was divided into nineteen kingdoms, of which eleven 
 were called the Upper, and the remainder the Lowei\ The ten Satraps 
 belonged to the Upper Kingdom, and it is probable that two kingdoms 
 had but one Satrap. 
 
 t Atheneus speaks of the beauty and size of the dates, and says they 
 resembled amber in their color. Xenophon, in his Anabasis, mentions 
 the same. The learned Kzempfer, Gibbon says, has exhausted the 
 whole subject of palm-trees. 
 
38 
 
 artificial, as he did suppose they were sweeter. Sweeter* 
 do you say, said the Satrap, I fear the soil about Ba- 
 bylon abounds in wormwood,* and tends to make the 
 vegetables bitter and unpleasant to the taste. At last 
 Apollonius, out of respect to the Satrap, made use of 
 these words when he was taking his leave of him, — " Cease 
 not from doing good, but I say also, begin by doing good." 
 By this he rebuked him not only for the threat he held 
 out of the torture, but for the very uncivil language he at 
 first used to him. 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 AFTER this our travellers continued their journey, and 
 proceeding about twenty stadias, lighted on a lioness 
 just killed in the chase, that was one of the largest ever 
 seen in these parts. The people from the neighbouring 
 villages, and even the huntsmen themselves, gathering all 
 around, raised a loud cry as if they had beheld something 
 wonderful. And indeed it was so, for when the lioness 
 was opened, there were found eight young ones in her 
 belly. It is said the lioness carries her young six months, 
 and brings forth only three times in her life. At her first 
 litter she has three, at the second, two, and if she has a 
 third, but one, which is, I suppose, larger, and more 
 ferocious than usual. No credit is to be given to those 
 writers, who say that the young whelpsf gnaw the wombs 
 of their mothers in order to set themselves at liberty : for 
 I think no doubt can be entertained but that nature has 
 formed a mutual attachment between the parent and her 
 
 * Absynthium, wormwood, called by Dioscorides Qa. Qvirutpov a profondo 
 amat ore. 
 
 t This story of the young lions treatment of their mother, is taken 
 from Herodotus. Thalia, chap. 108. 
 
3Q 
 
 young to preserve the species. As soon as Apollonius saw 
 the beast, he remained long without uttering a word ; 
 at length he opened his mouth, and said, O Damis, the 
 time we are to stay with the King, will be just a year 
 and eight months. He will not suffer us to go sooner, 
 and I do not think it would be proper for us to depart 
 before the expiration of that period : as the number of the 
 months may be conjectured* from that of the young, and 
 the year, from the mother, for things perfect in themselves, 
 can be only compared with what are perfect. But what, 
 said Damis, will Homer's^ sparrows say to all this ? I 
 mean the eight devoured at Aulis by the serpent, and the 
 mother that made the ninth ; for certainly Calchas in his 
 interpretation of that prodigy, foretold a war of nine years at 
 Troy. It therefore behoves us not to have our stay extended 
 to the same length, according to the calculation of Homer and 
 Calchas. Whereupon Apollonius said, Homer (it is true) 
 compared the young of the sparrow to years, and he did so, 
 because they were born, and in possession of life ; but in the 
 case before us, the young are imperfect, unborn, and perhaps 
 would never have seen the light ; and why should I com- 
 pare them to years ? for the irregular productions of nature 
 are not easily brought forth, and if they are, they soon 
 perish. But mind, Damis, what I say, and let us con- 
 tinue our journey without ceasing to offer up our prayers 
 to the Gods who shew us such signs. 
 
 * Wonderful mystery, truly. 
 
 t Homer's Iliad: 2d. Book. " Tout cela," says Du Pin, " est 
 qn'un jeu d'esprit, et une pensee imaginee apres coup, pour faire 
 valour ce trait d'Homere, et faire paroitie de rerudition." 
 
40 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 WHEN he was drawing near Cissia, after entering the 
 province of Babylon, he had the following vision in his 
 sleep, prepared by the deity who communicated it. He 
 thought he saw some fishes cast on the shore panting for 
 breath, who complained like mortals, and bewailed the 
 element they had lost. They looked as if imploring the 
 aid of a dolphin, who was swimming near them, and 
 seemed as much to be pitied as men in exile, deploring 
 their hard fortune. Apollonius, without being at all moved 
 by the dream, considered with himself what it might sig- 
 nify; however, to frighten Damis, who was of a timid 
 nature, he affected to be alarmed as to what it might por- 
 tend. This was successful, for Damis, terrified as if he 
 had seen the result, advised him not to go farther, and 
 said, we may perish like those poor fishes, driven from 
 our houses, and may lament in a strange land, ; and per- 
 haps, if we fall into great straits and difficulties, may be 
 forced to apply to some prince or potentate for assistance, 
 who will treat us, as those fishes are treated by the dol- 
 phin. Apollonius with a smile said, you are not yet a phi- 
 losopher, Damis, if you were, you would not be alarmed 
 at such things as these; but attend, and I will give you 
 the explanation of the dream. The people who inhabit 
 the district of Cissia ; are the Eretrians, # who about five 
 hundred years ago were carried away by Darius from 
 Eubea, and who like the poor fishes in the dream, are 
 
 * Darius settled the Eretrians at Ardericca, in the district of Cissia, 
 one of the royal stations, 210 stadia from Susa. See Herodotus, Erato, 
 chap. J 19. This visit of Apollonius to Arsaces Bardanes, was about the 
 year of Christ 50, according to Col, Kennel ; but according to Olea- 
 rius not so late as 50. 
 
41 
 
 now mourning their captivity; having been like them as it 
 were taken in a net. The Gods therefore seem to com- 
 mand me to take all the care I can of them; for perad- 
 venture the souls of the Greeks who were cast by fate on 
 this land, have invited me hither for their benefit. Let us 
 then turn out of our way, and make enquiries for that 
 well, # near which, it is said, they dwell. The well is com- 
 posed of bitumen, oil, and water, and when drawn up 
 and poured on die ground, its component parts separate, 
 and may be distinguished from each other. That Apollo- 
 nius was in Cissia is witnessed by himself in his letter to 
 the Clazomenian Sophist, for he was of such a mild ge- 
 nerous disposition, that the moment he saw the Eretrians, 
 he put the Sophist in mind of them, and gave him an ac- 
 count of their situation, which he afterwards referred to in 
 his letters. Through the whole of the epistle he exhorts 
 him to pity the Eretrians, and not to omit shedding tears 
 for them, whenever he made their condition the subject 
 of a declamation. 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 THE account we are to give of the Eretrians, corresponds 
 exactly with what Damis has written of them. They 
 dwell in the country of the Medes, not farther from Babylon 
 than what a speedy messenger might go in one day. The 
 country is without cities, for in Cissia are to be found 
 only villages and hamlets : the wandering tribes by which it 
 is inhabited are called Nomades, who seldom or ever alight 
 from their horses. That part of it occupied by the 
 Eretrians, lies in the interior of the country, and is in- 
 
 * There is a particular account of this well in Herodotus, chap, as 
 aforesaid. 
 
4* 
 
 closed by a river, which serves them as a rampart against 
 the inroads of the barbarians. The land abounds with 
 bitumen, which renders all its Vegetable productions un- 
 wholesome. The natives are short-lived, for as the water 
 is impregnated with this unctuous matter, it leaves a noxi- 
 ous sediment in the stomach. Their principal food is de- 
 rived from a hilJ, adjoining the village, which on account of 
 its being higher than the surrounding waste, is sown with 
 corn, as its soil is esteemed good. There is a tradition 
 among the natives, that seven hundred and eighty Eretrians 
 were made prisoners, of whom all were not fighting men, 
 because in that number were included some old men and 
 women, and I suppose children. A great part of the 
 Eretrians, we are informed, fled to the promontory Capha- 
 reus, and the mountainous regions of Eubea ; but about 
 four hundred men and ten women came to Susa ; the 
 mortality which began after their leaving Ionia and Lydia, 
 having caused the difference to fall away in proportion as 
 they advanced farther into the country. As the hill we 
 have mentioned supplied them with quarries of stone, 
 and as many among them were acquainted with the art of 
 cutting it, they built temples after the models of the 
 Greeks, and a forum suited to their circumstances. 
 They likewise built altars, two in honor of Darius, one in 
 honor of Xerxes, and many to Daridoeus.* From the 
 time of their captivity, till that of Daridceus, passed eighty- 
 eight years. The manner of their writing was after the 
 Greek fashion, and their ancient sepulchres were inscribed 
 thus — " Here lyeth such a one, the son of such a one." 
 The characters are in Greek, but our travellers said, they 
 never saw such before. The inscriptions engraved on their 
 tombs were all expressive of the several professions which 
 
 * Who this Daridoeus was, I have not been able to learn from any of 
 the commentators. 
 
they followed in Eubea, one, to wit, followed the trade 
 of a ferryman, another that of a murex-fisher, another 
 of a sailor, and a fourth a dyer of purple. They found 
 also some elegiac verses inscribed on the tomb of certain 
 sailors and pilots, to the following effect. " We who for- 
 merly ploughed the deep iEgean, lie here in a strange land 
 in the midst of the Ecbatani. Farewel land of Eretria, of 
 old renowned. Farewel Athens, near Eubea, and fare^ 
 wel sweet sea." Damis writes that Apollonius repaired 
 the mouldering sepulchres, and built an enclosure round 
 them — that he offered libations, and performed all rites 
 due to their manes without victims, and the shedding of 
 blood. — Damis adds, he wept, and in the sadness of his 
 heart uttered these words in the midst of them. " O ye 
 men of Eretria, who were carried here by the decrees of 
 fate ; though far from home you obtained a grave ; but 
 they who cast you on this land, perished unburied about 
 your island ten years after your captivity." Apollonius at 
 the end of his epistle to the sophist, says, O Scopelianus, # 
 though young, I have not neglected your Eretrians, and 
 have done all the good I could to the living and dead. 
 But in what way did he render any service to the living ? 
 I will tell you. The barbarians who lived in the vicinity 
 of the hill of which we have spoken, used to come in the 
 summer and carry off all the ripe corn ; in consequence 
 of which the Eretrians, who cultivated it, were exposed to 
 famine and want. Apollonius in the first audience he 
 had with the King, obtained a grant, by which the sole 
 use and enjoyment exclusively of this hill was for ever se- 
 cured to them. 
 
 * Scopelianus, preceptor of Herodes Atticus, to whom Apollonius 
 has addressed several of his Epistles. He was one of the most eminent 
 orators of the age, and was well rewarded by Julius Atticus for the 
 services he rendered to his son. 
 
44 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 THE following account is what I have been able to learn 
 of Babylon and Apollonius, whilst he staid in it. Ba- 
 bylon* is built within a circumference of four hundred 
 and eighty stadia. The walls are in height one plethron 
 and a half, and in breadth not much less than a plethron. 
 It is divided equally into two parts by the Euphrates, 
 under which runs a bridge of wonderful construction, 
 uniting invisibly the royal palaces, that are built on each 
 side of it. It is said, a woman of the Median nationf who 
 formerly possessed the empire, joined the river by means 
 of a bridge, in a way never done before. After having 
 collected on each bank of the river the stones, and brass, 
 and bitumen, and whatever other materials were necessary 
 for building in the water, she turned the course of the 
 stream into the contiguous morasses.J This dried up the 
 channel, and then she caused a trench to be dug across it 
 of the depth of two orguias, through which a passage might 
 
 * Notwithstanding the account which is here given of Babylon at 
 the time of Apollonius visiting it, I believe few vestiges then remained 
 of its ancient grandeur, and the royal seat of government was trans- 
 ferred to Ctesephon. The circumference given to it by our author is 
 the same with that assigned it by Herodotus and Pliny, 480 stadia, the 
 average stadium may be reckoned at 500 feet. The height of a plethron 
 and a half to the walls, taking the plethron at a hundred feet, is the 
 same as the height given them by Quintus Curtius, of 150 feet. Their 
 breadth, of not much less than a plethron, corresponds not with the 
 breadth of any of the writers. Herodotus gives 75 feet for their 
 breadth, and Curtius and Strabo 32 feet. Pausanias, who lived under 
 the Antonines, says, that in his time nothing remained of Babylon but 
 its walls, and the temple of Belus. 
 
 t The Median woman, Semiramis, the wife of Ninus. 
 
 % Paludes Babylonica?. 
 
45 
 
 be as on dry land to the palaces that stood on each side.* 
 This passage was covered with an arch of the same eleva- 
 tion with the bed of the river ; and its foundation and sides 
 were made as fast as they could : but as the bitumen re- 
 quired water to harden, and make it cement, the Eu- 
 phrates was let in over the wet arch to give it solidity and 
 a durable consistence. The royal mansions are covered 
 with brass, which contribute much to their beauty and 
 splendor. The apartments of both men and women, to- 
 gether with the porticos, are adorned, some with silver, 
 others with tapestry of gold, and even some with beaten 
 gold in place of pictures. The painted decorations of their 
 hangings were all taken from Greek stories, of which An- 
 dromeda, and A my m one, and Orpheus,*f* supplied subjects. 
 They are delighted with Orpheus, more I am inclined to 
 think from the reverence they have for his tiara and loose 
 hose, than for his skill in music, and the divine songs with 
 which he charms the soul. In the tapestry-workj were 
 also to be seen Datis plucking Naxos out of the sea, 
 Artaphernes besieging Eretria, and the victories of King 
 Xerxes. To -these were added, Athens in the possession 
 of the enemy, and Thermopylae, and such other representa- 
 tions as were fitted to swell the Median pride ; as rivers 
 dried up, bridges flung across the ocean, and mount 
 Athos perforated. It is said Apollonius visited an apart- 
 ment belonging to the men, whose ceiling was arched in 
 
 * See Diodorus Siculus, b. ii. chap. l. who gives an account of this 
 vaulted passage under the bed of the Euphrates, which Philostratus 
 says was in depth two orguias, or 12 feet. 
 
 t The stories of Andromeda and Orpheus are better known than 
 that of Amymone, who was the daughter of Danaus and Europa, and 
 married to Enceladus, whom she murdered the first night of her nup- 
 tials. 
 
 % See Herodotus, for an illustration of the particular portion of his* 
 represented in the tapestry. 
 
46 
 
 the form of the heavens, and covered with Sapphire, 
 which is a stone of an azure colour, resembling the sky. 
 Under this canopy were suspended the images of their re- 
 puted deities, wrought in gold, and shedding a light as if 
 from heaven. Here it is, where the King sits in judgment. 
 Four birds* in gold hung from the roof, which appeared 
 in the act of denouncing vengeance on the King, if he 
 did wrong, and at the same time of admonishing him, not 
 to exalt himself above what is mortal. The Magi, whosef 
 
 * Rather four golden figures, in shape like birds, called Hecatine 
 Strophali, or Hecatine Sphaerula?; in the midst of each was inclosed a 
 sapphire, and about each of them was folded a leather thong, beset 
 all over with characters. These sphaerulae they whipped about, whilst 
 they made their invocations, and called them Jynges, their appellation 
 in the text. Stanley says they used to call them Jijnges, whether they 
 were round, or triangular, or any other figure, and whilst they were 
 doing thus, they made insignificant or brutish cries, and lashed the air 
 with their whips, Jynx is also the bird, motacilla, or wag-tail, and the 
 figures were called Hecatine, from being dedicated to Hecate, a Chal- 
 dean goddess, who has at her right side the fountain of virtues. 
 
 t Ammianus Marcellinus has a long account of the Magi, which I 
 think not amiss to transcribe here. Plato, a most celebrated author, at 
 singular opinions, informs us, that Magia, in a mystical sense, is no- 
 thing but Machagistia, which signifies the most incorrupt worship and 
 pure observance of divine ceremonies, to which knowledge Zoroaster 
 the Bactrian added many things out of the secrets of the Chaldeans ; 
 and after him, that most wise prince Hystaspes, the father of Darius, 
 who whilst he was traversing the interior parts of upper India, arrived 
 at a deep forest, the peaceful retreat of the Brachmans, men of the 
 most sublime knowledge, from whom he learnt as far as he was capable, 
 the system of the world, the motions of the stars, and the most pure 
 rites of their religion ; and from what he collected there, he communi- 
 cated part to the Magi, who transmitted it to their descendants, to- 
 gether with the art of foreseeing things to Come. From that time to 
 the present, one and the same unmixed class of men is dedicated to 
 the worship of the Gods. It is also said (if it is right to believe it) 
 that there is kept a fire, which fell from heaven, perpetually burning 
 on their hearths, of which a small portion in former times went before 
 the Kings of Asia, as an auspicious sign of good fortune. These 
 priests were few in number, and were the people employed by the 
 
47 
 
 business it is to wait in his apartment, had these figures 
 made, which they call the Tongues of the Gods. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 OF the Magi, Apollonius has said all he thought suffi- 
 cient ; he had several conversations with them, and after a 
 mutual interchange of knowledge, took his leave of them. 
 Damis confesses his ignorance of what passed between 
 them, and says, Apollonius would not suffer him to be 
 present at any of their interviews, which used to take place 
 at mid-day, and mid-night. When Apollonius was asked 
 his opinion of them, he said, they are wise, but not in all 
 thi?igs. However, of them hereafter. 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 WHEN he came to Babylon, the Satrap to whom was 
 entrusted the care of the great gates, understanding that 
 Apollonius travelled for the sake of knowledge, presented 
 to him a golden image of the King ;* it being held unlaw- 
 ful to enter the city without first worshipping it. This 
 mark of submission was never dispensed with, except in 
 favor of embassadors sent from the Roman Emperor; 
 
 Persian Kings in their sacred ceremonies. It was a sacrilege to ap- 
 proach the altars, or to touch a victim before that one of the Magi 
 had by a set form of prayers poured forth certain precursory libations. 
 Their numbers insensibly increasing, they became net only in name, 
 but in reality, a great nation. 
 
 * This manner of adoration was very common among the people of 
 the East, who paid the highest veneration to the statues of their de- 
 ceased princes. This ceremony, Blount thinks, was much for the same 
 purpose as our oath of allegiance, to testify the respect and fidelity 
 they had for their sovereign. 
 
48 
 
 but every one else who came from barbarous nations, or 
 from curiosity to see the country, if he did not first wor- 
 ship the image, was, if discovered, stigmatised with dis- 
 grace. Herein is to be seen how ceremonies of very little 
 consequence were amongst barbarians committed to the 
 care of great officers of state. As soon as Apollonius saw 
 the image, he asked whose it was . ? and when he heard it 
 was the King's, he said, this man whom you worship, if he 
 is so fortunate as to be praised by me for his virtue and 
 goodness, will acquire honor enough, and with these words 
 passed through the gates. The Satrap followed in admi- 
 ration, and taking him by the hand, asked him by an in- 
 terpreter what was his name, his country, his pursuits, 
 and the motive of his journey : and after taking down on a 
 tablet his several answers, together with his dress and ap- 
 pearance, bid him wait his pleasure. 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 ON this the Satrap made all the haste he could, to those 
 men who are called the King's Ears, and after giving them 
 an account of Apollonius, said, the man is not willing 
 to worship the King's image, nor is at all like other men. 
 He was then ordered into their presence, with an express 
 injunction, that proper respect should be paid him, and 
 no molestation offered ; when he came before them, he 
 who was the eldest present, asked him why he despised 
 the King ? Apollonius said he did not despise him. But 
 will you, said he, hereafter do it ? Yes, said Apollonius, 
 if I find by conversing with him, that he is not as good 
 and virtuous as I expect. What presents* do you bring 
 
 * The making of presents has been, and to this day is, customary in 
 the East. No negotiation, no treaty of business whatever is entered 
 
 into, 
 
49 
 
 our King? I bring him, returned Apollonius, fortitude 
 and justice, and some other like virtues. What, said 
 the King's minister, do you bring these presents from an 
 idea of our King's not being already possessed of them ? 
 No, not exactly from that, answered Apollonius, but it 
 is from the supposition, that if he is possessed of them, 
 I may teach him their use. Our King, continued the 
 minister, by the exercise of such virtues, has acquired the 
 kingdom he had lost, and recovered his palace, not with- 
 out much labour and toil. How many years is it, said 
 Apollonius, since he recovered the kingdom ? Two 
 years and two months, replied the minister. Then Apol- 
 lonius, as he was wont to do, when he wished to give 
 weight to his opinion, cried, O thou guardian of the 
 royal person, or if any other appellation please thee 
 better, hearken to what I say; Darius, the father of 
 Cyrus and Artaxerxes, after a reign of about sixty* 
 years, when he found his end approaching, is said to 
 have sacrificed to justice, and thus exclaimed, " O 
 mistress, whosoever thou art." By this may be inferred 
 that he loved justice all his life, though he knew her not, 
 nor ever thought himself possessed of her. Hence it 
 came to pass that he educated his children so foolishly, 
 that they waged war with each other, and the one was 
 wounded and the other killed by his brother. And you 
 
 into, or carried on without them. No one was allowed to appear 
 in the presence of the Persian Kings without some gift, no matter 
 of what value. To this account it may be added, that when 
 our countryman, Lord Macartney, had his interview with the 
 Emperor of China in 1793, the receiving and returning of presents, 
 made a considerable part of the ceremony, and we may say, of the 
 embassy also. 
 
 * Philostratus differs from all other chronologers, in making 
 Darius possess his kingdom 60 years. It is probable, as Olearius 
 conjectures, that the period of 60 years refers to his age, and not to 
 his reign. 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 praise beyond all deserving, a King, as if possessed of every 
 virtue, who perhaps does not know how to support his 
 throne : and yet, if he becomes better than he is, the 
 gain will be yours and not mine. Then one of the bar- 
 barians present looking on him, said, unquestionably 
 the Gods have given us this extraordinary man: for 
 I am of opinion, that men of virtue conversing with a 
 prince so well instructed as our King, must make him 
 wiser, and better, and more gracious, inasmuch as these 
 virtues are painted in his countenance. On this all ran 
 to the palace, proclaiming the good tidings of a man 
 being at the King's gates, who was wise, and a Greek, and 
 an excellent counsellor. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 WHEN these tidings reached the King, he was in the 
 act of offering sacrifice in the presence of the Magi, to 
 whose care were committed the sacred rites of religion. 
 He called one of them to him, and said, I now recollect 
 the dream I told you of yesterday, when you came to me 
 as I lay in bed. The King's dream was, that he thought 
 himself Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, and that his own 
 countenance became like unto his. This dream raised 
 apprehensions in him, lest the change in his countenance 
 should forebode a change in his affairs. As soon as he 
 heard of the arrival of a wise man and a Greek at his 
 court, he called to mind Themistocles, who came for- 
 merly from Greece, and who by his conversations with 
 Artaxerxes, made not only that prince estimable, but 
 shewed himself such as he was represented. Then the 
 King stretching out his right hand, said, bid the man come 
 forward: and let our conversation begin under the good 
 omens of having his prayers united with our own, in sacri- 
 ficing to the Gods. 
 
51 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 AT length Apollonius made his entry amidst a great train, 
 who attended him out of respect to the King, who, it is 
 said, was much gratified at his arrival. When he came 
 into the palace, he took no notice of any of those things 
 which in general excite the admiration of people, but 
 passed on like a man on a journey. Then turning to 
 Damis, he said, did not you ask me some time ago, the 
 name of the Pamphylian woman who was Sappho's 
 acquaintance, and who composed hymns that are still 
 accustomed to be sung in honor of the Pergean* Diana, 
 after the Eolian and Pamphylian measure. I did, said 
 Damis, but you made me no answer. I did not my friend, 
 but I explained to you the measures of the hymns, and 
 the names of the measures ; and how she transposed certain 
 pieces of music which were set to the Eolian measure, 
 from that to a measure of the highest key, and one which 
 the Pamphylians claim as their own. As other objects 
 afterwards occurred and attracted our attention, you asked 
 me no more about her. But I will now answer you : her 
 name is Damophyla, f she had, like Sappho, a company of 
 young virgins in her train, who attended her as scholars, 
 and she composed like Sappho, verses, of which some 
 were amorous, and some in honor of the Gods. The 
 verses she composed in honor of Diana, are sung in the 
 Sapphic measure as well as in the Pamphylian, or the 
 measure of Damophyla, which differs from that of 
 Sappho. How little Apollonius was affected by all the 
 rich and splendid circumstances of royalty, appeared by 
 
 * Perga, a town in Paniphylia, where Diana was worshipped with 
 peculiar veneration. 
 
 t. Damophyla was contemporary with Sappho — and not only wrote 
 hymns in honour of the Pergean Diana, but opened a school where 
 the young virgins, her scholars, were taught the various powers of 
 music and poetry. Bayle — art. Perga. 
 
 E 2 
 
50, 
 
 his not even condescending to look at them, and by talking 
 of the most insignificant matters, as if they were actually 
 before him. 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 WHEN the King saw him at a distance approaching, 
 (for the court of the temple was spacious) he spoke to his 
 attendants in a way which shewed he recognised the man. 
 As soon as he drew nearer, he cried out with a loud voice, 
 saying, this is Apollonius whom my brother Megabetes 
 saw at Antioch, who was honored and esteemed by all 
 the good, and whom he described exactly such as he now 
 appears to me. As Apollonius advanced, the King spoke 
 to him in Greek, and commanded him to join in the sacri- 
 fice which he was then offering to the sun, of a white 
 horse from the Nisean* plains, adorned as if prepared 
 for a solemn procession. To this Apollonius said, do 
 you, O King, sacrifice after your manner, but let me sacri- 
 fice after mine. After he said this, he took the frankin- 
 cense in his hand and uttered these words, O Sun ! conduct 
 me to whatever part of the world it may seem good to you 
 and me ; and grant me only to know the virtuous : but as 
 to the wicked, I wish neither to know them, nor to be 
 known by them. With these words he threw the frank - 
 incensef into the fire, observing at the same time the 
 
 * > isceus Compus, — a plain in Media, famous for its breed of horses. 
 The chariot of Xerxes was drawn by them, and in all processions the 
 sacred horses were Nisaean. The Nisaean pastures are spoken of 
 in Diodorus Siculus. White horses were sacrificed to the sun almost 
 among all nations, the Scythians, Greeks, and Romans. Livy, in 
 speaking of Camillus having triumphed in a chariot drawn by four 
 white horses, says, " parumque id non civile mcdo, sed humanum 
 etiam visum. Jovis Solisque equis aequiparari dictatorem in religionem 
 etiam trahebant : triumphusque ob cam unam maxime rem clarior quam 
 gratior fuit." 
 
 i Ltbanomanteia — divination by frankincense, which, if it caught 
 fire, aud emitted a grateful odour, was esteemed a good omen ; but 
 if the fire did not catch it, or it produced a disagreeable smell, it wa» 
 a bad omen. 
 
53 
 
 smoke, how it rose, and curled, and shot into spiral forms : 
 and afterwards touching the fire as if it indicated good 
 and propitious omens, he exclaimed, " O King ! do you 
 continue to sacrifice after the ceremonies of your own 
 country; for my part 1 have observed what belongs to 
 mine." With this declaration he withdrew from the sacri- 
 fice, through fear lest he should be made a partaker in the 
 shedding of blood. 
 
 CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 WHEN the sacrifice was ended, Apollonius came for- 
 ward, and said, O King!* do you know the Greek lan- 
 guage, or only as much as serves for conversation, and 
 for not appearing awkward when visited by any of that 
 nation ? I know it, said the King, as 1 do my mother 
 tongue, and therefore you may say what you please, for I 
 suppose it is on that account you ask the question. It is 
 indeed, replied Apollonius, and hearken, I pray you, to what 
 I have to say. I am now going to visit the Indians, who 
 are the chief objects of my journey ; yet I could not pass 
 you by, particularly after hearing so much to your praise, 
 which from experience I find true. Besides, I was 
 anxious to know the wisdom that is professed by the 
 Magi in your country, and whether they are, as report 
 says, wise in things touching religion .f The wisdom 
 I profess is that of Pythagoras the Samian, who taught 
 me to worship the GodsJ in the way you perceived, 
 
 * This must have been a matter of very little consequence to Apollo- 
 nius, who says himself, he knew all languages. 
 
 t How strictly he professed to observe the Pythagorean discipline, 
 every where, and in all things, appears from this conversation, if Damis 
 may be relied on. 
 
 t For which cause Vopiscus styled him, amicus verus Deorum. 
 
54 
 
 to discern their several natures, and respect them ac- 
 cordingly, to converse with them, and dress myself in 
 garments made from the genuine fleece of the earth, 
 not torn from the sheep, but from what groweth pure 
 from the pure, — from linen, the simple produce of the 
 earth and water. I let my hair grow, and abstain from 
 all animal food, in obedience to the doctrine of Pytha- 
 goras. With you or any other man, I can never indulge 
 in the gratifications of the table. I promise to free you 
 from perplexing and vexatious cares, for J not only know, 
 but foreknow what is to be. Such are the subjects on 
 which Damis says Apollonius conversed with the King, and 
 which are noticed by him in some of his epistles. Some 
 other conversations passed which are referred to in his 
 letters. 
 
 chap, xxxin. 
 
 THE King confessed he was more pleased with his 
 coming, than if he had the wealth of India and Persia 
 added to his own. He expressed a desire of making him 
 his guest, and giving him apartments in the royal palace. 
 What would you say, O King ! replied Apollonius, should 
 I invite you to live in my house, in case of your coming 
 to Tyana, the place of my birth, would you do it ? I think 
 not, said the King, without the house was capable of 
 receiving me and my attendants, and that in a way be- 
 coming my rank and consequence. The truth is, said 
 Apollonius, that were I to live in a house above my 
 condition of life, I should not be comfortable. All kind 
 of excess is irksome to the wise, as the want of it is to you 
 who are of the great ones of the earth, and for this reason I 
 prefer living with some private individual, whose fortune 
 does not exceed my own; but as to conversation, I will 
 
 
55 
 
 converse with you as much as you please. The King 
 assented to his request, lest he might, unknown to himself, 
 be die means of hurting his feelings on the occasion. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 WHILST Apollonius staid, he lodged at the house of a 
 Babylonian who was a man of good family and character. 
 As he was sitting at supper with him, an eunuch came in 
 (who was one of the royal messengers) and addressing 
 himself to Apollonius, said, The King gives you the 
 choice of ten boons, and the permission of chusing 
 them, and he insists that you should not ask such as are of 
 mean value, he being anxious to impress both you and us 
 with a sense of his great bounty. Apollonius, flattered by 
 the tenor of the royal message, enquired when the permis- 
 sion would be granted. To-morrow, said the eunuch 
 — and immediately proceeded to the King's friends and 
 relations, with an order for their attendance at the hour 
 appointed, to testify the respect paid to so honoured a sup- 
 plicant. Damis says, he thought he would ask for nothing, 
 from the knowledge he had of his peculiar disposition, 
 and from knowing that his petitions to the Gods were all 
 in general to this effect, O Gods ! grant me few possessio7is, 
 and no wants ! Yet when he saw him stand in a pensive 
 mood, and like one in deep thought, he imagined he 
 might make a request, and was puzzled to think what it 
 should be. At length, when evening came on, he said, I 
 have been considering Damis, the reason why the barba- 
 rians look on eunuchs as chaste, and why such ready ad- 
 mission is given them into the apartments of the women. 
 To this Damis said, the reason is obvious to a child — be- 
 cause the operation by which they are made eunuchs, de- 
 prives them of the power of loving, and this is such a 
 reason for the permission, that it extends even to the liber- 
 
56 
 
 ty of sleeping with women. But do you suppose, said 
 Apollonius, that the operation alluded to cuts off both 
 the power of loving, and that of knowing women? It 
 does both, replied Damis ; for if the parts by which the 
 body is excited to passion be removed, love will find no 
 entrance into the human breast. Whereupon Apollonius 
 paused, and then said> You shall understand to-morrow 
 that eunuchs are capable of making love, and that the in- 
 clination prompting thereto, making its way into the eyes, 
 is not extinguished there, but retains its strength in full 
 vigor. An event will shortly happen, which will shew you 
 the false grounds on which your reasoning is built. For 
 supposing any human means were discovered powerful 
 enough to banish such desires from the mind, I do not 
 think that the decent manners of the truly chaste should 
 be ascribed to eunuchs, and the reason is, because they are 
 compelled to the practice of the virtue, and drawn as it 
 were by violence to the observation of it. The virtue de- 
 nominated temperance* consists in not yielding to this 
 passion, though you feel all the incentives to it ; but in 
 abstaining from it, and shewing yourself superior to all its 
 allurements. Here Damis resuming the conversation, 
 said, We shall consider these things at another opportu- 
 nity : at present it is your business to think of the answer 
 you are to make to the royal message, which is so noble. 
 For my part, I think you will ask nothing, but then how 
 you are to act so, without seeming to slight what is offered, 
 is the question. Consider this, and where you are— and 
 don't forget we are entirely in the King's power. Besides, 
 all appearance jof treating the King with disrespect 
 should be avoided, for though we may have enough to 
 supply our journey to India, that will not suffice for our 4 
 
 * This precept relative to the restraint on our desires is admirable, 
 and probably derived from still higher sources than the philosophy of 
 the times. 
 
57 
 
 coming back, and to that we ought to look, and to whom 
 we ought to apply. Such was the address used to pacify 
 Apollonius, and make him not despise the royal offers. 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 ON this occasion Apollonius, as if he wished to add 
 weight to Damis's reasoning, said, But why will you pass 
 over, Damis, the examples of others? That, for instance, 
 of JEschines* the son of Lysanias, who sailed to Sicily 
 to visit the court of Dionysius, for the sake of money ; 
 or that of Plato, who is said to have thrice measured the 
 gulf of Charybdis for the same purpose ; or of Aristip- 
 pus the Cyrenean, and Heliconf of Cyzicus, and Phyton,J 
 who fled from Rhegium ; all these men plunged them- 
 selves so deep into the treasures of Dionysius, that they 
 could scarcely be extricated from them. Besides, they 
 say, that Eudoxus§ of Gnidos, who sailed formerly into 
 Egypt, confessed that money was his object, of which he 
 talked to the King. However, not to traduce any more of 
 
 • TEschines, called the philosopher, to distinguish him from many 
 others of the same name, he was a disciple of Socrates whom he never 
 forsook. He was poor, aud his poverty compelled him to visit Dio- 
 nysius, the tyrant, at whose court he found Plato and Aristippus. He 
 wrote many dialogues, together with several orations and epistles, 
 which are much admired. 
 
 t Helicon of Cyzicus foretold an eclipse of the sun, as appears 
 from Plutarch's Life of Dion, which induced Plato to recommend him 
 to the protection of Dionysius, with whom he lived in great favour. 
 
 J Phyto was of a noble family of Elis, who, after being reduced to 
 captivity with the rest of his countrymen, was at last forced to use 
 very improper means for his support. 
 
 § Eudoxus of Gnidos was a man of learning and character, who, 
 our author says, travelled into Egypt for the sake of money, but 
 herein he is supposed to be mistaken, as it appears, his friends made 
 a contribution for the purpose of enabling him to undertake the 
 journey. 
 
58 
 
 the learned, we are told that, Speusippus # the Athenian, 
 loved money to such excess, that he went on purpose 
 to Macedonia to be present at the nuptials of Cassander, 
 at which he recited in public some bad verses for the sake 
 of money. For my part, Damis, I think a wise man is 
 subject to much greater dangers than are either soldiers or 
 sailors : for envy clings to him whether he speaks or is 
 silent ; whether he is employed or not, whether he does 
 his duty, or neglects it, and lastly, whether he salutes you 
 or does not. A wise man ought always to be on his guard, 
 and know, that if he be overcome with sloth, or anger, or 
 love, or any other excess, or acts in a way unbecoming his 
 character, for all this he may perhaps be pardoned : but if 
 he subject himself to the love of money, he never will ; 
 on the contrary, he will be hated, as one who is the slave 
 of every other vice. For it will be naturally supposed, that 
 if he suffer himself to be overcome by the love of mo- 
 ney, he is already overcome by the love of good-living, 
 and fine clothes, and women, and wine. But perhaps 
 Damis, you think, that committing a fault at. Babylon is 
 not the same as committing one at Athens, or Olympia, 
 or Delphi, and do not consider that every place is Greece 
 to a wise man, who esteems no place desert or barbarous 
 whilst he lives under the eyes of virtue, whose regards are 
 extended but to very few men, and looks on such with an 
 hundred eyes. Suppose Damis you were to meet with an 
 Athleta (one of those who make the public games of 
 Greece their chief study) you would naturally consider him, 
 if he disputed the prize at Olympia, and went into Arca- 
 
 * Speusippus, an Athenian philosopher, married one of Plato's 
 nieces, and succeeded him in his school. Diogenes Laertius agrees 
 with Apollonius, in saying he loved money, which is confirmed by one 
 of Dionysius's letters to him which is still extant.— It savs, " Plato 
 took no money from his scholars, but you exact it whether they are 
 willing or not." 
 
59 
 
 dia, a man of courage, without further proof of his prow- 
 ess ; and the very same person were he to contend in the 
 Pythian and N emean games, you would of course consider 
 as having taken pains to prepare himself for them, because 
 these games throughout Greece are celebrated, and the 
 exercises of the stadia are of high renown. But sup- 
 posing Philip, after taking some cities, or his son Alexan- 
 der after gaining some victories, were to institute games on 
 the occasion, do you imagine that this man would be less 
 attentive to the care of his body, or less anxious for vic- 
 tory, because he was to contend at dynthos, or Mace- 
 donia, or Egypt ; and not among the Greeks, and in their 
 most celebrated places of exercise. Damis writes he was 
 so much affected by this discourse of Apollonius, that he 
 became ashamed of what he said, and therefore intreated 
 Apollonius to pardon him for presuming to give such ad- 
 vice without having sufficiently considered and weighed his 
 genius and temper. But Apollonius encouraging him, 
 said, do not be discomfited, for I have talked thus not for 
 the sake of rebuke, but illustration. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 MEANWHILE an eunuch arrived with an invitation for 
 Apollonius from the King. I shall attend on him, said 
 he, as soon as I have performed, according to due custom, 
 all things touching religion. Having therefore finished his 
 offerings and prayers, he approached the King amidst the 
 astonishment of all the spectators, on account of his singu- 
 lar dress and venerable appearance. As soon as he came 
 into the royal presence, the King said, I give you ten 
 boons, inasmuch as I consider you in a light different from 
 any other man who ever came from Greece. To this, 
 Apollonius answered, I will not, O King! refuse all your 
 boons, but I have one to ask which I prize more than 
 
60 
 
 many tens : and he then entered on the business of the 
 Eretrians, beginning with Datis. My request is, that 
 you may not take from those wretched men their borders 
 and favoured hill, but may permit them to retain that por- 
 tion of land which was giveu them by Darius ; for it 
 would be hard indeed, if driven from their own country, 
 they were not suffered to keep that which was assigned 
 them as an equivalent for what they lost. To which the 
 Kiug assenting, said, Till yesterday the Eretrians were 
 our enemies, and the enemies of our forefathers : in for- 
 mer times they took up arms against us, which is the cause 
 of their having been so neglected by us, that scarce a 
 remnant of them survives. Henceforward however we 
 shall consider them as friends, and I will give them a good 
 governor, and one who will do them justice. But why not 
 accept, said the King, the remaining nine boons ? Be- 
 cause, replied he, I have not as yet acquired more friends. 
 But, returned the King, is there nothing of which you 
 stand in need yourself? Nothing, answered Apollonius, but 
 some fruit and bread, which make me a most sumptuous 
 repast. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 WHILST they were discoursing in this manner, a scream- 
 ing was heard from that quarter of the palace where the 
 women and eunuchs resided. An eunuch had been 
 caught in bed with one of the King's concubines, whom 
 they had seized, and were dragging by the hair of the 
 head round the women's apartment, treating him like one 
 of the royal slaves. Whereupon the chief and eldest of 
 the eunuchs said, he had long perceived his attachment to 
 this woman, and had given his orders that he should not 
 converse with her, nor touch her neck, or hands, and of 
 all, that he alone should not be suffered to dress her, 
 
61 
 
 and notwithstanding this prohibition, he has been found in 
 bed with her. When Apollonius heard this, he looked at 
 Damis, as if die truth was now apparent of that question 
 which they had lately discussed on the subject of eunuchs 
 being capable of loving. On this the King, turning to 
 those who were standing about him, said, it would not be 
 decorous in him to give his opinion on the subject of 
 chastity whilst Apollonius was present. To what punish- 
 ment, Apollonius, do you sentence the culprit? To what 
 other, replied he, than to that of being suffered to live; a 
 decision directly contrary to all their opinions. What, re- 
 turned the King, blushing, is he not worthy of many 
 deaths who has violated my bed ? The sentence, said 
 Apollonius, which I have passed, is not for pardon, but 
 for the consequent punishment : for if he be permitted to 
 live in the disease, in imagining impossibilities, neither 
 what he eats, or drinks, will serve him, nor will the amuse- 
 ments which entertain so much you and your court, give 
 him any pleasure. Besides, he will be subject to all the 
 inconveniencies which usually attend on those who are in 
 love, such as sudden startings in his sleep, and frequent 
 palpitations of the heart. And what malady, do you 
 think, can so corrode him, or grief fret him ? If he is 
 of the number of those who are not much attached to life, 
 he will request you to put an end to his existence, or, if 
 not, he will kill himself, bitterly lamenting the day where- 
 in he was not put to death. Such was the mild and pru- 
 dent answer of Apollonius, which prevailed on the King 
 to remit the penalty of death to the eunuch. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 THE King, being minded to take the diversion of the chase, 
 in a place set apart for his lions, bears, and panthers, 
 asked Apollonius to accompany him ; who immediately 
 
said, Have you forgot, O King ! that I was never present 
 at any of your sacrifices ? and if I was not, surely it would 
 be less pleasing to me to lie in ambuscade to see wild 
 beasts put to pain, and reduced to a state of captivity in 
 opposition to their nature. The King once asked what 
 was the best way of reigning with security, he replied, 
 by honouring many, and trusting few. During tiis stay 
 at Babylon, a governor of Syria # sent embassadors to the 
 King to treat of two villages situate near Zeugma, which 
 they said had been formerly subject to Antiochus and 
 Seleucus, but at present were under his jurisdiction, 
 though of right belonging to the Roman empire; that 
 they were no longer molested by the incursions of Ara- 
 bians and Armenians, yet that he in violation of all ancient 
 limits had invaded them, and made them useful to himself, 
 as if they were his own property, and not that of the 
 Roman people. The embassadors being ordered to 
 withdraw, the King said to ApoHonius, The two Kings 
 to whom the embassadors have alluded, made a grant of 
 these villages to my ancestors for the purpose of supplying 
 them with wild beasts ; for whatever game was taken by 
 us in hunting was sent to them across the Euphrates : but 
 now forgetting all this, they think of nothing but new and 
 unjust aggressions. What think you, ApoHonius, of this 
 embassy ? I think it fair and moderate, returned he, inas- 
 much as they are disposed to hold from your good will, 
 what they can hold in spite of it, and what is at present 
 in their possession. Besides, added ApoHonius, you should 
 not for the sake of two villages that are intrinsically of 
 less value than the private fortunes of some individuals, 
 engage in a war with the Romans, which should not be un- 
 dertaken for much more important considerations. In an 
 
 * At this time Syria was a Roman Province, under the jurisdiction 
 of a praetorian prefect. 
 
 
63 
 
 illness the King had, we are informed Apollonius attended 
 and spoke with so much eloquence on the nature of the 
 soul, that he revived, and told those about him that Apol- 
 lonius had not only made him despise his kingdom, but 
 even death itself. 
 
 # CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 WHEN the King shewed Apollonius the secret passage 
 under the Euphrates, and asked him what he thought of 
 such a wonderful piece of workmanship ? To check the 
 pride of his imagination, he said, O King ! the wonder 
 would be were you able to pass on foot over such a deep 
 and unfordable river. At another time when he shewed 
 him the walls of Ecbatana,* and told him the city was a 
 dwelling fit for the Gods : not for the Gods, said Apollo- 
 nius, and I am doubtful whether it is a dwelling fit for 
 men, for the city of Lacedemon was built without walls. 
 To the King, who in the administration of justice in one of 
 his towns, boasted of having spent two days in the hearing 
 of one cause, Apollonius said, I am sorry you were so 
 long in finding out what was just. On the occasion of a 
 great overflow of revenue, the King made an ostentatious 
 display of it to Apollonius, from a wish he had of making 
 him fond of riches, but he without expressing the least 
 surprise at what he saw, said, O King! you look on 
 all this revenue as so much wealth, I look on it as so 
 
 * Herodotus says, the walls of Ecbatana were strong and ample, 
 built in circles one within another, rising each above each by the height 
 of their respective battlements. 
 
 I agree with Olearius in thinking that these are the walls so de- 
 scribed by Herodotus, to which our author alludes in the text. 
 
64 
 
 much straw. But how, said the King, shall I place it 
 to the best account ? By making a proper use of it, for 
 you are a King. 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 AFTER many discourses of this kind with the King, 
 whom he found well-disposed to comply with his wishes, 
 and saying what he thought sufficient to the Magi, he said, 
 Come Damis, and let us pursue our journey to the In- 
 dians. Persons who have sailed to the Lotophagi,* by eat- 
 ing of the food peculiar to that country, have lost all relish 
 of their own. But for ourselves, without having eaten of 
 any thing here, we remain longer than what is either meet 
 or becoming. I am exceedingly pleased with your deter- 
 mination, cried Damis ; and yet, when I called to mind the 
 time we calculated on, in the case of the lioness, I was 
 patiently waiting its accomplishment, for of it there is 
 expired but one year and four months ; at the same time 
 I think, if we could get away, it would be right. — But, 
 said Apollonius, The King will not let us leave him till 
 after the full expiration of the eight months, as you see he 
 is a courteous prince, and too good to reign over barba- 
 rians. 
 
 * The teDth we touch'd, by various errors tost, 
 The land of Lotos, and the flow'ry coast, &c. 
 
 The trees around them, all their fruit produce ; 
 Lotos the name, divine nectareous juice : 
 (Thence call'd Lotophagi) which whoso tastes, 
 Insatiate riots in the sweet repasts ; 
 Nor other home, nor other care intends, 
 But quits his house, his country, and his friends. 
 
 Odyssey, b. ix. 
 Meninx— an island in the Mediterranean to the west of the Syrtis 
 Minor— supposed to be Homer's country of the Lotophagi. For a 
 particular account of the Lotos, see Col. Kennel's dissertation on the 
 Geography of Herodotus. 
 
65 
 
 CHAP. XLT. 
 
 AS soon as Apollonius thought it time to set out, and had 
 received the King's permission to do so, he recollected the 
 boons he had foreborne to ask, till he had acquired more 
 friends in the country. Whereupon he addressed the 
 King, and said, Thou best of princes, 1 have shewn no 
 mark whatever of favour to my host, and I feel myself 
 besides under many obligations to the Magi. Them I 
 beseech you for my sake to respect, for they are wise men, 
 and much devoted to your service. With this the King 
 was much pleased, and said, To-morrow you shall see 
 these men made objects of emulation, and highly reward- 
 ed. Though you require nothing which 1 can give you, 
 permit at least those men who are with Damis (whom he 
 pointed out) to accept of some part of my wealth, just 
 as much as they may chuse. As soon as they heard these 
 words, they all turned away, when Apollonius said, you 
 see my hands,* O King ! though many, are all like each 
 other. Since it is so, said the King, take, I pray thee, a 
 guide for your journey, and camels to ride on ; the way is 
 too long to make it all on foot. Be it as you desire, said 
 Apollonius, for I am told the road is difficult without 
 such conveyance, and the camel is an animal easily sup- 
 ported, even where there is but little fodder. Water I 
 suppose is likewise to be provided, and carried like wine 
 in bags made of skins. For three days' journey, said the 
 King, you will find the country without water; after- 
 wards you will meet with both rivers and springs : your 
 road is over Caucasus, on which you will find all kind of 
 
 * My hands — this alludes to Damis, and his companions who ac- 
 companied him on the journey— whose conduct on this occasion il- 
 lustrated the English proverb, like master, like man. 
 
66 
 
 accommodations, and the country hospitable. When the 
 King asked what present he would bring him from thence, 
 Apollonius answered, a most acceptable one, O King! 
 for if I become wiser by the conversation of the men of 
 that country, I shall return to you better than I leave you. 
 — Whereupon the King embracing him, said, Go thy 
 way — for the present will be great. 
 
BOOK II.— Contents. 
 
 Mount Caucasus — Continuation of the journey of Apol- 
 lonius to India — Particular account of the Elephant, 
 fyc. — Passes the Indus — Description of Tarda, and 
 its Temple — Some particulars of Porus — Conference 
 with king Phraotes — Receives letters of recommenda- 
 tion from him to the Wise Men, or Brachmans. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 (JUR travellers began their journey in the summer, 
 mounted on camels, and attended by a guide, who was 
 one of the camel-drivers appointed by the King to take care 
 of them on the way. The King provided them abundantly 
 with what they wanted; and the country besides was rich 
 through which they passed, and the several towns gave 
 them a welcome reception ; for the camel that advanced in 
 front carried on his forehead an ornament of gold, to shew 
 to all that one of the King's friends was on the road. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 WHEN they approached Caucasus, they say the country 
 became quite odoriferous. This mountain we make the 
 beginning of Taurus,* that, traversing Armenia and Ci- 
 licia, extends to Pamphylia, and as far as Cape Mycale, 
 
 * In such a continued chain of mountains as bear the name of 
 Taurus, it is difficult to ascertain which belong to it, or which are only 
 connected with it. D'Anyille says, that the chain of mountains deno- 
 minated Taurus, runs in a line parallel to the Mediterranean, which it 
 immediately commands at the Promontorium Sacrum ; and that after 
 being intersected by the Euphrates, stretches even as far as India. 
 
6$ 
 
 which ending in the sea of Caria, may properly be consi* 
 dered as the termination, and not, as some think, the be- 
 ginning of Caucasus. The height of Mycale* is not con- 
 siderable ; but the tops of Mount Caucasusf rise so high, 
 that the rays of the sun seem as if divided by them. With 
 the other branch of Taurus, Caucasus embraces all that 
 part of Scythia which borders on India, and stretches along 
 the Maeotis and the left side of the Pontus, in length 
 about two thousand stadia ; so great is the extent of coun- 
 try which is compassed by an arm of Caucasus. But what 
 is said of that Taurus which is so called by us, extending 
 beyond Armenia (though this has been called in question) 
 is now made apparent from the panthers which I know 
 have been taken in the spice-bearing part of Pamphylia; 
 for they, delighting in odors, which they scent at a great 
 distance, quit Armenia, and cross the mountains in search 
 of the tears of the storax,$ at the time when the wind 
 blows from that quarter and the trees distil their gums. It 
 is said a panther was once taken in Pamphylia, with a gold 
 chain about its neck, on which was inscribed in Armenian 
 letters, " Arsaces the King, to the Nysaean God." Arsaces 
 was then King of Armenia, who is supposed to have given 
 it its liberty on account of its magnitude, and in honour of 
 Bacchus, who amongst the Indians is called Nysius, from 
 
 * Mycale, in Caria, is the beginning of Taurus, and not its 
 ending. 
 
 t This Olearius explains, by saying, that to the west of Caucasus it 
 is dark some time after the sun has risen, and enlightning the countries 
 to the east of the mountain. 
 
 % Pliny mentions the lachrymce Styracis. The styrax or storax, he 
 says, grows in Syria, which borders on Judea. The tree which pro- 
 duces this liquor is called also styrax, or storax. It is like the quince- 
 tree in form and leaf, is hollow like a reed, from which the juice called 
 storax distils. Pliny mentions the styrax of Pamphylia as a tree 
 which produces a juice less in quantity, and of a somewhat bitter 
 flavour. 
 
60 
 
 Nysa,* one of their towns : this, however, is an appellation 
 which he bears amongst all the oriental nations. This pan- 
 ther became subject to man, and grew so tame, that it was 
 patted and caressed by every one. But on the approach 
 of spring, a season when panthers become susceptible of 
 love, it felt the general passion, and rushed with fury into 
 the mountains in quest of a mate, with the gold chain about 
 its neck; and was taken in the lower part of Taurus, at- 
 tracted by the odour of the spices. Caucasus bounds the 
 land of Judea and Media, and by another arm descends 
 to the Red Sea. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 THE barbarians talk of Caucasus in their stories as the 
 Greeks do. How, for instance, Prometheusf was bound 
 to it for his love to mankind, and how a person of the 
 name of Hercules (but not of Thebes) indignant at the 
 treatment he received, shot the bird with his arrows, which 
 Prometheus fed with his bowels. Some accounts say he 
 was bound in a cave, which is still shewn among the pro- 
 minences of the mountain ; and, according to Damis'sJ 
 
 * Nysa was a town which merited the notice of Alexander. Its 
 foundation was ascribed to Dionysius, or Bacchus, in his Indian expedi- 
 tion ; and Indian traditions mentions Mysada-buram, that is, the town 
 of Nysa; it is in the hither India, situate between the rivers Copheu 
 and the Indus. 
 
 t The chaining of Prometheus is placed by the Greek writers not in 
 the Caucasus of India, but in that which lies between the Palus 
 Maeotis and the Caspian Sea ; therefore if that is so, Damis must have 
 been mistaken in saying he saw the chains where he did. 
 
 $ Of the integrity of this Damis, says Naudaeus, in his History of 
 Magic, we are not to make the least account, since he is so impudent 
 as to affirm in Philostratus that he had seen the chains wherewith Pro- 
 metheus had been fastened to Mount Caucasus, which were yet in the 
 stones, when he passed it with Apollonius, who was travelling to the 
 Indies. 
 
 . 
 
70 
 
 relation, the chains are to be seen hanging from the rock 
 with which he was tied ; chains, which it is not easy to say 
 of what matter they are made. Other accounts say he 
 was chained to the summit of the mountain, which has 
 two tops, to one of which each hand was fastened, though 
 the intermediate distance was not less than a stadium, so 
 immense was his stature. The dwellers on Caucasus con- 
 sider the eagles their enemies, and burn all the nests they 
 find of them among the rocks, shooting at them fiery darts. 
 They also set snares for them, saying it is in revenge of 
 Prometheus; such is the effect which this fable has on 
 their minds. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OUR travellers, when they passed Mount Caucasus, say 
 they saw men of the height of four cubits, and of a black 
 colour; and on approaching the river Indus, some of five 
 cubits. They say besides, that in their way to this river 
 some occurrences took place which deserve to be noticed. 
 One was, that whilst travelling in a clear moonlight night, 
 they saw the figure of an Empusa,* which assumed a va- 
 riety of shapes, and then totally disappeared. Apollonius, 
 who knew what it was, rebuked the Empusa, and advised 
 
 * Empusa, a spectre that could transform itself into any shape, and 
 sometimes assumed that of a woman, as Aristophanes says in his play 
 of the frogs. From its having but one leg, as its name signified, it 
 always appeared hopping — henee hop goblin, or hob goblin according to 
 Wallis and Junius. Empusa is the name given by Demosthenes to 
 Glaucothea, the mother of JEschines, from the variety of characters 
 which she assumed for the sake of gain. Lucian, in his Treatise on 
 Dancing, says, we have reason to suppose that Empusa also, who could 
 throw herself into such a variety of shapes, was likewise some excel- 
 lent proficient in this art Some writers confound the Empusa with 
 Hecate. Eustathius derives the name from her walking on one foot. 
 Aristophanes in his Frogs gives her two feet, of which one is of iron, 
 and the other the foot of an ass. 
 
71 
 
 his attendants to do the same, for that such mode of treat- 
 ment was a sure remedy against all insult : whereupon the 
 jpectrum fled, shrieking like a ghost. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 WHILST they were passing the tops of the mountain on 
 foot, on account of the surrounding precipices, Apollo- 
 nius had the following dialogue* with Damis. Pray tell 
 me Damis where were we yesterday ? On the plain, said 
 he. And to-day where are we ? On Caucasus, if I am 
 not mistaken. When, asked Apollonius, were you in a 
 lower situation? I think this hardly worth asking, said 
 Damis; for yesterday we were in a valley, and to-day on 
 ground not far distant from heaven. Then, added Apollo- 
 nius, you think, Damis, yesterday's journey was what is 
 called Below, and this day's Above. I do, said Damis, if 
 I am in my right mind. In what respect, then, said Apol- 
 lonius, do you think that these ways differ the one from 
 the other ? or wherein do you suppose this day's journey 
 has the advantage of that of yesterday? In this, said 
 Damis — that yesterday's journey has been made by many 
 travellers as well as by us ; but that this day's journey has 
 been made but by few.f Even in a city, said Apollonius. 
 
 * From this dialogue, and others of a similar nature, Parker, Bishopi ^t^c^ccuuJL 
 of Oxford, was inclined to think that Apollonius had picked up Damis) 
 as a fit Sancho Pancha to exercise his wit upon. For upon all occa-j &* LyJuAo^**. 
 gions, says the Bishop, we find him not only baffling the Esquire hi / J 
 disputes, but breaking jests upon him, which he always takes with much 
 thankfulness, and more humility, still admiring his master's wisdom, vL^-~'>+*~* 
 but more his wit. 
 
 t This alludes to a well known symbol of Pythagoras, which says, 
 " Declining high-ways, walk in path ways." Leave the public popular 
 course of life, and pursue that which is separate and divine. He who | 
 is attached to the wisdom of Pythagoras, may be alone in the middle of | 
 the forum. 
 
n 
 
 one may live far from the noise of men, in places frequent- 
 ed by few. I did not allude to this, replied Damis; but I 
 affirmed, that yesterday we travelled through populous vil- 
 lages, and to-day through regions untrodden by human 
 foot; regions esteemed divine and holy; for from our 
 guide we learn, that the barbarians esteem them the dwel- 
 lings of the gods ; and saying this, he lifted up his eyes to 
 the summit of the mountain. Hereupon Apollonius re- 
 turning to the original question, said, Can you tell me, 
 Damis, what knowledge you have acquired of the divine 
 nature by being nearer heaven ? None, said Damis. And 
 yet you thought, continued Apollonius, that by being ele- 
 vated to such a height above the surface of the earth, you 
 would have given us more distinct ideas of the heavens, and 
 of the sun, and of the moon, which you imagined you 
 might have touched with your wand from the situation to 
 which you were raised. What I knew yesterday, said 
 Damis, of the divine nature, I know also to-day, without 
 the addition of any new idea. Then, said Apollonius, you 
 are still, Damis, what we called Below, and have learnt 
 nothing by being Above ; and you are as far from heaven 
 to-day as you were yesterday; therefore the question I 
 asked at first was a pertinent one, though you thought it 
 ridiculous. The truth is, said Damis, I did think I should 
 have come down wiser, particularly when I remembered 
 to have heard that Anaxagoras the Clazomenian made his 
 celestial observations from Mimas in Ionia, and Thales the 
 Milesian from Mycale in its neighbourhood. Some are 
 said to have used Pangeus as an observatory, and others 
 mount Athos. But for myself, I fear I shall not descend 
 a whit wiser than I ascended, though I have gone up a 
 mountain higher than either of them. Nor did they, re- 
 plied Apollonius; for what can such observations avail — 
 they may shew the heavens of a more azure colour, the 
 stars of a greater magnitude, and the sun rising put of night 
 — rphenomena all known to the goatherds and shepherds of 
 
7^ 
 
 the country. But in what manner a supreme Being super- 
 intends the human race, and how he delights to be wor- 
 shipped ; what is virtue, justice, and temperance, neither 
 will Adios shew to those who climb its summit, nor Olym- 
 pus, so renowned in song, if the soul does not make such 
 discussions the objects of its contemplation ; and if it does 
 engage in such topics pure and undefiled, I will not hesi- 
 tate to assert, that it will rise far above Caucasus itself. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 HAVING now passed this mountain, they saw for the 
 first time men mounted on elephants, who dwell between 
 Caucasus and the river Cophen. # These men are of rude 
 manners, and have the care of herds of elephants, which 
 they use as cavalry. Some of them rode on camels, 
 which the Indians keep for carrying their dispatches. 
 These animals travel a thousand stadia a day, and, it is said, 
 without ever bending the knee, or taking any rest. An 
 Indian who rode on one of them, advanced and asked the 
 guide whither they were going ? When told the object of 
 their journey, he mentioned it to the rest of his companions, 
 who were called Nomades. They raised a cry like people 
 who had pleasure in what they heard, and immediately or- 
 dered Apollonius and his companions to draw near, which 
 when they did, they offered them some wine and honey, 
 both the produce of the palm-tree, and some raw pieces 
 of lion'sf and panther's flesh. Our travellers accepted all 
 
 * Cophen, or Cophes, is a river which, rising in Paropamisus, runs 
 into the Indies below Taxila. It is supposed to be the same with the 
 Coas or Cohes which Alexander met with, and is now known by its 
 actual name, which is, the Com?. 
 
 t The wandering Arabs are exempted from paying tribute to either 
 Tunis or Algiers, on account of their being obliged by the institution 
 
 of 
 
74 
 
 but the flesh, and then passing by them, journeyed on to- 
 wards the east. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 WHILST they were eating their frugal meal by a foun- 
 tain of clear water, Damis poured out part of the wine he 
 got from the Indians, and said, I pledge you, Apollonius, 
 in this cup, in honour of Jupiter Salvator, of which I 
 think you may drink, though you have long declined the 
 use of wine ; for you will not refuse drinking it, as you do 
 what is extracted from the vine : After saying this, he made 
 a libation in consequence of having mentioned the name of 
 Jupiter. Apollonius turning to Damis with a smile, said, 
 Do we not abstain from money ? We do, as your conduct 
 has often evinced. What, said Apollonius, shall we touch 
 neither gold nor silver, nor suffer ourselves to be tempted 
 by money, so much desired by Kings and people ; and yet, 
 if offered brass money for silver, or what is counterfeit and 
 adulterate for what is sterling, shall we accept it merely 
 from its not being such as is in general use among men? 
 The coin used by the Indians is made of orichalcum and 
 black brass ; it is what passes current with all merchants 
 who trade in these parts. Suppose, Damis, these honest 
 Nomades had offered us this species ; would not you, had 
 you seen me refusing it, have advised me against it, and 
 have told me that that only can be reckoned as money 
 which is coined by the Romans and the King of the Medes; 
 but that what passes as money, and is in use with the In- 
 dians, is quite a different thing. And now suppose, Damis, 
 
 of their founder to eat lion's flesh for their daily food. Bruce mentions 
 his having eaten of three different aged lions, of which none were to- 
 lerable. 
 
75 
 
 I had suffered myself to be persuaded by such reasoning, 
 what would you have said of me ? Would I not have ap- 
 peared in your eyes adulterate, and more dishonourable in 
 casting away my philosophy, than the cowardly soldier who 
 casts away his shield. And yet the man who so parts with 
 his shield may get another, not inferior to the one he has 
 lost, in the opinion of Archilochus. But how, say you, is 
 philosophy to be recovered by one who has despised and 
 rejected her ? Bacchus will pardon me if I abstain en- 
 tirely from wine ; but should I drink of that wine which 
 comes from the date in preference to what comes from the 
 vine, would he not with justice be angry with me, and say 
 his gifts were despised by me ? At present we are not far 
 from the God, and you hear from our guide that the moun- 
 tain Nysa is at hand, on which Bacchus performs many 
 miracles. Men, Damis, are not only intoxicated with the 
 juice of the grape, but with that of the date, and are 
 driven into madness by drinking it. You have seen many 
 of the Indians so affected, some of whom dance and sing 
 and reel to and fro, and stagger like men who have sat up 
 the whole night carousing. But that you look on this po- 
 tion as wine, is plain from the libation you have made to 
 Jupiter, and the usual prayers offered up on the occasion. 
 So much, Damis, have I said in my defence, for I wish 
 not to prohibit you or your companions from drinking it; 
 on the contrary, I will give you the permission of eating 
 flesh, as I see the abstaining from it has profited you no- 
 thing ; but for myself, I find such abstinence suitable to 
 me in the practice of that philosophy to which I have ad- 
 dicted myself from my youth. This discourse was listened 
 to with pleasure by Damis and his companions, who were 
 not displeased to hear of the permission granted, conceiv- 
 ing very naturally that they would be the better able to en- 
 dure the journey by means of such good fare. 
 
76 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 AFTER this our travellers crossed the river Cophen irt 
 boats (their camels having passed by a ford where the river 
 was not very deep) and entered a district which acknow- 
 ledged the King's authority; where the mountain Nysa rises 
 in plantations from the bottom to the top, like Tmolus in 
 Lydia, and is to be ascended by paths cut in it for the 
 purposes of agriculture. When they reached the top of it 
 they discovered a temple which Bacchus had built for 
 himself, and planted round with laurels. It was but an in- 
 different one, as the ground did not admit of a better. 
 They say he planted ivy and vines round the laurels, and in 
 the center erected a statue of himself, from a supposition 
 that in time the trees would meet at the top, and form a 
 regular roof over it, which was the case when they arrived, 
 for the branches were so interwoven that neither rain or 
 wind could penetrate or injure the temple. Sickles, and 
 baskets, and wine presses, and all the other necessary imple- 
 ments, made of gold and silver, were hung up in honour of 
 the God, as if he was a wine-dresser. This statue bore the 
 likeness of an Indian boy, and was made of white marble. 
 The report of the country is, that whilst Bacchus is per- 
 forming his orgies, and making Nysa shake with his pre- 
 sence, the cities beneath hear him and tremble. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 THE Greeks and Indians have different opinions about 
 Bacchus, and the Indians themselves vary with each other 
 on the subject. We say that the Theban Bacchus made 
 an expedition into India, where he discharged both the 
 duties of a soldier and the rites of a Bacchanalian. Be- 
 
77 
 
 sides other arguments to prove this, we have a donative, 
 which is still preserved among the treasures of Delphi, 
 where a Discus is shewn, made of Indian silver, engraved 
 with the following inscription: " Bacchus, the son of 
 Semele and Jupiter, from the Indians to Apollo at Del- 
 phi." But the Indians who dwell in the vicinity of Cau- 
 casus and the river Cophenus say, it was an Assyrian who 
 made this expedition, and who was Well acquainted with 
 the history of the Theban Bacchus. The Indians who 
 dwell in the district between the Indus and the Hydraotes, 
 and the parts beyond as far as the Ganges, affirm that Bac- 
 chus was the son of the river Indus ; that the Theban Bac- 
 chus was his disciple, who first introduced the use of the 
 Thyrsus and the Orgies ; and that he was the son of Jupi- 
 ter, who lived in his father's thigh till the ordinary time of 
 delivery ; and that there was a mountain near Nysa called 
 Meros. To this is added, that shoots of the vine were 
 carried from Thebes and planted on Nysa, in honour of 
 Bacchus, and that it was there that Alexander celebrated 
 the orgies. But the inhabitants in and about Nysa affirm, 
 that Alexander did not ascend the mountain, though from 
 motives of ambition and love of antiquity he was anxious to 
 do it, fearing lest his Macedonians, if once they tasted of 
 the juice of the grape, of which they had not drank for a 
 long time, might be disposed to return home, or might re- 
 vive their love of wine, after being so long used to water. 
 From this consideration, he passed by Nysa, satisfied with 
 having offered up prayers and sacrifices to Bacchus at the 
 foot of the mountain.* I know what I write will not be 
 pleasing to some people, because all who served under 
 Alexander have not confined themselves to what is strictly 
 true. But truth in history is indispensible, to which had 
 
 * See the accounts of Quintus Curtius and Arrian on Alexander's 
 conduct at Nysa, from both of which Philostratus differs. 
 
78 
 
 they adhered, Alexander would not have been robbed of 
 his due praise ; for I think that his not going up the moun- 
 tain, from the motive of keeping sobriety in his army, re- 
 dounded more to his honour than had he done it, as they 
 say, and committed all the frantic actions attributed to 
 him. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 DAMIS writes, he did not see the rock Aornos, though 
 it was not far from Nysa. As it lay not exactly in this 
 route, their guide was afraid of turning out of the direct 
 road. He says, he heard it had been taken by Alexander, 
 and was called Aornos, not from its being fifteen stadia 
 high, (for the sacred birds are seen to fly much higher 
 than it) but from the circumstance of its having an aper- 
 ture* on its top, which is said to attract all birds that fly 
 about it, not unlike what is observed in the vestibule of 
 the Parthenonf at Athens, and in many places of Phrygia 
 and Lydia. Hence the rock was called Aornos, and was 
 destitute of birds. 
 
 * This aperture in the rock, Olearius supposes, was the spring of water 
 mentioned by Arrian in his description of it. B. iv. c. 28. — But Arrian 
 says, the water was pure ; wherein he differs from Philostratus, who 
 makes it deadly to birds, and hence its name of Aornos. 
 
 t At Athens, where Minerva's temple stands, 
 There never crow nor boding raven flies, 
 Not tlio' the fat, and oily sacrifice 
 Allure his smell, and call his willing eyes. 
 Not that he fears Minerva's vain pretence, 
 Or banish'd from her train for an offence ; 
 But 'tis the noxious vapour drives him thence. 
 
79 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 IN travelling towards the Indus, they met a boy mounted 
 on an elephant, to which he was applying his goad with 
 some severity. Apollonius surprised at this, said, What 
 is the duty, Damis, of a good horseman ? What else, re- 
 plied he, than to sit well on his horse, to manage him ex- 
 pertly with the rein, to curb him, if unruly, and, above 
 all things, to take care in passing through swampy and 
 marshy ground, not to let him sink in it. What, said Apol- 
 lonius, is nothing else required of a good horseman I Yes, 
 there is, said Damis ; a good horseman is to loosen the 
 reins in going up hill, and tighten them in coming down; 
 he is sometimes to stroke his mane and ears, and not al- 
 ways use the whip. I should commend the man who rode 
 in this way. But what are the qualifications that merit 
 most praise in the man who rides a war-horse prepared for 
 battle? The same I have mentioned, Apollonius, with 
 the additional ones of knowing how to attack the enemy 
 and defend himself; how to charge and retreat with safety; 
 and lastly, how to accustom his horse not to be frightened 
 with the clashing of shields, or brightness of helmets, or 
 sound of trumpets, or shouting of the combatants ; for to 
 know all this is necessary for the horseman. And what is 
 your opinion, said Apollonius, of the boy who rides the 
 elephant?* That he is a much greater object of admira- 
 tion than the horseman described; for that a child should 
 manage a creature of such prodigious bulk, and guide him 
 
 * The man who conducts the elephant generally rides on his neck, 
 and uses an iron rod, hooked at the end, or a bodkin, with which he 
 pricks the head or sides of the ears, in order to push the creature for- 
 ward, or to make him turn. Buffon. 
 
 Elephants allow themselves to be led, and commanded by a child. 
 
 Same. 
 
Ml 
 
 with a sort of shepherd's crook, which you see him casting 
 on his back like an anchor, and that this child should not be 
 afraid of his look, figure, or size, appears to me so wonder- 
 ful, that had I heard it from another, I call to Minerva to 
 witness, I should not have believed it. Now, said Apollo- 
 nius, suppose the boy was to be set up for sale, would you 
 buy him, Damis? Certainly, said he, was I to give all I 
 am worth for him ; for to be able to govern one of the 
 largest animals in the world, as if a captured citadel, gives 
 one the idea of the generous and noble disposition of the 
 boy. But if you did purchase him, said Apollonius, what 
 would you do with him without the elephant? I would set 
 him over my house and servants, as I think he would go- 
 vern them better than I do myself. But do you think 
 yourself, said Apollonius, unequal to the task of managing 
 your own affairs? I am not more unequal than yourself, 
 replied Damis ; for you know 7 I have left all to wander up 
 and down with you, addicted to the study of philosophy, 
 and only anxious to learn what is doing abroad. But sup- 
 pose, said Apollonius, you purchased the boy, and had 
 two horses, the one fit for running, and the other for war, 
 would you set him indifferently on both ? I should, per- 
 haps, set him on the race-horse, as I see ohter men do the 
 same ; for is it to be supposed he could ride a war-horse, 
 trained and ready for the field, who is not able to carry a 
 shield, or a breast-plate, or a helmet; things so necessary 
 for the rider? And how should he be able to brandish a 
 spear, who has not strength to throw a dart or shoot an 
 arrow, and who has not yet lost the lisping accent of a 
 child. Then, said Apollonius, I suppose it is something 
 else which directs and puts the elephant in motion, and not 
 the boy, whom you so much admire. But what can it be, 
 said Damis, for I see nothing on his back except the boy ?* 
 
 * The elephant, when tamed, becomes the most gentle and most 
 obedient of all domestic animals. He is so fond of his keeper, that he 
 
 caresses 
 
81 
 
 Of all creatures, said Apollonius, the elephant is the most 
 docile, and when once accustomed to submit to man, he 
 bears all things from him ; he conforms to his taste, and 
 loves to be fed out of his hand like a favourite dog. 
 When his keeper approaches you will see him fawning on 
 him with his trunk, and letting him put his head into his 
 mouth, which he keeps open as long as he likes, and which 
 we saw practised among the Nomades. But at night he 
 is said to bewail his servitude, not with a loud noise, as at 
 other times, but with a low, and piteous murmur. And 
 if a man happens to surprise him in this situation, he 
 restrains his sorrow as if he were ashamed. For which 
 reason, said Apollonius, it is the elephant who governs 
 himself, and the bent of his own docile nature, which 
 influences his conduct more than the boy on his back who 
 seems to manage him. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 ON coming to the river Indus, they say they saw a drove 
 of elephants swimming across it, and learnt the following 
 account of them, namely, that some live in marshy 
 ground, others in the mountains, and some in the plains : 
 and that all are taken for the purposes of war, # and fight 
 with towers on their backs, which are capable of holding 
 from ten to fifteen men, who from them, as from turreted 
 gates, shoot their arrows, and dart their javelins. The 
 animal himself uses his trunk as a hand in throwing missive 
 weapons. In proportion as a Libyan elephant surpasses in 
 
 caresses him ; and anticipates his commands by foreseeiug every thing 
 that will please. Buffon. 
 
 * Of all animals, the elephant is the most serviceable in war ; for he 
 can easily carry four men armed with muskets, bows, or spears. 
 
 Note in Buffon* 
 G 
 
bulk a Nysaean horse, so does an Indian elephant surpass 
 one of Libya.* Some writers have noticed the age of the 
 elephant, and its great longevity,-}- and assert they acci- 
 dentally met with one near Taxila, (one of the largest 
 towns in India) which the inhabitants perfumed with sweet 
 odors and adorned with garlands .J He was said to be 
 one of those elephants who fought under King Porus 
 against Alexander, and by reason of his gallant exploits in 
 the field, was dedicated to the sun by the Macedonians. 
 He had round his teeth, or horns,§ rings of gold, on 
 which were inscribed Greek characters to this effect, 
 " Alexander, the son of Jupiter dedicates Ajax to the 
 sun." Ajax was the name given to the elephant by Alex- 
 ander ; || thinking he -was entitled to this distinguished 
 appellation. The natives of the place computed three 
 hundred and fifty years from the battle, without taking 
 into the account his age at the time it was fought. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 JUBA,ff who was formerly King of Libya, says in his 
 history, that the Libyans had once a battle in which they 
 
 * In general the elephants of Asia exceed in size, strength, &c. those 
 of Africa. 
 
 + If captive elephants live 120, or 130 years, those winch are free, 
 and enjoy all the rights of nature, ought to exist at least 200. 
 
 % At festivals elephants' tusks are ornamented with rings of gold and 
 silver — their ears and cheeks are painted, they are crowned with gar- 
 lands, and a uumber of little bells are fixed on different parts of their 
 body. Buffon. 
 
 § As some people call them. 
 
 j| Alexander the Great was the first European who ever mounted an 
 elephant. Those which he took from Porus, he caused to be brought 
 into Greece, and they were perhaps the same which Pyrrhus several 
 years after employed against the Romans in the Tarentine war, and 
 with which Curius Dentatus came triumphant into Rome. Buffon. 
 
 Notwithstanding the authority of Buffon, I think it may be doubted 
 whether they were the same. 
 
 tt Juba the historian was son of Juba the first King of Numidia, 
 
 and 
 
 
83 
 
 rode on elephants, that the elephants were divided into 
 two parties, and that the tusks of one of the parties were 
 marked with the figure of a turret, and those of the other 
 were not. When night came on, which ended the fray, 
 this writer adds, that the turretted party were worsted, 
 and fled to mount Atlas, and that he who did not live till 
 four hundred years after, caught one of the fugitives, 
 which still retained the impression of the turret, without its 
 being worn away by time, Juba thinks the tusks of ele- 
 phants are to be looked on as horns,* because, like the 
 temples, they grow from the scull, and are not contiguous, 
 like the teeth of other animals ; and next, because they con- 
 tinue in the state they first grow, and do not shed and 
 grow again, like teeth in general. However, I do not 
 agree in opinion with this author : for horns, if not all, at 
 least those of stags, shed and grow again. As for teeth, 
 such as are human, drop and grow again, but no animal 
 whose teeth are outstanding^ or canine, drop of them- 
 selves ; or if they do, ever come again ; for nature has set 
 them in the jaws, as armour for their protection. To 
 this may be added, that every year a circular ring is formed 
 at the extremities of horns, as is visible in those of goats, 
 sheep, and oxen. Teeth from the first are smooth, and 
 if not broken, remain so, seeing that they appear to be of 
 
 and Mauritania. He was led to Rome among the captives to adorn 
 the triumph of Caesar. His captivity was the source of the greatest 
 honours, and his application to study procured him more glory than he 
 could have obtained from the inheritance of a kingdom. He wrote the 
 history of Rome in Greek, of which but few fragments remain. He 
 wrote on the nature of animals, from which I suppose Philostratus 
 has taken his information in the text. 
 
 * But Herodotus, says Pliny, who wrote long before Juba, called 
 them denteSy and not cornua. 
 
 t Hence no conclusion can be drawn from the text whether they 
 are horns or not. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 a strong nature and substance. Horns are peculiar only 
 to such animals as divide the hoof. The elephant has five 
 toes,* the sole of the foot, consisting of several divisions, 
 which are united by soft membranes, as if nature intended 
 him to stand only on moist ground. Besides, nature in 
 supplying all horned creatures with bones that are perfo- 
 rated, has joined a kind of horny substance to each : but 
 the ivory of the elephant is formed complete, and in all 
 parts uniform ; and yet, if nicely examined, a small aper- 
 ture will be found in it, as is in teeth. The teeth of 
 elephants living in marshy grounds are livid, porous, and 
 not easily manufactured, an account of the many cavities 
 and excrescences which obstruct the artist. The teeth of 
 those living in the mountains, f are smaller than the last, 
 but then they are very white, and capable of being wrought. 
 The best of all are the teeth of those elephants that live 
 in the plains, because they are the largest, whitest, most 
 easily manufactured, and take whatever shape the hand 
 of the artist is pleased to give them. If we were disposed 
 to describe the manners of the elephants, we • might take 
 our account from the Indians, who reckon those of the 
 marsh light and giddy, of the mountain obstinate and 
 treacherous, and not to be relied on, unless they stand in 
 need of our assistance: and those of the plain, gentle, 
 tractable, and easily instructed.;]: These are the elephants 
 who write and dance,§ and move with great agility to the 
 
 * The short foot of the elephant is divided into five toes, which are 
 so covered with the skin as not to be visible. Buffon. 
 
 t BufFon differs from Philostratus in his account of the mountain 
 elephant, he says the strongest, and most courageous of the species, 
 and which have the largest tusks, are called mountain elephants. 
 
 $ The elephant soon learns to comprehend signs, and even to under- 
 stand the expression of sounds. He never mistakes the voice of his 
 master. 
 
 § He learns to trace regular characters with an instrument as small 
 
 a? 
 
85 
 
 sound of a pipe, and sometimes even spring from the 
 ground. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 WHEN Apollonius saw the elephants passing the river, 
 and the whole troop, which consisted of about thirty, un- 
 der the direction of the smallest among them ; and when 
 he saw the largest carrying their young on their prominent 
 teeth, and girthing them with their trunks, as if with a 
 band, he said to Damis, all this they do without any 
 orders, all by their own natural prudence and discretion. 
 You see how after the manner of porters* they take up 
 their young, and how secure they carry them. I see it, 
 answered Damis, and I see how wisely and prudently they 
 do it. Whence then arises that silly dispute among idle 
 cavillers, whether the love of parents for their young is na- 
 tural or not ? The voice of these elephants crieth that it 
 is natural, who have not learnt what they do by living 
 among men, as they have learnt other things. It comes 
 from instinct, together with that provident care which 
 makes them so solicitous to supply their young with food, 
 and with all they want. And this you may assert, said 
 Apollonius, not of the elephant alone, which makes the 
 nearest approaches to man in prudence and council ; but 
 of the bear, which merits more consideration, who, 
 though one of the most savage of beasts,f does all she 
 
 as a qnill. — Both Pliny and JElian speak of their writing and dancing, 
 if the making quosdam inconditos motus, can be termed dancing — says 
 the former. 
 
 Buffon says they delight in the sound of musical instruments, and 
 move in cadence to the trumpet and tabor. 
 
 * The moUiers carry their young firmly embraced in their trunks. 
 
 Buffon. 
 
 t The females seem to love their offspring with an astonishing ar- 
 dour. They fight, and expose themselves to every peril in order to 
 
 save 
 
86 
 
 can for her young. Even among wolves* who are only in- 
 tent on plunder, you will find the female protecting her 
 young, while the male is abroad in search of food for 
 their preservation. In like manner it may be observed of 
 panthers, who by reason of the natural heat of their con- 
 stitution, are most anxious to become dams, from the 
 circumstance of their then ruling the males, and manag- 
 ing the affairs of the family ; whilst the males in the mean- 
 time suffer all things for the sake of their young. There 
 is a story told of the lioness, that she draws the leopard 
 into a love-intrigue, and takes him to the lion's lair in the 
 • open fields ; but afterwards, when the time of her delivery 
 draws nigh, she retires to the mountains, and there brings 
 forth her young, which from their being spotted like their 
 sire, she conceals, and nourishes in the most secret thick- 
 ets, pretending that she absents herself for the sake of 
 hunting; for if the lion happens to discover them, he 
 tears them to pieces, as being illegitimate. I suppose you 
 recollect some of Homer's lions,+ who with stern coun- 
 tenance watch their young, and collect all their strength 
 when they prepare themselves for battle. The tigressj 
 
 save their young ; who are not unformed for some time after birth, as 
 the ancients alleged j but grow nearly as quick as other animals. 
 
 Buffon. 
 * Though like other females, the she-wolf is naturally more timid 
 than the male, yet when her young are attacked she defends them 
 with intrepidity — and never leaves them till their education is fi- 
 nished. Blffon. 
 t Thus in the center of some gloomy wood, 
 "With many a step the lioness surrounds 
 Her tawny young, beset by men and hounds ; 
 Elate her heart, and rousing all her pow'rs, 
 Dark o'er the fiery balls each hanging eye-brow low'rs. 
 
 Homer, b. xvii. 
 
 t The rage of the tigress rises to the utmost when robbed of her 
 young. 
 
87 
 
 of the iiercest animals in the parts bordering on the 
 Red Sea, is said to run to the ships when lying at anchor 
 in search of her young, and if found, returns with joy ; 
 but if the ships have sailed, she moans her young on the 
 shore, and sometimes even dies of grief for the loss of 
 them.* Who is unacquainted with the manners of birds ? 
 to instance only the eagle and stork, who never build their 
 nests without putting into them, the one an eagle stone,f 
 and the other the lychnites ;J and all this done to assist 
 them in hatching their eggs, and driving away the serpents. 
 If we take into consideration the living creatures of the 
 sea, we shall not greatly admire the attachment of the 
 dolphins to their young, on account of their natural bene- 
 volence. But whales, and sea-calves,§ and the race of 
 noxious fish, shall we not make them the subjects of our 
 admiration ? When I was at JEgae, I saw a sea-calf that 
 was kept for the purpose of going out and hunting with 
 dogs ; the sea-calf I saw bewailing her dead young, and 
 for three days together abstaining from food, though one of 
 the most voracious of marine creatures. Whenever the 
 whale is compelled to fly without being able to defend her 
 young, she hides them in the cavities of her jaws. Even 
 
 * When all hope of recovering her young is lost, she expresses the 
 exquisiteness of her sorrow by dismal and hideous bowlings, which ex- 
 cite terror wherever they reach. 
 
 t Aetites — called from atros, an eagle — from being supposed to be 
 found in the eagle's nest. — There are many wonderful virtues ascribed 
 to this stone by Galen, Pliny, &c. but they seem to be entirely found- 
 ed on superstition and fancy, and accordingly it is, I believe, never 
 used in the present practice of physic. What is now called an eagle 
 stone is one which has a loose nucleus rattling within it. 
 
 X Lychnites— called from the resemblance it bears to the blaze of a 
 candle, which gives a singular grace to it and makes it very rich, — 
 Pliny.— But why chosen by the stork I cannot learn? 
 
 $ See Pliny— b. ix. c. 8. for an account of the attachment of the 
 Dolphin for her young— for that of whales, b. ix. c. 6.— and for that ot 
 phocas or seal-calves — c. 13, same book. 
 
88 
 
 the viper has been seen licking the young serpents she had 
 brought forth, and polishing them with her tongue. Far 
 be it from us, Damis, to give credit to the foolish story,* 
 which says, that the young of vipers are produced without 
 a mother — a phenomenon supported by neither nature 
 nor experience. 1 hope, said Damis, resuming the con- 
 versation, you will allow Euripides to be praised for that 
 iambic, which he puts in the mouth of Andromache, 
 " Man lives in his offspring." I allow it, said Apollonius, 
 for I think it wisely and divinely spoken, but he would 
 have spoken more wisely, and with more truth, had he 
 applied the sentiment to all living creatures. Then you 
 are of opinion, said Damis, it would have run better 
 thus, " Every living creature lives in its offspring ;" I do 
 agree with you in this, said Apollonius, for it is more con- 
 sonant to truth. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 BUT tell me Apollonius, did we not say in the beginning 
 of this discourse of elephants, that there is a wisdom and 
 understanding in what they do. We did so, Damis, said 
 Apollonius, and with reason, for if an intelligence did not 
 govern them, they could not subsist, nor the nations among 
 whom they live. .And if that is so, replied Damis, why 
 do they pass the river in a way so imprudent and disad- 
 vantageous to themselves. The least of all goes first, the 
 rest follow according to their several sizes, and the largest 
 brings up the rear. Whereas, for my part, I think the di- 
 rect reverse houjd be practised. The largest should 
 march in front, and make themselves a wall and rampart 
 
 * The foolish story may be found in Herodotus— (Thalia)*-and is 
 entirely fabulous. 
 
 
 
89 
 
 to defend the rest. But, said Apollonius, they seem to 
 me to fly from an enemy, whom perhaps we shall meet 
 pursuing them by the print of their feet — and if that is so, 
 their rear should be well secured against their pursuers, as 
 is done in war, and of all creatures you will find the ele- 
 phant the most observant of military tactics. Besides, if 
 the largest passed first, their passing would not enable the 
 rest to judge whether the depth of the water would suffer 
 them to follow ; for in that case, the passage would be 
 easy and practicable to such as were tall, and difficult and 
 dangerous to those tkat were not. But if the smallest 
 were to pass, we might be sure the rest would have no 
 difficulty in following. Moreover, if the largest went 
 first, they would deepen the channel of the river to the 
 small, for the mud and slime must necessarily be sunk, 
 and formed into excavations, by reason of their great 
 weight, and the bulk of their feet; whereas the lesser 
 will not hinder the passage of the greater by any obstruc- 
 tions they can raise in the way.* 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 I HAVE found also in the writings of Juba, that ele- 
 phants mutually assist each other when hunted ; and if one 
 is wounded, he is defended by the rest, and if they are so 
 fortunate as to be able to extract the weapon from the 
 wound, they anoint it with the tears of the aloe, and stand 
 round him, as if they were so many physicians. Many 
 
 * Pliny says, the elephants march always in troops. The eldest of 
 them leads the van, and the next to him in age brings up the rear. 
 When they are about to pass a river they make the least of their com- 
 pany pass foremost, from an apprehension, that if the biggest went 
 first, they would, by treading the bed of the river, make the ford the 
 deeper.— B. viii. c. 5. 
 
90 
 
 philosophical discourses of this kind they had together, 
 most of which were taken from such occurrences of the 
 day as deserved to be noticed. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 THE account set down by Nearchus, and Python,* con- 
 cerning the Acesines and its junction with the Indus, and 
 of its producing serpents*)* seventy cubits long, was found 
 to be correct. I mean, however, fp defer what I have to 
 say on the subject of serpents, till I come to speak of the 
 manner of hunting them which is given by Damis. When 
 our travellers approached the Indus, and were ready to 
 pass it, they asked the Babylonian, their guide, if he 
 knew any thing of its passage? He said not, as he had 
 never passed it, and therefore knew not whether it was 
 fordable or not. And why did you not, said they, provide 
 yourself with a guide ? Because, replied he, I have one 
 here who will direct you. Whereupon he produced a let- 
 ter which served all the purposes of a guide, and for this 
 mark of attention Bardanes was highly commended. For 
 he had written a letter to the Satrap to whom the depart- 
 ment of the Indus was committed (though it was not 
 within his jurisdiction) and in it reminded him of former 
 favours without adverting to any recompense for them, as 
 all requitals for favours conferred were not agreeable to his 
 established custom : at the same time however he said, if 
 he treated Apollonius well, and conveyed him wherever 
 
 * Nearchus, an officer of Alexander in his Indian expedition. He 
 was ordered to sail upon the Indian ocean with Onesicritus, and to ex- 
 amine it. — He wrote an account of this voyage, to which Philostratus 
 here alludes. 
 
 t The name of Python is not set down by Rooke in his list of the 
 writers of the Alexandrine history. 
 
91 
 
 he wished, he would hold himself his debtor for such a 
 mark of courtesy. He had besides given the guide gold, 
 to be used only in cases of necessity, and to prevent all 
 application to strangers. When the Indian received the 
 letter, he said he valued it highly, and should honour 
 Apollonius as much as if he had been recommended by 
 the King of the Indians. Accordingly he ordered the 
 royal passage-boat, and transports for the conveyance of 
 his camels, and likewise supplied him with a guide for all 
 that country which is bounded by the Hydraotes. He 
 gave him also a letter to his own sovereign, in which he en- 
 treated him to use this Greek, and divine man, with the 
 same respect he had been used by Bardanes. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 BY this means our travellers were conveyed over the Indus, 
 whose breadth, where it is navigable, is about forty stadia 
 across. The account given of this river is as follows, 
 That it has its source in mount Caucasus, that it is greater 
 there, than all the rivers of Asia, and that it receives in 
 its course the tribute of many navigable streams.* That 
 like the Nile, it overflows the adjacent country, carrying 
 along with it manure sufficient for enriching the land, and 
 giving the Indians an opportunity of sowing it, after the 
 manner of the Egyptians. I do not venture to oppose 
 what is said of the snows which lie on the Ethiopian, and 
 
 * The Indus is formed of ten principal streams, descending from the 
 Persian and Tartarian mountains, besides five more rushing down on 
 the eastern side of the Sinde, give to that country the name of Pavjab, 
 or the five rivers. These rivers were to be crossed by Alexander at a 
 season when the periodical rains, already commenced in the northern 
 mountains, had swollen them to an uncommon magnitude, and greatly 
 increased their rapidity. Maurice. 
 
92 
 
 Catadupian mountains, on account of the authority of those 
 who relate it ; but I do not give credit to it, especially 
 when I consider that the Indus is in the same predicament 
 with the Nile, though the country above the Indus is not 
 covered with snow. Moreover, I know a God has set the 
 Ethiopians and Indians as the two extreme horns of the 
 earth, and made black the people of the rising and setting 
 sun. And how could such an effect take place without 
 the heat of the summer was felt in the winter ? But if 
 the sun warms the earth the whole year round, how can 
 it be supposed that snow falls, and that in such quantities 
 as to overflow the banks of the rivers ? and even if snow 
 were to fall' in those parts exposed to the sun's heat, how 
 can it be supposed capable of spreading out into a sea, 
 and supplying a river with water enough for the overflow- 
 ing of Egypt, 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 WHILST our travellers were crossing the Indus,* they 
 saw, according to the account they give, many hippopo- 
 tami and crocodiles like those which are seen in sailing on 
 the Nile. Besides, many flowers growing on its banks 
 of the same species as is found in the river of Egypt. 
 They learnt that the season was warm in winter, but quite 
 suffocating in summer. To guard against this inconve^ 
 nience, Providence has caused frequent rains to fall in this 
 country. They heard from the Indians that their King 
 
 * The Indus or Sinde, as we are informed from Sanscreet authority, 
 in its early course was anciently called Nilab, or the Blue River, from 
 the dark hue of its waters ; and this native appellation, added to the 
 crocodiles and the Egyptian beans that grew on its banks, will in some 
 degree account for the strange mistake of Alexander, that he had dis- 
 covered the sources of the Nile in this region of Northern India. 
 
 Maurice. 
 
1)3 
 
 the river whenever it happens to overflow, and 
 offers to it a sacrifice of bulls and black horses. White 
 is a colour less esteemed among them than black, which 
 is that of their own complexion. When the offering is 
 made, they say the King throws a golden measure into the 
 river, like that with which corn is measured. Why this 
 ceremony is performed is not known; but the general idea 
 is, that the measure is cast into the water either for the 
 obtaining an abundance of fruit, or for preventing the 
 river exceeding its bounds, and deluging the land. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 AS soon as they passed the river, the guide appointed by 
 the Satrap conducted them straight to Taxila* the resi- 
 dence of the King. According to the account of our 
 travellers the dressf worn by the Indians on this side of the 
 Indus, was made of a kind of flax with which the country 
 abounded, and their shoes of die bark of trees. When it 
 rains they wear something like a hat. The principal men 
 of the country were clad in the byssus that grows on a 
 tree which resembles our white poplar in its stem, and 
 the willow in its leaves. Apollonius said he liked the 
 
 • Taxila is situated on the eastern bank of the Indus, on the site 
 mpposed of the present city of Attack. — Strabo describes it as the me- 
 tropolis of a kingdom placed between the Indus and Hydaspes ; in 
 extent not inferior to Egypt ; not less distinguished by the elegance of 
 its structures than by the wisdom of its inhabitants. — It is the only 
 place on the Indus where the slackened rapidity of its stream conve- 
 niently admits a bridge. 
 
 t Arrian, in his Indian history says, the Indians wear linen garments ; 
 the s/ubstance whereof they are made, gTOws on trees ; and this is in- 
 deed flax or something much whiter and finer than flax, the swar- 
 thiness of their bodies does not make us believe it whiter than it is if 
 wha\ he means must be cotton. 
 
94 
 
 byssus, as being of the same sable colour with that of his 
 cloak. This byssus is brought into Egypt and used for 
 many sacred purposes. Taxila is not unlike the ancient 
 Ninus, and is walled in the manner of other Greek towns. 
 It was the royal residence of him who possessed that 
 country which was formerly under the dominion of Porus. 
 Before the walls of the city stood a temple whose dimen- 
 sions were nearly one hundred feet, built of porphyry, 
 within which was a chapel, too small in proportion to the 
 size of the temple, which was large, spacious, and sur- 
 rounded with pillars ; but notwithstanding, the chapel was 
 worthy of admiration. Tablets of brass were hung on 
 the walls with becoming inscriptions, representing the 
 deeds of Alexander and Porus in orichalcum, and silver, 
 and gold, and bronze. The elephants, horses, soldiers, 
 helmets, shields, spears, and javelins, were all represented 
 in iron. In these pictures appeared what formed the prin- 
 cipal features of good painting, such as are found in those 
 drawn by Zeuxes, and Polygnotus, and Euphranor ; artists 
 who exhibited in their colourings light and shade, and 
 relief, and all the soft and lively tints which give anima- 
 tion to a whole. The various metals of which they were 
 composed, coalesced and embodied like so many colors ; 
 and even the mild character of Porus himself was seen 
 expressed in them, but the pictures themselves were not 
 exhibited till after the death of Alexander. In them the 
 Macedonian was seen as conqueror, and Porus bleeding 
 at his feet, to whom Alexander is restoring India, which he 
 had conquered. It is said, when Porus heard of the 
 death of Alexander, he wept, and regretted him as a mild 
 and generous prince. After his departure from India, 
 and during his life, Porus never acted in his regal capacity, 
 though he had his permission, and royal license ; he ruled 
 the Indians as Satrap, and conducted himself with great 
 moderation ; and all he did was to the advantage of his 
 sovereign lord. 
 
05 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 
 THE nature of the history I write does not allow me to 
 pass over the account I learnt of Porus. When Alexan- 
 der was on the point of invading India, some of his friends 
 advised him to make alliances with such nations as lived 
 beyond the Hyphasis and Ganges, presuming that Alexan- 
 der would never make war against all India united. To 
 this proposal, Porus replied, if the temper of my subjects 
 is such that I cannot be safe without allies,* it will be 
 better for me not to be a King. To one who told him 
 Alexander had conquered Darius, he said, Alexander had 
 conquered a King, but not a man. When the groom to 
 whom was committed the care of the mules, brought him 
 his favourite elephant, and said, Here is the elephant that 
 will carry you, No, said Porus, 1 will carry him, if I am 
 what I used to be. To another who advised him to offer 
 sacrifices to the river in order to prevent its receiving the 
 Macedonian transports, and giving a passage to Alexan- 
 der, he answered, it is not the part of men who take up 
 arms to have recourse to imprecations. After the battle, 
 wherein the conduct of Porus appeared in the eyes of 
 Alexander divine and more than human, one of Porus's 
 friends told him, that had he submitted to the Mace- 
 donian as a suppliant, and not been vanquished in battle, 
 such numbers of Indians would not have fallen by the 
 sword, nor would you yourself have received a wound. 
 To which Porus made this reply, when I understood how- 
 much Alexander loved glory, I knew that by addressing 
 him as a suppliant, he would only have looked on me as 
 
 • Notwithstanding what Philostratus says here, it appears from 
 Diodorus Siculus, and the other writers, that Porus had Abisares as an 
 ally, who after the battle surrendered with him. 
 
his slave, but that by fighting him, he would consider me 
 as a King ; and therefore more deserving of bis admira- 
 tion than compassion ; and in this I was not deceived, for 
 bj shewing myself such as Alexander found me, I in one day 
 both lost and gained every thing. This is what I learnt 
 of Porus* from the Indians, to which they added, that he 
 was the most beautiful man of the country, taller than any 
 one since the siege of Troy, and very young when he en- 
 countered Alexander^ 
 
 CHAP XXII. 
 
 WHILST Apollonius and his companions were waiting in 
 the temple till their arrival was made known to the King, 
 he said to Damis, Do you think there is such an art as 
 that of painting ? I do, replied Damis, if there is truth 
 in any thing. What does it perform, said Apollonius? 
 It mixes together, said Damis, different colours, as blue 
 with green, white with black, and red with yellow. And 
 why, continued Apollonius, does it mix them, since it is 
 not merely for shew, as if an amusement of girls. It is 
 done, said Damis, for the sake of imitation, to represent, 
 for instance, a dog, a horse, a man, a ship, or any other 
 object under the sun ; and even the sun himself, who at 
 one time appears in a chariot drawn by four horses (as may 
 be seen in this place) and at another with a torch lighting 
 up the heavens, when he paints the sky and dwellings of 
 the Gods. You see then, said Apollonius, that the art of 
 painting is nothing but imitation. What else? replied 
 Damis, for if it cannot perform this, it will appear ridi- 
 culous, an accidental union of several colours. Apollo- 
 nius continued, what will you say, Damis, of the appear- 
 
 * This account of Porus corresponds nearly with that given by all 
 the writers on the subject. 
 
97 
 
 ances which are visible in the heavens when the clouds 
 unite and separate, such as centaurs, tragelaphs ;* and 
 even wolves and horses ? are not they the effects of the 
 imitative art ? I think so, said Damis. Do you suppose 
 then, said Apollonius, a God will turn painter, and leave 
 his winged chariot wherein he rides, and governs all things 
 in Heaven and earth ; and will he, do you think, sit as if 
 at play, describing figures as children do in the sand. 
 Hereat Damis blushed, and blushed from a consciousness 
 of his discourse having concluded in an absurdity. But 
 Apollonius, who was never harsh in his reproof, without 
 forsaking him in his perplexity, said, I suppose you never 
 meant to say any thing which could have borne such a 
 comment. As to the appearances alluded to, which are 
 carried to and fro through the air, they are merely acciden- 
 tal, uninfluenced by the^deity ; and we who are naturally 
 prone to imitation, form out of them whatever figures 
 our imagination pleases. This point then, said Damis, 
 we may consider as established, it being what is most pn> 
 bable and consonant to reason. The imitative art, said 
 Apollonius, is two-fold, the one whereof engages the hand 
 and mind in describing what it chuses, and is called the 
 art of painting : and the other employs the mind alone in 
 forming likenesses. Not two-fold replied Damis, for 
 there is a more perfect kind of painting, which ex- 
 presses by the mind and hand likenesses ; and the other is 
 but a part of it which conceives and expresses likenesses 
 by the mind alone, and from want of knowledge in the art 
 cannot make use of the hand in drawing them. What 
 would you think, Damis, said Apollonius, of a man who 
 had lost the use of his hands by some wound or distem- 
 per ? That he would never be a painter, from his total ig- 
 norance of the use of a pencil, instrument, or any colour 
 
 • Tragelaphs — r^aysxa^i — hinjcervus, animal hirci and cwvi figu- 
 raiu mixtam habeas. 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 whatever. Herein, said Apollonius, we are both agreed, 
 and it must be allowed that the imitative faculty is derived 
 from nature, and the graphic from art, which may be said 
 also of the plastic. But methinks, Damis, you yourself 
 do not make painting consist in mere colours, inasmuch as 
 the ancient artists made use of but one colour, and as the 
 art improved, of four, and then of a greater number. A 
 design which consists but of simple lines, without any co- 
 lour, of mere light and shade, may in truth be called a 
 picture. Designs of this kind give us likeness, figure, 
 character, modesty, courage, and yet they have no colour- 
 ing, representing neither the blood nor the colour of the 
 hair, nor the beard on the chin : and though composed of 
 but one colour, they mark the difference between a tawny 
 and a white man. In proof of this, were we to design an 
 Indian with white lineaments, the idea would still be that of 
 a black man. For the flat nose, curled locks, prominent 
 cheeks, and a certain fire about the eyes, cause such fea- 
 tures as are presented to the sight to appear black, and to 
 represent an Indian to all who are capable of viewing and 
 examining such figures with judgment; and therefore I 
 should say, that they who behold pictures require a know- 
 ledge of the imitative art to judge of them. For no 
 person is able to praise, as it deserves, the painted repre- 
 sentation of a horse, or a bull, who has not first formed 
 in his mind an idea of the animal whose likeness is given. 
 The Ajax, painted by Timomachus, # as mad, could not be 
 commended according to its merit, if a person had not 
 first conceived an idea of Ajax in that situation, fatigued 
 and weary after the slaughter of the cattle, sitting alone, 
 and taken up with the thoughts of putting himself to death. 
 
 * Timomachus, a painter of Byzantium in the age of Sylla and 
 Marius, whose paintings of Ajax, and his Medea murdering her children, 
 were purchased for 80 talents by Julius Caesar, and deposited io the 
 temple of Venus at Rome. 
 
99 
 
 As to these curious works executed by the command of 
 Porus, we cannot say they are solely the works of sculp- 
 ture, because they resemble painting ; nor can we say they 
 are the works of painting, as they are done in brass. But 
 they are the works of a mail equally skilled in casting 
 metals and in painting, such as Vulcan is represented in 
 Homer,* when he describes the making of the armour of 
 Achilles ; for there the ground appears covered with the 
 dying aud the dead, and even red with blood, though the 
 whole work is executed in brass. 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 WHILST Apollonius was amusing himself in conversa- 
 tion of this kind, certain messengers, attended by an inter- 
 preter, came from the King to inform him, that it was the 
 royal pleasure Apollonius should be his guest for three 
 days, as the laws of the country did not allow strangers to 
 remain longer than that time in the city. He was then 
 conducted to the palace. Of the walls of the city we have 
 already spoken; it was divided, according to the relation 
 of our travellers, into narrow streets, with great regularity, 
 after the Attic fashion. The houses appeared on the out- 
 side and in front, as if they had but one story ! yet when 
 you entered them, they were found to have as many apart- 
 ments under ground as above it. 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 THEY visited the temple of the sun,f in which was kept 
 an elephant called Ajax, dedicated to that God. They saw 
 in it statues of Alexander and Porus, the former made of 
 gold and the latter of bronze. The walls of the temple 
 were of porphyry, enriched with ornaments of gold, which 
 
 * See Homer, b. xviii. 
 t tf the account of this temple of the sun, as given by Philostratus, 
 appears suspicious, what shall we say to the account that is given in 
 
 H2 the 
 
100 
 
 emitted a light, like the rays of the sun, whose image was 
 adorned with pearls, arranged in a symbolical order, such 
 as is practised by the barbarians in all sacred things. 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 NO pomp nor pageantry was visible in the palace ; no 
 spearmen or life-guards appeared, but a few domestics, 
 such as are usual' in the houses of our chief citizens. Of 
 the persons in waiting who had familiar access to the King, 
 there were not more than three or four. This simplicity 
 was much more approved of by Apollonius than the proud 
 magnificence of Babylon. What he admired most was the 
 great simplicity which reigned in the interior of the palace 
 through all its apartments. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 FROM all Apollonius saw, he supposed the Indian prince 
 was a philosopher, whom he thus addressed by an inter- 
 preter, and said, I am happy, O King! to find you study 
 philosophy; and I am equally happy, returned he, that 
 you think so. Apollonius went on — is the moderation 
 which I see subsisting every where the effect of established 
 laws, or has it been produced by yourself? The laws, 
 said the King, prescribe moderation ; but I carry my idea 
 of it beyond the letter, and even spirit of them. I am 
 rich, and want little. Whatever I possess more than is 
 necessary for my own use, is considered as appertaining to 
 my friends. Happy are you, said Apollonius, in being 
 possessed of such a treasure, and in preferring friends, 
 
 the Aycen Akbery of the one at Jagernaut, on the building of which 
 was expended the whole revenue of Orissa for twelve years. No one 
 ever beheld the immense edifice without being struck with amazement 
 — the walls were 150 cubits high, and 19 cubits thick ; on its dome, 
 constructed of stone, were engraved the sun, and the stars, &c. The 
 worship of the sun in the east was the great fountain of all its idolatry, 
 and ever has been the most ancient superstition of all nations. 
 
101 
 
 from whom are derived so many blessings, to gold and 
 silver. But it is my enemies, replied the King, on whom I 
 bestow my riches ; for by them I keep in subjection the 
 neighbouring barbarians, who formerly used to infest my 
 country, and who now, instead of making incursions them- 
 selves on my territories, do not suffer others to make them. 
 Here Apollonius asked, if Porus was accustomed to send 
 presents to them ? The King said, Porus loved war? but 
 I love peace. With these words Apollonius was so de- 
 lighted, that he said to one Euphrates, whom he rebuked 
 for not conducting himself like a philosopher, Let us re- 
 verence Phraotes, which was the name of the Indian 
 prince. To a Satrap, who was under many obligations to 
 him, and on that account was desirous to bind his head 
 with a golden mitre, set round with precious stones, he re- 
 plied, if I was really an admirer of such things, I should 
 at this time, in the presence of Apollonius, cast them all 
 from me ; for to deck myself out in ornaments, to which I 
 have not been accustomed, would betray an ignorance of 
 my guest, and a forgetfulness of what was due to myself. 
 After this, Apollonius asked concerning the kind of diet he 
 used ? To which the King said, I only drink as much wine 
 as what I use in my libations to the sun. The game I kill 
 in hunting is all eaten by my friends ; and the exercise I 
 get in the chase is found sufficient for myself. My chief 
 food consists of vegetables, and the pith and fruit of the 
 palm tree, together with the produce of a well-watered 
 garden ; besides I have many dishes from such trees as I 
 cultivate with my own hands. With these particulars 
 Apollonius was much pleased, and whilst he was listening 
 to them, he cast many a look on Dam is. 
 
 * I agree with Cicero in thinking the most unfair peace is to be pre- 
 ferred to the most just war, and with Apollonius in reverencing the 
 character of Phraotes for loving peace. 
 
 Bella velint, Martemquc fevum rationis egenles : 
 Candida Pax homines, trux decet ira feras. 
 
102 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 AFTER talking, and settling every thing relative to the 
 road leading to the Brachmans to their mutual satisfaction, 
 the King ordered the guide sent by the King of Babylon to 
 be taken care of in the way it was customary to treat all 
 who come from thence ; but the guide sent by the orders 
 of the Satrap was dismissed, after being supplied with all 
 necessaries for his journey. Then the King himself, taking 
 Apollonius by the hand, and commanding the interpreter 
 to withdraw, addressed him in the Greek tongue, and said, 
 Will you make me your guest ? Apollonius, surprised at 
 what he heard, asked why he did not at first speak to him 
 in that language ? Because, said the King, I was rather 
 apprehensive I might appear too presuming, either from 
 not knowing myself, or not recollecting, that it had pleased 
 fortune to make me a barbarian. But at present, over- 
 come by the love I have for you, and by the pleasure you 
 seem to take in my company, I can no longer conceal my- 
 self ; and how well I am acquainted with the Greek tongue 
 I hope to give you many proofs. Why, then, said Apollo- 
 nius, did not you rather invite me to be your guest, than 
 command me to make you mine ? Because, said the King, 
 I look on you as my superior in virtue, for of all gifts a 
 prince can possess, I deem wisdom the brightest.* When 
 he uttered these words, he conducted Apollonius and his 
 companions to the bath wherein he was used to bathe him- 
 self. The place was a garden, about a stadium in length, 
 in the midst whereof was dug a tank or cistern, which re- 
 ceived into it streams which were both cool and refreshing. 
 On both sides of this tank were places set apart for run*- 
 ning, and where the King sometimes exercised himself with 
 the disc and javelin, after the Greek fashion. He was a 
 man of about seven and twenty years of age, of a hale ro- 
 
 * Solus Sapiens Rex, is a paradox well known among the stoics. 
 
103 
 
 bust constitution, and much accustomed to bodily exercise. 
 When he had taken what diversion he thought necessary in 
 this way, he plunged into the bath, and there amused him- 
 self with swimming. After bathing, they went to the 
 royal feast, crowned with garlands, which was the custom 
 of die Indians whenever they were admitted to feast in the 
 King's palace. 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 HERE it is not improper, I think, to notice the fashion 
 which they use at their meals, as it is particularly described 
 by Damis. The King reclines on a bed of leaves, and near 
 him not more than five of his own family. The rest of 
 the company eat sitting. A table is raised in the midst 
 like an altar, about the height of a man's knee, of a circu- 
 lar form, large enough to hold thirty men round it as a 
 chorus. It is dressed out with laurels, and other leaves* 
 resembling myrtle, which yield an ointment most grateful 
 to the Indians. On this table are served up fish and fowl, 
 as well as whole lions, f goats, and swine, with haunches of 
 tygers,J which are the only joints of that animal eaten by 
 the natives, from an idea, that when it is first born, it raises 
 its fore feet to the rising sun. Each guest that is invited 
 rises from his seat, advances to the table, takes part of 
 what is set on it, and returns again to his place, eating 
 some bread with it. When all are satisfied, gold and silver 
 goblets are handed about, one of which is sufficient for 
 ten guests. Out of these they drink with their bodies bent 
 forward, after the way in which animals drink at a river. 
 
 Sir William Jones has an ingenious essay on the Spikenard of the 
 ancients, wherein he proves it to be the Valeriana Jatamansi of India, 
 whose leaves it is probable are alluded to by Philostratus in the text as 
 producing an agreeable odor. 
 
 t The flesh of the lion has a strong and disagreeable flavour; yet it 
 » frequently eat by the Indians and negroes. Buffon. 
 
 t The Indians eat the flesh of tygers, and find it neither unwhole- 
 some nor disagreeable. Buffon. 
 
104 
 
 Whilst thus employed, they have some feats of activity 
 performed before them, which are attended with much 
 risk, and require great skill and address. For instance, 
 a boy, like one of our stage dancers, leaped from a height 
 just as a javelin was thrown upwards from below, with 
 such accuracy of measurement, as to the extreme ascent, 
 that he seemed, by making a sobresault in the air, to sus- 
 pend himself, and thereby alone prevent his falling on the 
 weapon's point.* For the person who threw the javelin, 
 before he let it out of his hand, carried it about the com- 
 pany, shewing its point, and making every one feel the 
 sharpness of it. — Moreover, the shooting with a sling, and 
 hitting a very hair ; and a father's portraying even his own 
 son standing fixed against a board, with javelins, as it were 
 with line and compass, are quite common modes of amuse- 
 ment, and exercised by them whilst in their cups. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 DAMIS and his companions were amazed at what they 
 saw, and thought it well worth seeing : they admired great- 
 ly the skill and dexterity of the performance. But Apol- 
 lonius, who sat at the King's table, and eat of the same 
 meat with him, -paid little attention to it. He asked the 
 King how he acquired the Greek language and philosophy, 
 and said, he did not suppose they were indebted for it to 
 masters, nor was it likely there were any persons in India 
 of that description. At this the King smiling, said, our 
 ancestors used to question all travellers who arrived by 
 sea, whether they were pirates ?f So common was then 
 
 
 * From the want of precision in the original text, or else evident 
 corruption of it, the meaning of the above passage is rather gnessed 
 at, than comprehended. 
 
 t Relate, if business, or the thirst of gain 
 Engage your journey o'er the pathless main; 
 Where savage pirates seek, thro' seas unknown, 
 The lives of others, vent'rous of their own. Od. b. 3. 
 Such was the question proposed to Telemachus by Nestor. 
 
 Piracy 
 
105 
 
 the crime considered, notwithstanding its enormity. But 
 you seem to question all who come to you, whether they 
 are philosophers, as if you supposed the most divine of 
 human possessions was to be found amongst all men, with- 
 out any distinction. I know with you Greeks the profes- 
 sion of philosophy is considered as a species of piracy; 
 and I am informed that there is no man like yourself, at 
 the same time that there are many of you who, like com- 
 mon robbers, put on the habit of philosophy, and strut 
 about in loose flowing garments which belong to other 
 men. And as pirates, who know that the sword of justice 
 is suspended over them, spend their time in all manner of 
 excess, so do these self-appointed philosophers indulge in 
 love and wine, and dress themselves in the most effeminate 
 way. The cause of all this is your laws, which say, that if 
 any person adulterates the current coin, he is punished with 
 death ; or if he is guilty of substituting a spurious child, or 
 any other like offence, he receives a suitable punishment ; 
 but if the same man imposes on the world a false philoso- 
 phy, or adulterates it, no law exists for restraining him, 
 ncr is there any magistrate appointed for taking cognizance 
 of it. 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 WITH us there are but few who make philosophy their 
 study ; and they who do, are tried and examined in the fol- 
 
 Piracy, formerly not a reproach.— Some people of the continent, says 
 Thucydides, are even to this day a proof of this, who still attribute 
 honour to such exploits, if genteelly performed. So also are the ancient 
 poets, in whom those that sail along the coasts are every where equally 
 accosted with this question, Whether they are pirates? as if neither they 
 to whom the question was put would disown their employment, nor 
 they who are desirous to be informed would reproach them with it. 
 
 Eustathius says, piracy was formerly not only accounted lawful, but 
 honourable.— See Wood's Hormr. 
 
106 
 
 lowing manner : A young man, when he has reached his 
 eighteenth year (which, I suppose with you, is the age of 
 puberty) must go beyond the Hyphasis, and see those men 
 to whom you are going. When he comes into their pre- 
 sence, he must make a public declaration of studying phi- 
 losophy ; and they have it in their power, if they think pro- 
 per, to refuse admitting him to their society, if he does 
 not come pure. What is meant by his coming pure is, 
 tl that there be no blemish on either his father's or mother's 
 side, nor on that of any of his forefathers, even to the 
 third generation ; that none of his ancestors be found to 
 have been unjust, or incontinent, or usurers." And when 
 no stigma or mark of reproach is discovered, the youth's 
 character is then examined into, and enquiry made whether 
 he has a good memory;* whether his modesty is natural 
 or assumed; whether he is fond of wine and good living; 
 besides, whether he is given to vain boasting, to idle mer- 
 riment, to passion, or evil speaking ; and lastly, whether he 
 be obedient to his father, and mother, and teachers; and 
 above all, whether he makes a proper use of his beauty ? 
 What information concerns his parents and ancestors is col- 
 lected from living testimony, and registered tablets, which 
 are hung up for public inspection. Whenever an Indian 
 dies, the magistrate appointed by the laws goes to the 
 house of the deceased, and writes down an account of his 
 life and actions. If the magistrate so appointed is disco- 
 vered to have acted with duplicity, or suffered himself to 
 have been imposed on, he is punished, and for ever after 
 prohibited from holding any office in future, as one who 
 
 * Those Egyptians, says Herodotus, who live in the cultivated parts 
 of the country are, of all whom I have seen, the most ingenious, being 
 attentive to the improvement of memory beyond the rest of mankind. 
 This attention to memory is agreeable to the doctrine of the Pythago- 
 reans, and shews the connexion between the opinions of the Egyptians 
 and Indians. 
 
107 
 
 has falsified the life of a man. Such information as re- 
 lates to the candidates themselves individually, is acquired 
 by a minute investigation of their looks. We know that 
 much of the human disposition is learnt from the eyes, and 
 much from examining the eye-brows and cheeks ; all which 
 things being well considered,* wise men, and such as are 
 deep read in nature, see the temper and disposition of men 
 just as they see objects in a mirror. In this country phi- 
 losophy is esteemed of such high price, and so honoured 
 by the Indians, that it is very necessary to have all exa- 
 mined who approach her. In what manner the teachers 
 are to act, and the pupils be examined, I think has now 
 been sufficiently detailed. 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 I WILL now tell you what relates to myself. My grand- 
 father was a King, and of my own name, Phraotes. My 
 father was a private man, and being left young and an or- 
 phan, the care of his kingdom fell into the hands of two 
 of his near relations, who were appointed guardians by the 
 laws of the Indians. They ruled the kingdom (I swear it 
 by the sun) in a most despotic manner, which soon made 
 them detested by their subjects, and their administration 
 odious. A conspiracy was entered into by some of the 
 chief men of the kingdom, who attacked them at a public 
 festival, and murdered them, whilst in the act of sacri- 
 ficing to the Indus. After this they seized on the govern- 
 ment, and made themselves masters of the country. My 
 fodier's friends, who were anxious for his safety (he was 
 not then more than sixteen years of age) sent him to the 
 other side of the Hyphasis, and committed him to the 
 
 * With these men Lavater would have been in great vogue. 
 
108 
 
 care of the King there, whose dominions were greater than 
 mine, and abounded more in riches. This prince wished 
 to adopt him as his son ; but my father declined the ho- 
 nour, saying, he would not struggle with that fortune which 
 had deprived him of a kingdom. He therefore requested 
 the King's permission to study philosophy with his wise 
 men, from an idea that such a pursuit would enable him 
 the better to bear his domestic misfortunes. When this 
 same prince expressed his intention to restore him to his 
 paternal throne, my father said, if you discover in me a 
 real attachment to philosophy, restore me to what I have 
 lost ; if not, permit me to remain in my present privacy. 
 When the King heard this, he waited on the sages in per- 
 son, and said how much obliged he would be to them, if 
 they would attend particularly to the young man whom he 
 presented to them, and recommended to their care as a 
 youth of a most ingenuous disposition. As they disco- 
 vered something marked in his countenance, they took 
 great pleasure in making him acquainted with all their 
 knowledge, and were particularly desirous to communicate 
 what they knew to one who seemed so anxious to learn. 
 When seven years were expired the King fell sick, and as 
 soon as he perceived his latter end draw nigh, he sends for 
 my father, appoints him joint-heir with his own son in the 
 kingdom, and promises him his daughter in marriage. 
 However, as soon as my father found that the new King 
 loved to associate with flatterers, and was addicted to wine 
 and other vanities, and was besides of a suspicious, jealous 
 temper towards himself, he addressed him in these words : 
 " Keep your estates undivided, and possess your power 
 without a partner;" for it would be ridiculous to think 
 that he who was not able to keep a kingdom, which was 
 his own by right, should rashly meddle with that which 
 was another's. Give me, I pray you, your sister, and I 
 will ask no more of your possessions. After obtaining his 
 consent for the marriage, he retired into the neighbour- 
 
101) 
 
 hood of the wise men, and dwelt in one of the seven vil- 
 lages which the King settled on his daughter for her 
 dowry.* I am the fruit of this marriage. I learnt from 
 my father the Greek language, and was soon committed to 
 the care of the wise men ; sooner, perhaps, than what was 
 fitting for my time of life (being then only in my twelfth 
 year) and was brought up as their son. Such young men 
 as come previously instructed in the literature of Greece, 
 are esteemed in proportion as they are supposed to be 
 more capable of receiving instruction, on account of the 
 congeniality of their dispositions. 
 
 C H A P. XXXII. 
 
 AFTER the death of my parents, who died almost at the 
 same time, I was carried by the wise men to the villages 
 which were settled on my mother, and desired by them to 
 attend to my own affairs, though not more than nineteen 
 years of age. But alas ! these villages had all been taken 
 from me by my kind uncle, along with some adjoining 
 farms which had been purchased by my father. My good 
 uncle said they were all his property, and that I should 
 consider it as a particular favour that I was suffered to live 
 on a small pittance derived from my mother's freed men. 
 I supported myself as well as I could, being attended but 
 by four domestics. One day, whilst I was reading the 
 play of the Heraclidae,f a certain person came to me with 
 
 * In Persia it was the custom to bestow on their Queens particular 
 cities, to provide them with veils and other parts of their dress. 
 
 t Argument of the Heraclidae from Euripides.— Hercules being re- 
 ceived among the Gods, and his children still persecuted by Eurystheus, 
 tied for protection to Ceyx, King of Trachiniae; but the latter being 
 threatened with invasion by Eurystheus, was obliged to dismiss the 
 suppliants, who took refuge in the more southern province*. After 
 
 many 
 
no 
 
 a letter from one of my father's trusty friends, in which I 
 was commanded to pass the Hydraotes without delay, and 
 confer with him on the subject of the recovering my king- 
 dom, and that there was good reason to hope that I might 
 regain it, provided my own exertions were not wanting. 
 From an idea that one of the Gods had put that play into 
 my hands, I embraced the omen. As soon as I passed 
 the river, information was brought me that one of the 
 usurpers was dead, and the other besieged in his palace. 
 I pushed on with vigour, making proclamation through all 
 the towns I passed, that I was such a person's son, and 
 was going to take possession of my kingdom. The people 
 every where received me with open arms, and saluted me 
 King, from my likeness to my grandfather. They came 
 armed with short swords* and bows/j* and their numbers 
 daily increased. On my approaching the gates, the joy of 
 the people was so great, that they snatched up the torches 
 from the altar of the sun, and conducted me to the palace, 
 singing with loud voice the praises of my father and grand- 
 father. The usurper, who lay concealed like a drone, and 
 whom the people had shut up within the walls, I could 
 not save from perishing, though I used all my eloquence 
 for the purpose. 
 
 many calamities they at last sought an asylum at Athens, and sitting as 
 suppliants at the altar of mercy, besought the assistance of that gene- 
 rous race. The Athenians, deaf to the menaces of Eurystheus, levied 
 an army to withstand the invader : his four sons fell in the battle, and 
 Eurystheus himself was slain in the pursuit by Hyllus, the son of Her- 
 cules and Dejanira, who carried his head to Alcraena. — Dryden wrote 
 a play called the Maiden Queen, the plot of which he seems to have 
 borrowed from the story of this Indian King's recovery of his throne. 
 
 * Their foot soldiers carry swords of a vast breadth, though scarce 
 exceeding three cubits in length. — Arrian's Indian History. 
 
 t They usually carry a bow of the same length with the bearer, 
 which they lay on the ground, and place their left foot thereon to bend 
 it, by which means they draw the string far back.—Sww. 
 
 
Ill 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 WHEN Apollonius heard this, he said, you have, O King ! 
 exactly fulfilled the return of the Heraclida?, and the Gods 
 are to be praised for the assistance afforded to a virtuous 
 man returning to his country. But as we are on the sub- 
 ject of the wise men of India, tell me whether they are the 
 men whom Alexander formerly invited to a conference, 
 and with whom he discoursed philosophically on the nature 
 of the heavens. No, said the King, the people of whom 
 you speak were the Oxydracae,* a nation free and indepen- 
 dent, and always prepared for war, who, it is said, have 
 invaded the province of philosophy, without ever having 
 made any useful discovery in it, or done any thing worthy 
 of credit. But the men who are really entitled to the cha- 
 racter of being wise, dwell in the country situate between 
 the Hyphasis and Ganges, which was never penetrated by 
 Alexander, not from any fears of the consequence, but 
 from the omens being, as I suppose, unpropitious. For 
 had he passed the Hyphasis, and subdued the country, he 
 never could have made himself master of the castle, the 
 seat of these sages, even had he brought with him ten 
 thousand Achilleses and thirty thousand Ajaxes. It is not 
 the custom of these men to make war on an enemy ; but 
 should an enemy make war on them, they drive him off by 
 the means of tempests and thunders, whilst they remain 
 safe under the immediate protection of the Gods. We are 
 informed, that the Egyptian Hercules and Bacchus, who 
 overrun India with their armies, made a joint attack on 
 them, and by the aid of various military engines, attempted 
 
 * The Oxydracae seem to have been situated at the confluence of the 
 Hydraotes aud the Acesines, that is, the Rauvee and Jenaub. Col. 
 Rerniel supposes that the present city of Outch or Arena, might have 
 been the capital of that martial race. 
 
113 
 
 to surprise the place. During this time the sages seemed 
 to do nothing in their own defence, remaining, as it was 
 thought, unconcerned ; but the moment the assailants ad- 
 vanced to storm their castle, they were repulsed by fiery 
 whirlwinds* and thunders, which being hurled from above, 
 fell dreadful on their armies. Then it was that Hercules 
 threw away his golden shield, which these wise men found 
 and laid up among their sacred treasures, from a respect to 
 his character, and its singular sculpture. In it Hercules 
 was represented as settling the boundaries of the earth at 
 Gades, and forming two pillars of the corresponding moun- 
 tains to shut out the ocean. From ail which it appeared, 
 that it was not the Theban, but the Egyptian Hercules 
 who went to Gades, and fixed the limits of the earth. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 WHILST they were talking in this manner, the sound of 
 music was heard, accompanied with the flute. Apollonius 
 asked the meaning of such mirth. The Indians, replied 
 the King, are celebrating the praises of their sovereign, in 
 order that he may have favourable dreams, and rise in 
 health, with the interest of his subjects near his heart. In 
 what light said Apollonius, do you consider this ceremony? 
 Not in a ludicrous one, said the King ; for it is admitted 
 on account of the law, and of no other kind of admoni- 
 tion do I stand in need. Whenever a King acts with pru- 
 dence and moderation, he acts in a manner more grateful 
 to himself than to his people. With these words they both 
 went to rest. 
 
 * This is one proof among many others that the Indians from time 
 immemorial had the use of gunpowder. The missile weapons darted 
 by these sages, in noise and effect resembling lightning and thunder, 
 must be Xhejire rockets described in the sketches of the Hindoos. 
 
 Maurice. 
 
113 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 AS soon as day appeared, the King in person visited the 
 chamber where Apollonius and his friends slept, and gently 
 approaching the bed of the former, asked what was the 
 subject of his meditations ? for I suppose, you who drink 
 water and despise wine, do not sleep. What, said Apollo- 
 nius, is it your opinion that water-drinkers do not sleep ! 
 I think, said the King, they do sleep, but that what they 
 take affects the eyes more than the mind; for if the mind 
 be not composed and tranquil, the eyes cannot take rest, 
 as is visible in the case of mad men, who cannot close 
 their eyes on account of the perturbid state of their minds j 
 for as their thoughts run quick from one object to another, 
 their eyes at last acquire a wild and disordered look, like 
 that of sleepless dragons. In order then to ascertain, said 
 Apollonius, the nature of sleep, and what it indicates to 
 mortals, let us inquire in what respect the sleep of him 
 who drinks water is inferior to that of him who drinks 
 wine. Do not, said the King, change the state of the ques- 
 tion after the manner of the sophists. 1 will grant you 
 that intoxication does not promote sleep; for the mind of 
 a man in that condition, like that of a Bacchanalian, will 
 be disordered and filled with a thousand confused ideas. 
 For all who try to sleep after a debauch, think themselves 
 at one time whirled to the top of the house, and at another 
 to the bottom, seeming all the while to suffer a giddiness 
 something like what Ixiou endures on the wheel. There- 
 fore my question does not concern the drunken man, but 
 him who drinks wine with temperance. We are to in- 
 quire, then, whether such a man sleeps better thau he who 
 entirely abstains from it. 
 
114 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 THEN Apollonius turning to Damis, said, you see what 
 a strenuous adversary we have to deal with, one well exer- 
 cised in the dialectic art. I do, replied Damis, and this 
 is what perhaps may be proverbially called "falling into 
 the hands of Hercules ;"* and, in truth, the argument he 
 has used comes home to us, and therefore I think it time 
 you should shake off sleep and answer it. Hereupon 
 Apollonius raised his head, and proceeded as follows : 
 Without losing sight, O King ! of what you have said, I 
 hope to shew that the sleep of us who drink water is much 
 sweeterf than that of those who drink wine. I think you 
 
 * Entre les mains de l'homme aux fesses noirs, dit le texte (ey to 
 MtxapTrvyii). On sait 1'histoire des'deux freres que leur mere avoit 
 avertis de se garder de l'homme aux fesses noirs. Hercule les prit, les 
 attacha par les pieds, & les mit derriere son dos suspendus a sa massue. 
 Alors ils comprirent le sens de l'avis de leur mere. 
 
 As this story reads better in French than it would do in English, I 
 have transcribed it from the last French translation of our author. 
 t Nothing like simple element dilutes 
 The food, or gives the chyle so soon to flow : 
 But where the stomach, indolent and cold, 
 Toys with its duty, animate with wine 
 Th' insipid stream, tho' golden Ceres yields 
 A more voluptuous, a more sprightly draught, 
 Perhaps more active. Wine unmix'd, and all 
 The gluy floods that from the vex'd abyss 
 Of fermentation spring; with spirit fraught, 
 And furious with intoxicating fire, 
 Retard concoction, and preserve uuthaw'd 
 Th' embodied mass. You see what countless years, 
 Embalmed in fiery quintessence of wine, 
 The puny wonders of the reptile world, 
 The tender rudiments of life, the slim 
 Unrav'lings of minute anatomy ; 
 Maintain their texture, and unchang'd remain. 
 
 Armstrong on Health, b. it. 
 
115 
 
 have already fully confessed that the minds of drunkeu men 
 are disturbed and affected almost to madness, which is ap- 
 parent from such men thinking they see two moons and 
 two suns, whilst others, who have not drank like them, and 
 who are in comparison of them sober, never entertain such 
 notions, and yet are full of joy and pleasure, without being 
 able to shew one existing cause for being so. Men in this 
 state of mitigated intoxication plead causes, though never 
 known before to have spoken at the bar, and say they are 
 rich, without having a drachma in their possession. These, 
 O King ! are the affections of insane people ; but joy it- 
 self produces similar effects. I have seen many whom 
 the bare prospect of good fortune would not suffer to rest 
 on account of the frequent startings to which they were 
 subject in their v sleep; and this comes in confirmation of 
 the proverb which says, that the "good things of this life 
 are not without their concomitant anxieties" There are 
 also certain medical preparations which men have disco- 
 vered for producing sleep, of which, if they drink, or with 
 which if they anoint themselves, they sleep stretched out as 
 if they were dead. But it is well known, that when they 
 awake after such a state of oblivion, they suppose them- 
 selves to be in any other place than where they really are. 
 That these potions which are drank, or rather infused on 
 both soul and body, do not produce true and natural sleep, 
 but either what is profound and like that of people half 
 dead, or else what is light and interrupted by every floating 
 vision, no matter how agreeable, you will, I think, allow, 
 unless you love contention rather than fair argumentation. 
 However, they who drink water, as I do, see things as 
 they really are, and never imagine what is not ; they are 
 not giddy, nor sleepy, nor stupid, and are not more cheer- 
 ful than what is decent and becoming, but are always com- 
 posed and rational, and that at all times equally so, as well 
 in the evening as in the morning, at the hour of full forum . 
 Such persons are never overcome with sleep, though they 
 
 i 2 
 
116 N 
 
 * sit up most part of the night at their studies : for sleep, 
 like an imperious master, only falls heavy on the neck that 
 is already bowed down with wine, but they who drink 
 water are always free and erect; and when they go to 
 bed, sleep sound, neither elated by prosperity nor depress- 
 ed by adversity. The man who is sober, bears both situ- 
 ations with equal moderation, unaffected by either the one 
 or the other. Hence, it comes to pass that his sleep is 
 sound, and most pleasant, without any interruption . . . 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 MOREOVER, divination, by dreams, which amongst 
 mortals passes for a discovery of divine origin, is more easily 
 comprehended by a mind not overcome by wine, because 
 in such a state it receives the impression unaltered, and is 
 more capable of weighing it with attention. Hence the 
 interpreters of dreams called oneiropolists by the poets, 
 give no opinion of any vision till the exact time of its ap- 
 pearance is ascertained to them. If the vision be in the 
 morning, at the time the mind is supposed to be disengaged 
 from the effects of wine, and is capable of forming a 
 right judgment of futurity, the oneiropolists will then in- 
 terpret. But if it be during the first sleep, or at mid- 
 night, when the soul is oppressed with wine, they will not 
 interpret, and herein they are wise. I will now shew in a 
 few words that such are the sentiments of the Gods, and 
 that the faculty of foretelling future events is communicated 
 only to the temperate and sober. Amongst the Greeks, 
 O King! we had formerly a prophet of the name of 
 Amphiaraus. I know it, said the King, you speak of 
 the son of Oicleus who was swallowed up alive by the 
 opening of the earth as he was returning from Thebes. 
 Hie very same, replied Apollonius, he still continues to 
 
117 
 
 prophesy in Attica,* and gives dreams to all who consult 
 liim : but the priest takes care that all who do, should ab- 
 stain from eating for one day, and from drinking wine for 
 three, that they may the better be able to receive the 
 responses with perspicuity. Had wine been held a pre- 
 scription proper for producing sleep, the wise Amphiaraus 
 would have adopted a different regimen with those who 
 came to consult his oracle, and would, I think, have ra- 
 ther advised them to approach his shrine like casks filled 
 with wine. I might enumerate many other oracles both 
 among Greeks and barbarians, wherein the priest gives his 
 answers from a tripod after drinking water, and not wine : 
 and therefore, O King ! you may consider me and all wa- 
 ter-drinkers, as fit vehicles for the reception of the God, 
 inasmuch as we are under the immediate influence of the 
 water-nymphs, and are perfect Bacchantes in sobriety. 
 Will you then, Apollonius, said the King, make me a 
 member of your society ? I should do it with pleasure 
 said he, if I was not apprehensive it might be the means, 
 of making you less respected by your subjects. For a 
 moderate and liberal philosophy in a prince is attended hj,, 
 the very best consequences, as is apparent from your exam- 
 ple : but if it is narrow, and too rigid in its exactions, it 
 may seem somewhat irksome, and ill- adapted to a royal 
 situation, and may be construed by the envious into a 
 false pride and ostentation. Whilst discoursing in this man- 
 ner, day advanced, and they departed from the cham- 
 ber. 
 
 CHAP XXXVIII. 
 
 WHEN Apollonius found that the King was going to 
 give audience to embassadors, and answers to some peti- 
 
 • At Oropus— a town of Beotia on the borders of Attica, where 
 Amphiaraus had a temple. 
 
118 
 
 tions, he said to him, perform, O King! such duties as 
 are becoming your station, and leave me to offer up my 
 accustomed prayers to the sun. May he hear them, said 
 the King, and be propitious to you, for I think he will 
 take pleasure in obliging all who love wisdom. Mean- 
 while I will wait your return, having some causes to decide 
 in which your presence will be of great use. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 SOON after, when day was somewhat advanced, Apollo- 
 nius returned and said, what causes have you tried, O 
 King ? I have not tried any, said he, as the Auspices* 
 were not favourable. What, said Apollonius, have you 
 recourse to the auspices, when you administer justice as 
 you do, when you undertake a journey or a military expe- 
 dition? Certainly, said the King, for in such cases the 
 danger is, lest he who judges, should judge not according to 
 justice. To this Apollonius bowed assent, and asked 
 what was the particular cause he had to try, for it seemed 
 to him as if he was at a loss how to make a decision. I 
 own I am, said the King, and therefore wish to make you 
 my assistant counsel. I will tell you the case. One man 
 sold another a piece of ground in which was concealed a 
 treasure, of which all parties were ignorant. Some time 
 after the ground opening discovered a pot of gold, which 
 he who sold the field, said, was his property : as he affirmed 
 he never would have sold it had he been apprised that it 
 contained what was so necessary in life. The buyer on 
 the other hand said, he bought all the field contained. In 
 my opinion, said the King, the plea of both is reasonable; 
 
 * A similar mode of speaking occurs in Tacitus in the second book 
 of his Annals. — " Pleased with this prognostic, which the auspices con- 
 firmed, Germanicus called an assembly of the soldiers," &c. 
 
 Murphy. 
 
U9 
 
 and yet, were I to advise them to divide the money, I should 
 not be considered as a very subtile lawyer, inasmuch as 
 such a decision might be made by any old woman. Here- 
 upon Apollonius interposing, said, I perceive plainly that 
 these two men are no philosophers, by the manner they 
 wrangle about the gold. But you, O King ! will judge 
 the matter most equitably by taking into consideration, 
 first, that the Gods have especial care of those men who 
 excel in philosophy ; and next, that their care extends to 
 all who are free from vice, and least disposed to evil. To 
 philosophers they give the power of discerning between 
 divine and human things ; and to other men of good cha- 
 racters, such a competency of the necessaries of life as 
 may keep them from doing any thing unjust to acquire 
 them. I think then, O King ! that the behaviour of both 
 should be weighed as in a balance, and the life and action 
 of each well examined; for my opinion is, the Gods 
 would never have taken the land from the one, had he not 
 been a bad man, nor given it to the other had he not been 
 a good one. The next day both came to plead their cause, 
 and it appeared that the seller was a man who despised the 
 sacrifices due to the terrestrial Gods, and the other, one 
 who did not, but was a devout worshipper of them. The 
 opinion given by Apollonius determined the case, and the 
 good man departed under conviction that he was favoured 
 by Heaven.* 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 AFTER this cause was determined, Apollonius approach- 
 ed the King, and said, I have been now three days your 
 
 * A friend of mine is of opinion that the story in this chapter gave 
 something like the rude outline of Pamela Hermit. It is well known, 
 the story is found in Arabian authors, but it is no less notorious that 
 they borrowed much from the Greeks. 
 
120 ' 
 
 guest, and on the morrow I mean to take my departure in 
 compliance with your law. To this the King replied, 
 The law does not yet speak to you such a language ; you 
 have my free permission to stay to-morrow, and my reason 
 for it is, that your coming was not till after mid-day. I 
 am delighted, said Apollonius, with the way in which I 
 have been entertained, and particularly with the ingenious 
 manner in which you have eluded the law for my sake. 
 If on any account, said the King, a law can be dispensed 
 with, it should be so on your's. But tell me, Apollonius, 
 did the camels on which you rode here, carry you from 
 Babylon ? They did, said Apollonius, and we were sup- 
 plied with them by Bardanes. And do you think, said 
 the King, they will be able to convey you to your journey's 
 end, after having come so many stadia from Babylon ? 
 When Apollonius heard this he was silent. Here Damis 
 interposing, said, I fear, O King ! that Apollonius is not 
 acquainted with the nature of the journey, nor with the na- 
 tions amongst whom he is to travel. He has hopes of 
 always meeting with such men as you and Bardanes, and 
 this is what makes him consider the going to the Indians 
 as a matter of mere amusement; and is the true reason of 
 his not owning to you the sad condition of his camels, 
 which is such, that instead of their carrying us, we shall, 
 I fear, be obliged to carry them ; and therefore I just 
 hint the necessity of our getting others. Besides, I must 
 say, that if they should fail us in the desarts of India, we 
 should be obliged to remain there to defend them from the 
 vultures and wolves ; and as we should have none to protect 
 ourselves, must consequently perish. This, I think, can 
 be easily remedied, said the King, by giving you others, 
 and my opinion is, you ought not to have less than four. I 
 will give orders to the satrap, who is set over the country 
 along the Indus, to send back those you have to Babylon. 
 I have a troop of camels, said the King, that are all milk- 
 white. Will you not give us a guide, O King ! said Da- 
 
1<21 
 
 I will, said the King, and a camel for him to ride 
 on ; and all tilings necessary for the journey : and added 
 to all, I will write a letter to Iarchas, the eldest of the 
 men, and request him to receive Apollonius as a man 
 not inferior to himself ; and you as philosophers and his 
 disciples. After this, he ordered them gold and precious 
 stones, and linen garments, &c. of which Apollonius re- 
 fused the gold, saying, they had enough of it, as his guide, 
 unknown to him, had been supplied by Bardanes. He 
 said, however, he would accept of the linen garments as 
 they had been worn by the oldest inhabitants of Attica.* 
 Then taking up one of the precious stones in his hand, he 
 said, " O rare stone : how fortunate have I been in rinding 
 you, not without the favour of the Gods, seeing as I sup- 
 pose some secret virtue in it. But Damis and his com- 
 panions, though they declined taking the gold, yet took 
 plentifully of the precious stones, saying, they would dedi- 
 cate them to the Gods whenever they returned to their 
 own country. 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 
 
 ALL that day and the following one they staid with the 
 King, and just as they were going away, he gave them a 
 letter to Iarchas to this effect : 
 
 " King Phraotes to Iarchas his master, and to the 
 wise men with him, health." 
 
 " Apollonius, a man famed for wisdom, thinks you have 
 
 * And it is not a long time since those amongst the rich Athenians 
 who were advanced in years and studied their ease, left off teeming 
 their linen garments, and fastening the hair of their head behind with 
 grasshoppers of gold, &c. Tuucydides. Smith. 
 
122 
 
 more knowledge than himself, and goes to be instructed in 
 it. Send him away learned in all you know, and believe 
 that nothing you teach him will be lost. His power of 
 speaking is above that of mortals, and his memory good. 
 Let him see the throne on which I sat, when your father 
 Iarchas gave me my kingdom. Moreover, his followers 
 are deserving of praise on account of their respect for the 
 man. — 
 
 " Farewel and be happy." 
 
 CHAP. XLII. 
 
 THEN departing from Taxila, and going two days jour- 
 ney, they came to a plain,* where the battle was fought 
 between Alexander and Porus. Here our travellers tell 
 us they saw two gates, which were built, not for the pur- 
 poses of inclosure, but for the exhibition of trophies, 
 there being erected on them a representation of Alexander 
 in a chariot drawn by four horses, such as he appeared 
 at Tssus, after the defeat of the satraps of Darius. They 
 further add, that there were two other gates not far distant 
 from each other, on which stood a statue of Porus, and 
 on the other, one of Alexander, erected, as is supposed, in 
 consequence of their reconciliation after the battle, the one 
 is in the attitude of triumphant salutation, and the other 
 in that of humble submission. 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. 
 
 AFTERWARDS having passed the Hydraotes, and 
 traversed many nations, they came to the Hyphasis.f 
 
 * On the spot where Alexander defeated Porus, he built a city in 
 memory of the victory, called Nicaea — which was situated, according 
 to Ptolemy, on the eastern shore of the Hydaspes. 
 
 t Dr. Robertson, in his historical disquisition concerning ancient 
 
 India, 
 
123 
 
 About thirty stadia before they came to this river, they 
 found some altars, on which were the following inscrip- 
 tions : — 
 
 To Father Ammon — and to Brother Hercules — To the 
 provident Minerva, and Olympian Jupiter. 
 
 To the Samothracian Cabiri* — To Indian Sol and bro- 
 ther Apollo. They say also, there was a brazen pillar 
 erected, on which was this inscription written : " Here 
 Alexander stopped." The altars were supposed to have 
 
 India, says, Alexander never approached nearer than the southern 
 bank of the Hyphasis, where he erected twelve stupendous altars, 
 which he intended as a monument of his exploits, and which (if we may 
 believe the biographer of Apollonius) were still remaining with legible 
 inscriptions, when that fantastic sophist, adds the Doctor, visited In- 
 dia, 373 yeai'3 after Alexander's expedition. Diodorus Siculus is the 
 author who mentions Alexander's erecting twelve altars to the twelve 
 Gods, every one 50 cubits high. 
 
 * One day, says Dr. Warton, Mr. Wise read to us (meaning Dr. John* 
 son and himself) a dissertation he was preparing for the press, entitled 
 a History and Chronology of the fabulous ages. Some old deities of 
 Thrace, related to the Titans, called the Cabiri, made a very important 
 part of the theory of the piece, — and in conversation afterwards, Mr. 
 Wise talked much of the Cabiri. — In returning home, adds Dr. War- 
 ton, I walked too fast for Johnson, when he cried out, why, you walk 
 as if you were pursued by all the Cabiri in a body. — BoswelVs life of 
 Johnson. — But this conversation throws little light on the Cabiri, and 
 Wise's book I have never seen. No part of heathen mythology is in- 
 volved in a greater degree of obscurity than the mysteries of the Ca- 
 bin. — Their rites were carefully concealed from the vulgar. They 
 were seven in number, and supposed to be the family of Noah, accord- 
 ing to Faber; but according to Vallancey, they were three deities— 
 the first, Deimal the God of winds and storms — hence, perhaps the 
 Phadimi; the second, Dioscar the God of voyages — hence, perhaps the 
 Discorida— and the third, Taulon, or the Sun.— Their worship, Vallan- 
 cey supposes, originated at Dioscurias a town on the Pontus— Di, he 
 •ays, signifies a God, and Oscar a traveller. 
 
 Faber says the Cabiri were styled Dioscuri, Corybantes, and Samo- 
 thraces. 
 
124 
 
 been built by Alexander, as monuments intended to com- 
 memorate and honour the boundaries of his empire. But 
 the pillar is supposed to have been erected by the Indians, 
 on the other side of the Hyphasis, for the purpose of ex- 
 pressing their joy that Alexander was not able to march 
 farther. 
 
BOOK III.— Contents. 
 
 An account of the river Hyphasis — Passes it — Arrival 
 of Apollonius at the hill of the Sages— Various sub- 
 jects of Conversation discussed whilst there — Stays 
 with them four months — Instructed in all their learn- 
 ing — Sails down the Hyphasis, fyc. — Arrives at the 
 ocean — Voyage from Patala in the mouth of the 
 Indus to the Persian Gulf— Pearl fishery described 
 — Sails to Babylon — Goes to Antioch — to Seleucia, 
 and from thence sails to Cyprus. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 IT is now time to notice the Hyphasis* as it runs through 
 an extensive tract of country, and the things related of it 
 are wonderful. This river rises in a plain, and becomes 
 navigable, not far from its source, but soon ceases being 
 so, on account of sharp and rugged rocks appearing and 
 disappearing in it alternately, which break and agitate the 
 current so as to render sailing on it impracticable.*]- This 
 river is as large as the Danube, allowed to be one of the 
 most considerable streams of Europe. The same species 
 of trees grow on the banks of each, from which distils a 
 liquor used by the Indians in making a nuptial oil, with 
 which, if a new married couple are not anointed all over 
 by the persons appointed for the purpose, the union is 
 thought incomplete, and made invita venere. There is a 
 grove near the Hyphasis dedicated to Venus, and a fish 
 
 * Hyphasis, oue of the rivers intersecting the province now known 
 by the name of the Paitjab, or the five rivers. 
 
 t Alexander then moved forward to the river Hyphasis, which is 
 seven furlongs over, and six fathoms deep, of a very fierce stream, 
 and difficult to pass. Diodorus Sicilus. 
 
126 
 
 called the peacock only to be found in it. This fish has 
 the same name of the bird, from its fins being blue, its 
 scales spotted, and its tail of a yellow colour like gold, 
 which it can raise and spread at pleasure. Besides, there 
 is an insect* belonging to the same river, which looks like 
 a white worm, and when melted, produces an oil, from 
 whence issues a flame of such a nature, as only to be con- 
 tained in a glass vial. This insect is the King's sole pro- 
 perty, and is used by him in destroying the walls of be- 
 sieged towns ; for the moment it touches the battlements, 
 it is said to kindle such a flame as cannot be put out by 
 any of the common means used for extinguishing fire. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 WILD asses,f it is said, are taken in the marshy grounds. 
 These animals have a horn growing out of their forehead, 
 with which they fight with no less fury than bulls. The 
 Indians make a cup from this horn which possesses these 
 peculiar virtues, that the man who drinks out of it is not 
 sick for that day ; nor sensible of pain if wounded ; nor 
 
 * All that Philostratus says here of the qualities of this extraordi- 
 nary insect agrees with the account given of it by /Elian and Ctesias, as 
 quoted by Aldrovandus in his history of insects, differing only as to the 
 river which produces it, they attributing to the Ganges what Philos- 
 tratus attributes to the Hyphasis. Credat qui vult. 
 
 Tyson calls it from Ctesias tlte horrible Indian worm. 
 
 i The account of these wild asses corresponds with what may be 
 found in iElian and Ctesias — two authors little to be relied on, as is 
 evident from the perusal of the history of the one, and such fragments 
 as remain of the other. Buffon gives no description of a wild ass, or 
 onager, like what is in the text. — I believe our author must mean the 
 Rhinoceros, which Buffon says, loves moist and marshy grounds, has 
 one horn (though some have two) with which he attacks, and some- 
 times, it is said, mortally wounds the largest elephant. His horn is 
 reckoned a poweiful antidote against all kinds of poison. On this sup- 
 posed virtue is founded the story in the text. 
 
127 
 
 affected by fire, were he to pass through it, nor injured by 
 the most noxious poisons. This cup belongs solely to the 
 King, and hunting the animal is his sole diversion. Apol- 
 lonius says he saw one of these wild asses, and was greatly 
 pleased with it on account of its disposition. When Da- 
 mis asked him, whether he believed the story of the cup r 
 he said, not, till I hear the King of the country is immor- 
 tal. For my opinion is, that *he who is able to supply 
 himself and any one he pleases with draughts so salubrious, 
 and fit for removing disease, would act but inconsistently, 
 if he did not use it every day, and that even to excess : 
 and who I say would blame him if he drank it even to 
 intoxication ? 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 HERE Damis says,* they met with a woman of diminu- 
 tive stature, who was black from her head to her bosom, 
 and white to her feet, whom they fled from, as if she 
 had been a monster, but he adds, that Apollonius gave 
 her his hand, knowing what she was. Such a woman is 
 sacred to the Indian Venus, and is born party-coloured for 
 the goddess, as Apisf is amongst the Egyptians. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 AFTERWARDS they passed that part of Caucasus 
 which is covered with various kinds of aromatic plants, 
 
 * It is in this and other stories of a similiar complexion, that Bishop 
 Parker says, our author outdoes Sir John Mandeville. 
 
 t A God of the Egyptians, worshipped under the form of an ox. 
 The ox was always chosen by some particular and distinguishing 
 marks. 
 
123 
 
 and stretches towards the Red Sea. Here the cinnamon 
 grows on the tops of the mountains, and looks like new 
 vine shoots. The place where it grows is shewn by a 
 goat, an inhabitant of the mountain. This appears when 
 any one offers it a little cinnamon, for it will whine and 
 lick his hand like a dog, and run after him as he goes 
 away, attracted evidently by the smell. And if the 
 goat-herd drives it away, ft will make a plaintive moan, 
 as if deprived of some favourite lotos. Among the deep 
 hollows of the mountain they found frankincense-bearing 
 trees of considerable heigh th, and several others of the 
 aromatic kind ; besides the pepper-bearing tree, which is 
 under the husbandry of the ape.* The appearance of 
 this tree has not been omitted, which I shall give as de- 
 livered to me. The pepper-bearing tree is like what the 
 Greeks call agnos in almost every thing as well as in the 
 berries containing the fruit. It grows on steep and rugged 
 precipices, where man cannot approach, and is only ac- 
 cessible to the apes, a people who dwell in the caves and 
 hollows of the mountains .f These apes gather the pep- 
 per for the Indians, and are highly valued on that account. 
 For this reason they employ dogs and offensive weapons 
 to defend them from the lions. The lion, it is known, 
 when sick, lies in ambush for the ape, whose flesh he finds 
 
 * The wtSijxoj of the Greeks, and the simia of the Latins, is a true 
 ape, and was the subject upon which Aristotle, Pliny, and Galen, 
 instituted all the physical relations they discovered between that ani- 
 mal and man. — This ape is the pigmy of the ancients, whose heighth 
 never rises above one fourth of that of a man. Demosthenes calls 
 /Eschilies " avrorpaytnot mQnxog, apoupeticg Oivofxao;, Trafaa-ny-o; Fnrocf. 
 
 t The servile offices performed by these creatures, might formerly, 
 as it does to this day, impose upon mankind to believe, that they were 
 of the same species with themselves — Philostratus calls them here the 
 people of the apes, and the husbandmen of the pepper trees. It has 
 been suggested, that the reason o£ their not speaking is, for fear of 
 being made slaves. 
 
129 
 
 a restorative in illness, of which he is even fond in his old age. 
 And when he is old and unable to hunt the stag, or the 
 boar, he uses the strength which is left to get the ape 
 within his claws, whom he devours most greedily. But 
 the Indians, from a grateful sense of what they owe these 
 apes, never desert them, and often fight the lion for their 
 sake. The manner in which the pepper is gathered is this, 
 the Indians go to such trees as are within their reach, and 
 from them they pull off the pepper, which they toss about 
 as if a thing despised and of no value ; and then throw it into 
 certain pits prepared beforehand. The apes* seeing all this 
 from their lofty and inaccessible stations, imitate it as soon 
 as night comes on, and pluck off the little boughs which they 
 throw into these pits. As soon as it is day light the 
 Indians come, and carry away heaps of spice got without 
 any trouble, and whilst they were asleep. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OUR travellers say, when they arrived at the top of the 
 mountain, they saw a plain stretching before them divided 
 by many water-cuts, of which some were in oblique, and 
 others in right lines, all derived from the Ganges. These 
 water-cutsf served partly for land-marks, and partly for 
 irrigation in case of a dry season. Of all India this plain 
 was the most extensive, and its soil the most fruitful of 
 the whole country ; it extends fifteen days' journey in 
 length towards the Ganges, and eighteen in breadth from 
 the sea to the mountain of the apes. The earth of it is 
 black, and abounds in all kinds of productions. Here 
 
 • Apes imitate the mechanical action* of man so completely, that 
 they seem to be excited by the same sensations. 
 
 t In Egypt numberless canals are cut iu order to convey the waters 
 of the Nile to all parts of the country. 
 
 K 
 
ISO 
 
 they saw ears of corn growing on stalks which stood up- 
 right like reeds. Beans three times larger than those of 
 Egypt : sessamum and millet of an enormous size, and a 
 kind of nuts, of which some are preserved in our temples 
 as matters of curiosity and shew. Besides the above, 
 they saw a species of small vines resembling those grow- 
 ing in Meonia and Lydia, # which yielded a wine that was 
 excellent both for its taste and smell. Here they met with 
 a tree like a laurel which had a husk of the size of a 
 pomegranate, wherein was an apple of an hyacinthine co- 
 lour, considered the sweetest of all growing in these cli- 
 mates. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 WHEN they were coming down from the mountain they 
 say they assisted at a dragon-hunt,*|- of which it is neces- 
 sary to make mention. For my part I think it would be 
 absurd to enter into a dissertation with the curious on the 
 subject of how a hare is, and may be taken, and at the 
 same time pass over the account of a chase at once manly 
 and divine, and one in which the hero of our history par- 
 ticipated. All India is girt J in with dragons of a prodi- 
 gious bulk as it were with zones. Not only the marshes 
 
 * Meonia and Lydia are not distinct countries, but the same. Part 
 of Lydia was known by the name of Meonia, — the neighbourhood of 
 mount Tmolus, and the country watered by the Pactolus. 
 
 t In the following account given by Philostratus of the different 
 species of dragons, fiction and truth are so blended that it is difficult 
 to separate the one from the other. 
 
 t The word x*T£7a>ja< — in the text, is used with elegance here by 
 Philostratus, says Olearius, to shew that these dragons by the im- 
 mense folds of their huge bodies seemed to represent zones. 
 
 Mr. Maurice, in his Indian Antiquities, mentions temples in the form 
 of serpents, whose enormous folds extended over a wide tract of land, 
 and thence called Dracontia. 
 
 I 
 
131 
 
 and the fens, but the mountains and hills abounded with 
 them. The dragons living in the marshes are sluggish in 
 their natures, and thirty cubits long ; # they have no crest* 
 on their heads, and look like she-dragons. Their backs 
 are black, without having as many scales as the others, and 
 of them Homer has spoken more learnedlyf than the 
 other poets, for the one he mentions near the fountain at 
 Aulis was red-backed. Some poets say, that the dragon 
 of the Nemean grove was like it, and was moreover crest- 
 ed. Dragons of this description are not easily to b^ 
 found in marshes. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 THE dragonsj living at the foot of mountains and hills, 
 rush down to the plains in search of prey, and surpass in 
 every thing those living in the marshes. They are larger, 
 swifter§ than the most rapid rivers, and nothing is able to 
 escape their pursuit. They have a crest which is small 
 when they are young, but increases with their growth till 
 it becomes of considerable size. Of this species of dra- 
 
 * Owen, in his history of serpents says, those of India exceed most 
 in largeness and longitude. In the tower of London is the skin of one 
 which is of vast bulk. 
 
 •And from the crnmbling ground 
 
 A mighty dragon shot, of dire portent ; 
 From Jove himself the dreadful sign was sent 
 Strait to the tree his sanguine spires he roll'd, 
 And curl'd around in many a winding fold. 
 
 Homer, Pope, b. ii. . 
 
 X The dragon described in this chapter seems to be that called by 
 Owen, Acontia. 
 
 § Hence probably the fable of their having wings, which are con- 
 stantly given them by the poets. It is called by the Latins serpau 
 jaeukaris.— By the modern Greeks sacta, a dart— for it flies like as 
 arrow at its prey. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 gons, # some arc of a fiery-red, with backs like a saw, and 
 have beards — these dragons raise their necks higher than 
 the others, and their scales shine like silver. The pupils 
 of their eyes are like stones of fire,f and possess a virtue 
 which is all powerful in the discovery of secrets. When- 
 ever the dragonsj of the plain attack the elephant, they 
 always become the prey of the hunter, for the destruction 
 of both generally terminates the contest. He who is 
 lucky enough to get possession of the dragon is rewarded 
 with the eyes, skin, and teeth. The dragons of this class 
 are not unlike immense fish, with the exception alone of 
 their bodies being thinner, and more flexible — they have 
 teeth as strong as whales. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 THE mountain dragons^ have scales of a golden colour, 
 and are larger than the dragons of the plain. They have 
 beards yellow, and bushy, and eye-brows more elevated 
 
 * And you, ye dragons ; of the scaly race, 
 
 Whom glittering gold, and shining armour grace, &c. 
 
 Luc an, b. ix. 
 t Some have observed, that about the Ganges, are dragons whose 
 eyes sparkle like precious stones. Owen's History of Serpents. 
 
 J Not elephants are by their larger size 
 Secure, but with the rest become your prize. 
 Resistless in your might, you all invade 
 And for destruction need not poison's aid. 
 
 Lucan, b. ix. 
 Diodorus Siculus says, " frequent and terrible scuffles happen be* 
 tween elephants and serpents in the great Indian deserts, when they 
 meet at a spring, in which, both sometimes perish." 
 
 § I believe the dragon described here is the basilisk, or cockatrice, 
 which Owen says, is gross in body, of fiery eyes, and sharp head, on 
 -which it wears a crest like a cock's comb. The very sight of this ser- 
 pent, and sound of his voice, puts all others to flight, and makes them 
 relinquish their prey. 
 
133 
 
 than the others, underneath which are eyes of a stern and 
 terrible aspect. In their tortuous windings under the 
 earth they make a noise like that of brass :* their crests 
 are red, from which flashes a flame brighter than that of 
 a torch. These dragons conquer the elephant, and in 
 their turn are conquered by the Indians in the manner 
 following ;*f they spread a scarlet coat before their holes, 
 embroidered with golden letters, which being charmed, 
 bring on a sleep, that at last subdues those eyes, which 
 would be otherwise invincible. Other spells, consisting of 
 many words, extracted from their occult philosophy, are 
 used, by which the dragon is so fascinated, that he puts his 
 head out of his hole and falls asleep over the letters. 
 Whilst he remains in this situation the Indians rush upon 
 him with pole-axes, and after cutting off his head, strip it 
 of all its precious stones. The stones found in the heads 
 of these mountain dragons,;}; are said to have a transparent 
 lustre, which emit a variety of colours, and possess that 
 kind of virtue attributed to the ring of Gyges.§ But it 
 often happens that these dragons seize the Indian in spite 
 of his pole-axe and cunning, and carry him off to his den, 
 by which he makes the whole mountain tremble. We 
 were told of their inhabiting the mountains near the Red 
 Sea, from which are heard horrible hissings, and that they 
 sometimes are known to go down to the sea|| and swim to 
 
 t Owen takes notice of this mode of the Indians charming ser- 
 pents. 
 
 X Called Draconites y precious stones taken out of the brains of a dra? 
 gon whilst alive : for if not extracted whilst alive, they never acquire 
 the hardness and form of precious stones, because his envy and malice 
 is such, that the moment he perceives himself dying, he takes care to 
 destroy their virtue. Pliny, b. xxxvii. 
 
 § The virtue of whose ring, it is well known, rendered the wearer 
 invisible. 
 
 || In Ethiopia, as well as in India, are dragons tweuty cubits long. 
 It is said, four or five of them woven together after the manner of 
 
 hurdles 
 
134 
 
 a great distance from the shore. Of the length of their 
 lives we were not able to come at any certainty, and if 
 we were, I fear no credit would be given to it. This is 
 all I have been able to learn on the subject of dragons. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 THE city to which they next came, was situate at the 
 foot of a mountain, and was one of the largest in the 
 country called Paraca,* in the center of which were seen 
 suspended the heads of many dragons, as a proof of the 
 Indians exercising themselves from their youth in the 
 hunting of them. It is said the people of Paraca under- 
 stand the cries and thoughts of animals, some by eating 
 the heart, and others the liver of dragons. Whilst Apol- 
 lonius and his companions were continuing their journey, 
 they heard the sound of a pipe, which happened to be that 
 of a shepherd tending his flock. In this country the In- 
 dians feed white hinds, whose milk they are fond of, from 
 an opinion of its being of a nutricious quality. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 FOR four days they travelled through a rich and well-cul- 
 tivated country, and at last arrived at the castle of the 
 wise men. The guide as he approached the hill,f shewed 
 
 hurdles, pass the sea for better pasturage, cutting the waves, and 
 bearing np their heads aloft, which serve them in the place of sails. 
 
 Pliny, b. viii. 
 
 * Paraca — which I have not been able to find in any geographical 
 book. 
 
 t The hill where these wise men, or Brachmens, resided, corresponds, 
 says Mr. Wilford, with a place called Trilocinarayana, near the banks 
 of the river Cedara-ganga, 
 
135 
 
 such signs of fear that the sweat ran down his face, which 
 caused him to stop his camel, from which he alighted. 
 Apollonius, who knew well where he was, laughed at his 
 fears, and said, should this man get safe into harbour after 
 being long at sea, I believe he would not be satisfied, nor 
 relish the land. When he said this, he commanded his 
 camel to kneel down, a custom to which he was well used. 
 What chiefly caused the guide's alarm, was his near ap- 
 proach to the seat of those sages, who are more respect- 
 ed by the Indians than the King himself, who, though 
 lord of the soil, advises with them in every thing as if 
 they were so many oracles. They also inform him of 
 what is, or is not best to be done, and use the justest 
 arguments on the occasion. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 APOLLONIUS and his companions who had thoughts 
 of remaining some time in a neighbouring village, not 
 above a mile from the hill, changed their intention when 
 they saw a young man coming to them with all the haste 
 he could. He was one of the blackest of the Indians, 
 and had between his eye-brow the figure of a shining 
 moon. Such an appearance was afterwards seen in an 
 Ethiopian named Memnon, when a boy, who was the pu- 
 pil of Herodes the sophist. He had this moon whilst 
 young, but as he arrived to man's estate, its brightness 
 diminished, and at last entirely vanished. The youth who 
 waited on Apollonius carried in his hand a golden anchor,* 
 
 * In all negotiations in India, the public faith, when once plighted 
 in any treaty, was inviolably preserved. The figure of an anchor, the 
 sacred symbol of truth and stability, was engraved upon the grand im- 
 perial signet used upon those solemn occasions. Maurice. 
 
156 
 
 -which by the Indians is considered as a caduceus, on ac- 
 count of the power it possessed of fixing all things. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 WHEN the youth approached Apollonius he addressed 
 him in the Greek tongue, which created no surprise, on 
 account of all the people of the village speaking the same 
 language. But when he called our philosopher by his 
 name, and gave him the usual address of salutation, all 
 were astonished except Apollonius, who assumed great 
 hopes from auguring so well of the mission. This made 
 him turn to Damis, and say, we are now come to men 
 who are wise indeed, and who seem to excel in the know- 
 ledge of futurity. Then he asked the Indian what he 
 ought to do, for he was burning with the desire of con- 
 versing with the sages. The Indian answered, you must 
 leave your companions here, and follow me without delay, 
 for it is AyToi. — They who order — by using which word, 
 Apollonius acknowledged the full force of the' ipse dixit 
 of Pythagoras,* and folio wed with joy. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 THE hill inhabited by these wise men was as high as the 
 Acropolis of Athens, and rose like it from a level plain. 
 It was defended on all sides by an immense pile of rocks, 
 on which were to be 'seen in many places the traces of 
 
 * When the disciples of Pythagoras asserted any filing in dispute, 
 if they were questioned, why it was so, they used to answer ipse dixit, 
 He said it, which He was Pythagoras. This avro? e<pa, was, amongst 
 them, the first and greatest of doctrines, his judgment being a reason 
 free from, and above all examination and censure. Stanley. 
 
197 
 
 cloven feet, of beards, and faces ; and in some parts the 
 j marks which might be supposed to have been made 
 by creatures falling on their backs. For when Bacchus 
 attacked the place along with Hercules, he ordered his 
 Pans to make the assault, whom he thought fully sufficient 
 to take it. But thunderstruck by the superior skill of the 
 sages, they tumbled one upon another, and left imprinted 
 on the rocks the marks of whatever parts were most de- 
 fective in their bodies. A cloud was observed to cover 
 the hill where these sages live, by means of which they 
 can at pleasure render themselves either visible or not. 
 They saw no gates, and this must have been owing to the 
 clouds surrounding the mount, and preventing their seeing 
 whether it was open or shut. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 APOLLONIUS says he ascended the hill on that side 
 which looked towards the south, under the^guidance of his 
 trusty Indian. The first thing he saw there, was a well 
 about four paces wide, out of which a blue vapour rose to 
 the top of it. This vapour, when the sun comes to the 
 meridian, is rarified by its rays, and whenever it rises to a 
 certain height, gives the beholders the appearance of a 
 rainbow. He was informed also that the earth at the 
 bottom of this well was of the nature of Sandarach,* 
 that the water was reputed hallowed, that no one was 
 permitted to drink it, or draw it, and that it was believed 
 
 * Sandarach, in natural history, a very beautiful native fossil, though 
 often confounded with red-arsenic. It is a pure substance, of an 
 orange scarlet, and is quite transparent. When exposed to a moderate 
 heat, it melts and flows like oil. Whether this well is not one of the 
 Petroleum wells may admit of a question, which I am not able to 
 solve. 
 
138 
 
 to be so sacred, that all the people in the neighbourhood 
 swore by it. Near this well was a small crater of fire, 
 from whence ascended a flame of the colour of lead, with- 
 out either smoke or smell, and what was most remarkable, 
 it always remained full, without ever overflowing. It is in 
 this the Indians cleanse themselves from all involuntary 
 crimes, in consequence of which the wise men call the 
 well — the zvell of discovejy ; and the fire, the fire of par- 
 don. Here were seen two vessels made of black stone,* 
 the one named the vessel of the winds, and the other, that 
 of the rains. Whenever India labours under a long 
 drought, they open the vessel of the rains, which sends 
 forth clouds that refresh the whole land ; and on the other 
 hand, when rain falls in too great abundance, the vessel is 
 shut, and the rain ceases. The vessel of the winds is, I 
 think, somewhat of the nature of the bags of Eolus, because, 
 when it is opened, such a wind rushes out,f as serves to 
 cool and fertilize the country. Our travellers say, they 
 were not surprised to find images of the Gods of Indian 
 or Egyptian workmanship,^ but when they saw some of 
 
 * Fast by the threshold of Jove's courts are placed 
 Two casks, one stored with evil, one with good, 
 From which the God dispenses as he wills. 
 
 Homer, b. xxix. Iliad. 
 Olearius is of opinion that the Indians might have had, perhaps, two 
 vessels made for the purpose of marking the several changes in the 
 seasons, something like our thermometers and barometers, and that 
 simple people confounding the cause with the effect, might have sup- 
 posed these vessels the causes of the wind or rain. 
 
 t They loos'd the bag ; forth issued all the winds, &c. 
 
 Homer, Od. b. x. 
 X Sir William Jones has drawn a parallel between the Gods adored 
 in three very different nations, Greece, Italy, and India; but has not 
 presumed to decide which was the original system, and which the 
 copy. Since Egypt appears to have been the grand source of know- 
 ledge for the western, and India for the more eastern parts of the globe, 
 it may be asked whether the Egyptians communicated their mytholo* 
 
130 
 
 the highest antiquity among the Greeks, statues for 
 instance of Minerva Polias, Apollo Delius, Bacchus, and 
 Aniycleus, erected by the Indians,* together with a re- 
 ligious worship performed after the Grecian ritual, they 
 were surprised indeed. The natives of this country have 
 an idea of inhabiting the middle region of India, and 
 therefore call the top of the aforesaid hill the uavel of the 
 world. On it they worship fire,i- which they boast of 
 drawing down from the rays of the sun, and sing hymns 
 in honour of him every day at noon. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 ON the sole testimony of Apollonius rests the account 
 we are to give of the wise men,J and the manner of 
 their spending their time. In a conversation he had with 
 the Egyptians, he says, " I have seen the Brachmans of 
 India dwelling on the earth, and not on the earth" — " de- 
 
 gy, or philosophy to the Hindus, or conversely. This Sir William 
 has stated without his being able to draw any satisfactory conclu- 
 sion. 
 
 * Apollo — called Amycleus, had a rich and magnificent temple at 
 Amyclae. in Italy, surrounded with delightful groves. — The inhabitants 
 of Amyclae were strict followers of the precepts of Pythagoras, and 
 therefore abstained from all flesh. 
 
 t The worship of solar, or vestal fires, may be ascribed to an enthu- 
 siastic admiration of Nature's wonderful powers, and it seem, as far 
 as I can yet understand the Vedas, to be the principal worship recom- 
 mended. Sir W. Jones. 
 
 % Apollonius most certainly, says Mr. Wilford, in his essay on Egypt, 
 &c. had no knowledge of the Indian language, nor is it on the whole, 
 adds he, credible, that he ever was in India or Ethiopia, or even at 
 Babylon : he never wrote an account of his travels, but the sophist 
 Philostratus, who seems to have had a particular design in writing the 
 history of his life, might have possessed valuable materials, by the 
 occasional use of which he imposed more easily on the public. 
 
140 
 
 fended without walls,"* " possessing nothing, and yet 
 having every thing/'f Expressions of a dark and enigma- 
 tical nature. But Damis says, they sleep on the ground, 
 which is first spread with grass, wherein they delight ; that 
 he has seen them walking in the air at two cubits distance 
 from the earth, J not for the purpose of exciting admiration, 
 of which they are not guilty, but from an idea that what they 
 do in such an approximation to the sun,§ is done in the 
 way most acceptable to that luminary. The fire which 
 they extract from the sun's rays, corporeal as it is, is not 
 kept, it is said, on the altars or hearths, but like rays 
 refracted in water by the sun, # * is kept aloft floating in 
 the air. By day they pray to the sun,f f who superintends 
 the seasons, to be propitious to the land, and make India 
 prosperous. By night they adore his rays, beseeching 
 them not to be angry with them on account of the dark- 
 ness, but may remain such as when extracted by them 
 
 * Ammianus Marcellinus says, the Brachmans inhabited villages, not 
 fortified with walls. 
 
 t No man was more unfit than Damis for explaining a philosophical 
 enigma, to whose simplicity, says Olearlus, we are indebted for many 
 of the fabulous relations that are to be found in this life of Apollo- 
 nius. 
 
 t Ammianus Marcellinus, in speaking of Maximin being raised to 
 some high dignity, says, he leaped with joy, and danced rather than 
 walked — anxious, as it is said, to imitate the Brachmans, who walked 
 aloft in the air amidst their altars. 
 
 § A gentleman told me he was present at a meeting of jumpers, in 
 Glamorganshire, who said, that in proportion as they jumped high, they 
 approached nearer to the lamb. Such is the nature of enthusiasm 
 every where, and at all times. 
 
 ** The difficulty is, how the rays were preserved during the night: 
 Olearius in a note attributes the whole to some knowledge they might 
 have had of phosplwrus. 
 
 tt Sir William Jones supposes the whole system of religious fables 
 rose like the Nile from several distinct sources, but that one great 
 spring and fountain of all idolatry in the four quarters of the globe, 
 was the veneration paid by men to the vast body of fire, which " looks 
 from his sole dominion like the God of this new world." 
 
141 
 
 from the sun. This is what Damis says Apollonius 
 meant to convey, by saying " that the Brachmans are on the 
 earth, and not on the earth." The next phrase of being 
 defended without walls, is to apply to the sky under which 
 they live. For though they appear to live in the open air, 
 they can at pleasure cover themselves with a shade which 
 protects them from the wet when it rains ; and whenever 
 they please they can enjoy the sun. The last phrase " of 
 possessing nothing, and yet having every thing," is thus ex- 
 plained by Damis. " The fountains which flow from the 
 earth for the votaries of Bacchus, whenever he shakes it, 
 and them together, flow also for these Indians, when they 
 drink themselves, or make others drink." Therefore 
 Apollonius was not wrong when he said that these men 
 who have what they wish without any previous prepara- 
 tion, might be considered as possessing what they have 
 not. The sages let their hair grow after the manner of 
 the antient Lacedemonians, Thurians, Tarentines, Me- 
 lians, and all other people who adopted and prized the 
 institutions of the Spartans. They wear on their heads 
 white mitres, and have no cloathing except short tunics. 
 The raw material out of which these garments are made, 
 is a kind of flax,* the spontaneous growth of the soil, 
 
 * Hierocles says, that nothing is more worth seeing than the Brach- 
 mans, a people addicted to philosophy, and particularly devoted to the 
 tun, who eat no manner of flesh, who live always abroad in the open 
 air, who above all things honour and cultivate truth, and who wear 
 only robes made of linen they get from the rocks ; for, adds he, they 
 take certain small threads that grow upon the rocks, spin them, and 
 make of them their cloaths, which will not burn in the fire, and which, 
 they never wash ; but when they are dirty, throw them in the midst of 
 a burning flame, and they become white and transparent. 
 
 This flax is supposed to be the asbestinum linteum, mentioned by 
 Pliny — which according to his account, grows in deserts and places 
 parched and burnt up with the sun, and where rains never fall. The 
 country is rocky that produces it, and the stone itself is called asbestus, 
 from which the flax is made ; and no other stone can be found capable, 
 of yielding such a flax or wool. 
 
142 
 
 white as what grows in Pamphylia, but of a finer and 
 softer texture. It contains also an unctuous matter* from 
 which an oil is extracted. From this flax they make all 
 their sacred garments, and if any other person but an Indian 
 was to attempt to pull it, the earth would not yield it. 
 The virtues of the ringf and wand borne by these Indian 
 sages, are of great force, and are both of high repute for 
 the discovering secrets. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 AS soon as Apollonius drew near, the sages received him 
 with open arms, and much greeting. He found Iarchas 
 sitting on a high throne of black brass, that was adorned 
 with various figures of wrought gold. The other seats 
 were of brass, had no figures, were not so high, and 
 were ranged in regular order below the throne. As soon 
 as Iarchas saw Apollonius, he saluted him in the Greek 
 tongue, and asked for the epistle which he brought from 
 the King of India. Whilst Apollonius seemed amazed at 
 this first instance of his superior knowledge ; Iarchas said, 
 in that epistle, Apollonius, there is a letter deficient 
 (meaning a delta) and when perused, it was found to be 
 exactly so. As soon as the epistle was read over, Iarchas 
 said, what is your opinion of us, Apollonius? That, I 
 think, I need not mention, said Apollonius, as it is evi- 
 dent, from the journey I have taken on your account, 
 which was never attempted before by any of my country- 
 men. But, said Iarchas, do you think we possess more 
 knowledge than yourself, I do, said Apollonius, I am 
 
 * Kircher, in his Mount Sina, says, that notwithstanding the external 
 surface of the asbestus is dry and thready, yet it has within a viscid 
 oily humour which cannot be conquered by fire. 
 
 t Of the virtues of the ring and wand hereafter. 
 
143 
 
 confident your knowledge is of a higher, and more divine 
 character than ours, and were I to make no addition to 
 my own by conversing with you, I should have the plea- 
 sure at least of knowing, that you have nothing to teach 
 me. Then, said Iarchas, other men are in the habit of 
 asking strangers on their arrival " who they are," and 
 " what they come for ?" But the first proof we give of 
 our knowledge is, that we know all this before hand. 
 And saying this, he gave Apollonius the whole history of 
 his family both by father and mother's side, with what 
 passed at iEgae, and his first interview with Damis, and 
 the conversation they had together on the way, and what 
 they learnt from others. This was all related by the In- 
 dian sage, in a clear distinct order, without any hesitation, 
 as if he had travelled with them. Apollonius amazed at 
 all he heard, asked how he had come by this knowledge.* 
 To which he said, thou, Apollonius, art come to share in 
 this wisdom, but art not yet in full possession of all. 
 And will you, said Apollonius, make me acquainted with 
 it ? I will, replied he, with all my heart, for the com- 
 munication of knowledge is much more becoming the 
 character of philosophy, than the invidious concealment 
 of what ought to be known. But I see, Apollonius, you 
 have a good memory,*!* and that we honor most among 
 
 * Notwithstanding this, Damis says, he knew the very thoughts of .. / 
 
 men. Herein is ^glaring inconsistency, for ApoUonius is said to have N *i***' t -*nSL**C^ 
 known the thoughts of men, and yet on the present occasion he seems 
 to be astonished that Iarchas the Indian priest was acquainted with his 
 story. t» £**v«W **, ^^Wt^^W d*-yu** - 
 
 t Memory, in the Greek mythology, was the mother of the muses, 
 because it is to that mental endowment that mankind are indebted for 
 their progress in all knowledge. 
 
 " T' impress these precepts on their hearts I sent 
 " Memory, the active mother of all wisdom." 
 Prometheus chained — 
 
 jEschylus. 
 
144 
 
 the Gods. Have you been able, said Apollonius, to 
 form any opinion of my natural disposition ? Yes, said 
 he, we can discern the different dispositions of the mind 
 by a variety of ways. But as mid-day is drawing nigh, 
 and it being time to prepare for the offerings which are 
 to be made to the Gods, I think we had better devote 
 ourselves to their service, and afterwards discourse on 
 whatever subjects you please ; besides, Apollonius, you 
 have full permission to assist at our religious worship. 
 By Jupiter, returned Apollonius, I should wrong Cauca- 
 sus and the Indus, which I have passed in my journey here, 
 did I not wish to indulge to my heart's full content in your 
 religious duties. Then do so, said Iarchas, and follow 
 me. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 THEY went to a spring of water, which Damis says (who 
 afterwards saw it) was like the fountain Dirce in Beotia, 
 and there undressed and anointed their heads with a pre- 
 paration of amber,* which gave such a glowing heat to 
 their skins, as made them smoke, and perspire as profusely 
 as if they had been in a hot bath. After this they plunged 
 into the water, wherein they bathed and purified them- 
 selves, and so proceeded to a temple crowned with gar- 
 lands, and singing hymns with all due solemnity. As soon 
 as they entered the temple, they formed themselves into 
 the figure of the antient chorus, with Iarchas at their head 
 as Coryphaeus. Then with staves uplifted they struck the 
 earth all together, which made it heave,*f* and swell like 
 
 * One proof that these Indian philosophers or Brachmans did not 
 go naked — or were not literally Gymnosophists. 
 
 t Besides the effect produced in the text by the staves, which these 
 wise men carried, another effect is attributed to their magical virtue, 
 which was that of scaring evil spirits and ghosts. 
 
145 
 
 the waves of the sea) by this they were elevated to the 
 heighth of almost two cubits above it. Meanwhile they 
 continued singing a hymn not unlike one of Sophocles's 
 paeons that is sung at Athens in honor of iEsculapius. 
 When alighted on the ground, Iarchas called the boy 
 with the anchor, and said, take care of the companions of 
 Apollonius. The boy obeyed his orders with the velocity 
 of a bird, and returning, said, I have done what you requir- 
 ed. The sages all took their seats, after having spent much 
 time in religious exercises. Iarchas then ordered the boy to 
 bring the throne of Phraotes for the wise Apollonius, on 
 which to sit and dispute with them. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 WHEN Apollonius took his seat, Iarchas said to him, 
 propose what question you please, for you now speak to 
 men who know all things. Apollonius asked whether they 
 knew themselves, which he did, from an idea that like the 
 Greeks they would consider the fy«0» Vsat/Tov as a matter of 
 difficult solution.* But contrary to his expectation, Iar- 
 chas replied, we know all things because we know our- 
 selves, for there is not one of us who would have been 
 admitted to the study of philosophy, had he not had 
 that previous knowledge. Hereupon Apollonius calling 
 to mind what he heard from Phraotes as the necessary 
 qualification for all who cultivated science, that they should 
 first examine themselves before they engaged in such pur- 
 suits ; acquiesced in the answer, from a conviction of its 
 
 * e ccelo descendit fyv«0» navrov. Juvenal. 
 
 This apophthegm of Chilo the Lacedemonian, was with others written 
 in golden letters on the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and wa» therefore 
 believed to come froto heaven. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 truth. Apollonius next asked what they thought of 
 themselves? Iarchas replied, Gods. And why Gods, 
 said Apollonius, because we are good men, was the 
 answer, which Apollonius considered so replete with 
 wisdom, that he afterwards used it in his apology to Do- 
 mitian. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 APOLLONIUS now adopting his usual style of inter- 
 rogatory, said, what is your opinion of the soul ? The 
 same, said Iarchas,* as was delivered by Pythagoras to 
 you, and by us to the Egyptians. Am I to understand, 
 said Apollonius, that as Pythagoras said he was Euphor- 
 bus, so you were some Trojan, or Greek, or other per- 
 son, before you became possessed of your present body. 
 To this the Indian said, Troy was destroyed by the Greeks 
 who sailed to its shores, and you are destroyed by the 
 stories told of it. For from an idea that the men who 
 fought at Troy were the only men to be esteemed, you 
 overlook many of a more divine character born in your 
 country, in Egypt, and India. But since you have 
 questioned me on the subject of my former body, tell me 
 of all those who fought for, or against Troy, who was the 
 most worthy of admiration ? Achilles, the son of Peleus 
 and Thetis, replied Apollonius, for he is celebrated by 
 Homer as the most beautiful and valiant of all the Greeks, 
 and his actions are described to be above all others. The 
 Ajaxes and Nireuses are also celebrated for their beauty 
 and courage, but only next after Achilles. With whom, 
 said Iarchas, you may compare my progenitor, or rather 
 
 * Herein Iarcbas supposes the Egyptians derived their opinions 
 from the Indians through the Ethiopians, who were, as Iarchas says, 
 a coloDy from India. 
 
147 
 
 the body of my progenitor, for that was the light in which 
 Pythagoras considered Euphorbus. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 THERE was a time, said [arenas, when this country was 
 inhabited by the Ethiopians, an Indian nation. Ethiopia 
 did not then exist,* for Egypt stretched its boundaries 
 beyond Meroe and the cataracts, taking in not only the 
 sources, but the mouths of the Nile. Whilst the Ethio- 
 pians lived in this country now possessed by us, and were 
 obedient to the rule of a sovereign, named Ganges, they 
 had all the productions of the earth in plenty, and were 
 secure under the protection of heaven. But when they 
 murdered their King, they were no longer esteemed as 
 pure by the rest of the Indians, and the land produced 
 not what was sufficient for their subsistence. Their corn 
 was destroyed before it came to the ear, miscarriages were 
 frequent among the women, and the land was not able to 
 support their flocks and cattle. Wherever they fixed on 
 for building a city, the ground gave way, and sunk under 
 their feet. The ghost of their King Ganges haunted them 
 
 • Eusebius speaks of the migration of the Ethiopians from India 
 into Egypt. Sir William Jones believes that the Ethiops of Meroe, 
 were the same people with the first Egyptians, and consequently, as it 
 might be easily shown, with the original Hindus. It is very remark- 
 able, he says, that Mr. Bruce, and Mr. Bryant, have proved that the 
 Greeks gave the appellation of Indians both to the Southern nations of 
 Africk, and to the people of Hindostan; and he adds, that it is no less 
 observable, that according to Ephorus, quoted by Strabo, they call- 
 ed all the Southern nations in the world Ethiopians, thus using Indian 
 and Ethiopian, as convertible terms. Both India and Ethiopia were 
 used by the ancients as general terms to signify any remote uncivilized 
 country, as 
 
 Super et Garamantes et Indos 
 
 Proferet imperium. 
 
 Virgil. 
 
 The emigration of Cntila-cesas from India to Egypt is the one no 
 
 ticed by Philostiates iu the text. Wilford's Essay on Egypt, Sfc. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 wherever they went, and struck a terror into the lower 
 orders, which never ceased till an atonement was made to 
 the earth, of the perpetrators of the murder, and the shed- 
 ders of the King's blood. This Ganges, whose beauty was 
 above other men, was ten cubits high, and was the son of 
 the river Ganges. The deluge which the father brought 
 on India, was turned into the Red Sea by his son, in con- 
 sequence of which the father became again friendly to the 
 land. Whilst this King lived, the earth brought forth its 
 fruits in abundance, but when he died, it took ample 
 vengeance. # Homer says, Achilles sailed to Troy for the 
 sake of Helen, and subdued twelve cities by sea, and 
 eleven by land, but adds, that when his mistress was forced 
 from him by Agamemnon, he became cruet and ungo- 
 vernable. Let us compare in these circumstances the 
 Grecian hero with this Indian Prince. He was the 
 founder of sixty cities, the most famous in the country. 
 To build will be allowed to be more glorious that to de- 
 stroy. He next drove out the Scythians who marched an 
 army over Caucasus, and infested the country. To give 
 
 * The basis of this tale, says Mr. Wilford, is unquestionably Indian, 
 though it be clearly corrupted in some particulars. No Brahman was 
 ever named Iarchas, a corruption possibly of Yasca, the name of a sage 
 who wrote a glossary for the Vidas. Ganges was never considered as 
 a Male Deity, but the son of Ganga was a celebrated hero, According 
 to the Hindu legend, when Capila had destroyed the children of 
 Sagara, and his army of Cutila-cesas had migrated to another Dwipa f 
 the India monarch was long inconsolable, but his great grandson 
 Bhagiratha conducted the present Ganges to the spot where the ashes 
 of his kindred lay, and they were no sooner touched by the divine 
 water, than 60,000 princes sprang to life again. Another story is, that 
 when Ganges and other great rivers were swoln to such a degree that 
 the goddess of earth was apprehensive of a general inundation, Bhagi- 
 ratha (leaving other holy men to take care of inferior rivers) led the 
 Ganges (from him named Bhagiratha) to the ocean, and rendered her 
 salutary to the earth, instead of destructive to it. 
 
 These tales, adds Mr. Wilford, are obviously the same in substance 
 with that in the text, with some alterations, &c. 
 
149 
 
 liberty to a country is unquestionably a higher instance of 
 virtue than to enslave a city, and that for a woman, who 
 probably was not carried away against her consent. Be- 
 sides, the Prince who reigned in that country, at present 
 under the subjection of Phraotes, contrary to all justice, 
 carried off the wife of Ganges, and her virtue was such, 
 that he would not break the alliance entered into with him, 
 saying, that in spite of the injury offered to himself, he 
 would not violate a treaty which he had religiously sworn 
 to observe. 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 
 I COULD enumerate many more actions of this man, 
 said larchas, were I not afraid of speaking in my own 
 praise, as being the identical person myself, which I 
 proved when only four years of age. Ganges,* it is 
 known, buried in the ground seven adamantine swords, 
 which he did for the purpose of freeing the country ever 
 after of all hostile alarm. The God's ordered a sacrifice 
 to be offered on the very spot where the swords were hid, 
 but the place no one could point out. Though at the time 
 but young, f I conducted the interpreters of the oracle to 
 the place where I commanded them to dig, and said the 
 swords were deposited. 
 
 • The Indians, 6ays Ctesias, used to bury iron in the ground for the 
 purpose of averting the consequences arising from clouds, and hail, and 
 whirlwinds, and he adds, that he himself was twice a witness to the 
 truth of the experiment. 
 
 t Ev'n I, who these mysterious truths declare, 
 Was once Euphorbus in the Trojan war ; 
 My name and lineage I remember well, 
 And how in fight by Sparta's King I fell. 
 In Argive Juno's fane I late beheld 
 My buckler hung on high, and own'd my former shield. 
 
 Ovid, b. 15. 
 
1$Q 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 J5E not surprised, said Iarchas, at my transformation 
 from Indian to Indian. Here is a youth (and he pointed 
 to one not more than twenty years of age) who is above all 
 men I know, best qualified for cultivating philosophy, one 
 who is in good health, of an excellent constitution, and 
 capable of enduring whatever pain arises from fire or 
 amputation, and yet, though such as I have described, he 
 hates philosophy. Under what species of disease, said 
 Apollonius, do you think he labors ? For it is extraordi- 
 nary to think that a man of such endowments whilst in your 
 society, should neither cultivate nor love philosophy. The 
 truth is, said Iarchas, he is not in our company, but rather 
 in our keeping, for like a lion taken and confined against 
 his will, he looks upon us with an evil eye, even at the 
 time when flattering and caressing him. This youth was 
 Palamedes, who served in the war at Troy, where he had 
 to encounter two most bitter enemies, Ulysses, and Homer, 
 one of whom laid an ambuscade for him, in consequence 
 of which he was stoned to death, and the other deemed 
 him unworthy of any place in his poems. When he found 
 that his wisdom was of no avail, and his name unrecorded 
 by Homer, who has noticed many others of less celebrity, 
 and besides that he was outwitted by Ulysses, though inno- 
 cent, he hates philosophy, and deplores his own fate. And 
 this is the Palamedes who wrote without ever having been 
 taught the use of letters. 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 WHILST they were talking in this manner, a messenger 
 came to Iarchas, saying, the King will wait on you at mid- 
 day to discourse on some business of his own. Iarchas 
 
151 
 
 said to him, let him come, for he may go back better than 
 he came, after conversing with this Greek. Having given 
 this answer, he recurred to his first discourse, and asked 
 Apollonius if he could tell the first body in which he ap- 
 peared, and in what condition of life he was before the 
 one he was in at present ? To this Apollonius replied, 
 as it was ignoble, I remember little of it. What, said 
 Iarchas, do you consider the being pilot of an Egyptian 
 vessel, as ignoble? for I know you were one. You are 
 right, said Apollonius, I was, and yet consider that con- 
 dition of life not only ignoble, but detestable in the 
 world. I know a knowledge of maritime affairs is held as 
 reputable as that of governing a city or commanding an 
 army, but it has fallen into contempt on account of the 
 character of such as follow it. But the action of all others 
 on which I pride myself in that state, is not one which has 
 entitled me to much praise. What is the action to which 
 you allude? returned Iarchas; is it the having doubled 
 Capes Malea and Sunuim, by a skilful management of 
 your vessel ? or the having been able to discern whether 
 the winds blew from the prow or stern ? or having sur- 
 mounted all the difficulties attending on the navigation round 
 the rocky and hollow shores of Eubea? 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 SINCE, said Apollonius, you compel me as it were to 
 speak of naval affairs, listen, and I will tell you what I 
 think was my principle exploit. A nest of pirates infested 
 the Phenician sea, whose business was visiting all the cities 
 on the sea-coast, and learning what were the cargoes of the 
 several merchant- men belonging to each. These pirates 
 had certain emissaries in league with them, who as soon as 
 they learnt that my vessel was richly laden, took me apart, 
 and asked me how much of the freight came to my share ? 
 
152 
 
 I told them one thousand drachmas, which was the truth, 
 there being but four of us who had the command of the 
 ship. They asked if I had a house ? I said, I had a small 
 cabin in the isle of Patmos, where Proteus dwelt of 
 old. They next asked, if I did not prefer the land to the 
 sea, a house to a cabin, and ten thousand drachmas to a 
 thousand, with an exemption from all the dangers to which 
 a sailor's life is exposed. I replied in the affirmative ; and 
 said, I did not like turning pirate, as I was just beginning 
 to excel in my profession as a pilot, and had acquired repu- 
 tation enough to be crowned for ray nautical skill. But 
 they persevered, and at last said they would give me a 
 purse of ten thousand drachmas, if I would comply with 
 their wishes.- All this time I talked with them, as one 
 who wished to shew himself most devoted to them. Where- 
 upon they owned themselves the agents of the pirates, and 
 without more ado, requested my permitting them to take 
 possession of the ship, with the further request of not re- 
 turning to the city, after having once hoisted sail, but casting 
 anchor near the promontory under which the vessels of 
 the pirates were stationed. They said, they would bind 
 themselves by an oath not to put me to death or any one 
 in whose favor I interceded. This proposal of theirs I 
 thought it then unsafe to notice as it merited, from an ap- 
 prehension that if refused they might attack us when out at 
 sea and put us all to the sword. I promised to do as they 
 wished, but said it was necessary for them to swear not to 
 kill me nor break their engagement. They swore (it was 
 in a temple all this passed) and afterwards I pressed them 
 to make all the haste they could to the ships, adding, we 
 shall loose sail, as soon as it is night. This behaviour on 
 my part satisfied them they had to deal with a man in 
 whom they could confide, and what did not diminish this 
 confidence was, that in talking of the money, I begged it 
 might be all paid down in good current specie, yet not till after 
 they had taken possession of the vessel; on this they de- 
 
153 
 
 parted, and I put to sea, and got as far from the promon- 
 tory as I could. And is this, said Iarchas, what you look 
 on as a great act of justice? Yes, and of liumanity too, 
 said I : for I think many virtues are comprised in the cha- 
 racter of a pilot, who neither destroys the lives of men nor 
 wastes the substance of his employers, and who, above all, 
 conquers his love for money. 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 AT heariug this,* the Indian with a smile says, methinks 
 you make justice consist in not doing injustice, which is 
 a general opinion among the Greeks. I have heard for- 
 merly the Egyptians say, who used to visit this country, that 
 magistrates are sent you from Rome with a naked axe 
 carried before them, without knowing whether the people 
 they are going to govern are good or bad : and you call 
 all magistrates good, who do not make a sale of justice. 
 A similar practice is adopted by slave-merchants when they 
 bring a cargo of slaves from Caria, in the schedule given 
 in of their several characters and dispositions, they make 
 the chief merit of them to consist in their not being thieves. 
 After the same most honorable manner you treat the gover- 
 nors set over you ; you give both an equal share of praise, 
 
 * The Gymnosophists, says Bayle, in general, have been an honor 
 to their profession. The maxims ascribed to them by historians, and 
 the discourses they are said to have held, savour of nothing that is rude 
 or savage ; on the contrary, adds he, they abound with a great many 
 very reasouable and sensible observations, which shew a deep medi- 
 tation. One ought not to complain, continues Bayle, that they did 
 not well keep up the dignity of philosophy; for their way was, never to 
 go and meet any person whatever, but to put things upon this foot, even 
 with regard to kings, so that if any man wanted them, he was obliged 
 to give them notice of it, either by .coming to them himself or by sending 
 a messenger to them. This will appear in the sequel. 
 
154 
 
 and dismiss both crowned with a glory equally to be envied. 
 The wisest of your poets suffer you not to be just and 
 good, even had you the inclination. Minos, who sur- 
 passed all his contemporaries in cruelty, and reduced to 
 slavery not only the people of the isles, but those of the 
 cities on the sea coast, is placed in hell by the poets to 
 administer justice to the shades,* and the sceptre of justice 
 is given him as a mark of honor. — But Tantalus, who was a 
 benevolent man, and bestowed on his friends the blessing 
 of immortality, the gift of the Gods, is deprived by the 
 same poets of both meat and drink. Some bards even 
 add insult to the injury which they do this divine and good 
 man, by suspending a stone over his head. For my part I 
 should like to see him placed in a lake of nectar, of which 
 he made so generous a distribution to others. Saying this, 
 he shewed them a statue which stood on the left inscribed 
 with the name of Tantalus.f It was about four cubits 
 high, had the appearance of a man of fifty years of age, 
 and was dressed after the fashion of Argos, with only a 
 slight difference in the chlamys, that was like theThessalian. 
 In one hand was a phial large enough to quench a man's 
 thirst. Wherein sparkled a most pure liquor, and which 
 was always full without overflowing. The opinion enter- 
 tained of this liquor, and of the occasion of drinking it, 
 
 * For this, among other reasons, Plato banished poets from his com- 
 mon-wealth. There is too much of this distortion of moral sentiment 
 in some of the best poets, from Homer down to Milton and Boileau. 
 Cicero says, Plato did well to dismiss them from the state which he 
 modelled, when he inquired after the soundest policy and best ordered 
 common-wealth. 
 
 t This story of Tantalus tends to confirm the theory of Sir William 
 Jones, who says, in his third discourse on the Hindus, " we now live 
 among the adorers of those deities who were worshipped under dif- 
 ferent names in old Greece and Italy, and among the professors of 
 those philosophical tenets, which the Ionick and Attick writers illus- 
 trated with all the beauties of their melodious language," 
 
155 
 
 >liall be explained hereafter. Of this we may be assured, 
 that Tantalus, in consequence of his not keeping silence, 
 and his not refusing nectar to mankind, is slighted by the 
 poets, but not by the Gods. For had he incurred their 
 displeasure, he would not have been esteemed a good man 
 by the Indians, who are the friends of the Gods and act 
 only under the influence of heaven. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 WHILST engaged in this conversation, a noise alarmed 
 them from the village, which was caused by the arrival of 
 the King, who came with more than Median pomp and pa- 
 rade. Iarchas, somewhat indignant, said, had it been 
 Phraotes, every thing would have been as still as in the 
 sacred mysteries. From this Apollonius inferred, that this 
 King was not equal to Phraotes, either in part or in the 
 whole of philosophy. But when he perceived no alteration 
 made on the part of the sages, nor any suitable preparation 
 for the King's coming about mid-day, he asked them where 
 he was to reside during his stay. Here, they replied, in 
 this very place. Why he comes, we shall talk over at 
 night, the time most fitting for council. Is any separate 
 table, said Apollonius, to be provided for him ? Yes, said 
 Iarchas, one richly furnished with every thing we have. 
 What, said Apollonius, do you live well? No, frugally, 
 for though allowed many things, we are content with few. 
 However, the King requires many things, for so is his 
 pleasures, at the same time he eats of nothing having life, 
 the same being held unlawful. Consequently, his table will 
 be supplied with such varieties only as are used in second 
 courses, namely, vegetables of different kinds, and fruits 
 which India supplies at this season, and does in every change 
 of climate. But behold — he comes. 
 
1j6 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 THE King arrived, accompanied by his brother and son, 
 sparkling in gold and precious stones. Iarchas would not 
 suffer Apollonius to rise on the King's coming in, as it was 
 not the custom of the country. Damis tells us, he was 
 not present at this interview, from being obliged that day 
 to go to the neighbouring village, but he says, he has 
 truly related what he heard from Apollonius. When the 
 King made his entrance, he held out his hand to each of the 
 sages, who remained seated ; he approached like a suppliant 
 with some humble request, to which, when they gave assent, 
 promising to do what he wished, he seemed to be as much 
 pleased with it as if it came from an oracle. The king's 
 brother, and son (who by the by was a very handsome 
 youth) were considered by the sages in no other light than 
 if they had been domestics belonging to the royal suite. 
 After this the Indian rose and made a speech, in which the 
 King was ordered to take some refreshment, to which he 
 most graciously assented. Whereupon, four Pythian 
 tripods (such as are used by the priests of Apollo at 
 Delphi) came forward, like those described in Homer.* 
 
 * That day no common task his labour claimed : 
 Full twenty tripods for his hall he fram'd. 
 That plac'd on living wheels of massy gold, 
 (Wondrous to tell) instinct with spirit, roll'd 
 From place to place, around the blest abodes 
 Self-mov'd, obedient to the beck of Gods. 
 
 Homer, Pope, b. 18. 
 Tillemont is puzzled to ascertain whether the wondrous things men- 
 tioned in the text were the effects of magic or downright lies ; I am 
 not puzzled in the least about them, as I consider them all of the latter 
 description. 
 
 This feast, Bishop Parker considers as the most pleasant scene of 
 the whole comedy, in which there was no need of any attendants ; but 
 
 the 
 
Ij7 
 
 Then advanced cup-bearers of black brass, like the 
 Ganymedes and Pelopses of the G reeks. The earth strewed 
 herbs under them much softer than our beds. Bread and 
 fruits, and the vegetables of the season, together with the 
 dainties used at second courses, came of themselves, each 
 in order, better dressed than what they could be by our 
 cooks. Of the tripods two of them handed about wine, and 
 of the remaining two, one handed about warm water, and 
 the other cold. The gems which came to us from the 
 Indies are so small, that the Greeks set them in necklaces 
 and rings, but with the Indians, cups and goblets are made 
 of them large enough to drink out of, and satisfy the thirst 
 of four men in the heat of summer. The cupbearers of 
 brass mixed the wine and water for the company, in equal 
 proportions, which they presented to every man in small 
 cups, as is customary at our feasts. The guests sat down 
 as at a public entertainment, without shewing any mark of 
 respect to the King, which among the Greeks and Romans 
 is considered of so much importance. The truth is, each 
 guest sat down as chance directed. 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 DURING the repast, Iarchas said, I drink to you, O 
 King ! and beg leave to present to you a Greek whose 
 
 the chairs and the stools, the pots and the cups, the dishes and the 
 plates, understood every one their own offices; and so served in the 
 entertainment themselves, and ran hither and thither as the guests 
 commanded, or their attendance required. 
 
 A book interspersed with such anecdotes, says Dr. Douglass, Bishop 
 of Salisbury, may perhaps gaiu credit with one who can digest the 
 spurious travels of Sir John Mandeville, or the wonders of Lilliput and 
 Brobdignac : but with every serious person it carries its own confuta- 
 tion along with it. " Magna Homeri mendacia, majoribus mendaciis 
 corrigit," says Ludovicus Vives. 
 
158 
 
 name is Apollonius, and who sits on the seat immediately 
 below you. Saying this, he made known by a sign that he 
 was a good and divine man. I am told, said the King, 
 that he and his companions in the next village are the par- 
 ticular friends of Phraotes. They are, replied Iarchas, 
 and were most hospitably entertained by him. To what 
 studies, said the King, is he addicted ? To the same as 
 Phraotes. I think, said the King, his pursuing those 
 studies which has prevented Phraotes's acting like a man, 
 is not much to his advantage. 1 request, O King ! says 
 Iarchas, that you speak more modestly of philosophy and 
 Phraotes. Whilst you were young we made allowances 
 for your youth, but now that you are old, you should 
 spare such foolish, rash expressions. Then Apollonius, by 
 the help of an interpreter said, what great advantage O 
 King ! have you derived from not having studied philo- 
 sophy ? only that j said the King, of possessing every virtue, 
 and of being one and the same with the sun. Here 
 Apollonius, willing to check his pride, said, if you had 
 studied philosophy you would never have entertained such 
 sentiments. Well then, said the King, you who are so 
 good a philosopher, what do you think of yourself? That I 
 am good only whilst I apply myself to philosophy. Here- 
 upon the King with hands uplifted to heaven cried out — 
 By the sun I swear you are come to us full of Phraotes. 
 This expression Apollonius considering of unexpected 
 advantage, said, I have not travelled in vain, if I am full 
 of Phraotes ; and if ever you meet him you will say that 
 he is full of me. He expressed a desire of writing to you 
 in my behalf, but when he told me that you were a 
 good man, I declined giving him the trouble of a letter, 
 when I recollected that no one had written to him in 
 my favor. 
 
159 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 HERE ended the King's first indiscretion, for when he 
 heard he was praised by Phraotes, he said in a low tone 
 of voice without any suspicion, be welcome, most excellent 
 stranger. To which Apollonius said, and be you welcome, 
 O King ! for it is only now we can say you are arrived. 
 The King continued, Who brought you here? These 
 Gods, or these sages, returned Apollonius. Then the 
 King turning to Apollonius, said, do the Greeks say much 
 of me? As much, replied Apollonius, as you say of 
 them. For my part, said the King, I do not think there 
 is any action of theirs which is worth speaking of. Well, 
 said Apollonius, I will tell them this, that they may 
 honor you with a crown at the next Olympic Games. 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 ON this Apollonius turning to Iarchas, said, let us leave 
 this unwise man to his folly. But tell me why you think 
 the King's brother and son not deserving of a place at 
 the common table ? and why no particular mark of respect 
 is paid them? Becaus% said Iarchas, it is supposed 
 they may one day mount the throne, and therefore they 
 are neglected now, that by it they may be taught not to 
 neglect others in their turn. Apollonius perceiving that 
 the number of the wise men exceeded not eighteen, asked 
 Iarchas if any thing was signified by that number, as it 
 was not one of the quadrats, nor any of those numbers to 
 which dignity and reverence were paid, like ten, twelve, 
 sixteen, &c. Iarchas replied, we are not the slaves of 
 particular numbers, nor is any one more esteemed than 
 another ; because all preference amongst us arises from 
 
160 
 
 wisdom and virtue. I have heard that my grandfather was 
 elected a member of the college of the sages, when they 
 amounted to eighty-seven, and he was then the youngest of 
 them. He outlived them all, being one hundred and 
 thirty years old : no man in India had a more philosophical 
 genius, or was in other respects more illustrious. To some 
 Egyptians who congratulated him on being left alone at 
 the head of the college for four years, he said, by way of 
 exhortation, do not reproach the Indians for the number of 
 their wise men being so few. But for ourselves, Apollonius, 
 who have heard from the Egyptians of the custom of the 
 Eleans, and of the ten Hellanodici who preside at the 
 Olympic Games, we do not approve of the law which is 
 enacted for the election of these men. For the election 
 is left to chance, which is blind, foresees nothing, and 
 may fall upon the most unfit candidate. Even on the 
 supposition of the lot falling on the most deserving, the 
 original error would not be less. For as there is no de- 
 parting from the number ten, some worthy men must lose 
 their election, when the number of fit candidates exceeds 
 ten : and when the number falls short, undeserving men 
 will obtain the honor. Hence the Eleans would act with 
 more consistency and propriety if they preserved their 
 virtue, and not their number. 
 
 • 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 WHILST they were discoursing in this manner, the King 
 endeavoured to interrupt them by some ill-timed injudici- 
 ous observations. He asked what was the subject of their 
 discourse ? We were talking of matters of great conse- 
 quence, said Apollonius, and what are highly esteemed 
 *mong the Greeks ; but what I believe are of little esti- 
 mation in your eyes, considering the great disregard you 
 entertain for that people. That is true, said the King, but 
 
16) 
 
 }*et I wish to learn, for methinks you were talking of the 
 Athenians who were formerly the slaves of Xerxes. No, 
 said Apollonius, we were speaking of matters of a differ- 
 ent nature, but since you have mentioned the Athenians in 
 terms as unfounded as inconsiderate, will you tell me O 
 King ! whether you have any slaves ? Yes, twenty thou- 
 sand, of whom not one is bought, being all born within 
 my own dominions. Then, Apollonius, by his interpreter 
 asked,* whether it was usual for him to fly from his slaves, 
 or for his slaves to fly from him ? To this remark the 
 King, as if to add insult to what was said, replied, such a 
 question could only proceed from the mouth of a slave. Yet 
 I will answer it, and tell you, that it is the part of slaves, 
 and of slaves of the lowest kind, to run away from their 
 masters, and not the part of the masters, who have the 
 power of punishing, and even of putting them to the torture 
 for misconduct, to run away from them. You have now 
 made it quite evident, O King! said Apollonius, that 
 Xerxes was the slave of the Athenians, and a slave of the 
 vilest description, because he ran away from them. This 
 same Xerxes was defeated by the Athenians in a sea fight 
 in a narrow strait, and when terrified about his shipping 
 stationed in the Hellespont, fled in a single boat. And 
 notwithstanding all this, returned the King, he burnt 
 Athens with his own hands. For which, replied Apollo- 
 nius, he suffered more than ever man did, in being 
 obliged to fly from those whom he thought to have utterly 
 destroyed. For my own part, when 1 consider Xerxes in 
 the elevated character in which he undertook the expedi- 
 tion, I cannot help thinking he might have been deservedly 
 considered by some as Jupiter; but in his flight, alas, 
 how changed, of all men the most miserable. For 
 
 * The necessity Apollonius is under of making use of an inter- 
 preter, is no very convincing proof of his knowing languages. 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 had he fallen by the hands of the Greeks, who would 
 have been more celebrated ? For whom would have been 
 erected a more noble monument ? What military games 
 and musical entertainments would not have been exhi- 
 bited to his honor ? If Melicerta,* or Palemon, and 
 Pelops, a stranger from Lydia, of whom the former died 
 when young, and the latter not till after he reduced Arcadia 
 and Argolis, and the country within the Isthmus : if I say 
 they were honored by the Greeks as Gods, what would 
 not have been done for Xerxes by men who naturally 
 love virtue, and consider the praise bestowed on the 
 vanquished, as the best reward that can accrue to the con- 
 querors. 
 
 CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 WHILST Apollonius was speaking in this manner, the 
 King burst into tears, and cried out, what a people are 
 those Greek whom you talk of? And how comes it to 
 pass then, said Apollonius, that you treat them with such 
 contempt ? Because, stranger, said the King, the Egyp- 
 tians, who call themselves alone wise and religious, abuse 
 them whenever they come here, and say, that all the rites 
 and ceremonies of religion, which are in esteem amongst 
 the Greeks, were discovered by them : and to this they 
 add, that they are destitute of all real knowledge, that 
 they are insolent, factious, and turbulent ; liars also, and 
 fond of the marvellous, and pitiful traders, who make a 
 display of their poverty, not as a matter of honest praise, 
 
 * The story of Ino, and ber two sons, Learchus, and Melicerta, is 
 well known. OvidMetom: b. iv. Melicerta is called by the Greeks 
 Palemon, though from the text a difference might be supposed, which 
 says, if the Melicertas, and Palemons, &c. Some think that the Isth- 
 mian games were instituted in honor of Melicerta. 
 
163 
 
 but as a pretence to excuse their piratical disposition. 
 But, since I now learn from you that they are the friends 
 of honor and virtue, I am henceforth their friend, and 
 will give them my support with a permission of being so- 
 licited in their behalf in all that can do them good. As 
 to the Egyptians, I will for the future regard them with 
 some diffidence. Whereupon, Iarchas observed, I know, 
 O King ! that your ears were poisoned by the Egyptians, 
 but I declined to speak in their favor till you found such 
 an advocate for them as Apollonius. But now having 
 come to the knowledge of better things by means of such 
 a wise man, let us drink the cup of friendship appointed 
 by Tantalus, and go to rest in order that we may perform 
 whatever is necessary to be done during the night. When- 
 ever hereafter, O King ! you are pleased to visit us, I 
 shall be happy to communicate to you all I know of the 
 learning of the Greeks, which is so general over the world. 
 Saying this, Iarchas began his initiation by drinking to his 
 guests of that cup which was enough to satisfy all the 
 world, it yielding plentifully a liquor which flowed from 
 it, as if from a perennial spring. Apollonius joined in 
 this cup of amity, because the custom of drinking in fel- 
 lowship was found out by the Indians to strengthen the 
 bonds of friendship, wherein Tantalus was constituted 
 cup-bearer, as one, who above all men, cultivated friendly 
 intercourse. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 AFTER drinking to friendship, they laid themselves down 
 on the couches the earth afforded. At mid-night the 
 sages rose and celebrated with hymns the solar ray in the 
 same elevated position they did at mid-day: and afterwards 
 attended to what business the King required. Damis says, 
 Apollonius did not assist at all conferences which took 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 place between the King and the wise men, but thinks he 
 communicated with them, as to some secrets of govern- 
 ment. On the approach of day, when the sacrifices were 
 finished, the King addressed Apollonius, and invited him 
 to his court, that he might share with him in the rights of 
 hospitality, at the same time saying, he hoped he would 
 send him back to the Greeks an object of envy to them. 
 Apollonius was pleased with this civility, and thanked him 
 for his kindness ; but begged to decline the honor, from an 
 apprehension of forming a connexion with a man so dif- 
 ferent from himself; and besides, he thought his long ab- 
 sence from home might make his friends suppose they 
 were neglected by him. The King, however, persevered, 
 and pressed his invitation even to meanness ; whereupon, 
 Apollonius remarked, that a prince is always to be sus- 
 pected of some sinister purpose, whenever he urges a re- 
 quest in terms not befitting his rank and dignity. On this, 
 Iarchas came forward, and said, you treat, O King ! with 
 some disrespect our holy asylum, in endeavouring to with- 
 draw from it a person in spite of himself. For as he is 
 conversant with the secrets of futurity, he knows any 
 further intercourse with you will not benefit him, and 
 perhaps not you. When the King heard this, he returned 
 to his village, as the rules of the sages did not permit him 
 to remain more than one day with them. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 THEN Iarchas desired a messenger to go and invite 
 Damis to attend, a man esteemed every way fit to be ini- 
 tiated in the arcana of our mysteries ; and let the messen- 
 ger see that proper attention be paid to his friends who 
 remain at the village. As soon as Damis arrived, the 
 sages having taken their seats as usual, gave Apollonius 
 permission to ask whatever questions he pleased. His first 
 
165 
 
 question was, of what materials the world was made r* and 
 the answer he received from them was, that it was made 
 of elements. What, said Apollonius, of four elements? 
 No : not of four, said 1 arenas, but of five. And what, 
 said Apollonius, after water, air, earth, and fire, do you 
 consider as a fifth element ? Ether, said the Indian, from 
 which it is supposed the Gods have their origin : for what- 
 ever things breathe air/f- are mortal, but whatever breathe 
 ether, are immortal and divine. Apollonius next inquired 
 what element first existed? Iarchas answered, they all 
 existed together, and were coeval ; for an animal is not 
 produced by parts. What, said Apollonius, am I to coiv 
 sider the world as an animal ? Yes, said Iarchas,' if you 
 consider it rightly : for it produces all living things. Shall 
 we then say it is of the feminine sex, or of both, the 
 feminine and masculine ? Of both, said Iarchas, for by 
 an act of self-coalescence it performs the functions of 
 both father and mother in the generation of animals,^ and 
 is more ardently fond of itself, than other animals are of 
 
 * Pythagoras first called the world Ko^o? from its order and 
 beauty. 
 
 t The air, according to Pythagoras, which is diffused about the 
 earth, is unmoved and unwholesome, and all things that are in it are 
 mortal ; but the air which is above is perpetually iu motion, and pure, 
 and healthful, and all that are in it are immortal, and consequently 
 divine. This is called — TJie free Ether, (immediately above the moon) 
 ether, as being void of matter, and an eternal body ; free, as not being 
 obnoxious to material disturbances. Hence it follows, that the sun, 
 moon, and the rest of the stars, according to Pythagoras, are Gods — 
 and as the sun is the principal object of eastern worship, we may sup- 
 pose the doctrine was derived by him from the Indians. Besides, the 
 sun, and the other planets, as being Gods, were considered from time 
 immemorial as objects of divine worship in almost all parts of the 
 world. 
 
 t Progenitor genetrixque Deum, Dcus unus et omnis. So says 
 Valerius Soranus, a Latin poet who lived in the time of Julius Caesar, 
 in speaking of Jupiter. 
 
166 
 
 each other, inasmuch as it unites to, and coalesces with 
 itself, which coalescing self-union implies no absurdity. 
 And as it is the part of an animal to move itself by the 
 means of hands and feet ; and as it also possesses a mind 
 capable of exciting it to action, in the same manner we 
 are to suppose the parts of the world by the assistance of the 
 mind, capable of accommodating itself to all its different 
 productions. Even the calamities which arise from the sun's 
 excessive heat, are all under the influence of the directing 
 soul of the world, and never take place except when justice 
 is banished from among men. But this animal is directed 
 not by one hand, but many, which are not to be expressed ; 
 and though from its magnitude it cannot be managed by 
 means of a bridle, yet is easily ruled and made obedient. 
 
 . CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 I AM at a loss to know what image will best elucidate 
 the above observation, which is of the highest concern, and 
 far beyond my conception. Let us for instance borrow 
 our image from that kind of ship which the Egyptians of 
 old used to build, and navigate in our seas, for the pur- 
 pose of exchanging the merchandise of Egypt for that 
 of India. There is still existing with us an ancient law 
 respecting the Red Sea, # which was passed by King 
 
 * The original Erythrean, or what is erroneously called the Red 
 Sea, was that part of the Indian ocean which washes Arabia and 
 Persia, and extends, I believe, as far as the coast of Malabar. Hence 
 it is, Herodotus says, that the Euphrates and Tigris, fall into the 
 Mare Erythrajum. So that in fact the Sinus Persicus, and the Sinus 
 Arabicus, the latter of which is now alone denominated the Red Sea, 
 were only two branches of the original Erythrfzum Mare. The name 
 Erythraeum I suppose is of Indian origin, but which the Greeks erro- 
 neously 
 
167 
 
 Erythras when he was master of it, saying " Let not the 
 Egyptians enter our sea in a ship of war, but let them 
 come with one merchant-man only." In consequence of 
 this prohibition, the Egyptians most ingeniously contrived a 
 vessel which answered the purposes of many used by other 
 nations. In the construction of this vessel, they observed 
 the exact proportions employed in ship-building, but took 
 care to have its sides enlarged, and the mast elevated. 
 They formed several rooms within, like as are found in 
 ships of many decks. There were on board divers pilots, 
 all under the controul of one respected for his age and ex- 
 pedience . At the prow 7 sat many directors, and a variety 
 of hands were employed of great skill and dexterity to 
 manage the sails. Part of the crew were armed, for it 
 was found necessary to be prepared in case of an attack 
 from the Corsairs who lay to the right of the bay, and in- 
 fested its entrance. Now such is the opinion should be 
 formed of this world, when we consider it under the 
 image of a ship. The chief, and most conspicuous place 
 is to be assigned to God, the creator of the animal,* and 
 the next under him to the Deities who govern in its 
 several parts. And herein we give full assent to what the 
 poets say, when they tell us that there are many Gods in 
 heaven, and in the sea, and in the springs, and rivers, and 
 likewise in the earth and under the earth. But that place 
 under the earth, if such a place exists, which is described 
 
 neously derived from gpyflpo?, which the Romans translated ruber, red. 
 The prohibition in the text of King Erythras not suffering any ship of 
 war to enter his sea, is curious, and I am surprised the reason of it 
 has escaped the searches of the late oriental writers. 
 
 * In the mundane system of the Indians and Pythagoreans, the Sun 
 holds the highest place ; under him are Mercury and Venus, and our 
 globe, and under it are its shadow, and Mars and Saturn more remote, 
 which are called wnoywj or vnoyoaa. y under the earth. 
 
V 
 
 168 
 
 as dreary and gloomy,* let us separate from our idea of 
 the world.f 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 WHILST the Indian was thus speaking, Damis owns he 
 was so much delighted, that he could not keep silent : for he 
 was not able to comprehend how an Indian, though he 
 had learnt the Greek tongue, could have acquired the fa- 
 cility of speaking it so fluently and correctly. He com- 
 mends the cheerful dignified air with which he uttered 
 doctrines like one under a divine influence. Damis adds, 
 that Apollonius, who spoke with such mildness and mo- 
 desty, acquired so much the manner of the Indian, that 
 whenever he spoke sitting (which was his constant custom) 
 he greatly resembled Iarchas. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 THE rest of the Sages expressed their approbation of 
 what was said in the same language. Whereupon Apol- 
 louius asked which was greater, the earth or the sea? 
 To this Iarchas said, if we compare the earth with the 
 
 * Let us separate what is dark, and dreary, and horrid, from that 
 world called xoo-^s?, which is the source of order, and beauty, and 
 delight. 
 
 t In the above description, Cudworth admits we have a true repre- 
 sentation of the old paganic theology, which both Indians, and 
 Egyptians, and European poets (Greek and Latin) all agree in : that 
 there is one supreme God the maker of the universe, and under him 
 many inferior generated Gods, or understanding beings (superior to 
 man) appointed to govern and preside over the several parts thereof, 
 who were also to be religiously honored and worshipped by men. 
 
sea, we must allow the former to be the greater, as it con- 
 tains the sea. But if we take into consideration every ex- 
 isting fluid, we shall say the earth is the lesser body, inas- 
 much as it is sustained by water.* 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 IN the midst of this conversation a messenger arrived, in- 
 troducing to the sages some Indians who implored their 
 assistance. Among them was a woman who came to inter- 
 cede for her son, a youth about sixteen years of age, who 
 for the last two years was possessed of a lying wicked 
 demon. One of the sages asked on what grounds she 
 said this ? Because, replied she, a demon has fallen in 
 love with him for his beauty, who suffers him not to enjoy 
 any freedom of will, nor to go to school, nor shoot his 
 bow, nor even stay at home, but drags him abroad into 
 lonely and desert places. Besides, said she, he no longer 
 retains his natural voice, but speaks like a man, and sees 
 objects with eyes very different from his own. This is the 
 cause why I weep and tear my bosom, and endeavour all 
 I can to have him restored to his right mind, but alas ! he 
 knows me not. At the same time I must tell you that, 
 when once I had made up my mind to come to you, which 
 is now more than a year, the demon confessed by the 
 mouth of my boy, as his interpreter, who he was. He 
 owned himself to be the ghost of a man who had fallen 
 long ago in battle, and who had been extremely fond of 
 
 * This is agreeable to holy scripture, which says, " To him that 
 stretched out the earth above the waters" — il and the earth standing 
 out of the water, and in the water." 
 
 That water was the primitive element, and first work of the crea- 
 tive power, is the uniform opinion of the Indian philosophers. 
 
 Sir W. Jones. 
 
170- 
 
 his wife : but, that when he understood she had violated 
 his marriage bed, and wedded another man only three 
 days after his death ; his love for the sex turned to hatred, 
 and all his affections passed to this boy. At last the de- 
 mon promised, on the conditions of my making no com- 
 plaint to you, that he would do my son much good. I 
 suffered myself to be tempted by his promises ; but he has 
 now long deceived me, and has got possession of my house, 
 which he keeps without one sentiment of truth or honor. 
 Here one of the sages asked if the boy was at hand ? 
 His mother said he was not, for the demon did all he 
 could to prevent his coming : for precipices and antres 
 dire, and death itself, were held out by way of threats, 
 should I bring this matter before your tribunal. Take 
 courage, woman, said the wise man, for as soon as he 
 has read this letter, he will harm you not, and with these 
 words, he took one from his bosom, # and gave it to the 
 woman, which was written to the spectre, containing many 
 things, enough not only to alarm, but terrify him.f 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 WHEN the woman was gone, a lame man approached, 
 who was about thirty years of age, who had been a 
 desperate hunter of lions. In an encounter with one of 
 these animals, his hip-bone was dislocated, by which he 
 had one foot shorter than the other. The moment the 
 
 * This is another proof, added to the one mentioned in the 17th 
 chapter, that the Brachmans did not go naked ; the letter in his bosom 
 must have been concealed under some covering. 
 
 t But whether the demon w#s expelled from the youth, we do 
 not find that either Apollohiu^ or Damis ever inquired ; and wise 
 they were in so doing, for thqv would only have had their labour for 
 their pains. 
 
171 
 
 sage touched the part affected with his hand, the man re- 
 covered the use of his limb, and walked upright. Ano- 
 ther man who was blind, departed after his sight was 
 restored to him. Another who had lost the use of his 
 hand went away as soon as it was cured. A woman who 
 had had seven difficult labors, was thus cured at the inter- 
 cession of her husband. He was ordered when his wife 
 was in the act of labor to enter the room with a live hare 
 concealed in his bosom,* and to go round the bed where 
 she lay ; and at the very instant of her being delivered, to 
 let go the hare ; for he was told if the hare was not let 
 loose at the moment of birth, the matrix would come 
 away with the child.f 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 TO a father w ho came complaining of his children all dying 
 as soon as they tasted wine, Iarchas said, it is better they 
 died, for had they not, they must all have been mad, con- 
 sidering the warmth of their natural constitutions. There- 
 
 * Though every country has certain superstitions peculiar to itself, 
 it is something extraordinary that there should be such a similarity in 
 the follies of two such distant ones, as appears from what is mentioned 
 in the text, compared with the following instances: — 
 
 The womb or matrix of a hare pulverised, and ab nt an ounce of it 
 drank in a glass of tent, causes conception. — The eyes drawn entire 
 out of the head of a hare taken in March, ar.d dried with pepper, one 
 of these being so tied to the belly, that the sight of the eye may touch 
 it, this will foci itate labor in women. 
 
 See Kcogfis Zoolngia Medicintdes Hibernica, Dublin, 1739. 
 
 t And if the child had had a hare-lip when it came into the world, 
 who would have been surprised? 
 
 Ces extravagances, says Du Pin, et quantite dautrcs que Philostrate 
 rapporte sur lafoi de Dami$ } font asses connoitre ce qu' on doit penser de cet 
 outrage. 
 
172 
 
 fore I think your children should so abstain from wine, 
 as not to be even affected by the desire of it. And if 
 hereafter you happen to have a child, (by the way I see 
 you have had one within the last week) you should first 
 observe where the owl builds her nest, then rob it of its 
 eggs, and make your child eat of them after being gently 
 boiled. For if he eats of them before he tastes wine, 
 he will loath that liquor, and become the most moderate 
 of men, possessed only of that temperature of constitu- 
 tion which is natural to him. Apollonius and Damis, full 
 of all they saw and heard, and amazed at their superior 
 knowledge,* asked many questions, and were asked many 
 in their turns.f 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 
 
 IN all conferences which Were merely dialectical, Apol- 
 lonius and Damis both assisted. But Damis says, Apollo- 
 nius was only admitted by Iarchas to the discussion of the 
 mysteries of astrology, and divination, and futurity, and 
 sacrifices, and evocations, in which the Gods take pleasure. 
 From what he learnt among them, he composed four 
 books on astrology, of which Meragenes has made men- 
 tion. He wrote also a treatise on sacrifices, in which the 
 most proper way of sacrificing to each of the Gods was 
 set down. For my part I think the science of astrology, 
 and the art of divination, are above human capacity, and 
 I am doubtful whether they are possessed by any one. 
 His treatise on sacrifices I have met with in many temples, 
 cities, and houses of the learned. But who can explain 
 
 * After reading the above, I think we might say with Dromio, in the 
 Comedy of Errors (a name most suitable to the subject) " We talk with 
 goblins, owls, and elvish sprights." 
 
 t Displayed in this learned dissertation on owls eggs. 
 
J 73 
 
 with becoming eloquence and truth a work composed by 
 such a man.* Damis adds, that Iarchas gave Apollonius 
 seven rings, each bearing the name of one of the seven 
 stars, and that he wore them alternately according to the 
 particular name of the day.-j- 
 
 CHAP. XLII. 
 
 THE discourse between Iarchas and Apollonius some- 
 times fell upon foreknowledge, a subject to which, as the 
 laUer was greatly addicted, gave often rise to much con- 
 versation. Iarchas praised him for it, and said, they who 
 take pleasure in the art of divination, O most excellent 
 Apollonius, become by it divine and useful to mankind. 
 For he who possesses within himself the power of fore- 
 knowledge, and is capable by it of instructing the ignorant, 
 in what can only be acquired by having recourse to the 
 oracle itself, I consider him most happy, and equal to the 
 
 * On this occasion Du Pin cries out, " Voila la fruit du grand et 
 penible voyage D'Apollone : Voila toute la science qu' il rapporta de 
 ce pais ; c'est k dire, qu' il en revint plus idolatre, plus superstitieux, 
 plus extravagant qu' il n' y etoit alle." 
 
 t The learned Asiatics, in their mysterious rites, allotted to the seven 
 terrestrial metals the same names by which they denominated the seven 
 stars or planets, and the same hieroglyphic characters at this day 
 equally distinguish both — in the passage before us — the ring of gold, a 
 proper emblem of the sun, was worn on Sunday — the ring of silver, 
 an emblem of the moon, on Monday — the ring of iron on Tuesday — ■ 
 the ring of quicksilver on Wednesday — the ring of tin on Thursday — 
 that of brass on Friday — and lastly, that of lead on Saturday.— Dies So- 
 ils, dies Lunae, dies Martis, dies Mercurii, dies Jovis, dies Veneris— dies 
 Saturni. — Spence in his Polymetis, speaks of these seven rings of 
 Apollonius as a matter of great curiosity, which he used to wear, each 
 one day every week, according to the particular planet that gave its 
 name to the day. To this time the Arabians continue to call Apollo- 
 nius Thelesmatiki, on account of his knowledge in the talismanic 
 tut. 
 
174 
 
 Delphic God. You know the art of divination enjoins 
 all who consult the oracle to approach with pure hearts, 
 otherwise to depart from it. For my part I think that 
 he who wishes to learn the secrets of futurity, should keep 
 himself pure, and free from all mental stain and turpitude 
 whatever ; and it is my opinion that a man of this charac- 
 ter will utter predictions which he himself and the tripod 
 within his own breast will clearly understand : and that the 
 oracles which he delivers will, on account of the purity of 
 his life, be the more to be relied on. Hence it is not 
 surprising you should possess this kind of knowledge, whose, 
 soul is filled with such a portion of the divine ether. 
 
 CHAP. XLTII. 
 
 TARCHAS at this time willing to have some amusement 
 with Damis, says, And have you, O Assyrian ! acquired 
 no knowledge of futurity ? you, who have been so long a 
 disciple of such a man ? By Jupiter, replied Damis, I 
 just foreknow what is sufficient for my own use: for, from 
 the time I first got acquainted with Apollonius, I thought 
 him a man of great wisdom, gravity, prudence, and mo- 
 deration, but when added to these virtues, I found him 
 possessed of memory, great learning, and an ardent zeal 
 for all knowledge, I looked on him as some demon. By 
 conversing with him, J became wise from foolish ; and 
 civilized from being a barbarian. By following him I be- 
 came known to the Indians and you ; and by keeping 
 company with Greeks, I became a Greek by his assistance. 
 The knowledge you have of such momentous matters as 
 futurity, &c. may be considered as equal to what proceeds 
 from Delphi, Dodona, or any other given oracle. But as 
 to what knowledge I possess of such things (for you see, 
 poor Damis foresees and foreknows only for himself) it 
 
175 
 
 may be all set down, as that of some old sorceress, utter- 
 ing predictions about stray cattle, or some such other 
 tilings : when he said this the sages laughed . . . 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. 
 
 WHEN they had done laughing, Iarchas continued the 
 conversation on the subject of divination, and said, it 
 had rendered great benefit to mankiud, of which the 
 greatest was the knowledge of medicine. For the learn- 
 ed sous of Esculapius could never have known their 
 profession so well, had not Esculapius, who was the 
 son of Apollo, in obedience to his father's sayings and 
 predictions, prepared the medicines most proper for 
 curing each disease. These remedies he shewed his 
 children, and taught his scholars what simples were 
 best to be applied to every species of ulcers, whether 
 new . or old. But the exact proportions of medical po- 
 tions, by which dropsies are removed, fluxes of blood 
 stopped, consumptions and other internal complaints 
 abated, together with the fittest medicines to be applied 
 in case of persons poisoned, and the mode of converting 
 the poisons themselves to the cure of diseases, who, I 
 say, will deprive divination of such discoveries ? for I do 
 not think that mortals without some knowledge of futurity 
 would have had courage enough to use the most danger- 
 ous poisons in the curing of distempers. 
 
 CHAP. XLV. 
 
 THE conversations which they had concerning the wild 
 beasts, and fountains, and the men, said by the Greeks to 
 be found in India, as being referred to by Damis in his 
 epistles, I think should not be omitted in this place. The 
 natural conclusion from such accounts is, that full credit 
 
176 
 
 is neither to be given to, nor withheld from them. Da- 
 mis says, Apollonius asked if they had among them the 
 martichora ?* What, said Iarchas, have you heard of that 
 animal ? for if you have, it is probable you have heard 
 something extraordinary of its figure. Great and wonder- 
 ful are the things I have heard of it, replied Apollonius. It 
 is of the number of quadrupeds, has a head like a man's, is 
 as large as a lion, with a tail from which bristles grow, of 
 the length of a cubit, all as sharp as prickles, which it 
 shoots forth like so many arrows against its pursuers.-j- 
 Apollonius then inquired about the golden water,J men- 
 tioned as flowing from certain springs,§ of a stone which 
 possesses the qualities of the magnet, of the men who 
 live under ground,|| of the pygmies,** and also of the 
 sciapodes.ff Upon this, Iarchas said, it is useless to 
 speak to you, Apollonius, of the animals, or plants, or 
 fountains, which you have seen in your journey hither, for 
 it is your business to mention them to others': but as to 
 the arrow-shooting wild beast.ffl* and the fountain of gol- 
 
 * For a particular description of the martichora or mantichora, as 
 Pliny calls it, see his Nat. History, b. viii. c. 21. — where, I believe, it 
 is only to be found. — Tyson says it is to be met with among the won- 
 derful productions of Ctesias. 
 
 t This corresponds with the fabulous accounts given of the porcu- 
 pine. Quill-darting porcupine, is the epithet of Pope. 
 
 % There is an account in Ctesias of the golden water. 
 
 § See next chapter. 
 
 || Olearius supposes them to be the Cynocephali of Ctesias, who 
 have no houses, but dwell in caves. Buffon says they are a species of 
 apes, having long muzzles like dogs. 
 
 ** Pigmies hereafter. 
 
 tt Sciapodes are so called, says Pliny, because in the scorching heat 
 of summer they lie on their backs, and defend themselves from the 
 sun's rays by the shadow made with their feet. 
 
 $$t The arrow-shooting wild beast must be the quill-darting porcu- 
 pine, and the golden water must have given rise to the story of the 
 yellow golden water mentioned in the Arabian Nights' Entertainment, 
 
 of 
 
177 
 
 den water, I have never even heard of them in this 
 country. 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. 
 
 WE have no reason to doubt the existence of the stone 
 which attracts others,* for you may see it and admire its 
 virtues. The largest is about the size of a mau's thumb- 
 nail, and is generated in the cavities of the earth about 
 four paces below the surface. It possesses the hidden 
 virtue of causing the ground to swell, and sometimes to 
 open in the place where it is produced. No one is per- 
 mitted to search for it, and the reason is, because it is ac- 
 quired only by art. By the performance of certain rites, 
 and utterance of certain words, the pantarba (the name of 
 the stone) is found. By night it gives a light like that of 
 fire, which is of a radiant shining quality, but when seen 
 by day, it dazzles the eyes with a thousand glittering rays. 
 This light contains within it a subtile spirit of ineffable 
 power, which attracts whatever is near it : but why do I 
 say near it ? Cast as many stones as you please into the 
 sea, or any running stream, I don't mean all together; 
 but scattered as chance directs, this gem, or stone, im- 
 mersed where they lie, will draw them all to itself by the 
 
 of which a single pot being brought in a proper vessel, and poured into 
 a large bason made for it in any garden, it fills immediately, and forms 
 a fountain, which continually plays, and yet never overflows the ba- 
 son. The yellotc water was one of the three things which the i rincess 
 Parizade was so desirous to learn from the old devotee — the oUier two 
 were the talking bird, and the singing tree. 
 
 • No stone better corresponds, I think, with the oue mentioned in 
 the text, than that of the magnet, the virtues of which were not 
 wholly unknown to the ancients, though the account given of it by our 
 author, is more the child of poetry than history. 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 influence of this spirit, and make them form into a cluster 
 like a swarm of bees. When Iarchas said this, he shewed 
 the stone, and what it could do. 
 
 CHAP. XLVII. % 
 
 IARCHAS proceeded, and told them of the pygmies* 
 dwelling under the earth on the other side of the Ganges, 
 and of their living in the way generally ascribed to them ; 
 but as to what is said by Scylaxf in his history of the 
 Sciapodes and the Macrocephali ;J I believe they neither 
 exist in India, nor any other place in the world. 
 
 CHAP. XLVIII. 
 
 THE gold said to be dug out of the earth by the griffons,^ 
 is found in stones, which are sprinkled all over with drops 
 of gold, that shine like so many sparks of fire, these 
 
 * A race of little men, says Aristotle, mounted on small horses, and 
 who live in caves. — Pliny places the country of the Pygmies among 
 the remotest mountains of India beyond the fountains of the Ganges. — 
 His story of the whole nation descending in the spring, and consuming 
 the eggs and young of the cranes, contains important facts, though 
 obscured by exaggeration, and concealed under the veil of allegory. — 
 It is a well-known fact that the apes, which rove in large bodies in 
 Africa and India, wage continual war with the cranes; on which are 
 founded all the stories of the one nation warring with the other. 
 
 Bcffon. 
 
 t Scylax, a geographer and mathematician in the age of Darius, son 
 of Hystaspes, about 550 years before Christ. He was commissioned 
 by Darius to make discoveries in the east, and after a journey of 30 
 months, he visited Egypt. — The latest edition of the Periplus of Scylax 
 is that of Grouovius — 4to. Lempkiere. 
 
 $ There is no author except Philostratus, who speaks of a people 
 called Macrocephali — long-headed, as living in India, though some of 
 the race are to be found in all parts of the world. 
 
 § Herodotus speaks of the griffons, as guardians of the gold. 
 
 I 
 
179 
 
 stones they break in pieces with their beaks. The griffons 
 found in India are held sacred to the sun, who is alwavs 
 painted in a chariot drawn by four of them.* These ani- 
 mals are as strong aud large as lions, against whom they 
 carry on successful war by the assistance of their wings ; 
 and it is added, they sometimes overcome the elephant and 
 dragon in battle. They never rise to a great height in fly- 
 ing, being not able to surpass in velocity the most sluggish 
 bird. They have not such feathers as other birds, but the 
 pinions of their wings are fastened by a red membrane, 
 which enables them to fly a little, wheel about, and fight 
 off the ground. The tiger is the only animal not to be 
 conquered by them, and the reason is, that his swiftness 
 is equal to that of the winds. 
 
 CHAP. XLIX. 
 
 THE bird named the phenix, visits Egypt every five hun- 
 dred years,f during which time it is said to fly all over In- 
 dia. There is never but one ; and it emits rays of the 
 color of gold, and resembles in size and shape the eagle. 
 It sits on its nest, which it makes for itself with spices 
 near the fountains of the Nile. What the Egyptians say 
 of its coming into their country, is said also by the Indians, 
 with this added, that w hilst it is burning itself in its nest, 
 
 * Not always — for in the second book he is represented at Taxila as 
 drawn by four horses. Sir William Jones says, the Indian poets and 
 painters describe his car as drawn by seven green horses. 
 
 t The story of the phenix, even in the time of Tacitus, was interest- 
 ing, and at this day curiosity is gratified with the particulars of so 
 celebrated a fiction. 
 
 I suppose it is of Indian origin, under which is veiled some curious 
 allegory. 
 
 N 2 
 
ISO 
 
 it sings a farewel dirge. They who have paid.most atten- 
 tion to swans,* say as much of them. 
 
 CHAP. L. 
 
 SUCH were the conversations Apollonius held with the 
 sages, in whose company he spent four months, during 
 which he acquired whatever knowledge they had fit for 
 public, or private use. When he determined on going 
 away, they advised him to dismiss his guide and camels 
 with a civil letter to Phraotes. Afterwards they supplied 
 him with another guide, and other camels, and accompa- 
 nied him part of the way, congratulating both him and 
 themselves on the pleasure they had in each other's com- 
 pany. When taking leave of him, they assured him he 
 would be considered as a God, not only after his death, 
 but during his life. They then returned to their college, 
 after casting many looks behind, and expressing much sor- 
 row at his departure. Apollonius, meanwhile, proceeded 
 on his journey ,f with the Ganges on his right, and the 
 
 * The swan, says Buffon, chants not its approaching end ; but in 
 speaking of the last flight, the expiring effort of a fine genius, we shall 
 ever, with tender melancholy recal the classical and pathetic expres- 
 sion, " it is the song of the swart." — Cicero in his account of the death 
 of Crassus the orator, alludes to the dying notes of the swan in these 
 words, " ilia tamquam cycnea fuit divini hominis vox & oratio ; quam 
 quasi exspectantes, post ejus interitum, veniebamus in curiam, ut 
 vestigium illud ipsum, in quo ille postremum institisset, contucremur." 
 Then after mentioning the disorder, of which he died, how just and 
 affecting are his reflections, " O fallacem hominum spem, fragilemque 
 fortunam, inanes nostras contentiones ; quae in medio spatio saepe 
 franguntur & corruunt, aut ante in ipso cursu abruuntur quam por- 
 tum conspicere potuerunt." 
 
 t His journey must have been to the south — and in that case he must 
 have had the Ganges to the left, and the Hyphasis to the right. 
 
181 
 
 Hyphasis on his left ; and in the space of ten days from 
 leaving the holy mount, arrived at the sea. — In descending 
 towards it, they saw on their way numbers of ostritches 
 and wild oxen, and asses, and lions, and pards, and 
 tigers, and a kind of apes not found among the pepper- 
 trees, for what they saw here were black, with shaggy 
 hair shaped like dogs,* and had the appearance of little 
 men. Whilst our travellers amused themselves in talking 
 of what they had seen, ihey reached the sea-side, where 
 were built several small emporiums, with docks annexed to 
 each, wherein were laid up vessels of the transport-kind, like 
 what are used in the Tyrrhenian sea. The Erythrean 
 seaf appeared of a deep blue color, called so from King 
 Erythras, who had the dominion of it. 
 
 CHAP. LI. 
 
 ON coming here, Apollonius sent back his camels to 
 Iarchas with the following letter. 
 
 " Apollonius to Iarchas and the other sages — health. 
 
 " I came to you by land : you have given me the sea. 
 In communicating to me your wisdom, you have opened 
 the road to Heaven : I will remember this among the 
 Greeks, I will continue to enjoy your conversation as if 
 still with you, if I have not drank of the cup of Tantalus 
 in vain. Farewel excellent philosophers." 
 
 CHAP. Lit 
 
 IN this place Apollonius took shipping, and whilst carried 
 along with propitious gales, admired the mouth of the 
 
 * Cynocephali. 
 
 t A further proof of the Erythrean sea, extending as far as the 
 mouth of the Indus. 
 
182 
 
 Hyphasis and the impetuosity with which it discharged 
 itself into the sea. It has been observed before, that this 
 river winded its course through a country full of rocks, 
 narrows, and precipices ; and afterwards emptied itself by 
 one mouth into the sea, where it makes a navigation dan- 
 gerous to all vessels that come too near the land.* 
 
 CHAP. LIII. 
 
 OUR travellers say they saw the mouths of the Indus, 
 where Patala is situate, f a town encompassed by its wa- 
 ters. This is the place where the fleet of Alexander 
 moored under the command of Nearchus, a man not 
 unskilled in naval tactics. Damis has confirmed every 
 thing said by OrthagorasJ concerning the Erythrean sea, 
 first, that the constellation of the bear^ is not seen in it, 
 secondly, that the sailors cast no shadow at mid-day, and 
 thirdly and lastly, that the stars visible in it, observe an 
 order different from what they do in other skies : and the truth 
 of these celestial phenomena were not doubted byany one.|| 
 
 * Here is a great geographical error. — The Hyphasis^ which formed 
 the boundary of Alexander's conquests, falls into the Indus on the 
 east side at several hundred miles from the sea. — Therefore what Phi- 
 lostratus calls the mouth of the Hyphasis, was that of the Indus. 
 
 t Patala, a town which gives the name of Patalene to an island 
 formed by the two branches of the Indus, through which it discharges 
 itself into the sea. Pliny places this island within the torrid zone. 
 
 $ Orthagoras, a writer frequently mentioned by iElian in his history 
 of animals — he wrote a treatise on India in nine books, and is supposed 
 to have been a companion with Onesicritus in his voyages. 
 
 $ Here is an astronomical error, which might have arisen from Phi- 
 lostratus thinking with Pliny, that Patala was in the torrid zone, but 
 the fact is, it is not even within the tropic — therefore the bear must 
 have been visible. 
 
 || This is what Arrian says in his Indian history as illustrative of the 
 ebservation in the text. — Nearchus assures us, that during his voyage 
 
 along 
 
 
183 
 
 A small island called Byblos,* was noticed by them, ] 
 where they saw muscles, and oysters, and a variety of 
 other shell-fish growing upon the rocks, ten times larger •. 
 than what are found in the Grecian seas. Here they ' 
 found the stone margarita in a white shell, which, it is 
 said, fills up the space of the heart in an oyster. 
 
 CHAP. LIV. 
 
 LEAVING the Indus, they touched at Pagala,f a town 
 in the country of the Oritae, where the very stones and 
 sand are a composition of brass, in which the rivers also 
 abound. It is believed the soil contains gold, on account 
 of the excellency of the brass. 
 
 CHAP. LV. 
 
 THEY next came to the country of the Icthyophagi,J 
 the capital of which is Stobera,§ whose inhabitants were 
 dressed in the skins of large fishes, of which their cattle 
 
 the coast of India, the shadows fall not the same way as in other parts, 
 for when they sailed far into the ocean towards the south, there the 
 shadows nigh noon-day declined southward ; and when the sun was 
 upon the meridian, they had no shadows at all, the stars also which 
 were used to appear high above the horizon, either appeared not at 
 all, or came but just in sight, and he observed many of them there to 
 rise and set, which always before had been visible. 
 
 * Byblo8— I am persuaded with Olearius, that the genuine reading 
 is Bibacta, from what Arrian says of it.— It is an island of Gedrosia, 
 on which Nearchus landed his men, who whilst they were there, caught 
 oysters of a strange and surprising bigness. 
 
 t Pagala, an island on the coast of the Oritae. Arrian. 
 
 t The account of the Icthyophagi is much the same as that given by 
 Arrian in his Indian history. — Their cattle, he says, have much the 
 same diet as their masters — that is — fish dried, reduced to powder, 
 and mixed with the flower of wheat. 
 
 $ Stobera, the capital, no where to be found. 
 
184 
 
 tasted, from being fed in a very singular way. The shep- 
 herds here fed them with fish, as they do in Caria with 
 figs.* The Indians called Carmanians are polished, and 
 inhabit a sea-coast which abounds with fish, that are not 
 taken to be preserved, nor are they cured with salt, as is 
 practised on the shores of the Pontus : for of what they 
 take, they sell some, and throw the rest i nto the sea 
 whilst alive. 
 
 CHAP. LVI. 
 
 OUR travellers next put into Balara,f a place of some 
 trade, abounding in myrtles and palm trees, in which they 
 say they found the laurel, and plenty of fresh water. The 
 country was well laid out in orchards, and flower-gardens, 
 and had safe harbours. Opposite to it lay the sacred 
 Island called Selera,f inhabited by Nereis, a dreadful 
 Goddess, who carried off every mariner she could seize 
 on, and would suffer no ship to cast anchor near it. 
 
 CHAP. LVII. 
 
 THE account given of another species of the margarita 
 merits attention, as appearing of some importance in the 
 eyes of Apollonius, its formation being curious, and the 
 most wonderful of all marine productions. On the side 
 
 * Caria abounds so much with figs, that when dried, they are put to 
 a great variety of uses. 
 
 t Balara, supposed to be Badis, a well cultivated place of Car- 
 mania, where they found plenty of fruit tree?, and vines, and corn, 
 
 Arrian. 
 
 X Selera must be the Nasala of Arrian, from the description which he 
 gives of it — he says it is sacred to the sun, and that he heard one of the 
 Nereids had made it the place of her residence, &c. 
 
185 
 
 of the island situate towards the main, is an immense gulf, 
 which produces an oyster of a white shell, abounding in 
 fat : for here the island is without any rocks. When the 
 sea is calm, which however the inhabitants can cause 
 themselves by the infusion of a little oil,* an oyster- 
 diver furnished after the manner of a gatherer of sponge, 
 with an iron plinth, and an alabaster box of ointment, 
 takes his post near an oyster bed, and uses his oint- 
 ment for a bait. The moment the oyster opens his 
 mouth he applies the oil, by which the oyster becomes 
 as if intoxicated, he then pricks it with a needle ; this 
 causes it to emit a kind of liquid matter, which is imme- 
 diately caught by the diver in his plinth, that is hol- 
 lowed into a variety of shapes. It soon grows hard as a 
 
 * Or with fine films, suspended o'er the deep, 
 Of oil effusive, lull the waves to sleep. 
 
 Darwin's Botanic Garden. 
 
 When oil is diffused on the surface of waters, gentle hreezes cannot 
 raise waves upon it ; for a small quantity of oil will cover much water, 
 and the wind blowing on this, carries it gradually forwards ; and there 
 being no friction between the two surfaces, the water is not affected. 
 On which account oil has no effect in stilling the agitation of the water 
 after the wind ceases, as was found by the experiments of Dr. Frank- 
 lin. — This circumstance lately brought into notice by Dr. Franklin, 
 had been mentioned by Pliny, and is said to be in use by divers for 
 pearls, who in windy weather take down with them a little oil in their 
 mouths, which they occasionally give out when the inequality of the 
 supernatant waves prevents them from seeing sufficiently distinctly for 
 their purpose. Darwin's Notes. 
 
 Plutarch, in his essay concerning the first principle of cold, says, 
 " oil poured upon the waves, will cause calmness on the sea — not be- 
 cause it is so slippery that the winds can have no power over it, as 
 Aristotle thought, but because the waves will fall and sink, when smit- 
 ten by any moist body. And this also, he adds, is peculiar to oil, that 
 it shines, and shews itself transparent at the bottom of the water, 
 while the watry humors are dispersed by the air." Not having the 
 original, I cannot say whether this translation is as accurate as it 
 should be. Plutarch's Morals, bij several hands, Lond. 1704. 
 
186 
 
 stone, and assumes the appearance of the natural pearl ; 
 and thus you see the celebrated pearl of the Red Sea is 
 nothing but a drop of white indurated blood.* It is said 
 the Arabians of the opposite shore are much addicted to 
 this kind of fishing. All the sea is full of monsters, and 
 whales are seen in troops. Ships navigating the sea, by 
 way of precaution, carry on their sterns and prows little bells, 
 which make a noise, which it is said terrifies these mon- 
 sters, and prevents their coming near ships. 
 
 CHAP. LVIII. 
 
 ENTERING the mouth of the Euphrates, our travel- 
 lers sailed up to Babylon, where they waited on Bardanes, 
 whom they found such as they left him. They then went 
 to Ninus, and from thence proceeded to Autioch, where 
 as usual the citizens were indulging in every species of 
 idle merriment, without leaving any room for those pursuits 
 which are held in such estimation by the Greeks. Near 
 Seleucia they took shipping,*)- and from thence sailed to 
 Cyprus, where landing, they proceeded to Paphos. Here 
 Apollonius saw the symbolical statue of Venus,J which he 
 
 * The Persian Gulf abounds with the pearl fish ; and fisheries are 
 established on the coasts of the several islands in it. The fish in which 
 pearls are usually produced, is the East Indian oyster, as it is com- 
 monly, though not very properly called. 
 
 t Seleucia, a town of Syria, on the sea shore, generally called Pieria, 
 to distinguish it from others of the same name. 
 
 $ The statue of the goddess, says Tacitus, bears no resemblance to 
 the human form.— You see a round figure, broad at the base, but 
 growing fine by degrees, till like a cone, it lessens to a point. — The 
 reason, whatever it be, is not explained. See a longer digression 
 than what is usual with that philosophic historian, on the singular wor- 
 ship paid to the Paphian Goddess. Tacitus, Hist. b. ii. c. 2, 3. 
 
 See 
 
187 
 
 greatly admired, and having instructed the priests of the 
 inner court of the temple in many things, set sail for 
 Ionia amidst the applause and salutations of all who es- 
 teemed and valued wisdom. 
 
 See Montfaucon on the temple of tfee Paphian Venus. Eusebms, 
 after reading this third book of Philostratus observes, that there is 
 nothing so fabulous or incredible in all antiquity as are the relations 
 in it. 
 
188 
 
 BOOK IV.— Contents. 
 
 Apollonius visits Ephesus — Account of the Plague — 
 Goes to Smyrna and Pergamus — Visit to Troy — An 
 Account of his Interview with the Ghost of Achilles 
 — Sails into Greece — Visits Athens, 8fc. — Passes into 
 Crete and from thence to Rome — Nero Emperor — 
 Tigellinus. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 ON his coming into Ionia, he proceeded to Ephesus, 
 where, the moment he appeared, the artisans left their 
 trades, and followed him ; some admiring his wisdom, 
 others his beauty, some his way of living, others his singu- 
 lar dress, and some admired him in every respect whatever. 
 Certain prophecies from the Oracle of Colophon* were 
 spread abroad in his favor, announcing him as a man pos- 
 sessed of some portion of Apollo's wisdom, who was truly 
 wise, &c. Other prophecies of a like nature were re- 
 ported from the temples of Didymef and Pergamus,f 
 
 * Colophon, a town of Ionia in Asia, at a small distance from the 
 sea. Pliny the elder mentions the Oracle of the Clarion Apollo, and 
 the sacred cave, where he, who drank from the spring, was inspired 
 with prophetic fury, but shortened his days. Tacitus says, Germanicus 
 went there to consult the Oracle. 
 
 t Didyme, a place near Miletus, where the Branchidae had their 
 famous oracle. Branchidarum Oraculum, so called from the family of 
 the priests* 
 
 X Pergamus, a town of Mysia, on the banks of Caycus. Here jEscu- 
 lapius had a temple, who was the chief deity of the country. 
 
189 
 
 \Uiereiu all persons who stood in need of assistance were 
 commanded by Apollo to repair to Apollonius, as such 
 was his will, and that of the Fates. Embassadors came 
 from several cities, who offered him the rights of hospi- 
 tality, considering him not only as the guide of their lives, 
 but as the fittest person to advise them in the erecting of 
 altars and statues. These matters he regulated partly by 
 letters and partly by word of mouth, at the same time say- 
 ing he would wait on them. Smyrna sent embassadors, 
 without giving any reason for it, but who urged his coming. 
 When he asked them what was their business, they replied, 
 " To see you> Apollonius, and be seen by you" Then 
 x\pollouius told them, I will come : but, O ye Muses ! 
 grant a mutual affection between us. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 THE first discourse he had with the Ephesians was in the 
 porch of the temple ; not in the Socratic manner of argu- 
 ing, but in that of authority — of turning them at once from 
 their present pursuits, and persuading them to spend their 
 time in study and philosophy, and not in dissipation and 
 cruel sports ; for all people he found immersed in shows, 
 and pantomimes, and Pyrrhic dances ; and all places re- 
 sounded with song, and were tilled with noise and debauch- 
 ery. Though by these remonstrances he alienated from 
 him the minds of the Ephesians, yet he would not wink 
 at their depravity, which he tore up by the roots, and made 
 odious to the people. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 WHAT other discourse he had with the Ephesians passed 
 in the groves near the Xysta. # Once when the conversa- 
 
 * Xysta, were walks uncovered at the top, and intended for exer- 
 cises and recreations during the milder part of the year. 
 
190 * 
 
 tion turned on the community of goods, and the necessity 
 there was of contributing to the mutual support of each 
 other, a number of sparrows chanced to be sitting 4$ hand 
 on a tree in deep silence, one of them suddenly rising, 
 made a noise as if he had something to communicate to the 
 rest, which being understood, made them all set up a 
 chirping and fly away under his guidance. Apollofiius 
 never stopped talking, for be knew well why the sparrows 
 flew away, though he mentioned it not to the people. 
 When he perceived the eyes of all were turned on the birds, 
 and that some were wondering what this prodigy meant, 
 he, changing the discourse, said, a boy fell, and spilt some 
 corn that he was carrying in a fan ; as he gathered up 
 what was on the ground in but a careless manner, he left 
 many grains behind him in a narrow lane, which he parti- 
 cularly mentioned : a sparrow, who saw what passed, in- 
 vited his companions to the unexpected banquet. Most 
 of those who heard this ran to see if what he said was 
 true ; but Apollonius went on, talking to those who re- 
 mained, on the community of goods, which was the sub- 
 ject he began with. When the hearers who had left him 
 returned shouting with joy and amazement, he said to 
 them, You see now what care these sparrows take of each 
 other, and w ith what satisfaction they divide their goods ; 
 a doctrine which is despised by you; for if we see a man 
 who relieves the wants of others, we consider him idle 
 and extravagant; and all those who are fed by his bounty, 
 as little better than flatterers and parasites. What else, 
 then, have we to do, but shut ourselves up at home, like 
 birds to be fattened for use, and indulge our appetites in 
 darkness till we burst with fat. 
 
 CHAP IV. 
 
 SOON after the plague made its way into Ephesus, 
 where it spread far and wide, Apollonius, who was ap- 
 
191 
 
 prised of its coming, gave the inhabitants full warning of 
 it. Sometimes whilst discoursing he would exclaim, " O 
 land, remain as thou art ;" and at other times would speak 
 in threatening language, " Save this people, and thou shalt 
 not pass through here." To all this the Ephesians paid 
 little or no attention, looking on such declarations as the 
 mere effects of fear and superstition, in which they were 
 the more confirmed when they saw him frequenting all the 
 temples, and appearing as if he wished to avert and depre- 
 cate the evil. When he saw the people behaving under 
 such a calamity with their usual levity and imprudence, he 
 thought he had nothing more to do with them ; and there- 
 fore taking his departure, he travelled through the/ other 
 regious of Ionia, redressing every where what wag Wang, 
 and always speaking on those topics most usefr\.V !' 
 hearers. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 WHEN he was drawing near to Smyrna, the Ionians, who 
 were then engaged in the Panionian sacrifice,* came out 
 to meet him. After reading the decree wherein the Ioni- 
 ans requested him to make one in their assembly, he hap- 
 pened to find a name not Ionian (it was that of one Lucul- 
 lus), he wrote a letter to the general council, reproaching 
 them for the barbarism. Besides this name, he found 
 that of one Fabricius, and several others in their decrees, 
 for which he sharply rebuked them, as appears from a let- 
 ter still extant. 
 
 * Panionia, a festival celebrated by a concourse of people from all 
 the cities of Ionia. It was instituted in honor of Neptune, surnamed 
 Heliconius from Helice, a city of Achaia. If the bull offered in sacri- 
 fice happened to bellow, it was accounted an omen of divine favor, be- 
 cause that sound was supposed to be acceptable to Neptune. 
 
192 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 APPEARING next day among the Ionians, he asked 
 what cup was that he saw with them ? They said, it was 
 the cup belonging to the general council. Then taking 
 it in his hands, he drank part of what was in it, and of 
 the remainder making a libation, said, O, ye guardian 
 Deities of the Ionians, grant this fair colony a calm sea 
 and safety from all harm; and grant that JEgeon, the 
 shaker of the earth, may n >t destroy its cities. These 
 words he uttered under a divine impulse, foreseeing, I sup- 
 pose, the calamity which was going to befal Smyrna, Mi- 
 let&s, Chios, Samos, and many others of the Ionian cities.* 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 HE confirmed the love which the people of Smyrna had 
 for letters, and encouraged it, with telling them to place 
 their glory more in themselves than in the beauty of their 
 city. For notwithstanding your city surpasses all cities 
 under the sun in beauty, having the command of the sea, 
 and possessing the fountains of the zephyrs, yet it derives 
 greater honor from being adorned with men than with por- 
 ticos and pictures, or even with more gold than what it 
 has at present. Buildings, we all know, are fixed to the 
 
 * Olearins has entered into a minute chronological inquiry as to the 
 prediction in the text, and the earthquake which followed, and sup- 
 poses Philostratus must have blundered as to the oue in question; and 
 if not, that the prediction must have looked to the earthquake which 
 destroyed Smyrna in the reign of Marcus Aurelian. As to myself, I 
 thiuk no such earthquake happened at all, for history is totally silent as 
 to one affecting all the places in the text. After the dreadful earth- 
 quake in the days of Tiberius, people's fears were so awake, that they 
 were prone to believe any prediction on the occasion 
 
193 
 
 spot on which they are erected, and are to be seen in no 
 other part of the earth ; but good men are seen every 
 where, are celebrated in all parts of the world, and render 
 the city which gave them birth famous on the earth. 
 Cities, beautiful like Smyrna and others, might be com- 
 pared to the statue of Jupiter, made by Phidias in Olym- 
 pia, which remains immoveable where the artist placed it; 
 but men in the act of travelling over the earth might be 
 compared to Jupiter, as represented by Homer under a 
 variety of forms, who is much more admirable than his 
 ivory image by Phidias; for the one appears on the earth 
 only in one place, but the other every where in the hea- 
 vens. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 APOLLONIUS, understanding that the people of 
 Smyrna were given up to idle disputings, and were much 
 divided in their opinions, talked with them like a philoso- 
 pher on the best mode of keeping a city in safety. He 
 said, a well constituted state stood in need of a discordant 
 concord. As this proposition seemed hard to be believed, 
 and not exactly agreeable to the fair deductions of reasoning, 
 and as Apollonius perceived that the majority of his hear- 
 ers did not comprehend what he said, thus proceeded: 
 White and black cannot be one and the same ; what is 
 sweet cannot properly blend with what is bitter ; but con- 
 cord may be discordant for the sake of the many. What 
 I mean is this : a state which requires good education, good 
 laws, and men versed in speaking and acting, should banish 
 sedition, which might lead to civil war. Let an emula- 
 tion prevail for the common good ; let every man contend 
 with his neighbour as to who shall give the best advice, 
 who shall discharge most faithfully the duties of a magis- 
 trate, or those of an ambassador, or even of an architect : 
 This is the sort of discoi d that ought to prevail, and which 
 
/ 
 
 194 
 
 I think so good and advantageous to a commonwealth. 
 The Lacedaemonians of old thought the simple idea of 
 contributing to the general good absurd. They cultivated 
 the art of war alone, and made superior excellence in mi- 
 litary tactics the chief object of their lives. For my part, 
 I think it right that every man in a state should act in the 
 way best suited to his knowledge and capacity ; for, in my 
 opinion, that state will be well governed, and will continue 
 so, whose several members are rated in proportion to their 
 different talents, where some gain applause for eloquence, 
 some for wisdom, some for public munificence, others for 
 integrity, and others for a severe and unpardoning au- 
 sterity. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 WHILST he was thus discoursing, he saw a vessel of 
 three sails leaving the harbour, and all hands at work in 
 getting her under way. Apollonius, from a desire of in- 
 structing those present, said, Observe, my friends, the 
 crew of that ship ; see how all are employed, some getting 
 into the cock-boat as rowers, others weighing the anchor 
 and lashing it to the side of the vessel, others turning the 
 sails to the wind, and some you see stationed at both prow 
 and stern, to take care that all is right. Now, were we 
 to suppose that any of the crew failed in his post, or un- 
 skilfully did his duty, the ship would suffer, and feel all the 
 consequence of a storm. But if a mutual emulation pre- 
 vail, and the laudable desire of excelling each other, then 
 will the ship go forward as if favored by the most propi- 
 tious gales. The good conduct of the men on board will 
 be as strong as the Asphalian Neptune.* By such dis-< 
 
 * Asphalian, from A?<j>ax>i,- tutus— an epithet given to Neptune from 
 the security he affords at sea. Macrobius, in speaking of this epithet 
 of Neptune, observes, that the Gods oftentimes have appellations that 
 
 are 
 
J 95 
 
 courses as these he kept the people of Smyrna in the 
 greatest harmony and good humor. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 THE plague was now raging in Ephesus, and no remedy 
 was discovered that could check its progress ; ou which 
 account embassadors came to Apollonius, intreating him 
 to come as their physician and undertake the cure. When 
 he heard this, he said, I think the journey is not to be de- 
 layed ; and no sooner had he uttered the words than he was 
 at Ephesus, like Pythagoras,* who shewed himself at one 
 and the same time in Thurium and Metapontum. The 
 moment he arrived, he gathered all the people together, 
 and said to them, " Be not dejected, for I will this day 
 put a stop to the disease." Saying this, he carried the 
 people of all ages to the theatre where now stands the 
 statue of Averruneas. Here they beheld an old man 
 begging alms, who had a most extraordinary way of wink- 
 ing with his eyes ; he had a wallet in his hand, in which 
 he carried crusts of bread; he was clad in rags, and had a 
 
 are directly opposite in signification. "Ut Neptunum quern alias 
 Evoo-t^flov*, id est, terrain moventem, alias Aa-^aXtova, id est, stabilien- 
 tern vocant." 
 
 * Porphyry's account in his life of Pythagoras is to this purpose: 
 " That in one and the same day Pythagoras was at Metapontum in 
 Italy and Tauromenum in Sicily, and conversed with his friends in both 
 places." As to his curing the plague, and the manner of doing it, 
 Qui tult decipi, decip>atur. 
 
 There is no need of remarks, says Lardner, upon so silly a story. 
 Justly does Eusebius say that Philostratus's accounts of Apollonius's 
 miracles are inconsistent, and therefore altogether incredible. But 
 miracles were to be ascribed to him, in order to make out the resem- 
 blance with Pythagoras, who is mentioned by Iamblichus as a remover 
 of plagues. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 most squalid appearance. As soon as Apollonius cast his 
 eyes upon him, he called to the Ephesians to surround 
 him, and pelt him with stones, as being the enemy of 
 the Gods. The Ephesians were shocked at the idea of 
 killing a stranger* in such a wretched plight (for at this 
 time the poor man appeared in the act of supplication, 
 and doing all he could to excite their compassion). But 
 Apollonius unmoved by this, insisted that what he com- 
 manded should be executed, and bid them not to let him 
 escape. When some of the bystanders began to throw 
 stones, he who lately appeared only capable of winking 
 with his eyes, darted them flaming with fire and fury. 
 Hence the Ephesians took him for a demon, and con- 
 tinued pelting him with stones till they piled a heap over 
 his head. Whereupon a pause ensuing, Apollonius order- 
 ed the stones to be removed, that all might see the wild 
 beast they had destroyed. But lo ! and behold, what they 
 thought was destroyed, had made its escape ; and a dog, 
 like one of the Molossian breed, as large as the fiercest 
 lion, appeared when the stones were taken away, vomiting 
 foam as if he was mad. The form this dog assumed was 
 like that given to the statue of Averruncus.f A statue of 
 Hercules was erected on the very spot where the spectre 
 was stonedl 
 
 * Mr. Charles Blount laughs at the idea of Apollonius thinking to 
 stop the plague by sacrificing a poor old beggarman. 
 
 t aworpoTrttioQ — averter of ills — was one of the epithets given to 
 Apollo from the benefits he was believed to bestow on mankind. 
 
 Talismans that serve for Averruncation, says Stanley in his account 
 of the Chaldaic philosophy, are ascribed by some to Apollonius, who 
 was the first among the Grecians that was famous for them ; but it is 
 most probable, he adds, that he brought this art out of the east, where 
 there are yet to be seen many of these figures, or talismans. The 
 God Avernmcus, says Pomey, was thought to repel and prevent mis- 
 fortunes. 
 
197 
 
 CHAP. XI 
 
 AFTER delivering the people of Ephesus from the 
 plague,* and doing what appeared necessary in Ionia, he 
 set out for Greece. When come to Pergamus, he was 
 much delighted with the temple of Esculapius, and after 
 suggesting to the worshippers of that God what they should 
 do to obtain favorable dreams, and curing many of their 
 diseases, he proceeded to the land of Ilium, and whilst 
 bis mind was full of all the antiquity of the place, he 
 visited the tombs of the Achaians. He had several conver- 
 sations with the people on the subject of the war, and 
 after offering many sacrifices, wherein not a drop of blood 
 was shed, he ordered his companions to return to their 
 ships, as he said he was resolved on passing the night at 
 the tomb of Achilles. His companions (for he was now 
 followed by the Dioscoridae,*]- and Phoedimi, and several 
 others) tried all they could to divert him from his purpose, 
 saying, that Achilles still shewed himself terrific, of which 
 the natives were fully persuaded. To this, Apollonius 
 said, but I know Achilles still loves conversation. When 
 alive he was very fond of the Pylian Nestor, who always 
 told him something useful. He used to call old Phenix 
 his foster-father and companion, and give him other en- 
 dearing appellations from his diverting him with a variety 
 of pleasant stories. Even Priam, his mortal enemy, 
 
 * The Ephesians consecrated a statue to him under the title of 
 Hercules Alexicacus, in commemoration of his having delivered them 
 from the plague. Lactantius. 
 
 t Dioscoridae, and Pbaedimi— different names, I believe, of the 
 Cabiri, who were also called Croybantes, Curetes, Id*i Dactyli, and 
 Telchines. — The places in which their worship principally flourished, 
 were Italy, Crete, Samothrace, and Troas. 
 
 See note at the end of the second book. 
 
198 
 
 lie held in a favorable light when he heard him speak ; 
 and during his secession from the army, in a conference 
 which he had with Ulysses, he appeared so gracious, that 
 the Ithacan looked on him more as an object of love than 
 fear. His shield and helmet, and its terrible nodding 
 plumes, must ever continue to menace the Trojans as long 
 as he remembers what he suffered from them, and the 
 fraud practised at his marriage.* As to myself, I hold no 
 communion with the people of Ilium, I mean to talk to 
 him with more pleasure than ever his friends did of old ; 
 and should he kill me, as you say, I shall have the honor 
 of reposing with Memnon and Cycnus, nothing doubting 
 but that Troy will bury me as she did Nestor. With 
 these words, uttered partly in jest, and partly in seriousness, 
 he proceeded alone to the tomb,f while his companions 
 withdrew to their ship in the evening. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 APOLLONIUS returned next morning, whenit was light, 
 and immediately after asked where Antisthenes the Parian 
 was ? Antisthenes, who had been with him about seven days, 
 appeared when called; to whom Apollonius said, have 
 you any degree of connexion with Troy? Yes, much, 
 said the Parian, for I am by family a Trojan. What, 
 said Apollonius, of the family of Priam ? Of the same, 
 returned he, and I think it an honor to be descended from 
 
 * Achilles was killed by Paris in the temple, to which he had retired 
 to celebrate his marriage with Polyxena. 
 
 t People used to resort thither every year, in order to offer up sacri- 
 fices in his honor, and a tradition was current, that his shade, dressed in 
 armour, was accustomed to appear in a threatening posture, notwith- 
 standing which, says Bayle, Apollonius attempted to speak to it. — It 
 is related that miracles were wrought at his tomb. 
 
199 
 
 it. Achilles then was right, said Apollonius, in desiring 
 me not to have any thing to do with you. For when he 
 was giving orders about a certain business relative to the 
 Thessalians,* of which he seemed anxious, I asked whe- 
 ther I could do any thing to oblige him ? Yes, you can, 
 said he, make not the Parian youth acquainted with your 
 \visdom, for the blood of Priam runs in his veins, and the 
 praise of Hector is never out of his mouth Antisthenes 
 when he heard this, departed unwillingly. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 AS soon as it was day, and the wind fair from land, the 
 ship was ready to sail. Crouds flocked to the shore, all 
 anxious to embark with Apollonius, notwithstanding the 
 small size of the vessel. It was now. autumn, a time of 
 year when the sea is not much to be trusted. The peo- 
 ple who supposed Apollonius had power over fire and 
 water, and perils of every kind, all asked leave to go on 
 board with him. When he found the numbers were more 
 than the ship was able to contain, and happening at the 
 same time to see another vessel at anchor near the tomb 
 of Ajax, he cried out, let us embark in that vessel, for it 
 is glorious to be saved with the multitude. After doubling 
 the Trojan promontory, he bid the pilot steer for iEolia, 
 situate overagainst Lesbos, and to make it by coasting 
 near Methymna, for there it was Achilles told him Pala- 
 medes was buried, and there his statue was to be seen of 
 the heighth of one cubit, representing a man far older than 
 ever Palamedes was. As soon as the vessel touched this 
 land, he went ashore, and said aloud, O ye men of Greece, 
 
 * After the oracle commanded the Greeks to celebrate the anniver- 
 sary of Achilles every year, the Thessalians were the first who appoint- 
 ed the wearing crowns of amaranth, and from the sequel it appears 
 they were the first to discontinue it. 
 
200 
 
 let us shew our respect for this great man, from whom 
 comes all knowledge, and let us treat him better than the 
 Achaians did, by honouring him for the sake of virtue, 
 who was so unjustly put to death. Saying this, they all 
 leapt on shore, and Apollonius soon discovered the tomb 
 of Palamedes and his statue buried near it, on the base of 
 which were inscribed these words, u To the divine Pala- 
 medes' 1 — Whilst he staid here, he restored the statue to 
 its place, (as I saw with my own eyes) and after raising 
 round it a little chapel like those which are dedicated to 
 Hecate by her worshippers, and which might be capable 
 of containing ten guests, he offered up the following prayer, 
 O Palamedes, forget the anger you had for the Greeks.* 
 Grant them to multiply in numbers and wisdom. Accede 
 this, O Palamedes ! from you comes knowledge, and by 
 you the muses and I live. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 HE next pat in at Lesbos, where he entered the shrine of 
 that temple in which Orpheus of old used to deliver his 
 oracles, which was a matter that gave great concern to 
 Apollo. For when he found that he was no longer con- 
 sulted at Grynium, or Claros, or even at Delphi, where 
 his tripod stood, and that Orpheus (whose head,f by the 
 
 * Palamedes was a learned man, as well as a soldier, and according 
 to some, completed the alphabet of Cadmus by the addition of four 
 letters, during the Trojaa war. 
 
 t Amongst the Sabians, says Arpe, in his rise and progress of the 
 Talismanic Art, it was customary with them to sacrifice in honour of 
 their demon a first-born male child, whose head they cut off and season- 
 ed with salt and spices for the sake of preserving it ; they then laid a 
 plate of gold on the tongue, which being marked with the name of the 
 demon, served them afterwards for an oracle to consult. On which, 
 
 Arpe 
 
'201 
 
 bye had just come from Thrace) was the only person con- 
 sulted, he thus addressed him, and said, " Cease interfer- 
 ing with my right and priviledge, for know, I have too 
 long endured your songs." 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 WHILST our travellers were navigating the Eubaean sea, 
 which, as Homer says,* is dangerous, and subject to 
 storms, they found it smoother, and more calm than what 
 they had reason to expect, considering the season of the, 
 year. This mild state of the weather gave them an op- 
 portunity of talking of the islands, (of which they sailed 
 by many of high renown) and of ship-building, and of na- 
 val tactics in the very terms of seamen. Damis blamed 
 this kind of conversation, which he frequently interrupted, 
 and at last put an end to. When Apollonius found that 
 Damis wished for the discussion of other subjects, he 
 asked him why he interrupted the conversation, particular- 
 ly as his objections did not seem to him to arise from any 
 sea-sickness, with which he was affected, or from any 
 other inconvenience he suffered : for you see, said he, how 
 the sea is made subject to our ship, and aids it in its 
 course. What is it then that gives you all this uneasiness ? 
 It is, said Damis, because we are wasting our time on 
 subjects old and obsolete, when others of much greater 
 consequence are within our reach ? And what subject is 
 that, said Apollonius, which you think preferable to all 
 
 Arpe exclaims, Qud quid pestiferum magis, aut horrendum dictu est ? 
 Ita tatnen Orphei caput, post mulierum facinus specum Lesbiam hab> 
 tasse, et in terra excavata oracula fudisse, narrat Philostratus. 
 * Thro' the mid-seas he bid our navy steer, 
 And in Enboea shun the woes we fear. 
 
 Odyssey, Pope, b. iii. 
 
202 
 
 others ? You have conversed, Apollonius, said Damis, with 
 Achilles, and have heard no doubt from him many things, of 
 which we are ignorant ; why not inform us of them, and 
 give us the express form and countenance of the man ; 
 instead of which, the conversation is all about the passing 
 islands, and ship-building. Well then, said Apollonius, 
 as you desire it, I will relate every thing, provided I may 
 not incur the censure of vanity or ostentation. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 WHILST all were soliciting, and anxious to hear, Apol- 
 lonius thus began, I obtained the honour of conversing 
 with Achilles, not after the manner of Ulysses, by digging 
 a trench, nor evoking his manes by the blood of lambs,* 
 but I obtained it by the use of such prayers as are pre- 
 scribed by the Indians in their religious ritual for the invo- 
 cation of heroes. I said — " O Achilles,*)- many believe 
 
 * Thus, solemn rites, and holy vows we paid 
 To all the phantom-nations of the dead. 
 Then dy'd the sheep : a purple torrent flow'd, 
 And all the caverns smoak'd with streaming blood. 
 
 Odyssey, Pope, b. xi. 
 
 t From this story of the appearance of Achilles, says bishop Parker, 
 it is obvious to any man that reads Philostratus, that his whole design 
 is to follow the train of the old heathen mythology ; and that is the 
 bottom of his folly, by his story to gain historical credit to the fables 
 of the poets. So that it is a very true and just censure, which Ludovi- 
 cus Vives has given of him, that as he had endeavoured to imitate 
 Homer, so he has abundantly outlied him. For there is scarce any 
 thing extraordinary reported in the whole history, in which he does not 
 apparently design either to verify, or rectify some of that blind ballad- 
 singer's tales ; but especially in conjuring Achilles out of his tomb, and 
 discoursing with him about the old stories that were told of the Trojan 
 war. And yet after all, adds the bishop, few of Apollonius's miracles 
 
 are 
 
203 
 
 you dead, I am not of their opinion, nor is Pythagoras, 
 to whom I am indebted for my wisdom — I intreat you 
 may shew yourself as you are, that we may know the 
 truth. You will gain much from my eyes, if I can use 
 them as witnesses of your existence." When I uttered 
 these words, the earth around the tomb suffered a slight 
 agitation : when lo ! a youth arose from it about five 
 cubits high, dressed in a Thessalian mantle. His appear 
 ance was not expressive of that character of pride and 
 haughtiness given to it by some of the Greeks, He ap- 
 peared grave, but his gravity was not unmixed .with affa- 
 bility. His beauty has not, in my opinion, found one 
 competent to describe it, though Homer has said much iu 
 praise of it, it is ineffable, and has, I think, rather been 
 diminished by those who have spoken of it, than praised 
 as it deserved. At first he appeared of the size above 
 mentioned. Afterwards he increased in figure till he be- 
 came more than double his original stature. When arrived 
 at his greatest magnitude, I supposed him about twelve 
 cubits high,* and his beauty still kept pace with his en- 
 creasing height. His hair seemed as if uncut, as an of- 
 fering ready for the Sperchius,f to whom it was devoted 
 _____ ft 
 
 are sufficiently vouched in his own history — even the one at pre- 
 sent before us, which has no other testimony but of Apollonius himself, 
 who stubbornly refused to have any companion, or witness of the fact : 
 beside many other absurdities in the story itself; as his rising out of the 
 tomb five foot long, and then swelling to twice the length ; his being 
 forced to vanish away at cock-crowing, and the nymphs constantly 
 visiting him. 
 
 * Lycophron says, Achilles was nine cubits high, and Quintus Cala- 
 ber, that his statue was equal to that of a giant. 
 
 t Spercuius, a river of Thessaly. Peleus vowed to the God of this 
 river, the hair of his son Achilles, if he ever returned safe from the 
 Trojan war. 
 
 Spercuius ; whose waves in mazy errors lost 
 
 Delightful roll along my native coast ; 
 
 To whom my father vow*d at my return 
 
 Those locks to fall, and hecatombs to burn. Homer, b. xxiii. 
 
204 
 
 by his father at the time when his cheeks were clothed- 
 with their first down. He told me he was fortunate in 
 meeting with such a man as myself. The Thessalians, 
 said he, have long discontinued paying me their accustomed 
 offerings to the dead, but as yet I have shewn them no 
 mark of my displeasure. I have not wished it, for were 
 I angry, their destruction would be more certain than that 
 of the Greeks, who of old inhabited this country. As 
 their friend, I advise them not to offer any insult to ceremo- 
 nies, which have been established by law, nor to shew 
 themselves in a light worse than the Trojans, who, not- 
 withstanding the numbers of them destroyed by my valour, 
 never cease offering sacrifice to me m public, and present- 
 ing their first fruits in due season, and still soliciting by 
 stated supplication and prayer, a reconciliation, which I 
 will never grant. The perjuries, of which they were 
 guilty, on my account, shall never suffer Ilium to recover 
 its ancient splendour, nor rise to that acme of glory, to 
 which other fallen cities have risen ; but they shall inhabit 
 it in no better condition than if taken the day before. 
 That I may not be induced to act thus with the Thessa- 
 lians, I request you to go as embassador to their common 
 council, and treat of what I have mentioned. To this I 
 acceded from a conviction of my embassy being to prevent 
 their destruction. But I have a request to make you, 
 Achilles, said I : I know it, replied he, you are now 
 going to make some inquiry about what passed at Troy : 
 You have therefore my full permission to propose five 
 questions such as you wish, and the fates allow. I first 
 asked if he had obtained the rites of sepulture according 
 to the account given by the poets ? I lie, replied he, in 
 the way most agreeable to Patrocles and myself. From 
 our youth we lived in the truest harmony, and now the 
 same golden urn contains our ashes as if still one. With 
 respect to the tears, said to have been shed by the Muses, 
 
404 
 
 and Nereids at my tomb, I can tell you, the former were 
 not present on the occasion,* but the latter were, who 
 still continue their lamentations. I asked next whether 
 Polyxena was sacrificed on his account.^ She died, re- 
 plied he, on my tomb, and was not slain by the Greeks. 
 She approached my tomb of her own accord, and from 
 the desire of paying all honour, and respect, to our mutual 
 love, fell on a drawn sword. My third question was, 
 whether Helen was carried to Troy, or whether that was 
 a fiction of Homer's ? On this subject, said Achilles, we 
 were long kept in the dark, yet we continued sending am- 
 bassadors to the Trojans, and fighting battles for her sake, 
 as if she had been in Troy. But the truth is, she was then 
 in Egypt, living in the house of Proteus, to which she 
 had been conveyed by Paris.J After we came to the 
 knowledge of this, we, regardless of her, fought to take 
 Troy, and to return home not with disgrace. I then 
 came to my fourth question, and said, I was astonished 
 
 * As the people of Ilium were held to be barbarians by the Greeks, 
 Philostratus supposes that the muses kept as far distant as they could 
 on the occasion ; however, it appears from the following verses of Pin- 
 dar, that they were present — 
 
 Tho' death had clos'd the hero's* eyes, 
 
 Prais'd by the Muse his virtues rise ; * 
 
 For round his pile, his silent tomb, 
 
 The Heliconian virgins come : 
 
 With down-cast eyes, they weep, they groan, 
 
 And pour forth memorable moan, &c. 
 
 Isthm. Od. 8. 
 
 t The common opinion was, that after Troy was taken, the Greeks 
 sacrificed Polyxena on his tomb, as his ghost requested. 
 
 ; This detention of Helen by Proteus, is the argument of one of the 
 tragedies of Euripides. See Herodotus — Euterpe. 
 
 * Achilles. 
 
206 
 
 how Greece could in one age produce so many great men 
 as Homer says were at Troy at the same time. To this, 
 Achilles said, the barbarians were not inferior to us in that 
 respect, so greatly then did the earth flourish with valiant 
 men. My fifth question was, how it came to pass, that 
 Homer was not acquainted with Palamedes, or if he 
 was, how it happened he did not mention him? If Pala- 
 medes was not at Troy, no such place as Troy ever exist- 
 ed. Because this great man, renowned for his wisdom 
 and military knowledge, was put to death to gratify the 
 hatred of Ulysses, Homer makes no mention of him in 
 his poems, lest he should cast a reproach on the character 
 of that crafty son of Laertes . The recollection of Pala- 
 medes brought tears into the eyes of Achilles, who la- 
 mented him as a man distinguished for beauty, and great 
 valour, though young, as one who excelled most other men 
 in modesty, and love of learning. But do you, Apol- 
 lonius, (for you know a necessary bond of amity always 
 subsists among the wise) take care of his sepulchre, and 
 restore his statue, which lies prostrate on the ground. 
 You will find it in iEolis, which is over against Methym- 
 na in Lesbos. After saying these things, with others rela- 
 tive to the Parian youth, he vanished in a flash of lightning 
 just at the time the cock crew. # This is all that passed on 
 board the ship. 
 
 -The morning cock crew loud, 
 
 And at the sound, it shrunk in haste away, 
 And vanish'd from our sight. — 
 
 w It faded with the crowing of the cock." — 
 
 Shakespeare's Hamlet. 
 
 This is a very ancient superstition, says Stevens, for Philostratus, 
 giving an account of the apparition of Achilles's shade to Apollonius, 
 adds, that it vanished with a little glimmer as soon as the cock crow'd. 
 
 Notes on Shakespeare. 
 Mrs. 
 
i07 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 APOLLONIUS entered the Piraeus at the time of the 
 celebration of the mysteries, when Athens is most crowd- 
 ed with people from all parts of Greece.* The moment 
 he landed, he proceeded as fast as he could to the city, 
 where, when he arrived, he found many philosophers on 
 the point of descending to the Piraeus. Some of them 
 were naked, and exposed to the sun's rays (which are quite 
 hot and sultry at Athens during the autumnal season) some 
 were reading books, which they had in their hands — 
 others declaiming, and others disputing. All acknow- 
 ledged Apollonius as he approached, and returned with 
 him amidst many greetings of joy. Ten young men run 
 to meet him, who with hands out stretched to the Acro- 
 polis, cried out, we swear by Minerva, who presidest in 
 
 Mrs. Montague, without being acquainted with the passage in the 
 text, supposed the vanishing of the ghost in Hamlet, as another cir- 
 cumstance of the established superstition of the north. See her very 
 ingenious essay on the writings, and genius of Shakespear. — Proper- 
 tius has a passage in the 8th elegy o^his 4th book, which mentions 
 the disappearing of all spectres at day-break,— 
 
 Noct£ vagae ferimur. Nox clausa liberat umbras, 
 Errat, & abject!. Cerberus ipse serk. 
 Luce jubent leges Lethaea ad stagna reverti : 
 Nos vehimur : victum nauta recenset onus. 
 
 Claudian says, of the shade of Theodosius., 
 Dixit, et afflatus vicino sole refugit. 
 
 * The lesser mysteries are here to be understood, which were celebrat- 
 ed in honour of Proserpine at Agrae, a place near the river Uissiis in 
 the month Anthesterion, which corresponded with the Roman Novem- 
 ber. The greater were celebrated in honour of Ceres at Eleusis in the 
 month Boedromion, the Roman August, or September. 
 
208 
 
 that place, that we were going down to the Piraeus with 
 the intention of going over to Ionia. Apollonius received 
 them with kindness, and said, he congratulated them on 
 their love for philosophy. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 THE day of his arrival was that of the Epidaurian festi- 
 val,* on which the Athenians had a custom, when the 
 usual acclamations and sacrifices were over, of having a 
 new initiation, in which the lesser mysteries were repeated. 
 This initiation was established in favour of Esculapius, 
 who was admitted to the honours of it, on account of com- 
 ing from Epidaurus after the great mysteries were finished. 
 As soon as Apollonius appeared, the people, regardless of 
 the religious rites in which they were engaged, crowded to 
 see him, more anxious about him, than being initiated them- 
 selves. Apollonius said, he would speak to them at a 
 more convenient time, and desired them to -mind their 
 holy rites, as he wished to be initiated himself. But the 
 Hierophantf would not admit him to that honour, at the 
 same time saying, he was not permitted by the laws to ini- 
 tiate an inchanter ;J or reveal the Eleusinian mysteries to 
 a man not pure in things touching religion. Apollonius, 
 without being affected by this observation, said, you 
 
 * The eighth day of the mysteries was called the day of the Epidau- 
 rians, because /Esculapius coming from Epidaurus to Athens, and 
 desiring to be initiated, the lesser mysteries were repeated. Hence it 
 became customary to celebrate them a second time on this day, and to 
 initiate those who had not already enjoyed the privilege. 
 
 t The chief person that attended at the initiation was called 
 'l(po9avTec, a revealer of holy things. 
 
 | Meursius says, all barbarians, murderers, magicians, mounte- 
 banks, and impious persons, were excluded from admission. 
 
209 
 
 have not takeO notice of one of the severest accusal, 
 that might be urged agaiust me, which is, that of my know- 
 ing more of the initiation than you do yourself; and yet, 
 notwithstanding my superior knowledge, I am come to you 
 for admission, as if you were wiser. All present praised 
 him for this firm and pertinent answer. As soon as the 
 Hierophant was sensible that the rejection of Apollonius 
 was not pleasing to the people, he changed his language, 
 and said, Accept, I pray thee, the initiation, as I think 
 you are wise. Then Apollonius said, I will take my own 
 time for being initiated, when the ceremony shall be in 
 other hands. Saying this, he named the very Hierophant. 
 who was to succeed the present one, and preside at the 
 ceremony, which literally took place about four years after 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 OF the discourses which Apollonius maintained whilst at 
 Athens, Damis says, he has not committed them all to 
 writing, but only such of them as he thought necessary, 
 and were on subjects of importance. When he perceived 
 the people of Athens were much given to religious wor- 
 ship, he made sacrifices the subject of his discourse, 
 wherein he specified the kind of offering best suited to 
 each God, and the precise hour of day* and night when 
 they should sacrifice, or pray, or offer libations. And 
 there is still extant a treatise of his, in which these things 
 are explained in his native tongue. -f Of these matters he 
 discoursed first, because he thought such topics becoming 
 
 * This is agreeable to the rule of Pythagoras, who said that Gods 
 and heroes were not to be worshipped with equal honours, tor that the 
 Gods were always to be worshipped, and heroes only from noon. 
 
 t Cappadocian Tyana was in Cappadocia. 
 
210 
 
 their wisdom and his own ; and next, to let them see how 
 improperly and ignorantly he had been treated by the 
 Hierophant: for who could believe him unsound in things 
 touching the Gods, who was capable of teaching how each 
 of them should be worshipped. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 WHEN he was treating of the best mode of offering liba- 
 tions, there happened to be present a young man who was 
 very effeminate, and so proverbially luxurious, as fit to be 
 made the subject of one of those songs that are used to be 
 sung in the serving up of great feasts.* He was a native 
 of Corcyra, and descended from Alcinous the Phceaciau, 
 who entertained Ulysses so well of old. Libations being the 
 subject of the discourse, Apollonius gave it as his opinion, 
 that men should not drink out of the cup used in that cere- 
 mony, but should keep it pure and untouched for the 
 Gods. But when he said that the cup ought .to have ears, 
 and that the wine should be poured out of the side where 
 the ears are placed,*f- as being that part which men sel- 
 
 • fjta^Giofxajv aa-fxa — Mazonomum was a large dish, containing various 
 kinds of meat, which was handed about (to the sound of music, it may 
 be supposed) that each of the guests might take what he chose. Any 
 uncommon dish, says Macrobius, was introduced to the sound of the 
 flute. Carving at table was performed to the sound of music. In Tri- 
 malchio's feast, in Petronius, every thing was served to some tune or 
 other. 
 
 t This mode of offering libations to the Gods is supposed by some 
 to refer to the 59th Symbol of Pythagoras, which says, " Make the 
 libations to the Gods by the ear f signifying, says Porphyry, that we 
 ought to worship and celebrate the Gods with music, for that passeth 
 in at the ears. However, this way of explaining the symbol, though 
 adopted by Dacier, is considered by Olearius as inept, and little to the 
 purpose — who thinks it only relates to the observing of a greater reve. 
 rence in the worship of the Gods, 
 
211 
 
 domest applied to the mouth, the youth burst out into an 
 immoderate fit of laughter. Whereupon Apollonius, look- 
 iug stedfastly upon him, said, It is not you whom I consi- 
 der as offering me this insult, but the demon within you : 
 it is he who makes you in ignorance commit this folly. 
 Till this moment the youth knew not he was possessed by 
 a demon,* though he laughed and cried in turns, without 
 any apparent cause, and even sung and talked to himself. 
 Many thought all this brought on by intemperance in his 
 youth ; but the fact was, he was impelled by a demon, 
 and committed all the wild extravagancies practised by 
 people in that situation. As soon as Apollonius fixed his 
 eyes upon him, the demon broke out into all those angry 
 horrid expressions used by people on the rack, and then 
 swore he would depart out of the youth, and never again 
 
 * In this instance Apollonius must have been more than a conjurer, 
 could he have known what the pretended proprietor of the demon him- 
 self did not know. The ignorance of the youth on the occasion is, in 
 my opinion, a full confutation of the marvellous part taken by Apollo- 
 nius, and is a further proof, among many others, of his conceit and 
 presumption, if he attempted to impose on the spectators iu the man- 
 ner mentioned by Philostratus. 
 
 From Origen and the other fathers it appears, that the power of 
 casting out devils was considered as an art grounded on certain rules, 
 which were taught and delivered in books, and was common both to 
 Jews and Gentiles, who by their tricks and false miracles contrived to 
 delude the credulous multitude, in order to acquire gain or power to 
 themselves, and to keep their people firm to their several religions, in 
 opposition to the Christian. 
 
 There is a story in Josephus of Eleazar casting out devils in the pre- 
 sence of Vespasian, on which I believe the one before us is founded. — 
 Antiquities of the Jews, b. viii. 
 
 Here Du Pin says, " II n'y a rien a tout cela de merveilleux que la 
 statue qui tomba dans le moment; mais qui nous peut assurer que ce 
 ne soit pas une invention de Philostrate, ou de Damis, ou un artifice 
 d'Apollone, qui avoit des gens apostiz poor jetter a bas la statue dans le 
 moment qu'il avoit command^ au demon d'y entrer. 
 
 P « 
 
212 
 
 enter another. Apollonius rebuked him, as masters do 
 their cunning, saucy, insolent slaves, and commanded him 
 to come out of the youth, and in so doing to give a visible 
 sign of his departure. Immediately the demon cried out, 
 I will make that statue tumble, to which he pointed, stand- 
 ing in a royal portico, where the transaction happened. 
 But who is able to describe the noise and tumult, and, 
 clapping of hands with joy, when they saw the statue first 
 begin to shake, then totter, and then tumble down? The 
 young man rubbed his eyes like one awoke from a deep 
 sleep, and turning them to the sun's light, seemed quite 
 shocked at the idea of standing so conspicuous and exposed 
 to all beholders. He no longer retained the wild disturbed 
 look of intemperance, but returned to his right mind, as 
 if recovered by the use of medicine alone. Then laying 
 aside his soft garments and all his fashionable Sybaritic 
 airs,* he adapted the homely simplicity and plain garb of 
 a philosopher, and lived after the rules of Apollonius. 
 
 CHAP. XXL 
 
 IT is said Apollonius rebuked the Athenians for the man- 
 ner in which they celebrated the feasts of Bacchus which 
 take place in the month Anthesterion. He formed the 
 idea of going to the theatre to hear the monodies and me- 
 lodies, and the songs of the chorus, and the notes with 
 which they were sung in both tragedy and comedy. But 
 when he understood that the performance was chiefly com- 
 posed of dancing, and of dancing to the effeminate sound 
 of the flute, and that with the epic and divine verses of 
 Orpheus were mixed the representations of the heroes, 
 
 * Sybaris, a town in Lucania, on the bay of Tarentum, whose inha.' 
 bitants became so effeminate that the word Sybarite was proverbial to 
 denote a man devoted to pleasure. 
 
213 
 
 nymphs, and Bacchantes, he was astonished, and cried 
 out, Cease, I pray you, insulting the ears of Salamis, 
 and the many brave men who formerly fell for their coun- 
 try. If your dancing was after the manner of the Spar- 
 tans, I would exclaim, Well doue, soldiers ; you are 
 making ready for battle : I shall make one in your dance. 
 But seeing it is effeminate, and of the most voluptuous 
 tendency, what am I to say of your trophies? for they will 
 stand, not as monuments of shame to the Medes and Per- 
 sians, but to yourselves, in case you become degenerate and 
 inferior to those valiant men who erected them ? But 
 whence these garments, died in saffron and purple ? It was 
 not in such the borough Acharna was dressed ; nor the 
 tribe of Colonos rode in battle. But why do I say this ? 
 A woman* from Caria commanded a ship, and sailed with 
 Xerxes against you. She wore the dress and armour of a 
 man, and had nothing womanish in her appearauce. But 
 you are now more effeminate than the women of Xerxes ; 
 you are set in array against yourselves, old and young, and 
 even the children. The very people who formerly swore 
 in the temple of Agraulos to fight and die for their coun- 
 try, will now, perhaps, swear to perform the parts of 
 Bacchanalians, and arm themselves with a thyrsus in its 
 defence, and will lay aside their helmets, and disguise 
 themselves in the shameful masks of women, Besides, I 
 hear of your representing the winds, and in their charac- 
 ters swelling the sails of ships, and raising them aloft in the 
 air. These winds you ought to respect as your best 
 allies, for having blown of old so much in your favour. 
 Yet Boreas, who is your kinsman, and more masculine 
 than the other winds, should not be represented as a wo- 
 man, for he never would have fallen in love with Orithyia 
 had he seen her in such unbecoming characters. 
 
 * Artemisia, 
 
«14 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 WHILST he staid at Athens, the following abuse was 
 corrected by him. The people, he observed, ran in crouds 
 to the theatre on the Acropolis, to see the combats of 
 gladiators.* Their passion for such sports was greater at 
 Athens than it is at this day at Corinth. Adulterers, for- 
 nicators, house-breakers, cut-purses, men-stealers, and 
 others of the same vile description, were bought at high 
 prices, and armed and forced to fight with each other. 
 This barbarous custom was most severely censured by 
 Apollonius. He refused going to their assembly when in- 
 vited, saying, the place was impure and polluted with 
 blood. To this he alluded in an epistle, wherein he ex- 
 pressed his surprise that the Goddess Minerva had not 
 abandoned her citadel, where so much blood was spilt ; 
 for, added he, if you go on in this manner, you will slay in 
 the Grand Panathenoean Procession, not hecatombs of 
 oxen, but of men. And can you, Bacchus, vouchsafe to 
 enter the theatre where so much blood is shed ? and in the 
 very place where the wise Athenians offer you their liba- 
 tions ? Fie, Bacchus, depart. Citheron is much purer 
 than such a theatre. These are the things which chiefly 
 claimed his attention as a philosopher, whilst he sojourned 
 at Athens. 
 
 CHAP. xxm. 
 
 DEPARTING from Athens, he went in obedience to 
 the commands of Achilles on his embassy to the Thessa- 
 
 * The first shew of gladiators exhibited at Rome, was in the year of 
 the city 490, I have not been able to learn at what time they were 
 
 first 
 
'215 
 
 lians, who happened at that time to be assembled at 
 Thermopylae, fulfilling their duty at the Amphictyonic 
 Council. Fearful of the consequences which might ensue 
 from neglecting the message communicated to them, they 
 immediately consented to a full re-establishment of all 
 necessary rites at his tomb. During his stay here, he al- 
 most surrounded the tomb of Leonidas with a chapel, out 
 of esteem for his memory. When they were going to the 
 hill where it is said the Lacedaemonians fell overwhelmed 
 with arrows, he heard his friends disputing about what 
 ground they considered the highest in Greece (at this time 
 mount GEta was full in their view) Apollonius ascending 
 the hill, cried out, This is the highest ground. The men 
 who died here in defence of liberty have made it equal to 
 mount GEta, and raised it above many Olympusses. I 
 love the men, but above all, Magistias, the Acarnanian, 
 who, foreknowing what they were to suffer, wished to 
 share with them their fate — fearing not death, but fearing 
 it might not be permitted him to die with them. 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 HE visited all the temples of Greece, the Dodonean,* 
 the Pythian, and the temple at Abae. He entered the 
 cave of Amphiaraus and Trophonius, and ascended the 
 top of Helicon, on which was erected the temple of the 
 Muse 8. In visiting and reforming the temples, he was 
 attended by the priests and his familiar friends. In all 
 places stood exposed to public view cisterns of his dis- 
 
 first introduced into Greece, or for what purpose. Barbarous and 
 bloody as the custom was, it was not abolished till the time of Constan- 
 tine. Thanks to the mild spirit of Christianity for the abolition. 
 
 * The oracles of Dodona and Delphi are well known. Abae is a 
 town of Phocis, famous for an oracle of Apollo. 
 
•216 
 
 courses,* out of which all who were thirsty might drink. 
 When the time of the celebration of the Olympic Games 
 was at hand, he received an invitation from the Eleans to 
 attend. On this occasion Apollonius said, Methinks, ye 
 men of Elis, you tarnish the glory of your games, by the 
 necessity under which you find yourselves of sending such 
 like invitations. Once when he was at the Isthmus and 
 heard the sea roaring round Lachaeum, he cried out, 
 " This neck of land shall, or rather shall not be cut 
 through." These words shewed he had a fore-knowledge 
 of the attempt made seven years after by the emperor 
 Nero. This prince left his seat of empire, and became 
 subject to the voice of the common cryer at the Olympic 
 and Pythian Games. Victories he gained at the Isthmian 
 Games ; but what were they ? Victories over harpers and 
 heralds. Others he won at the Olympic ; but what were 
 they ? Victories over performers in tragedy. When at 
 Corinth, it is said, he formed the design of cutting through 
 the Isthmus, in order to make it pervious for his shipping. 
 By joining the Adriatic to the iEgean sea, he. thought to 
 save the passage round Cape Malea. But how did the 
 prophecy of Apollonius turn out? The cut was begun 
 from Lechaeum, and by immense labour was carried about 
 four stadias. At last Nero gave it up, by the advice of 
 some Egyptians^ who, after taking the level of the two 
 
 * It is known that the ancients made use of large vessels in their en- 
 tertainments, called crateres, from which wine was drawn to distribute 
 to the guests, I have used cistern in my translation, as a kind of figura- 
 tive expression, to give some specimen of what Photius calls an ele- 
 gance peculiar to Philostratus, from its being, I suppose, not unlike 
 what our Saviour says in St. John's Gospel — " But whosoever drinketh 
 of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water 
 that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into 
 everlasting life." 
 
 t In Achaia, Nero attempted to make a cut through the Isthmus, 
 and encouraged the guards, in a speech which he made to them, to 
 
 begin 
 
'217 
 
 seas, gave it as their opinion that iEgina would be drowned 
 by the overflow of waters which would rush from 
 Lechaeum. Others said the work was stopped from the 
 apprehensions of an insurrection. All which exactly cor- 
 responded with what Apollonius said, " The Isthmus 
 shall, or shall not be cut through." 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 AT this time Demetrius, the philosopher, happened to be 
 in Corinth, a man who fully comprehended the whole force 
 of the Cynic philosophy, and who is mentioned with great 
 respect by Favonius in his orations. Demetrius # felt the 
 same zeal in favour of the wisdom of Apollonius as Antis- 
 thenes did for that of Socrates, which he gave as his 
 reason for becoming one of his followers, and for recom- 
 mending to his notice the most esteemed of his friends. 
 Of this number was Menippus, a young Lycian, about 
 twenty-five years of age, who was intelligent and hand- 
 some, with the open manly air of an Athleta. It was 
 said a rich woman, that was a foreigner, beautiful and de- 
 licate in her appearance, had fallen in love with him, of 
 
 begin the work: and upon a signal given by sound of trumpet, he first 
 broke ground with a spade, and carried off a basket full of earth upon 
 his shoulders. Suetonius. 
 
 * Demetrius, a cynic philosopher, whom the Emperor Caligula 
 wished to gain in his interest by a large present ; but Demetrius refused 
 it with indignation, and said, if Caligula wishes to bribe me, let him 
 send me his crown. Vespasian was displeased with his insolence, and 
 banished him to an island. The Cynic derided the punishment, and 
 bitterly iuveighed against the Emperor. He died when very far ad- 
 vanced in years, and Seneca observes, that " Nature brought him 
 forth, to shew to mankind that an exalted genius can live securely, 
 without being corrupted by the vice of the surrounding world." 
 
 Leiuprieri. 
 
1218 
 
 which nothing was real, all imaginary. As the story goes, 
 a figure met him, when alone on the road to Cenchrea, 
 which had the look of a woman, who took him by the 
 hand, and avowed a tender passion for him. She said, she 
 was a Phenician, but at present dwelt in one of the sub- 
 urbs of Corinth, which she named, where, added she, if 
 you come, you shall hear me sing, and shall drink such 
 wine as you never drank of before. You shall have no 
 hindrance in your amours from a rival, and with a man of 
 honour I shall live honourably. The youth, overcome by 
 what he heard (for though he loved philosophy much, he 
 loved Venus more) visited her in the evening, and conti- 
 nued afterwards to visit her as his mistress, without the 
 slightest suspicion of her being a spectre. But Apollonius 
 looking on Menippus as a statuary would do, delineated 
 him fully in his own mind, which, when done, he said, 
 You who are beautiful, and courted by beautiful women, 
 know this, that "you cherish a serpent, and a serpent 
 cherishes you ;" at which Menippus being amazed, Apol- 
 lonius continued, You love a woman whom you can never 
 make your wife. Do you think yourself loved by her, 
 said Apollonius ? I think I am, said the youth. And do 
 you propose marrying her, said he ? I do, returned the 
 other, for that will be the completion of all my happiness. 
 For what day, said Apollonius, are the nuptials fixed ? 
 Perhaps for to-morrow, said the youth, as all things are 
 prepared, and as we say, the iron hot. Apollonius, who 
 had marked the precise time of the wedding feast, entered 
 along with the other guests, and instantly asked, Where is 
 she who is the cause of this banqueting ? Here at hand, 
 replied Menippus, who rose blushing. Apollonius conti- 
 nued, This gold and silver, with all the other rich orna- 
 ments of this apartment, whose are they? The bride's, 
 said he ; for what fortune I have consists in this cloak I 
 wear, which he shewed. Then, continued Apollonius, 
 have you ever seen the gardens of Tantalus, which are, 
 
219 
 
 and are not ? We have seen them, said they, in Homer ; 
 for we have not yet descended to the infernal regions. As 
 are the gardens in Homer, so is all you see here — all 
 shew, and no reality. And that you may know the truth 
 of what I say, your intended wife is one of the Empusae, 
 who pass under the names of Lamiae and Larvae. They 
 are little affected by the passion of love, and are fond of 
 nothing but flesh, and that human; for by their attentions 
 they attract all whom they wish to devour. Take care, 
 Sir, of what you say, said she, and seeming much discon- 
 certed at what she heard, ran out into many invectives 
 against the whole race of philosophers, as being much 
 given up to vain and impertinent trifling. But, as Apollo- 
 nius said, every thing vanished into air ; the gold and silver 
 vessels, cup-bearers, and cooks, and the whole domestic 
 apparatus. Whereupon the phantom appearing as if in 
 tears, begged not to be tormented,* nor forced to make a 
 confession. But Apollonius was peremptory, and said she 
 should not stir till she confessed what she was. She then 
 owned herself to be an Empusa, who had pampered Me- 
 nippus with rich dainties, for the express purpose of de- 
 vouring him; adding, that it was her custom to feed on 
 young and beautiful bodies, for the sake of the pure blood 
 in them. I have been necessarily induced to mention this 
 transaction, as it was one of the most celebrated perform- 
 
 * This is the only instance in which the very words of scripture are 
 used. See the Gospel of St. Luke, chap. viii. ver. 28. where a Demo- 
 niac is cured by our blessed Saviour. But when we compare the two 
 accounts, the sober, artless narrative of the one, contrasted with the 
 nonsensical stuff of the other, the difference is most striking. I agree 
 with the learned author of the Criterion in thinking that such a simili- 
 tude of expression could scarcely arise from mere chance ; and yet I 
 cannot help thinking, that if Philostratus had been well acquainted 
 with the history of Christ, and had intended making his hero his coun- 
 terpart, he might have been more successful in his attempt. — £o<r«m£i:» 
 is the common Greek word that signifies to torment. 
 
220 
 
 ed by Apollonius,* and as it happened in the centre of 
 Greece, many were acquainted with it. Yet it was known 
 only in a general way of Apollonius having surprised a 
 Lamia at Corinth, but the particulars of its being done in 
 favour of Menippus, &c. was till then unknown. The ac- 
 count I have given of it is taken from Damis, and the 
 writings he left behind him.f 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 IT was about this time he had a dispute with one Bassus, 
 a Corinthian, who not only seemed, but was believed to 
 be a parricide. He was a fellow who made false pre- 
 tences to philosophy, and had a most abusive tongue, 
 which Apollonius reprimanded partly by letter and partly 
 by word. There is no reason to doubt the truth of what 
 he has written of this parricide ; for it is not likely that a 
 man such as Apollonius was, should have deigned to rebuke 
 so vile a fellow, and in doing it to utter a falsehood. 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 THE account given of what Apollonius did at Olympia is 
 as follows : On his arrival, embassadors waited on him 
 from Lacedaemon, requesting him to pay them a visit. 
 They had nothing like old Sparta in their appearance, and 
 were more effeminate than what could have been sup- 
 
 * If this was one of the most celebrated of Apollonius's perform- 
 ances, what are we to think of the rest — and, above all, what are we to 
 think of the simplicity, or rather fatuity of Damis, who, after such a 
 specimen of fantastic buffoonery, could have followed him as a man 
 possessed of more than human powers? 
 
 t Le conte de Beelphegor et celui-ci sont de meme genre. 
 
 Du Pin. 
 
221 
 
 posed ; in fact they looked as if they had breathed all their 
 lives the air of Sybaris. As soon as he beheld their 
 smooth limbs, and hair dropping with odours, their beard- 
 less faces and soft garments, he wrote thus to the Ephori: 
 *' Let a proclamation issue, forbidding the use of pitch in 
 the baths, and all other depilatory preparations, and let the 
 ancient mode of living be re-established ; which, if done, 
 it might be expected the old Palestra would revive, and the 
 confederations, and the societies of friendship, and Lace- 
 daemon look like itself. When he was informed that the 
 Ephori had done what he desired, he wrote them another 
 letter, more concise than their ancient Scytala. — Here it is. 
 
 "Apollonius to the Ephori greeting." 
 
 " It is the part of men to err, but of ingenuous men to 
 acknowledge it." 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 ONCE as he was observing the famous statue of Olym- 
 pia, he said, Hail, propitious Jove, for your goodness 
 reaches to, and is imparted to all mankind. Afterwards 
 he noticed the brazen statue of Milo, # and explained its 
 particular form and attitude. This statue is represented 
 standing on a discus, with the feet united, holding in the 
 left hand a pomegranate ; the fingers of the right hand are 
 stretched out, and joined close together. The stories cur- 
 rent in Olympia and Arcadia of Milo were, that he was a 
 wrestler of invincible strength, not to be moved out of the 
 
 * One cause of his paying so much attention to the statue of Milo 
 was, his being a disciple of Pythagoras, who had the merit of saving 
 his master's life by means of his superior strength. His statue was 
 made by Daraeas, the Crotonian, and was placed in Olympia for having 
 been six times victorious in wrestling in the Olympic Games. 
 
222 
 
 position in which he placed himself. The tenacity of his 
 fingers was marked by the manner in which he held the 
 pomegranate ; and the impossibility of separating them by 
 external force was marked by their juxta-position. The 
 fillet round his head was considered as a symbol of mo* 
 desty. These circumstances, Apollonius said, were de- 
 signed in wisdom, but were more ingeniously designed 
 than what were true. Here is the true signification of 
 Milo and his statue. The people of Crotona made him 
 the priest of Juno ; hence the propriety of his wearing a 
 mitre or fillet in that sacred character. The pomegra- 
 nate* is the only plant which is sacred to Juno. From 
 the discus under his feet we understand, that Milo, being 
 the priest of Juno, and standing on a small buckler, used 
 from it to offer his supplications to her ; the same is signi- 
 fied by the holding out of the right hand. The insepara- 
 ble position of the fingers shews clearly the excellence of 
 ancient sculpture. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 AFTER seeing whatever is generally done at Elis, he 
 praised the Eleans for the order and decency which were 
 every where conspicuous. They were indeed no less 
 anxious than the Athletae themselves to have their conduct 
 approved by the public ; and this anxiety made them take 
 
 * Pausanias says, " The particulars respecting the pomegranate, as 
 they belong to an arcane discourse, I shall pass by in silence." This 
 mysterium arcanum is thus explained by Olearius: 
 
 Nempe in ^va-mn rtQeoXtyefxtvri Juno est pnncipium rerum naturalinm 
 passimm, ut activum Jupiter, a quo inipraegnata Juno Semina rerum 
 divino utero concipit. Quorum cum innumera sit multitudo, atque 
 varietas, ista Junonis, tot seminibus foeke, facunditas malo Punico 
 Symbolice fuit designata, in quo maxima inter omnia poma seminum 
 «opia. 
 
2£3 
 
 particular pains to avoid every fault, either voluntary or in* 
 voluntary. When he was asked by his companions what he 
 thought of the people of Elis in respect to the order esta- 
 blished at the games, he said, Whether they are entitled to 
 the appellation of wise I know not ; but I am sure they 
 are to that of sophists. 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 HOW he inveighed against authors who vainly thought 
 they excelled in writing, and how illiterate he considered 
 all who attempted to discuss subjects superior to their abi- 
 lities, may be collected from what follows. A young ar- 
 rogant philosopher met him in the temple, who thus ad- 
 dressed him : Pray favour me with your company to-mor- 
 row, for I have something to recite. Apollonius asked 
 what it was. An oration, replied he, which I have com- 
 posed in praise of Jupiter, and with these words immedi- 
 ately shewed the composition he had concealed under his 
 cloak, piquing himself, as it were, on the size of his vo- 
 lume. And what, said Apollonius, do you praise in Ju- 
 piter ? or is it the Jupiter of Olympia you commend, and 
 say of him that there is nothing like him in the whole 
 world ! All this I have done, said he, and much besides ; 
 for I say, that to Jove we are indebted for the hours, and 
 for whatever is on the earth, and under the earth ; for the 
 winds that blow, and the stars of heaven. To me, said 
 Apollonius, you appear an excellent panegyrist. So I 
 think myself, said he ; for I have written also in praise of 
 the gout, and of blindness and deafness. If, said Apollo- 
 nius, you have a passion for praising things of this nature, 
 I suppose dropsies and catarrhs will not be strangers to 
 your panegyric? And yet, methinks, you would gain more 
 reputation by attending the dead to their graves, and there 
 reciting the praises of the disorders of which each died. 
 
324 
 
 Such a mark of affectionate attention would soothe the 
 grief of their fathers, sons, and near relations. When 
 Apollonius perceived that the youth's vanity was somewhat 
 humbled by what he said, he continued, Young author, 
 do you think a man will praise better what he knows, than 
 what he does not ? What he knows, most certainly ; for 
 how can he praise what he is ignorant of? Pray, said 
 Apollonius, have you ever written any thing in praise of 
 your father? It was my wish, said he, to do so; but 
 when I found he excelled all my acquaintances in gene- 
 rosity, goodness, economy, and wisdom, I declined it, 
 lest he might have been dishonoured by unbecoming com- 
 mendation. When Apollonius heard this, he was greatly 
 incensed (being sometimes subject to such passions, when- 
 ever he had to deal with absurd people) and cried out, 
 Wretch, have you, who thought yourself not capable of 
 praising your father, whom you know as well as yourself, 
 as he deserved, have you, I say, thought it a light matter 
 to praise the Father of Gods and men, without having 
 either any fear of him whom you praised, or any apprehen- 
 sion of being engaged in a work surpassing all human 
 ability? 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 WHILST Apollonius staid at Olympia, his conversation 
 turned chiefly on the topics most useful to mankind ; name- 
 ly, fortitude, wisdom, temperance, and, in short, all the 
 virtues. On these subjects he discoursed in the porch of 
 the temple, making his hearers admire not only the excel- 
 lence of his ideas, but the eloquence with Which he uttered 
 them. The Lacedaemonians ran to him in crouds, and 
 pronounced him, in the presence of Jupiter, their guest, 
 the father and director of the young, and the ornament of 
 the old. A Corinthian happening to be present, asked 
 
225 
 
 with some degree of pique, if they intended paying him 
 the accustomed honours of a Theophany r* Then, swear- 
 ing by Castor and Pollux, they cried out, Every thing was 
 ready for the occasion. But Apollonius would not suffer 
 it, fearing thereby to create envyings and jealousies. 
 Afterwards passing mount Taygetus, and enterirtg the con- 
 fines of Lacedaemon, he found the inhabitants all busy 
 about their own affairs, and zealous in the observance of 
 the ancient institutions, of Lycurgus. This made him 
 think it would not be unpleasant to discourse with their 
 magistrates on whatever subjects they might wish to discuss. 
 The first question they asked him on his arrival was, lit 
 what manner the Gods were to be worshipped ?*f- He an- 
 swered, as masters. Then how heroes r and he said as 
 fathers. And afterwards they asked how men were to be 
 honoured ? and he said, the question was not fit forSparta 
 to ask. They then inquired what he thought of their 
 laws ; to which he replied, Laws are excellent masters , 
 and masters will be applauded in proportion to the dili- 
 gence and industry of their scholars. Lastly, when they 
 asked him what advice he would give on the subject of 
 fortitude, To use it, if you have it, was his answer 
 
 CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 DURING his stay here, a young Lacedaemonian happen- 
 ed to be accused of transgressing the laws and customs of 
 his country, who was of the family of Callicratidas, that 
 
 * Theophany, oto<pana, the appearance of God, was a festival ob- 
 served by the Delphians on the day that Apollo first manifested himself 
 to them. 
 
 t " We mnst in worship prefer Gods before Demons," says Pytha- 
 goras, " and heroes before men." 
 
 Q 
 
£26 
 
 commanded the fleet at Arginusae.* This youth sailed as 
 far as Carthage and Sicily in vessels of his own construc- 
 tion, and was so much devoted to naval affairs as to forget 
 those of the republic. When Apollonius learnt he was to 
 be tried on the above charge, he thought it would be hard 
 to desert him on such an occasion. In consequence of 
 this, he waited on him to inquire the cause of his present 
 embarrassment. A suit, said the youth, is publicly insti- 
 tuted against me for my love of navigation, and for neglect- 
 ing the affairs of the republic. Pray, said Apollonius, 
 what were your father and grandfather ; were they nautical 
 men ? No, returned the youth, not at all ; they were gym- 
 nasiarchs, and ephori, and all guardians of the laws. 
 Among my ancestors I number Cailicratidas, who com- 
 manded the fleet. Do you allude to him who fought at 
 Arginusae ? The same, said he, who died in the com- 
 mand. Has not the death of such an ancestor, said Apol- 
 lonius, given you an aversion to the sea ? No, said he ; 
 my employment at sea is not that of fighting. And can 
 you, said Apollonius, name a race of men more miserable 
 than that of merchants and mariners, roaming from sea to 
 sea, seeking the best markets, living with factors and 
 brokers, who lend out their money at unconscionable in- 
 terest, wherever the speediest returns of gain are expected. 
 When all this is done, if every thing prospers as they wish, 
 they cry out, their ship has made a good voyage, and 
 boast of never having lost a cargo either with or without 
 their leave. But on the other hand, if their gains prove 
 insufficient for the discharge of their debts, what* do they 
 do ? They step into their long-boat, run their ship aground 
 among the rocks, of which they throw the fault on the 
 
 * Three small islands near the continent, between Mitylene and 
 iMethymna, where the Lacedaemonian fleet was conquered by Conon, 
 the Athenian. 
 
227 
 
 irresistible will of heaven, whilst the property of others 
 goes to the bottom without the least regret. But though 
 the lives of seafaring men be not exactly such as we have 
 described them, yet for Spartans, sprung from Spartans, 
 whose ancestors lived in the midst of Sparta — for them, I 
 say, to languish in the hold of a ship, without any recol- 
 lection of either Lycurgus or Iphitus, attentive only to 
 bales of goods and nautical concerns, how ignominious. 
 If nothing else could convince them of their state of de- 
 gradation, why not call to mind, that whilst Sparta was 
 confined solely to her landed possessions, her glory rose to 
 the skies ; and when she became a naval power, her glory 
 faded, and was blotted out from both land and sea. The 
 young man, deeply affected by this discourse, held down 
 his head, wept bitterly when he became sensible of his 
 own degeneracy, and quitted the sea, where he had spent 
 most part of his life. As soon as Apollonius found that 
 the youth had come to his right mind, and gave the pre- 
 ference to the landed interest, he introduced him to the 
 notice of the ephori, and obtained his acquittal and 
 pardon. 
 
 CHAP XXXIII. 
 
 ANOTHER instance occurred of the propriety of his 
 conduct at Lacedaemon. The citizens received a letter 
 from the Emperor Claudius, animadverting on the impro- 
 per use they made of their liberty. This letter was writ- 
 ten in consequence of some accusations which had been 
 sent to the Emperor from the Proconsul of Greece. The 
 Lacedaemonians, at a loss what to do, debated amongst 
 themselves whether they should deprecate the wrath of 
 Caesar, or send back a lofty answer. On this occasion 
 they consulted Apollonius, who, when he found they were 
 divided in opinion, came forward, and thus briefly address- 
 ed 
 
228 
 
 ed them : " Palamedes invented letters, to the end* men 
 might know, not only what to write, but also what not to 
 write." In this way he dissuaded the Lacedaemonians from 
 shewing either too much audacity, or too much timidity 
 in their reply. 
 
 GHAP. XXXIV. ' 
 
 APOLLONIUS staid some time at Sparta after the 
 Olympic games; but as S3on as the winter was over he 
 proceeded in the spring to Malea, with the design of pass- 
 ing over to Rome. Whilst he was thinking of this jour- 
 ney, he had the following dream, in which he thought he 
 saw a woman, tall of stature and venerable in years, who 
 embraced him, and requested him to visit her before he 
 went to Italy. She said she was the nurse of Jupiter, and 
 had on a garland, adorned with whatever sea or land pro- 
 duces. After considering the meaning of this dream, he 
 judged it proper to go into Crete, an island called the 
 Nurse of Jupiter, because he was there educated; at the 
 same time some other island might be possibly indicated 
 by the garland. As many vessels happened to be stationed 
 at Malea ready to put to sea, and all bound for Crete, 
 he embarked in one which he supposed would be sufficient 
 
 Blest be his shade in endless realms of light, 
 
 Who bade the Alphabet dispel our night ; 
 
 Those wond'rous symbols that can still retain 
 
 The phantom forms that pass along the brain, 
 
 O'er unsubstantial thought hold strong controul, 
 
 Amffix the essence of the immortal soul. 
 
 Man unreluetant meets the general doom, 
 
 His mind embalm'd, defies th' o'erwhelming tomb, 
 
 Lives in fresh vigour thro' succeeding years, 
 
 Nor yields its powers whilst nature guides the spheres. 
 
 The Press. 
 
 I 
 
229 
 
 for his whole community,* which consisted of his com- 
 panions and their domestics, of whom he left not one be- 
 hind. Sailing by the coast of Cydonia, he put in at 
 Gnossus, where his companions expressed a desire of visit- 
 ing the famous labyrinth in the neighbourhood, said to 
 have been of old the habitation of the Minotaur. He 
 allowed them to gratify thei%curiosity, but declined goiug 
 himself, from the abhorrence he ever entertained of the 
 injustice of Minos. Meanwhile he proceeded to Gortyna 
 to visit Ida, whose summit he ascended, and examined all 
 the sacred monuments of the place. He next visited the 
 temple of Lebene, which is dedicated to JEsculapius ; and 
 as all Asia visits Pergamos, so does all Crete visit the 
 temple of Lebene, to which resort many people even from 
 Libya. The temple looks towards the Libyan sea, stand- 
 ing near Phaestus, a town where a great sea is restrained 
 by a very little rock. This temple is called Lebenean, 
 from a promontory of the same name running out from it 
 in the shape of a lion, as we see a variety of figures re- 
 presented by the accidental accumulation of stones. There 
 is a story connected with this promontory which supposes 
 it to have been one of the lions yoked of old to the cha- 
 riot of Rhea. Whilst he was talking here about mid-day 
 with a great concourse of people, assembled from motives 
 of religion, a violent concussion of the earth shook the 
 whole island, followed by a rumbling noise, proceeding 
 not from the clouds, but from the ground ; in consequence 
 of which the sea withdrew about seven stadia from the 
 shore. Many people supposed, by this recession of the 
 sea, that the temple and all belonging to it were swept 
 away. But Apoilonius said, Don't be dismayed, for the 
 
 * His visit to Crete was in imitation of Pythagoras, who whilst he 
 was there went down into the ldaean Cave, with the Cretan Epimenides, 
 the famous soothsayer. All things, says Pythagoras, are common 
 amongst friends. 
 
230 
 
 sea has brought forth land. Some imagined that he meant 
 to say, that the elements were in harmony, and that the 
 sea wonld make no encroachment on the land. But be- 
 hold a few days after some travellers, who came from the 
 province of Cydonia, said, that on the self- same day and 
 hour in which the earthquake was felt, an island rose out 
 of the sea, in the strait whjph runs between Thera and 
 Crete.* However, to avoid all prolixity, let us pass to 
 what he did at Rome, where he set sail as soon as he had 
 performed his work in Crete. 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 AT this time Nero gave no encouragement to the study of 
 philosophy, whose professors he suspected of magic, and 
 said, they used the name of philosophy as a cloak under 
 which to practise their curious arts. The judges on the 
 bench escaped not then the imputation of using the cloak 
 of philosophy to hide the magic art. Without mentioning 
 others, I cannot pass over Musonius, who, from being a 
 Babylonian,*}- and considered second in wisdom to Apollo- 
 nius, was cast intb prison, where he would have died, had 
 he not possessed a robust constitution of body. Whilst 
 philosophy and its professors were in such perilous cir- 
 cumstances, Apollonius came to Rome. 
 
 * This island, named Thia, appeared long before the time of Apol- 
 lonius; which clearly shews that Philostratus had no other design than 
 that of accommodating to the life of his hero all marvellous events 
 whatever. 
 
 t That is, says Olearius, from being a Chaldean, or a Magician. 
 Magicians, in the imperial edicts, are always denominated divini and 
 Chaldai. Chaldaean and Babylonian are the same. Tacitus speaks of 
 a Musonius Rufus, a man devoted to the study of philosophy, and in 
 particular to the doctrines of the stoic sect ; but whether he is the 
 same with the Musonius in the text is doubtful. 
 
231 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 WHEN he arrived within a hundred and twenty stadia of 
 Rome, he met Philolaus of Citium,* near the grove of 
 Aricia,f a man of great eloquence, but not made for 
 much suffering in times of persecution, for on the road lie 
 advised every philosopher he met to follow his example. 
 As soon as he saw Apollonius, he saluted him, and ex- 
 horted him to give way to the storm, and not go to Rome, 
 where philosophy lay under such odium. Whilst he was 
 talking of the state of things there, he frequently turned 
 about his head to see if any body was within hearing. 
 You, said he, to Apollonius, are on your way to Rome, at- 
 tended by a train of philosophers, a circumstance in itself 
 liable to much animadversion. You know not the officers, 
 who are appointed by Nero to take care of the city gates, 
 who will probably apprehend you and them before you 
 enter the town. But tell me, I pray thee, said Apollo- 
 nius, how the emperor spends his timer In driving a cha- 
 riot in open day, said Philolaus, in singing on the public 
 stage, and living with gladiators, in whose company, be- 
 ing enrolled as a member, he fights as a gladiator, and 
 kills his man as well as the best. Can there, said Apollo- 
 nius, interrupting him, be a greater sight presented to the 
 eyes of liberal men, than that of seeing an emperor acting 
 so unbecoming his high station ? for in the opinion of Pla- 
 to, said he, li Man is the play-thing of the Gods," but an 
 emperor making himself the play-thing of men, and for- 
 getting every thing due to himself, what a subject of dis- 
 course is it not capable of affording the philosopher ? So 
 it would, said Philolaus, if it could be done without any 
 risk. But if, said he, you continue your journey, and lose 
 
 * Citium, a town of Crete. 
 
 t Aricia, a town of Latimn, at the foot of the tlons Albanns, on the 
 Appian way, at the distance of 1G0 stadia from Ryine. 
 
432 
 
 your life by Nero's swallowing you up alive, without your 
 ever enjoying such a sight, your gain will not be great: it 
 will cost you more than ever it did Ulysses, when he fell 
 into the hands of the Cyclops, for in order to see that 
 monster, and such a bloody spectacle, he lost numbers of 
 his companions. Act as you think right, said Philolaus; 
 but let not your friends perish. With these words, uttered 
 in a higher tone of voice, he fetched a deep sigh. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 DAMIS, fearing lest the language of Philolaus should 
 dishearten their young disciples, took Apollonius aside, 
 and said, Conversations of this kind may do harm, from 
 the terrors they excite. To this Apollonius said, Of all 
 the favours which have fallen to my lot, unsolicited from 
 the Gods, I consider this as one of the greatest, that has 
 put it into my power to ascertain who of my friends are or 
 are not truly attached to philosophy. Of those who were 
 influenced by the discourse of Philolaus, some pretended 
 sickness, others the want of all necessary provision for 
 such a journey; some said domestic business prevented 
 them, and others that they had unlucky dreams. And so 
 his thirty and four companions, who set out with him on 
 his journey, were at last reduced to eight, who alone were 
 found faithful. The rest all fled, through fear of Nero 
 and philosophy. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 THEN Apollonius assembling all his friends who remain- 
 ed, amongst whom was Menippus, the favourite of the 
 Empusa, Dioscorides the Egyptian, and Damis, said to 
 them, I will not blame those who have left me, but I will 
 praise you who have remained, because you are men like 
 myself. I will not call the man a coward who has fled 
 through fear of Nero ; but I will call him a philosopher 
 
£33 
 
 who has conquered his fears, and I will teach him all I 
 know. But first, it is our duty to thank the Gods, by 
 whose assistance both we and they have been inspired with 
 such sentiments ; and next, to solicit their direction and 
 guidance on our journey, for without them we are nothing. 
 We must go to the city which commands so much of the 
 habitable earth. But how can any one approach it, unless 
 guided by them ? especially at a time when a tyranny is 
 established in it, of such a violent nature as suffers men 
 not even to be philosophers. Let no one deem it fooliih 
 in us to attempt going to a city from which so many philo- 
 sophers have fled, for there is nothing in human affairs 
 sufficient to terrify a wise man. No advancement or im- 
 provement in any thing can be made without danger and 
 toil. In the many journeys I have made, and no one has 
 made more, I have seen the wild beasts of Arabia and 
 India; but the wild beast, vulgarly called a tyrant, I know 
 not the number of his heads, uor whether his claws are 
 hooked, or his teeth sharp. He is more wild than the 
 animals dwelling in woods and mountains. We know that 
 lions and panthers, by gentle treatment, grow tame and 
 change their natures ; but the wild beast called a tyrant, in 
 proportion to the pains taken to tame it, becomes more 
 savage than if left to itself, and tears to pieces every thing 
 within its reach. Of all the wild beasts we read, was it 
 ever known that any of them devoured its own mother ? 
 Yet Nero gorged himself with such a feast. If foul deeds 
 like this were perpetrated by Orestes and Alcmaeon, they 
 had some pretext for their conduct in that of their fathers, 
 of whom the one was murdered by his wife, and the other 
 sold by his for a necklace. But Nero, after being adopted 
 by the old Emperor, at the instigation of his mother, and 
 made heir to the empire, he, I say, after such favours 
 conferred, destroyed this very mother by an artificial ship- 
 wreck, in a vessel built expressly for the purpose, wherein 
 
234 
 
 she perished not far from the shore.* If, in consequence 
 of such enormities, any person were to suppose Nero an 
 object of terror, and for that reason to abandon philosophy 
 through fear of opposing his inclination, I would let him 
 know that nothing is terrible to men who have made the 
 maxims of temperance and wisdom tlie rules of their 
 lives; for they are favoured by the Gods, and all they can 
 suffer from such as despise them is, to be reckoned like 
 unto the actions of men drunk with wine, who are in truth 
 mad, but not formidable. We will go to Rome, if our 
 courage does not sink through fear. To Nero's edict, ba- 
 nishing philosophy, let us oppose the Iambic of Sophocles, 
 " Such orders were never given by the father of the Gods" 
 — nor by the Muses, I will add ; nor by Apollo, the God 
 of Wisdom. It is probable the Emperor himself knows 
 this Iambic, as he is said to take great delight in tragedy. 
 On this occasion were verified the words of Homer,*f* who 
 says, that as the warriors became all like one helmet and 
 one shield, when roused and animated by the force of elo- 
 quence, so were our philosophers united by the words of 
 Apollonius. They were ready to lay down their lives for 
 the sake of philosophy, and shewed themselves much su- 
 perior to the men who run away. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 OUR travellers now drew near the city gates, through 
 which they passed without being asked any questions by 
 the guards, who admired the singularity of their dress, 
 
 * The account given by Tacitus and Suetonius is different from this, 
 and consequently is more to be relied on. 
 
 t " Spear crouded spear, 
 
 Shield, helmet, man, press'd helmet, man, and shield — " 
 
 Cowper. Homer. 
 
<235 
 
 which excited both their attention and wonder. Its fashion 
 was religious, and unlike that worn by common quacks 
 and mountebanks. On entering the city, they withdrew 
 to a public inn near the gates; and whilst sitting at a late 
 meal, a man in a state of intoxication fell into their com- 
 pany, who had a voice not at ail unpleasing. This man 
 used to visit the several quarters of the city, and sing the 
 verses of Nero, for which a certain salary was paid him. 
 He had power to arraign all as traitors who listened not 
 with attention, or who did not pay him for what they 
 heard. He possessed a harp, and all the requisites for 
 playing on it, together with a little box, wherein was a 
 string, much worn, which formerly belonged to Nero. 
 This, he said, . cost him two minae, with which he would 
 never part, except to a performer of the first talents, or to 
 him who had won one prize at the Pythian Games. His 
 custom was to begin with a prelude, in which he sung a 
 short hymn in praise of Nero: then other verses were 
 added, partly from the Orestea and Antigone,* and partly 
 from other tragedies of Nero's own composing; such 
 songs as Nero made sad discord of, he sung with suitable 
 variations. Finding that little or no attention was paid 
 him by Apollonius and his companions, he cried out, they 
 violated the majesty of Nero, and were the enemies of his 
 divine voice, at which our philosophers seemed not much 
 concerned. Whereupon Menippus asked Apollonius his 
 opinion of what the perfomier said. The same, replied 
 Apollonius, as of what he sung. But it is not our busi- 
 ness, Menippus, to shew any signs of dissatisfaction : let 
 us pay him for his music, and leave him to sacrifice to die 
 Muses of Nero. Such was the specimen given by this 
 wretched harper of gross adulation and meanness. 
 
 * From the words in the text it may be inferred, that the Orestea 
 and Antigone were compositions of Nero. 
 
236 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 AS soon as it was day, Telesinus, one of the consuls,* 
 sending for Apollonius, asked him why he wore such a 
 peculiar dress? Because, replied he, it is pure, and not 
 taken from any living creature. The Consul next asked, 
 But what is the wisdom you possess ? It is, said Apollo- 
 nius, a divine instinct, which teaches what prayers and 
 sacrifices are most proper to be made to the Gods. Is 
 there any philosopher, replied Telesinus, who is ignorant 
 of this ? Very many, said he ; and if any man is well in- 
 formed in these things, he will receive great advantage by 
 knowing from one wiser than himself, that what he knows, 
 he knows well. When Telesinus (whose mind was more 
 than usual attached to religious worship) heard what he 
 said, it immediately occurred to him that he was the man 
 of whom public fame had spoken so much ; but at present 
 he declined asking his name, from apprehending it might 
 be his wish to conceal it. Telesinus then returning to re- 
 ligious subjects, in which he was well versed, addressed 
 Apollonius as a sage, and said, What do you pray for 
 when you approach the altars ? That justice may prevail, 
 said Apollonius ; that the laws may not be broken; that 
 wise men may be poor, and the rest of mankind rich, but 
 not by fraud. What, said Telesinus, do you think that by 
 asking you will obtain such great things? Yes, I do, said 
 he ; for when I approach the altars, I include every request 
 in one prayer, and thus address the Gods: " Grant, O 
 ye Gods, all that is convenient for me." So that if the 
 Gods rank me in the number of the good, I hope to ob- 
 
 * In the reign of Domitian, he chose rather to retire from his native 
 country as a philosopher, than to maintain his dignity there by re- 
 nouncing that profession. 
 
237 
 
 tain more than what 1 ask; but if they number me with 
 the wicked, I know the contrary to what I ask will be 
 given; and I will not accuse the Gods forjudging me un- 
 deserving of their favours on account of my demerits. At 
 hearing this, Telesinus was amazed ; but being desirous of 
 shewing liim every mark of respect, he said, Be it lawful 
 for you to enter all the temples ; 1 will write to the priest* 
 to receive you, and submit to your superior orders. What, 
 said Apollonius, would they not receive me without your 
 written commands ? No, said he, for the permission de- 
 pends on my situation as Pontifex Maximus. I am glad, 
 said Apollonius, a man so illustrious is appointed to fill 
 that office ; at the same time I wish you to know from me, 
 that I would prefer dwelling in temples which are not so 
 vigilantly guarded. None of the Gods reject me, and all 
 give me the protection of their roof. This is all the per- 
 mission I crave, and which is not denied me by the bar- 
 barians. If that is so, said Telesinus, the barbarians have 
 been beforehand with us in such a praise-worthy attention ; 
 for I wished it said of ourselves. After this Apollonius 
 took up his abode in the temples, aud in none he dwelt 
 without making some reformation. In this way he passed 
 from temple to temple, which gave rise to some animad- 
 versions, which he explained by saying, The Gods them- 
 selves do not always dwell in the heavens ; they visit ./Ethi- 
 opia and Olympus in turns, and sometimes mount Athos. 
 If the Gods condescend to visit all nations, would it not 
 be an incongruity in men not visiting all the Gods ? But 
 no one will blame masters if they neglect their slaves ; for 
 it is not probable they would be so treated undeservedly. 
 But slaves who do not respect their masters, deserve from 
 them the severest treatment, which is that of being cast 
 away as accursed, and odious to the Gods. 
 
238 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 
 
 WHILST ApoHonius instructed persons in the temples, 
 the people were more attentive to the public worship; and 
 the temples he frequented were most crouded, because in 
 them the worshippers expected greater favours from the 
 Gods than in the others; to which may be added, that 
 what he said was less liable to be misrepresented on ac- 
 count of its publicity. He visited in person no man, nor 
 ever paid his court to the great and powerful. He receiv- 
 ed all who came to him with civility, and what he sajd to 
 them he said to all the world. 
 
 CHAP. XLII. 
 
 ABOUT this time Demetrius, who loved ApoHonius (as 
 was noticed in what passed at Corinth) came to Rome, 
 and shewed him so much attention, that Nero was pro- 
 voked by it, and began to suspect that the art which Apol- 
 lonius professed, caused the intimacy. It was apprehend- 
 ed ApoHonius encouraged him to act as lie did, for after 
 Nero finished his gymnasium, which was the admiration of 
 Rome, and celebrated the anniversary of it in the midst of 
 the senate, and the knights assembled, and performed all 
 the necessary sacrifices on the occasion, Demetrius enter- 
 ed it, and pronounced an oration against all who bathed 
 in it,* saying they were effeminate ; and polluters, not 
 cleansers of themselves ; to which he added, that the ex- 
 
 * There was a hot bath joined to the gymnasium, after the fashion 
 of the Greeks, and this appears from Suetonius, who says, " Upon the 
 first opening of a hot bath, and a school of exercise (Gymnasium) 
 which Nero built, he furnished the senate, and the equestrian order 
 with oil. 
 
239 
 
 pense attending such works was idle, and superfluous. 
 These words would have cost him his life, had not Nero 
 outdone himself that day in singing. It was in a tavern 
 near the gymnasium, in which he sung with only a girdle 
 tied round his waist, but in every other respect was as 
 naked as one of the lowest attendants of the place. Yet 
 Demetrius incurred all the danger of what he said, for 
 Tigellinus,* to whom the sword of Rome was committed, 
 banished him from the city, just as if he had demolished 
 the baths by his harangue. 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. 
 
 ALL the time Apollonius staid in Rome, Tigellinus kept 
 a vigilaut, but silent eye over him, and observed all he said, 
 whether it was reprehensible or not. Apollonius took 
 care not to indulge in any unbecoming license of speech, 
 nor yet to shew a too solicitous concern like persons ever 
 on the \\atch. He said what he thought sufficient on the 
 common topics of the day, and talked with Telesinus on 
 philosophical subjects, and with others, who conceived 
 they run no risk, though philosophy stood on the most 
 slippery grounds. However, he had fallen under a suspicion 
 as I have said, which was not diminished by the observa- 
 tions made on the subject of a prodigy. It happened to 
 thunder during an eclipse of the sun, an occurrence 
 which never takes place at such a time. Apollonius lift- 
 
 * Tigellinus was celebrated for his intrigues and perfidy in the court 
 of Nero. — He was appointed judge at the trial of the conspirators who 
 had leagued against Nero, for which he was liberally rewarded with 
 triumphal honours. — He afterwards betrayed the emperor, and was 
 ordered to destroy himself. Tacitus says, he corrupted Nero at first, 
 and then deserted him, " ac postremo ejusdem desertor ac proditor." 
 Tacitus has given his character with his accustomed strength and 
 brevity,— History, b. i. c. 72. 
 
240 
 
 ing up his eyes to heaven said, A great event shall or 
 shall not happen.* They, who heard these words, were 
 unable to comprehend their meaning, but three days after 
 the eclipse, all understood them. For whilst Nero was 
 at supper, a thunderbolt fell on the table where he sat,+ 
 which broke the cup in his hand as he was raising it to his 
 mouth. The danger he run of being killed by it was sig- 
 nified by Apollonius when he said, a great event shal or 
 shall not happen. Great fear seized on Tigellinus when he 
 heard this, from supposing Apollonius deeply skilled in 
 divine things. He thought it wise, however, not to take 
 any notice of it, lest some secret harm might befall him. 
 He still continued to have him well watched by all those 
 eyes, which are ever at the beck of sovereign power ; for 
 whether he talked, or held his tongue, or walked, or did 
 not ; whether he eat alone, or in company, or sacrificed, 
 or did not ; all and every thing was reported to him. 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. 
 
 A DISTEMPER at this time became prevalent in Rome, 
 which the physicians termed a catarrh. It was attended 
 with a cough, and great difficulty in breathing. In conse- 
 quence of a swelling in Nero's throat, and a hoarseness 
 in his voice, the temples were crouded with votaries ofFer- 
 
 * Cautious and circumspect enough, to keep himself from being inva- 
 lidated as a prophet. " II est important de ne point parler clairement, 
 on finit tdt ou tard par passer pour prophete." 
 
 t I find no account of this in history. In the close of the year, says 
 the writers of the Universal History, the heads and mouths of the po- 
 pulace were filled with prodigies, asserted to have happened, and 
 always looked upon as the forerunners of some dreadful calamity. 
 Suetonius says, a blazing star appeared above the horizon several nights 
 •uccessively, which is vulgarly supposed to portend destruction to 
 kings and princes. 
 
241 
 
 ing up their prayers to the Gods for his recovery. Apol- 
 lonius was greatly vexed at this madness of the people, yet 
 no man was rebuked by him in public. He even persuad- 
 ed Menippus to restrain his indignation, by telling him 
 that the Gods were to be forgiven, if they took pleasure 
 in the company of buffoons and jesters. These words 
 were carried to Tigellinus, who sent immediately to have 
 him arrested, and brought before him to answer the charge 
 of high treasou. An informer, well-instructed, came for- 
 ward, who had been the ruin of many, one who was full 
 of such kind of Olympic victories. He held in his hand a 
 roll wherein was written the accusation, which he flourish- 
 ed about him like a sword before the eyes of Apollonius, 
 boasting he had given it a sharp edge, and that now his 
 hour was come. Upon this, Tigellinus unfolded the roll, 
 when lo and behold, neither letter nor character was to be 
 seen :* which made all think the man was a demon. This 
 was the opinion which Domitian some time after enter- 
 tained of him. When Tigellinus saw this, he took Apollo- 
 nius into a more secret part of the court, where the most 
 solemn business was transacted ; and making the people 
 withdraw, he asked him who he was ? Apollonius told 
 him his own name, and that of his father, and his country ; 
 and the use he made of philosophy, which was to know 
 both Gods and men ; but that to know oneself, he 
 said, was the most difficult of all things. But, in 
 what way, said Tigelliims, do you discover demons, and 
 the apparitions of spectres? Just as I do homicides and 
 impious men, replied Apollonius ; and this he said in sar- 
 castic allusion to Tigelliuus, who countenanced and encou* 
 raged Nero in all his cruelty and debauchery. Tigellinus 
 continued, will you prophesy for me, Apollonius, if I ask 
 it? How can I, said he, who am no soothsayer? But, 
 returned Tigellinus, we are told you are the man who said, 
 
 • Credat qui vult. 
 1? 
 
242 
 
 that a great event would, or would not take place. You 
 heard only the truth, said Apollonius : but it is not to be 
 attributed to the art of divination: it is to be rather ascrib- 
 ed to that wisdom which Jupiter makes manifest to the 
 wise. How comes it to pass, said Tigellinus, that you do 
 not fear Nero ?, Because, answered he, the same deity 
 who has made him formidable, has made me bold. Pray 
 what do you think of the emperor ? I think better of him 
 than you do : for you think he ought to sing, and I think 
 he ought to hold his tongue. Tigellinus, being struck 
 with these words, said, Go where you please, only giving 
 security for your appearance when required. But who, 
 replied Apollonius, can go bail for that, which cannot be 
 bound ? All these things appeared in the eyes of Tigelli- 
 nus divine, and above human power : and to shew he did 
 not wish to contend with a God, he bid him go where he 
 pleased, as he was too strong to be subject to his autho- 
 rity.* 
 
 CHAP. XLV. 
 
 WHAT I am going to relate is set down among the mar- 
 vellous acts of Apollonius. A girl on the point of being 
 married, seemingly died, whose bier was followed by him 
 who was to have been her husband, in all the affliction 
 usual in like cases of interrupted wedlock. As she hap- 
 pened to be of a consular family, all Rome condoled with 
 him. Apollonius, meeting the funeral procession, said to 
 the attendants, set down the bier, and I will dry up the 
 tears which you are shedding for the maid, whose name he 
 inquired after. Almost all the spectators present thought 
 
 * J'ai rapport^ cet entretien de Tigillin et D'Apollone pour faire 
 voir qu'il n'y avoit dans Apollone que de la hardiesse et de la vanite 
 qui le soutenoient dans les occasions les plus perilleuses. Du Pin, 
 
243 
 
 he was going to pronounce a funeral oration like what is 
 done on such occasions to excite compassion. But all he 
 did was, to touch the maid, and after uttering a few words 
 over her in a low tone of voice, he wakened her from that 
 death with which she seemed to be overcome. * She im- 
 mediately began to speak, and returned to her father's house, 
 as Alcestis did of old, when recalled to life by Hercules. 
 The relations of the girl presented Apollonius with an hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand drachmas, which he in return begged 
 to settle on her, as a marriage-portion. It is as difficult to 
 me as it was to all who were present, to ascertain whether 
 Apollonius discovered the vital spark, which had escaped 
 the faculty, (for it is said, it rained at the time, which 
 caused a vapour to rise from her face) or whether he che- 
 rished and brought back to life the soul, which to all ap- 
 pearance was extinct. 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. 
 
 AT this time Nero cast into prison Musonius, who excelled 
 most others in philosophy. During his confinement, he 
 
 * This is the only instance that looks like a miraculous resurrection, 
 on which Eusebius's remark, as quoted by Lardner, is very pertinent, 
 who says, as it was not credited by Philostratus himself, we need not 
 much mind it: for in reasoning about it, he supposeth that there were 
 some remains of hfe, the maid still breathing, and having a dew of 
 sweat upon her face : and moreover, as this is said to have happened at 
 Rome, if it had been true, it would have come to the knowledge of 
 the Emperor, and his courtiers, and to the philosopher Euphrates, 
 then at Rome ; and would have beeu particularly taken notice of, 
 either in favour of Apollonius, or to his disadvantage, neither of which 
 happened. But granting it true, I would ask, cui bono was such a vio- 
 lation of the established laws of nature ? besides, the whole credit due 
 to it, is ultimately to be resolved into the credit of one man. 
 
 Thr wife of Admetus, King of Thessaly. who being sick, sent to 
 the oracle, and was answered that he must needs die, unless one of his 
 friends would die for him — they all refused, and then she voluntarily 
 submitted to die for him. Accordiug to some authors Hercules brought 
 her back from hell. R 2 
 
244 
 
 deprecated all intercourse with Apollonius, lest it might 
 endanger both. What correspondence they had was car- 
 ried on through the medium of Menippus and Damis, 
 who had free access to the prison. Omitting such epistles 
 as were of little or no moment, we will only notice the 
 most interesting, in which may be found whatever is most 
 important. 
 
 1 . " Apollonius to Musonius the philosopher, 
 
 greeting. 
 
 " I wish to go to you, and enjoy your conversation and 
 
 roof. — I wish to be in some way or other useful to you. — ■ 
 
 If you doubt not that Hercules delivered Theseus from the 
 
 shades, write your pleasure. Farewel.t 
 
 A 
 
 2. " Musonius to Apollonius the philosopher. 
 
 " Your proposal is worthy of all praise. But, the man 
 who is able to clear himself, and prove he is guilty of no 
 crime, will deliver himself. Farewell 
 
 3. " Apollonius to Musonius the philosopher. 
 
 " Socrates the Athenian refused being delivered by his 
 friends ; he was guilty of no crime cognizable by the court 
 which tried him : yet he died. Farewel." 
 
 4. " Musonius to Apollonius the philosopher. 
 
 " Socrates died because he did not defend himself : but 
 I will defend myself. Farewel X 
 
 CHAP. XLVII. 
 
 WHEN Nero was setting out for Greece, he published 
 an edict, forbidding the philosophers to remain in Rome.* 
 
 * This Decree, according to Olearius, was made before the month 
 of November, in the year of Christ 66. — For he says, it appears from 
 Josep.i us , . th at Nero was in that month in Achaia. 
 
 i 
 
245 
 
 Whereupon, Apollonius determined to visit the western 
 parts of the world, said to be bounded by the pillars of 
 Hercules. He wished to see the ebbing and flowing of 
 the ocean, and Gades, of the philosophy of whose inhabi- 
 tants he heard that it almost approached divine wisdom. 
 All his friends accompanied him, praising not only his re- 
 solution, but the object of the journey. 
 
BOOK V. —Contents. 
 
 Apollonius visits the Pillars of Hercules — Particulars of 
 his Voyage from Gades to Egypt — Stays some time 
 at Alexandria — Meets Vespasian there — Conversa- 
 tion with him on the State of Public Affairs — Mis* 
 understanding between him and Euphrates. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF the pillars, which are said to have been fixed by Her- 
 cules as the boundaries of the earth, I shall pass over all 
 that is fabulous, and confine myself only to what is worth 
 being related. The two promontories of Europe and 
 Asia, distant from each other about sixty stadia,* form the 
 straitj-f- through which, the ocean, (whereby, is understood 
 the Mediterranean) is carried into the outer sea. The 
 promontory of Africa is called Abinna.J The heights of 
 this mountain abound in lions; on the land side, it extends 
 till it limits the Getulians§ and Tingitanians, two nations 
 whose manners are savage, and African. In sailing into 
 the Mediterranean, this mountain runs about ninety stadia, 
 
 * Sixty stadia, (taking the stadium on an average at 500 feet) make 
 but five miles and three quarters. 
 
 t The narrow sea then opens, and the mountains Abila and Calpe, 
 make the coasts of Europe and Africa appear nearer to each other 
 than in reality they are; both these jmountains indeed, but Calpe more 
 particularly, stretch themselves toward the sea. Pomp. Mela. 
 
 X More commonly called Abyla, or Abila, a mountain of Africa in 
 that part which is nearest to the opposite mountain, called Calpe, on 
 the coast of Spain, only 18 miles distant. Lempriere. 
 
 § Mauritania Tingitana, is the province immediately bordering on 
 Abinna, (of which .Tingis, now Tangier, is the capital) adjoining to 
 said province on the east lies Getulia. 
 
 
247 
 
 as far as the river Salex ;* how much farther is not easy to 
 conjecture, because, beyond it the country becomes uncul- 
 tivated, and uninhabitable. The European promontory is 
 called Calpis, which extends sixf hundred stadia on the 
 right, as you sail into the outer sea, and ends at the ancient 
 Gades.J ( 
 
 CHAP. IT. 
 
 I HAVE seen myself among the Celtae, the ebbing and 
 flowing of the ocean,^ which corresponds exactly with the 
 common opinion. Having often considered the cause of 
 this phenomenon, namely, the flux and reflux of such a 
 body of waters, I am of opinion Apollonius has discovered 
 its true origin. In one of his epistles, written to the In- 
 dians, he says, The ocean moved underneath, by winds 
 blowing from the many caverns which the earth has form- 
 ed on every side of it, puts forth its waters, and draws 
 
 * Salex, of which river I can find no account. 
 
 t Cadiz, according to modern geographers, lies forty-five miles from 
 Gibraltar. — Taking the stadium at 500 feet, the distance will be ac- 
 cording to onr author about 56 English miles. 
 
 t Called by Philostratus Gadeira — from its Phenician name Gadir, 
 which Pliny says, signifies a hedge. Strabo says, it was founded by 
 a colony from Tyre. Gadir properly signifies an inclosure, or spot of 
 ground separated from all other tracts, as this island was by the sea. 
 
 § Olearius supposes it must have been at Massilia, now Marseilles, 
 where this ebbing and flowing of the ocean was seen by our author, 
 for in no part of the Mediterranean is that phenomenon so conspicu- 
 ous : yet Massilia is in Gallia Narbonenses, not Celtica. This circum- 
 stance renders the conjecture of Olearius doubtful. By Celtae, here, 
 I suppose our author understood Celtiberians, or inhabitants of Celti- 
 beria, or Spain in general ; for the Celtes, after passing over the Pyre- 
 nean mountains, took the name of Celtiberians from the name Iberia, 
 or lber, in the old Celtic or Teutonic, signifying over— consequently the 
 ebbing and flowing alluded to, might have been on any part of the 
 western coast of Spain. 
 
248 
 
 them in again, as is the case of the breath in respiration. 
 This opinion is corroborated, he adds, by the account he 
 received of the sick at Gades. # For at the time of the 
 flowing of the tide, the breath never leaves the dying man, 
 which would not happen if the tide did not supply the 
 earth with a portion of air sufficient to produce this effect. 
 All the phases of the moon during the increase, fullness, 
 and wane, are to be observed in the sea. Hence it comes 
 to pass, that the ocean follows the changes of the moon, 
 by increasing and decreasing with it. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 AMONG the Celtae, night and day gradually succeed each 
 other ; darkness giving place to light, and light to dark- 
 ness, as at Rome. About Gades and the pillars, both 
 burst suddenly^ on the sight with the velocity of lightning. 
 The fortunate islesj are comprised within the limits of 
 Africa, and not far from a promontory, which is uninha- 
 bitable. Gades is situate in Europe. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 THE people inhabiting these countries are very supersti- 
 tious in matters of religion. They have erected an altar 
 
 * So little, says Posidonius, did the inhabitants of Boetica know of 
 physic, that they used, like the Lusitani, to lay their sick relations 
 along the public streets and roads, to have the advice of such passen- 
 gers as could give it to them, and peihaps, that they might enjoy bet- 
 ter the supposed advantage of the flowing of the tide, as mentioned in, 
 the text. 
 
 t Without any previous twilight. 
 
 t Fortunatae Insula?— now called Canaries — they are seven in num- 
 ber, situated in the same parallel with the southern parte of Mauri- 
 tania. 
 
249 
 
 to old agej* and are the only people known who sing 
 hymns in honour of death. f Even art and poverty J have 
 altars with them, as Hercules of Egypt lias with some, 
 and Hercules of Thebes with others. The latter is said 
 to have penetrated into Erythia,§ in the vicinity of Gades, 
 from which he carried away Geryon, and his oxen ; and 
 the former, who was much addicted to science, traversed 
 the whole earth. The inhabitants of Gades are said to 
 be bv descent Greeks, and are instructed in our customs. 
 They honour the Athenians above all the Greeks, and of- 
 fer sacrifices to Menestheus,|| King of Athens. In conse- 
 quence of their veneration for the character of Themis- 
 tocles, who commanded the Athenian fleet, they have 
 raised to him a statue of brass, which seemed to breathe, 
 and which they approach as an oracle. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 HERE they saw trees not to be found in any other coun- 
 try, called geryonea?, ## of which, two were growing on a 
 
 * The Ronans divided the life of man into two ages rather than four 
 — Youth, Juventa — and old age, Senectus, of both these the poets in 
 the Augustan age, spoke in a manner which plainly shewed that they 
 were received as personages and deities in their religion. Spence. 
 
 t Death and sleep are placed by Virgil among the evil beings of 
 hell. 
 
 X Poverty, Penia, a Goddess whom Aristophanes describes in his 
 play of Plutus, was held in high veneration by the people of Gades, 
 from an idea that she was the inventress of arts, by her power of 
 quickening the industry, and calling forth the genius of men. 
 
 § Erythia, an island adjoining, according to the ancients, either to, 
 or a part of, Gades, no where now to be found by the description 
 given of it by ancient authors. The island on which Gades stands, 
 was called Erythraa by some people, who came witn HenuJes from the 
 Red Sea, who, with the approbation of their leader, Hercules, made 
 a settlement there. 
 
 l| On one of the mouths of the river Bcetis, Menestheus, the Athenian, 
 built a city of his own name, and a temple between the two branches, 
 which was called Oraculum Menestheum. 
 
 ** Pausanias says, there is not any sepulchre extant of Geryon at 
 
 Gailes, 
 
Q.50 
 
 tumulus, raised over the body of Geryon. The geryonea 
 is a species of the pine, and pitch-tree, and drops blood 
 as the Heliad poplar does gold. The island,* in which is 
 the temple,f does not exceed in dimensions the temple it- 
 self : not a stone appears in it, but the whole looks like 
 the most polished surface. In this temple, two Herculeses 
 are worshipped without having statues erected to them. 
 The Egyptian Hercules has two brazen altars without in- 
 scriptions, the Theban but one. Here we saw engraved 
 in stone the Hydra, and Diomed's mares, and the twelve 
 labours of Hercules, together with the golden olive of 
 Pygmalionj: wrought with exquisite skill, and placed here 
 no less on account of the beauty of its branches, than on 
 that of its fruit, which appeared as if real, growing out 
 of an emerald. Besides the above, the golden belt of the 
 Telamonian Teucer§ was shewn them. But why, or 
 wherefore he crossed the Mediterranean, neither Damis 
 knew himself, nor could learn from the natives of the 
 country. The pillars in the temple were composed of 
 gold and silver, and so nicely blended were the metals, 
 
 Gades, and that nothing but a tree remains, endowed with a variety of 
 forms. The account in the text is doubtless entirely fabulous, [as well 
 as that of Pausanias's multiform tree. 
 
 * Erythia.— 
 
 t The Phenicians, says Sir Isaac Newton, after the death of Mel- 
 cartus, (a name given by the people of Tyre to Hercules) built a tem- 
 ple to him in the island Gades, and adorned it with the sculptures of 
 the labours of Hercules, and of his hydra, and the horses, to whom 
 he threw Diomedes, king of the Bistones in Thrace, to be devoured. 
 In this temple was the golden belt of Teucer, and the golden olive of 
 Pygmalion, bearing Smaragdine fruit ; and by these consecrated gifts 
 of Teucer and Pygmalion, you may know that it was built in their 
 days. 
 
 t This splendid gift of Pygmalion, exhibits, says Mr. Maurice, a cu- 
 rious proof of the early skill of the Phenicians in working metals and 
 gems. 
 
 § We are to understand here the belt, from which Teucer was sir- 
 named the Telamonian, tsx^wv vinculum, Balteus. 
 
351 
 
 as to form but one colour. They were more than a cubit 
 high, of a quadrangular form, like anvils, whose capitals 
 were inscribed with characters neither Egyptian, nor In- 
 dian, nor such as could be decyphered.* As the priests 
 themselves, could give no explanation of them, Apollonius 
 said, the Egyptian Hercules-j- will no longer suffer me to 
 be silent. These pillarsj are the chains, which bind to- 
 gether the earth and sea, the inscriptions on them were 
 executed by Hercules in the house of the Parcae, to pre- 
 vent discord arising among the elements, and that friend- 
 ship being interrupted which they have for each other. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OUR travellers sailed up the river Baetis,§ in doing which 
 they found that the nature of the river contributed much 
 to discover the nature of the ebbing and flowing of the 
 sea. For at the time of the flowing of the tide, the river 
 returns to its source by means of a wind, which repels it 
 
 * The characters were Phenician, of which many monuments give 
 at this day evident proof. 
 
 t It is supposed, that the Egyptian Hercules, as well as the Theban, 
 that is, the Phenician, who were worshipped in the same temple with- 
 out having statues erected to either of tliem ; and which temple was 
 adorned with the twelve labours of Hercules, were the same per- 
 son. 
 
 X This is noticed in Arpe's treatise of the rise and progress of the 
 talismanic art, in these words — " In Hispania erant Herculis columnas 
 terrarum Occanique vincula, quae Hercules domui Parcarum inscrip- 
 serat, ne qua dementis contentio sit, neque amicitiam laedant." 
 
 The two pillars, says Banier, in his mythology, were looked on by 
 the antients as two talismans, that had influence to stop the fores of 
 the elements. — It was, undoubtedly, adds he, the antient Phenician 
 characters engraved upon them, and which were not understood, that 
 gave rise to the fable. 
 
 § A river of Spain, from which a part of the country has received 
 the name of Bcetica. It is now called the Guadalquiver. 
 
252 
 
 from the sea. The country, called Boetica, # derives its 
 name from the river, and is esteemed most fertile. In it 
 are well-built towns, rich pasture, and tillage grounds, all 
 watered by the Bcetis,f and besides, is possessed of suck 
 a climate as is at Athens in the autumn, and at the time of 
 the celebration of the mysteries. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OF such discourses as Apollonius held on most subjects, 
 whilst in this country, Damis says, he has preserved only 
 what were most worthy of notice. One day, when Apol- 
 lonius and his companions were sitting in the temple of 
 Hercules, Menippus happening to smile on the name of 
 Nero being mentioned, said, what shall we think, my 
 friends, of that good emperor ?J Are there any contests, 
 in which we can give him the merit of deserving a crown ? 
 Do not you think the Greeks must die with laughter, when 
 they see him enter the lists ? To this Apollonius said, 
 I have heard from Telesinus, that the excellent Nero fears 
 being flogged by the Eleans. When his flatterers exhort- 
 ed him to conquer at the Olympic Games, and have pro- 
 clamation made of it at Rome by the voice of the com- 
 
 * Celebrated by ancient authors, under the name of Tharsis. Eze- 
 kiel the prophet in treating of the rich supply of Tyre, says, " Tar- 
 shish was thy merchants, by reason of the multitude of all kind of 
 riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs/' 
 
 t Fair Boetes j olives wreathe thy azure locks, 
 
 In fleecy gold thou cloth'st thy neighb'ring flocks : 
 
 Thy fruitful banks with rival bounty smile, 
 
 While Bacchus wine bestows, and Pallas oil. 
 
 Martial. 
 
 $ See Suetonius passim for various specimens of Nero's unheard of 
 follies, and wild extravagancies. 
 
253 
 
 mon herald, he said, But what if the Eleans should chas- 
 tise me ? For, I am informed, they scourge with rods, 
 and take more upon themselves than I do myself. These, 
 with many other greater impertinences he used to utter. 
 For my own part, said Apollonius, I suppose he will con- 
 quer at Olympia, for who would be so fool-hardy as to 
 contend with him ? But he will never conquer at the 
 Olympic Games, celebrated after their due and legal man- 
 ner. For, when by the law of Greece, the Olympic 
 Games should have been solemnized last year, Nero order- 
 ed them to be adjourned till he "came himself, as if the sa- 
 crifices on the occasion were to be offered to him, and 
 not to Jupiter. What will you say to his announcing the 
 exhibition of tragedies, and the music of the harp, to a 
 people who had neither stage nor scenic decorations fit 
 for their celebration ; but only a stadium that nature afford- 
 ed, and naked sports ? And what shall we think of his 
 seeking victory from what ought to be hidden in darkness ? 
 And of his laying aside the royal robe of Augustus and 
 Julius, and putting on that of Amcebeus and Terpnus ?* 
 What of his piquing himself to express distinctly the exact 
 words of Creon and CEdipus, and at the same time of 
 dreading the smallest mistake in going out of one door 
 rather than another, or in wearing this or that habit, or 
 in the manner of moving his sceptre? What are we to 
 think of his departing so far from his own dignity, and 
 that of the Roman people, as to thrill notes of music, in- 
 stead of making laws for the regulation of morals ? and 
 what of his acting the part of a buffoon at a distance from 
 that city wherein he ought to reside as sovereign, dispens- 
 
 * Two celebrated musicians, who framed to the harp many a Ro- 
 man ditty. — As soon as Nero became Emperor, he sent for the harper 
 Terp».us, by whose side he used to sit whilst he played after supper, 
 until late at night. Suetonius. 
 
 But no music had charms to soothe the savageness of his nature. 
 
254 
 
 jng the fates of land and sea ? There are many tragedians, 
 Menippus, amongst whom he wishes to have his name en- 
 rolled. But what would be thought of an actor, if after 
 having appeared in the character of CEnomaus, or Cres- 
 phontes, he should, on quitting the stage, be so impressed 
 with the idea of the part he, represented, as to wish to 
 rule over others, and act the tyrant? What opinion, I 
 say, would be formed of him ? Would not a dose of 
 hellebore, or some other medical preparation be necessa- 
 ry for purging his mind ? But let us suppose the prince 
 himself was to turn tragedian, or strolling player, and 
 modulate his voice through fear of offending the ears of the 
 Eleans and Delphians ; or suppose he was, from having 
 no fears of them, to act his part so ill as to subject him- 
 self to the chastisement of his own subjects, what opinion 
 would you form of the miserable men who lived under 
 such an abomination ? Who appears, think you, O Me- 
 nippus! most reprehensible in the eyes of the Greeks, 
 Xerxes laying all things waste with fire and sword, or 
 Nero humming a song ? For if the expense - be taken in- 
 to consideration, which his singing costs the country, the 
 numbers of people turned out of their dwellings, the un- 
 certain possession of all that is valuable in domestic pro- 
 perty ; the numerous sufferings endured by wives and 
 daughters, all of whom are taken to gratify his infamous 
 passions, to which, if is added, the thousand accusations 
 springing from the aforesaid causes, with the others to be 
 omitted, as for instance, You, Sir, have not been to hear 
 Nero, or, You attended, but did not listen with attention: 
 You, Sir, laughed, or did not applaud : You, Sir, offer- 
 ed no sacrifice for the improvement of the emperor's voice, 
 that it might be clearer than that of the Pythian pro- 
 phetess at Delphi. When, I say, you consider all these 
 things, you will not differ with me in thinking that Greece 
 has many Iliads of woe, of which to complain. For as 
 to his cutting, or not cutting through the Isthmus, or whe- 
 
tlier at present, he is, or is not employed in it, matters 
 not, for I have long foreseen the consequence by the sug- 
 gestions of a God. But sure, said JDamis, the idea of 
 cutting through the Isthmus, far exceeds all his other en- 
 terprises. You must see yourself, what an undertaking 
 it is. I do, said Apollonius ; but then, the not finishing 
 what he has begun w ill add nothing to his glory, for it will 
 appear to all the world that he digs as ill as he sings.* In 
 reviewing the actions of Xerxes I commend the man ; not 
 for having joined the Hellespont by a bridge ; but for his 
 having passed over it. Nero, 1 plainly see, will never 
 sail through the Isthmus, nor finish what he is about. If 
 there is truth in man, 1 think he will quit Greece in terror 
 and dismay.f 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 AFTER this, a messenger arrived at Gades with dis- 
 patches from government, ordering sacrifices to be offered 
 for the good news of Nero having been three times con- 
 queror at the Olympic Games. The people of Gades un- 
 derstood the news of the messenger from what they re- 
 membered of Arcadia, &c. and from being as I have be- 
 fore said, zealous imitators of the Greeks. But the adja- 
 cent towns knew nothing of Olympia nor its games, nor 
 its contests, nor why they should sacrifice on such an oc- 
 casion. In consequence of their ignorance, they run into 
 very ridiculous mistakes, supposing that some military ex- 
 ploit had been achieved ; and that Nero had conquered a 
 people called Olympians. In all their lives they had never 
 
 * Suetonius says, his voice was naturally neither loud, nor clear, 
 t On his returning from Greece, he heard at Naples of some dis- 
 turbances having arisen in Gaul under the auspices of Julius Vindex, 
 
256 
 
 seen the representation of a tragedy, nor a performance 
 on the harp. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 DAMIS thinks the manner in which the people of His- 
 palis*, a town in the province of Boetica, were affected at 
 the sight of a certain tragedian's coming among them, 
 worth noticing. This actor arrived at the time when sa- 
 crifices (then common in Spain) were announced for some 
 victories gained at the Pythian games, and was now stroll- 
 ing up and down the country after having declined enter- 
 ing the lists with Nero. This man made the most of his 
 theatrical talents, and among people who were not altoge- 
 ther barbarous, excited much wonder and speculation, first 
 from their never having heard of a tragedy, and next from 
 his giving out, that he imitated exactly Nero's peculiar 
 style in singing. On his coming to Hispalis, he surpris- 
 ed the natives by his manner of standing on the stage with- 
 out uttering \i word. But when he strutted along, with his 
 mouth wide open, elevated on lofty buskins, and trailing 
 after him a pompous robe ; they were indeed astonished. 
 At length, when he began to declaim aloud, they ran ' 
 away in terrors as if frightened out of their wits by some 
 demon. Such was the simplicity of manners which then 
 prevailed amongst the barbarians of these parts. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 THE governor of the province of Boetica frequently ap- 
 plied to Apolionius for a conference, who replied, that his 
 
 * An ancient town on the Bcetis, which is navigable quite up to it 
 for ships of burthen, and thence to Corduba, for river-barges. It had a 
 conventus juridicus, or court of justice, now called Seville. 
 
257 
 
 conversation could be only relished by men who cultivated 
 philosophy. But the governor pressed an interview, and 
 Apollonius, when he heard of the excellence of his cha- 
 racter, and that he detested the extravagancies of Nero, 
 instantly complied ; at the same time he wrote him a letter, 
 requesting a meeting at Gades. When the governor re- 
 ceived the letter, he waited on him with a few select 
 friends, without any ceremony whatever. As soon as mu- 
 tual salutations were past, they had a private interview, 
 of which no one except themselves knew the purport. 
 Damis supposes a plot was contrived for the putting Nero 
 to death, for he says the conference lasted three days, at 
 the end of which, the governor embraced Apollonius and 
 took his leave of him with these words, " Farewel, and 
 remember Vindex ;" # the meaning of which, is \n hat fol- 
 lows. Whilst Nero was singing in Achaia, Vindex was 
 stirring up to rebellion the Hesperian nations,*}- (a man 
 every way fitted to snap those strings, on which the em- 
 peror played so sillily) he spoke to the armies, he com- 
 manded, and said what might have been supposed to flow 
 from the purest fountains of philosophy. He told them 
 that Nero was every thing rather than a harper ; and yet a 
 harper rather than an emperor. He accused him of mad- 
 ness, cruelty, avarice, and every species of lasciviousness. 
 He did not arraign him for the most cruel of all his ac- 
 
 * Vindex, a governofr of Gaul, who revolted against Nero, and de- 
 termined to deliver the Roman empire from his tyranny. He was fol- 
 lowed by a numerous army, but at last defeated by one of the Empe- 
 ror's generals. When he perceived that all was lost he laid violent 
 hands upon himself. 
 
 t Hesperian nations mean here Gauls. I suppose the word Hesperia 
 was applied by the Romans to all countries that lay to the west of 
 them. The Greeks called Italy Hesperia (from Hesper, orVesper, the 
 setting sun, or the evening) because it was situate in the west at the 
 setting sun. The same name for similar reasons was applied to Spain 
 by the Latins. 
 
 s 
 
256 
 
 tions, because it was generally allowed that his mother was 
 partly put to death forhaving brought into the world such 
 a monster. Apollonius, who foresaw the end of what 
 was passing, strengthened the cause of Vindex, by associating 
 with him in it the governor of a neighbouring province, 
 doing every thing in short for Rome except that of taking 
 up arms in her defence. 
 
 CHAP. XI 
 
 WHILST affairs were thus circumstanced" in Spain, our 
 travellers passed into Africa, and from that into the coun- 
 try* of the Tyrrhenians, from whence, partly by land, and 
 partly by sea, they proceeded to Sicily and landed at Lily- 
 baBum. In approaching Messena, and the strait where the 
 Tyrrhenian sea mixes with the Adriatic, and forms the 
 gulph which is so dangerous to sailors, they say they 
 heard of the flight of Nero, the death of Vindex, and of 
 the enipire being invaded partly by Romans, and partly by 
 strangers. Whereupon, his companions asked him to 
 tell what he thought would be the consequence of these 
 disturbances ? and whom he thought would become master 
 of the empire i To which he answered, many Thebam, 
 herein alluding to the short-lived power of Vitellius, 
 Galba, and Otho, which he compared to that of the 
 Thebans,'|* who for a little time held dominion in the 
 affairs of Greece. 
 
 * Etruria — a celebrated country of Italy, which originally contain- 
 ed twelve different nations. The inhabitants were particularly famous 
 for their superstition ; and great confidence in omens, dreams, augu- 
 ries, &c. which accounts for this visit paid to it by Apollonius. 
 
 t With Epaminondas died the power of the Theban commonwealth; 
 so that it is manifest that the glory of his country was born, and died 
 with him. Justin, b. vi, c. 8* 
 
f i59 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 WHAT I have said clearly proves that Apollonius had a 
 foreknowledge of what was to come to pass, and that they 
 who consider him in the light of an enchanter,* must be mad. 
 Let us, however, consider the matter more at large. En- 
 chanters (whom of all men I account the most mise- 
 rable) boast of having power to chauge the decrees of 
 fate, either by the tormenting of spirits, or by barbaric 
 sacrifices, or charms, or poisons ; and many of them, 
 when accused of such practices, have confessed the fact. 
 But Apollonius, contrary to them, followed the decrees 
 of destiny, and only declared what they w r ould be ; and 
 this not by the means of enchantments, but by such com- 
 munications as were made him by the Gods. For when 
 he saw among the Indians, tripods and cupbearers, and 
 other things of the automaton kind, he never inquired 
 how they were constructed, nor how to make them.f He 
 barely gave them his approbation without shewing any 
 inclination to imitate them. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 WHEN they came to Syracuse, a woman of no mean fami- 
 ly happened to be brought to bed of a monster, such as 
 
 * St. Jerora and Justin Martyr assign no other reason for all his 
 wonderful operations, than the knowledge he had of nature and ab- 
 solve him from all charge of magic. — The former says of him in his 
 epistle to Paulinus, (i Apollonius, sive magus, ut vulgus loquitur, sive 
 Philosophus, ut Py thagorici tradunt." The latter is much more open in 
 his questions to the orthodox, " Apollonius ut vir naturalium potentia- 
 mm & dissensionum atque consensionum earuni peritus, ex hac scien- 
 tia mira faciebat, non authoritat£ divina; hinc ob rem in omnibus 
 jndiguit assumptione idonearum materiarum quae eum adjuvarent ad id 
 perficiendum quod efficiebatur." 
 
 t I am of opinion the art of making so very necessary pieces of fur. 
 nitnre, would have been of more service to mankind than all his pre- 
 tended miracles, &c. 
 
260 
 
 was never seen before. It was a child with three heads, 
 three necks, and but one body. The vulgar interpreta- 
 tion which some gave to this prodigy was, that Sicily call- 
 ed Trinacria, from its three promontories, would be un- 
 done, if not supported by unanimity and harmony ; many 
 of its cities being full of intestine feuds, and at variance 
 with each other without any good order throughout the 
 island. Others said it was the many-headed Typhoeus, 
 who threatened the island. Whereupon, Apollonius said, 
 Go Damis, and see whether what is reported is true ; for 
 at this time the monster was shewn in public for the in- 
 spection of the curious, who might be able to form some 
 opinion of it. As soon as Damis made his report of its hav- 
 ing three heads, and that it was of the masculine gender, 
 Apollonius collecting his friends about him, said, Rome 
 will have three emperors, whom yesterday I called The- 
 bans. None of them shall acquire the entire dominion of 
 the empire ; but some, after getting the supreme power in 
 Rome, and others in its vicinity, shall be cut off, and 
 change their characters as quickly as they who represent 
 the parts of tyrants on the stage. As he said, so his pre- 
 diction turned out. For Galba, soon after his election to 
 the empire, perished within the walls of Rome. Vitellius 
 was lost whilst dreaming of the supreme power, and 
 Otho ended his career amongst the western Gauls, with- 
 out the common honour of a funeral, as if a private man. 
 All this was dispatched by fortune within the brief space 
 of one year. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 AFTER this, Apollonius and his friends proceeded to 
 Catana, near which stands mount iEtna. Here they learnt 
 that Typhoeus was chained under the mountain, from 
 whom issued that fire which fed JEtna. But our travellers 
 
 
9,6 1 
 
 accounted for the phenomenon in a way more rational, and 
 like philosophers. Apollonius introduced the investigation, 
 with asking his companions, Is there a mythology ? Yes* 
 said Menippus, and is what the poets speak so much of- 
 And what do you think of Esop ?* That he is a myco- 
 logist, and an inventor of fables. But what fables, said 
 Apollonius, do you consider most wise? Those of the 
 poets, replied Menippus, and the reason is, because they 
 are sung as if true. What then is your opinion of Esop'sPf 
 I think them all, said Menippus, about frogs, and asses, 
 and such trifles, and only fit to be swallowed by eld wo- 
 men and children. And yet they appear to me, said 
 Apollonius, best adapted to convey wisdom. Heroic fa- 
 bles, with which poetry abounds, corrupt the hearers, 
 inasmuch as the writers of them make absurd amours, in- 
 cestuous marriages, blasphemies against the Gods, chil- 
 dren devoured, and unbecoming stratagems, and disputes, 
 the subjects of their compositions. The poets, in relating 
 the above as true, invite the lover, the jealous man, the 
 miser, and the ambitious, to the perpetration of that which 
 is only represented. But Esop, on account of his wisdom, 
 with which he was endowed, never ranked himself with 
 
 * ^Esop is always a new book, 
 i*Esop in a judicious hand ; 
 But 'tis in vain on it to look, 
 Without the grace to understand. 
 Pleasant his fables are indeed, 
 Profound, ingenious, and sly ; 
 Fables that infancy may read, 
 Maturity alone apply. 
 
 Hall's Fables. 
 
 t Plato, after having banished Homer from his commonwealth, has 
 given JEsop a very honourable place in it. He wishes that children 
 were to suck these fables with their milk : he recommends them to 
 nurses to teach them, for one cannot accustom them too soon to wis- 
 dom and virtue. 
 
262 
 
 the herd of such versifiers, but opened a new road to fame. 
 He, like those who knew how to treat well their guests 
 with the commonest fare, uses subjects apparently small, 
 to give great instruction ; and to the fable delivered, sub- 
 joins the moral, which says, Do this, and Don't do that. 
 Besides, he is more attached to truth than the poet. The 
 poets do all in their power to give their fables an air of 
 probability , # but Esop, on the contrary, in proposing his 
 fable, proposes what every body knows is false, and yet 
 from it draws nothing but what is true. The poet, after 
 he has delivered his fable, submits it to the good sense of 
 his hearers to examine its truth. But, the writer of fables, 
 when he proposes his story, and subjoins its moral, shews 
 clearly, as Esop does, that he has used what was false, as 
 a medium to convey what is useful to his hearers. The 
 beauty of this kind of writing consists in making animals 
 without sense, so entertaining as to excite the attention of 
 animals with sense. For, being conversant with these fa- 
 bles from our childhood, and having, as it were, sucked 
 them in with our mother's milk, we get ideas of the seve- 
 ral animals, and can immediately say, such an one is of a 
 noble disposition, and another of a sluggish nature, one 
 is sportive in its manners, and another innocent. Hence 
 the poet,f after he has said, " the destinies of men are va- 
 rious," or made some observation which might be sung by 
 a chorus, retires. But Esop, by annexing an oracle to 
 each fable, brings about the very effect which from the 
 beginning he proposed. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 BUT, O Menippus ! said Apollonius, I will tell you a 
 story, which I learnt from my mother when a boy. Esop, 
 
 * Ficta voluptatis causa sint proxiraa veris. Horace, 
 
 t Euripides's Alcestis. 
 
263 
 
 said die good woman, was a shepherd, who fed his flock 
 near the temple of Mercury, and loved wisdom so much, 
 that he made it the subject of his prayers to the Gods. 
 Mercury had many other supplicants besides Esop, who 
 each came with a particular request. One asked for gold, 
 another for silver : one hung an ivory caduceus on his altar, 
 and another offered something of no less value ; Esop, 
 poor man, had but little, and of that little he was very 
 frugal. He made an offering of some milk, and of that 
 only what could be drained from his sheep after being 
 milked, and sometimes as much of a honeycomb as he 
 could hold in his hand, added to this, he used to treat the 
 God with myrtle berries, and roses, and a few violets. 
 Why Mercury, he would say, should I neglect my sheep 
 to weave garlands for you ? At last the day appointed for 
 the distribution of wisdom arrived; when all appeared. 
 Mercury, the God of wisdom as well as of merchandise, 
 thus addressed them, To you, who have made me the 
 richest offerings, I give philosophy : and to you, who have 
 made me the next best I give eloquence : then he said to 
 the rest, you shall be an astronomer, you a musician : to 
 you I give superiority in Epic poetry, and to you in Iambic 
 verse. After he bad distributed the several parts of philo- 
 sophy, he found, that in spite of all his prudence, poor 
 Esop escaped his notice. Luckily, however, he recollect- 
 ed a story, which, whilst he was in his cradle, the Hours, 
 who had the care of his education on the top of mount 
 Olympus, told him of a heifer, who in a conversation she 
 had with a man on the subject of herself, and the earth, 
 induced him to fall in love with the cows of Apollo ; and 
 so he gave Esop the gift of composing fables, the only 
 present that remained in the house of wisdom* Mercury, 
 
 * Fontaine, in his preface says, " I do not know how i% conies to 
 pasj» that the ancients have not made these very fables descend from 
 
 heaven. 
 
264 
 
 after presenting him with this talent, said, " Take that 
 which I first learnt myself." Hence the rich imagina- 
 tion of Esop, and the power he possessed of inventing 
 fables. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 AFTER proposing to give some explanation of the phe- 
 nomenon of mount JEtna more agreeable to truth and na- 
 ture than the mere vulgar story, 1 may be accused of tri- 
 fling, in indulging so much in the praise of fables : yet I 
 hope the digression is not without its merit. The fables 
 which we wish to reject are not in the style and manner of 
 Esop, but in that of what are considered dramatic, and 
 brought on the stage as the theme of poetry. The com- 
 mon story is, that Typhoeus,* or Enceladus lies bound in 
 chains under the mountain, and in his respirations vomits 
 up fire. I say there are giants, and I say that their bodies 
 have been seen wherever their tombs were opened. 
 Though I make this assertion, I do not, however, say 
 they ever fought with the Gods, but I assert they behaved 
 with great irreverence in their temples and shrines. As to 
 
 heaven, and that they have not assigned them a God to have the direc- 
 tion of them, as well as poesy and eloquence." 
 
 Bayle says, one might have remembered the passage in the text, and 
 yet have spoken in the same manner with Fontaine ; for there ne- 
 ver was a well established tradition in true antiquity concerning the 
 celestial origin of the Apologue. 
 
 * Enceladus, they say, transfix'd by Jove, 
 
 With blasted limbs, came trembling from above : 
 
 And where he fell, th' avenging father drew 
 
 This flaming hill, and on his body threw ; 
 
 As often as he turns his weary sides, 
 
 He shakes the solid isle, and smoke the heavens hides. 
 
 Virgil, b. iii. 
 
265 
 
 ail that's said of their scaling the heavens and driving tht 
 Gods into exile, I think it as foolish to conceive, as it is 
 to utter. There is another story, to which credit cannot 
 be given though it is not so blasphemous as the last, which 
 says, that Vulcan keeps his workshop in iEtna,* where he 
 beats upon his anvil. There are many other burning 
 mountains in various parts of the earth besides iEtna ; and 
 yet we are not so inconsiderate to assign their eruptions to 
 the agency of giants and Vulcans. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 WHAT then is the cause of these volcanic eruptions? 
 Earth that is mixed with bitumen and sulphur, burns inter- 
 nally without throwing out any flame. But, whenever the 
 earth itself happens to be full of chinks and caverns, through 
 which the wind can penetrate, a lire is kindled within, 
 which produces a flame that at last bursts from the moun- 
 tain in streams of liquid fire, covering as it goes the adja- 
 cent land. Sometimes this fire, or lava, runs into the sea 
 in an aggregated mass, and forms mouths like a river. 
 Here an opportunity offers of noticing the Campus Pio- 
 rum,-\ which was surrounded by a torrent of fire, from 
 
 * Vulcan's forges were supposed to be under mount iEtna in Sicily, 
 as "well as in every part of the earth where there were Volcanos. 
 
 t A plain at the foot of mount AStna, in the territory of Catana to 
 the south-west, in which stood the statues of two young men, who in 
 an eruption of mount iEtna, saved their aged parents by carrying 
 them on their shoulders. 
 
 Cornelius Severus has mentioned these two young men in his poem 
 on mount /Etna. 
 
 Istis divitia? solas materque paterque, 
 Hanc rapiunt predam, mediumque exire per ignem 
 Ipso dante fidem, proper ant. O maxima rerum 
 Et merito, pietas, homini Tutissima virtus. 
 Embuere Pios Juvenes attingereflamma, %c. 
 
266 
 
 \vhich may naturally be drawn this conclusion, that to the 
 pious every land is safe, every sea navigable, not only to 
 him who trusts himself to a ship, but to him who com- 
 mits himself to the waves. It was thus Apollonius finish- 
 ed all his discourse by exhorting men to practise virtue. 
 
 GHAP. XVIII. 
 
 AFTER spending what time he thought sufficient in Sici- 
 ly in philosophical discussions, he passed over into Greece 
 about the rising of the star Arcturus.* The voyage was 
 prosperous to Leucas, where arriving, he said, Let us 
 leave the ship, for it is not good to sail in her to Achaia. 
 These words made impression only on those who knew the 
 man. He then embarked in a Leucadian vessel, and 
 with all who chose to go with him saited to Lechseum.f 
 But the Syracusan ship went to the bottom in navigating 
 the gulph of Crissa. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 AT Athens he was initiated by the very Hierophant, 
 whom, you may remember, he foretold to his predecessor, 
 and here he met Demetrius the philosopher, where he had 
 retired after what he said relative to the dedication of 
 Nero's bath. He was a man of so much courage that he 
 did not leave Greece at the time when Nero conducted 
 himself so indecently at his musical exhibitions. Deme- 
 trius told him he had seen Musonius at the Isthmus, 
 
 * Pliny tells us it rose in his age about the beginning of September ■ 
 it rises now about the beginning of October. 
 
 t Lechffium— a port of Corinth in the bay of Corinth— used for their 
 Italian trade. 
 
267 
 
 bound in chains, and forced to dig. As it was natural, 
 he says, he pitied his hard lot, and was sorry to see a man 
 of his character digging the ground with a spade. Muso- 
 nius with eyes uplifted, said, I know, Demetrius, you are 
 troubled to see me thus employed. But, what would you 
 have said, had you seen me playing on the harp like Nero ? 
 Many other things concerning Musonius, and some of 
 even a more extraordinary nature I pass over, lest I should 
 seem to take a liberty not consistent with that of a careful 
 narrator. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 AFTER passing the winter in the Grecian temple, Apol- 
 lonius determined in the following spring to go into Egypt. 
 In visiting the several cities of Greece, he never failed 
 giving the best advice he could to them : he found much 
 in each to censure, and much to commend, for he never 
 spared praise where it was due ; after this he went down 
 to the Piraeus where there was a ship ready to set sail for 
 Ionia. The merchant, who freighted the vessel for his own 
 use, did not like taking passengers with him. Where- 
 upon, Apollonius inquired what merchandise he had on 
 board, and was told by the owner he carried images of 
 the Gods to Ionia, of which some were made of gold and 
 marble, and others of ivory and gold. Is it for the pur- 
 pose of dedicating them to the Gods, said Apollonius, 
 that you carry them, or is it for any other use f I carry 
 them, said the merchant, to sell to any persons who may 
 chuse to buy them. And do you apprehend, said Apol- 
 lonius, we will rob you of them? I do not, returned 
 the merchant, approve their being placed in the same ship 
 with such a promiscuous multitude, nor do I think it right 
 for them to hear a conversation so vicious, and yet so 
 common among sailors. But, my good Sir, said Apol- 
 
268 
 
 lonius, the vessels fitted out by you against the barbarians 
 (for I suppose you are an Athenian) abound in all manner 
 of licentiousness, and yet the Gods never thought them- 
 selves defiled by embarking in them. You are wrong in 
 preventing philosophers going aboard your vessel, in whose 
 company the Gods themselves delight, and this, at a time 
 wheu you are trying to turn the Gods to the most advan- 
 tage. This was not the custom of the statuaries of old, 
 they did not run from city to city, making sale of their 
 Gods : they carried with them only workmen and instru- 
 ments, and whenever they found the raw materials of ivo- 
 ry and marble, they formed statues of the Gods in the 
 temples themselves. But you carrying your Gods from 
 port to port, and from market to market, as if they were 
 (far be it from me to utter it) Hyrcanian or Scythian 
 slaves, think yourselves guilty of no impiety by such a 
 traffic ? There are men also who hawk about the country 
 little figures of Bacchus, or Ceres, and say they are 
 maintained by the Gods they carry with them. But surely 
 what you do, of feeding on your Gods, and of not being 
 satisfied therewith, must be pronounced a species of hor- 
 rid gain, and even of insanity too, independent of the 
 fears naturally arising from the profanation. After this 
 severe reprimand, he took his passage in another ship. 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 
 ARRIVED at Chios, Apollonius without going on shore, 
 quickly entered into another ship, which a herald was pro- 
 claiming bound for Rhodes ; and with him embarked his 
 companions in deep silence, all seeming 1 desirous to obey 
 him in all things. A favourable wind soon carried them 
 there, where I will notice some occurrences whilst he staid 
 in that island. Once when he was viewing the statue of 
 the Colossus, Damis asked him what he thought greater 
 
269 
 
 than it ? A man, said Apollonius, whose whole mind is 
 devoted to philosophy. At this time, one Canus a flute- 
 player* happened to be in Rhodes, who was esteemed the 
 best performer of his day. As soon as Apollonius saw 
 him, he said, what is a flute-player able to do ? Whatever, 
 replied Canus, his hearers wish. But, said Apollonius, 
 more of your hearers would rather be made rich, than 
 hear you play, Can you make those rich, whom you know 
 wish it. No, said he, but I should wish to possess that 
 power. Can you, continued Apollonius, make the young 
 who hear you, beautiful ? for you must know, that all who 
 are young, would, if they could, be beautiful. Nor that, 
 said Canus, though there is much beauty in my pipe. 
 What therefore is it, said Apollonius, you think your hear- 
 ers wish for ? What else, returned Canus, than to remove 
 their sorrow when in affliction, or increase their joy when 
 merry ; or if in love, to soothe their passion with melody, 
 or if devout, to excite their religious zeal, and dispose 
 them to pour it forth in spiritual songs. And is all this to 
 be done, said Apollonius, by a pipe composed of gold and 
 orichalcum, and the legs of a dead ass or stag ? Or is it 
 rather something else which does it ? Something else un- 
 doubtedly, said Canus, and which I will tell you : The 
 music, the modulation, the variation of notes, the change 
 of harmony suited to produce the different effects of joy 
 and sorrow, all these united and blended, affect the minds 
 of the hearers, and mould them to whatever you wish. 
 Now, said Apollonius, I understand what your art is able 
 to do. It is a variety of sounds, and different modula- 
 tions, which you practise and give to the audience. And 
 yet in my opinian your flute requires some more helps than 
 what you have mentioned ; and what I mean, are a right 
 
 * Dr. Buruey says, il the list of illustrious flute-players in antiquity 
 is too numerous to allow a separate article to each." 
 
 History of Music. 
 
270 
 
 inspiration of the breath, a proper application of the 
 mouth, and a nice dexterity of the hand. The first con- 
 sists in making the voice pass soft and clear without being 
 affected by any degree of guttural hoarseness — other- 
 wise the sound would be unmusical. The second is a 
 just pressure of the lips on the tongue of the instru- 
 ment, without its causing the cheeks to be too much 
 swelled and inflated. The dexterity of finger (which is 
 the third requisite to be mentioned) is what the performer 
 must consider of the utmost importance, so that neither 
 the wrist may decline its office from too great rigidity ; nor 
 the fingers fail in their duty from want of velocity in 
 running over the stops, on which depend all the variations 
 of sound : for the facility of passing from one note to ano- 
 ther, is what is considered as the great excellence in all 
 who possess a dexterity of hand. If you, Canus, can do 
 all this, you need have no fears in playing on your flute — 
 for Euterpe herself will accompany you.* 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 AT this time there was at Rhodes, a young man who 
 became suddenly possessed of a large fortune, without 
 having received any education. He was then building a 
 house, and was collecting pictures and statues from all 
 parts of the world to furnish it with. The moment 
 Apollonius saw him, he inquired what money he had 
 expended on preceptors and education ? Not a drachma, 
 said the youth. Pray what has your house cost you ? 
 Twelve talents, and I believe it will cost me as much 
 more. And what, said Apollonius, will you do with 
 
 * To flute-players, nature gave brains there's no doubt, 
 But alas ! 'tis in vain, for they soon blow them out. 
 
 Burney—Hist. of Mmc. From Atheneus. 
 
271 
 
 this house ? I will live splendidly in it, said he, for as I 
 shall have in it places proper for all bodily exercise, and 
 groves to walk in, there will be little or no necessity for 
 going even into the forum, and men I think will come 
 with as much pleasure to visit me, as they would to a 
 temple. But, said Apollonius, are men to be respected 
 on their own account, or on account of what they possess ? 
 They are to be respected, replied the youth, for the sake 
 of their riches, which you know are omnipotent. But, 
 said Apollonius, whom do you think the best guardian of 
 riches, he who is well educated or he who is not ? When 
 the youth heard this he was silent : whereupon Apollonius 
 said, in my opinion, Sir, you do not so much possess your 
 house as you are possessed by it. For when I enter a 
 temple, it matters not how small, I have greater pleasure 
 in seeing a statue of ivory and gold, than I have in 
 seeing in a spacious temple, one rudely formed of earth 
 and clay. 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 APOLLONIUS happening to meet a fat fellow, who 
 was making his boast of the quantity he could eat and 
 drink, said to him, are you he who is so much enslaved 
 to his belly? I am, said he, and offer sacrifice for it. 
 And what, said Apollonius, do you hope to gain from 
 such a species of indulgence ? That of being gazed on 
 with wonder, said he, for I take it for granted you have 
 heard of Hercules, and know that the food he eat was 
 as much celebrated as his combats. It was so, said 
 Apollonius, as he was Hercules. But what is your merit, 
 thou abomination? for what glory can you derive from 
 eating, except that of being burst. This is all I have to 
 say of Apollonius at Rhodes. 
 
 
tit 
 
 CHAP XXIV. 
 
 THE following is what passed on his arrival at Alexan- 
 dria, where the people loved him without ever having 
 seen him, and were as anxious about him as if he had 
 been their old acquaintance. The inhabitants of Upper 
 Egypt, in consideration of their attachment to theological 
 pursuits, wished him to pay them a visit. From the com- 
 mercial intercourse subsisting between Greece and Egypt, 
 Apollonius was at once a "great favorite with everybody, 
 and from the moment the people heard of his arrival, 
 they were all attention. Whilst he was passing from the 
 harbour to the town, they looked upon him as a God, 
 and made* way for him in the narrow streets, as is done 
 for those who carry the sacred relicks of the Gods. As he 
 was going along in the midst of a more pompous procession 
 than governors of provinces, he met twelve men charged 
 with robbery, on their way to execution. When Apol- 
 lonius saw them, he said, I foresee all will not suffer, for 
 that man (pointing to one) has made a false confession. 
 Then turning to the executioners who were conducting 
 them, he desired them not to go so fast to the place of 
 punishment, and bid them to take care that he to whom 
 he pointed should be the last man to suffer; for I see, 
 says he, he is not guilty of the crime for which he is 
 going to die. For my part 1 think you would do well 
 in postponing their execution for a short space, and whom 
 perhaps it would be wiser not to put to death at all. In 
 this way he protracted his discourse contrary to what 
 he was accustomed. The event turned out as he wished. 
 After eight of them had been beheaded, a horseman rode 
 
 Locum date sacra ferenti. Ovid. 
 
 t 
 
273 
 
 up with speed to the place of execution, and cried out, 
 spare Phorion, he is no robber, he confessed himself 
 guilty of what he was innocent through fear of the torture, 
 wliich has appeared from the confession of those put to 
 the rack. I need not mention the joy of the Egyp- 
 tians, nor the applauses Apollonius received from a people 
 who, without such an instance of his foresight, were well 
 disposed to admire and praise him. 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 WHEN he went up into the temple* a beauty shone in his 
 face, and the words he uttered on all subjects were divine, 
 and framed in wisdom. He approved not of the shedding 
 of the blood of bulls nor of geese, nor of other animals, 
 for the sacrifices of such victims he thought unbecoming 
 the feasts of the Gods. When the Patriarchy asked him 
 why he did not sacrifice ? I would rather, said Apol- 
 lonius, ask you on what motive you do. To this the 
 Patriarch said, and who is wise enough to reform the 
 established worship of the Egyptians ? Every sage, replied 
 the other, who comes from the Indians. But this day I 
 will burn an ox, and I would wish you to attend and partici- 
 pate of its odour, as I think you would like to do it, if the 
 Gods shew no displeasure. Whilst a bull J compounded 
 of various spices was consuming in the fire, Apollonius 
 said, behold the sacrifice. What sacrifice, said the 
 Egyptian, for I see none here. Has not the whole race 
 
 * The temple is supposed to be that of Serapis, one of the Egyptian 
 Deities, who had a very rich one at Alexandria. Consult Tacitus for 
 the history of the God Serapis, and his first introduction into 
 Egypt. 
 
 t The name given to the high priest of Serapis. 
 
 t After the example of Pythagoras and Empedocles. 
 T 
 
274 
 
 of prophets down from Jamus, # Teleus,f Clytius, and 
 Melarnpus,J been mistaken, my friend, in having said 
 so many things of fire, and in having drawn so many 
 oracles from it ? or can you imagine that the fire pro- 
 ceeding from the burning of a pine or cedar, possesses a 
 prophetic quality, and is capable of foretelling events, but 
 that what proceeds from the burning of the tears of pure 
 and unctious frankincense is not far preferable ? Certainly 
 if you knew the wisdom which is latent in fire, you would 
 be able to discover in the orb of the sun at rising,^ many 
 prognostics. In these words he rebuked the Egyptian as 
 one unskilled in divine matters. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 THE people of Alexandria being passionately fond of 
 horses, used to flock in crowds to the Hippodrome to 
 see them run, where they often fought till they killed 
 each other. This abuse fell under the heavy .displeasure of 
 Apollonius, who one day in going into the temple 
 said, how long will you persist in dying, not for your chil- 
 dren, nor altars, nor hearths ? or rather, I might say, 
 
 * Jamidee, certain prophets among the Greeks, descended from 
 Jamus, a son of Apollo, who received the gift of prophecy from his 
 father, which remained among his posterity. 
 
 t In the text Teleadce— Olearius says, I can find no prophets of this 
 name. In Herodotus he might have found Tellias of Eleum, the 
 soothsayer of the Phocians, who is said by Larcher, the learned 
 translator of that historian, to have been the chief of the family 
 of the Telliadce, in which the art of divination was hereditary. 
 
 X Clytiada, and Melampodidce — both families were very nearly con- 
 nected, and celebrated for their knowledge in soothsaying, and set 
 apart in Greece for the functions prescribed by it. 
 
 $ Sol quoque, et exoriens, et cum se condet in undas, 
 Signa dabit. Soliin certissima signa sequuntur. 
 
 Virgil. 
 
 ■ 
 
275 
 
 how long will you persist in defiling your temples by 
 entering them stained with blood, and in slaughtering 
 each other within their very walls. Troy is said to have 
 been overturned by the means of one horse, which the 
 Greeks had contrived with great art, but here you arm 
 chariot against chariot, and horse against horse, for which 
 your love is unbounded. It is not by the Atridae nor the 
 descendants of iEacus, you are destroyed, but by your- 
 selves, with a loss heavier than what befel the Trojans 
 on that night, in which they lay sunk in intemperance 
 and debauch. In the celebration of the Olympic Games, 
 where contests arise in wrestling, boxing, and the pan- 
 cratia, no one is killed by the athletas, even on occasions 
 where pardon is to be obtained in case of such an event 
 happening in the heat of combat. But with you, swords 
 are drawn, and stones flung, and all on account of horses. 
 Are you not afraid of fire consuming your city, wherein 
 are heard shouts and groans, and the earth stained with 
 the blood of the dying and the dead.* Reverence the 
 Nile, the common cup of Egypt.f But why mention the 
 Nile amongst men who prefer measuring^ the rising of 
 blood to that of its water. Damis says he added many 
 other things to this rebuke of the Egyptians. 
 
 * Victors and vanquish'd join promiscuous cries, 
 And shrilling shouts, and dying groans arise j 
 With streaming blood the slipp'ry fields are dy'd 
 And slaughter'd heroes swell the dreadful tide. 
 
 Homer, b.iv. 
 t The Egyptians call the Nile the Cup, set before them by the Gods, 
 and Homer says, 
 
 Once more th' Egyptiau stream, whose waters flow 
 From Jones high mansions, to the plains below. Od. b. iv. 
 
 X How high it rises, is known, says Pliny, by marks and measures 
 taken of certain pits. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 WHILST Vespasian was meditating the assumption of 
 the imperial power in the countries bordering on Egypt, 
 and afterwards to pass into that province, Dion and Eu- 
 phrates, of whom more will be said hereafter, expected 
 that the people would have public rejoicings. For from 
 the time of the first emperor, by whom the affairs of 
 Rome were well ordered, such a series of cruel tyrants 
 succeeded each other for the space of fifty years, # as ren- 
 dered Claudius (whose intermediate reign lasted about 
 thirteen years) unfit to be ranked in the number of good 
 princes. Claudius did not obtain the empire till he was 
 fifty years of age, a period of life when the human mind 
 is usually in its greatest vigour, and at this time he appear- 
 ed to love the sciences. But notwithstanding his age, he 
 suffered himself to be carried away by all the follies and 
 passions of youth, and left the empire to be made a prey 
 of by women by whom he was shamefully, put to death, 
 so that, though he might have foreseen what was to hap- 
 pen^ yet he was unable to guard against it. Apollonius 
 was as much pleased as Dion and Euphrates, with what 
 was going forward, but as yet did not make it a subject of 
 public declamation, from an idea that such a mode of ad- 
 dress became the character of a rhetorician, more than 
 that of a philosopher. When the emperor arrived in 
 Egypt, and was approaching the gates of Alexandria, the 
 
 * Vespasian began to take upon himself the government about the 
 year of Christ 69, from which time to the beginning of the reign of 
 Tiberius, who succeeded Augustus in the empire, was fifty-five 
 years. 
 
 t It appears from several circumstances, says Suetonius, that he 
 was sensible of his approaching dissolution, and made no secre' 
 of it. 
 
sacred order of the priesthood, the civil magistrates, the 
 deputies from the prefectures, into which the country is 
 divided, the philosophers and the sages all went out to meet 
 him. But no part of this pompous procession engaged the 
 attention of Apollonius, who all the time was teaching phi- 
 losophy in the temple. The Emperor received them all with 
 a short speech, which was at once gracious and benign, and 
 then inquired whether the Tyaneun was in these parts r 
 They auswered he was, and that he was doing all he could to 
 make men better. Can you tell me, said the emperor, 
 where I can find him ; for 1 wish much to see him. You 
 will find him, said Damis, in the temple, where, as I was 
 coming here, he said he was going. Let us repair to it, 
 replied the prince, first, that I may offer my prayers to the 
 Gods, # and next, that I may converse with the excellent 
 man. In consequeuce of this, it was rumoured abroad 
 that the idea of possessing himself of the empire was first 
 conceived, when he was besieging Jerusalem, from which 
 he sent to ask the advice of Apollonius, who declined 
 going into a country which its inhabitants, had defiled both 
 by what they did, and what they suffered. This is what 
 induced him, (having now got possession of the empire) 
 
 * Of this interview all history is silent ; and yet from the character 
 of Vespasian it is probable it might have taken place. From Tacitus 
 we learn the part Vespasian was advised to act in the pretended cure 
 of two men at Alexandria, and as the power of working miracles is 
 by some thought good policy, I think the same courtiers who advised 
 him to attempt the cure of two men, might have recommended rhis 
 interview with Apollonius, as a measure equally political, and also cor- 
 roborative of the pretended character he had assumed. Dr. Taylor in 
 his life of Christ, thinks Vespasian was aided by Apollonius in his im- 
 positions on the populace.— Dr. Cudworth thinks there is some reason 
 to suspect that our archimago Apollouius might have had some finger in 
 Vespasian's miracles, from his great familiarity and intimacy with 
 him. 
 
278 
 
 to take a journey into Egypt to discourse with him on sub- 
 jects which I am going to notice.* 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 AFTER the accustomed sacrifices were performed, and 
 before the deputies from the several cities were spoken to, 
 Vespasian, turning to Apollonius, said with the voice of a 
 supplicant, make me emperor. Apollonius answered, it's 
 done already: for in the prayers which I have just offered 
 to heaven to send us a prince upright, generous, wise, ve- 
 nerable in years, and a true father, you are the man I ask- 
 ed from the Gods. With this answer the emperor being 
 well pleased (for all the people shouted with joy at what 
 they heard) said, May I ask you, Apollonius, what opinion 
 you formed of the government of Nero? He replied, 
 Nero knew, perhaps, how to tune his harp, but he dis- 
 graced his authority by too much remissness at one time, 
 and too much intenseness at another. Then you think, 
 said Vespasian, that an emperor should observe the golden 
 mean in the government of an empire. It's not I, said 
 Apollonius, but God himself who has defined equity by the 
 term mediocrity. However, in these matters you have very 
 good advisers, pointing to Dion and Euphrates, for as yet he 
 had had no cause of dispute with the latter, Whereupon, 
 the emperor, lifting up his hands to heaven, says, O Jupi- 
 ter! Grant me to govern wise men, and wise men to 
 govern me. Afterwards turning to the Egyptians, he cries 
 out, Draw from me as you do from the Nile. In this 
 
 * Vespasian ne vint point a Alexandrie pour voir Apollone ; mais 
 pour affanaer la ville de Rome en empechant qu'on y portat du Bled, 
 eemrne Tacite le rapporte. Du Pin. 
 
279 
 
 manner Egypt got some time to breathe from the weight 
 of oppression under which she groaned. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 AS the Emperor was coming down from the temple, he 
 gave Apollonius his hand, and leading him into the palace, 
 said, Some people may possibly think I act too much like 
 a young man in aspiring to the purple at the age of sixty : 
 but I will justify it to you, that you may justify it to others. 
 In my youth I do not recollect being a slave to riches ; 
 and I bore the offices and dignities conferred on me by the 
 government of Rome so meekly, as not to have been thereby 
 either too much elated, or too much dejected. Against Nero 
 I never attempted any alteration in the state of affairs, but, 
 on the contrary, when he came to the empire, which he re- 
 ceived from his predecessor, (though not according to the 
 established laws) I was submissive to authority on account 
 of Claudius, who made me consul, and one of his coun- 
 sellors. I swear by Minerva, that the tears have often run 
 down my cheeks when I thought of him* to whom he be- 
 queathed the empire. But now that Nero is dead, and 
 that affairs are not altered for the better, but on the con- 
 trary are as likely to be as ill, if not worse managed in the 
 hands of Vitellius, I confess I came forward with a great- 
 er degree of ardour to take the direction of them, first, 
 because I wish to pursue a conduct which may make my- 
 self estimable among men, and next, because in the pro- 
 secution of my object I have to contend only with a man 
 who is suuk in every species of debauchery. Vitellius uses 
 more perfume in his bath than I do water ; and it is sup- 
 posed, that if wounded, he would yield more perfume 
 
 Nero. 
 
280 
 
 than blood. Besides, he makes himself mad with the 
 quantity of wine he drinks, and plays at dice as if afraid of 
 losing a throw ; but the whole empire he sets at hazard, 
 as if a matter of common sport and diversion. Though 
 the slave of his courtesans, he intrigues with married wo- 
 men, and says, that amours are sweet in proportion to the 
 difficulties attending them. A thousand other traits 1 
 omit more disgraceful than what I have mentioned, and 
 which are neither fit for you, nor the Roman people to 
 hear, whilst groaning under the yoke of such a monster. 
 In my present undertaking I wish to act under the guidance 
 of the Gods, and like myself. On you, Apollonius, I 
 chiefly found my hopes of success, as I know you are 
 well acquainted with whatever regards the Gods, and for 
 that reason I make you my friend and counsellor in all 
 those concerns, on which depend the affairs of sea and 
 land. For if omens, favourable to my wishes, are given 
 from the Gods, I will go on : if they are not propitious to 
 me and the Roman people, I will stop where I am, and 
 engage no farther in an enterprise unsanctioned by heaven. 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 AFTER this discourse Apollonius, like one divinely in- 
 spired, said, O Jupiter Capitolinus, who are supreme 
 judge in the present crisis of affairs, act mutually for each 
 other, keep yourself for Vespasian, and keep Vespasian 
 for you.* The temple which was burnt yesterday by im- 
 pious hands is decreed by the fates to be rebuilt by you. 
 On Vespasian's seeming amazed at this, he said, " These 
 things will be explained hereafter. Fear nought from me. 
 Go on with what you have so wisely begun." At this 
 
 * Tacitus, b. iii. c. 69-70, History. 
 
281 
 
 time Domitian, the son of Vespasian, was up in arms 
 against Vitellius at Rome, in defence of his father's autho- 
 rity. The youth was besieged in the capitol, and in 
 making his escape from the hands of the besiegers, the 
 temple was burnt, the account of which reached Apollo- 
 nius before it did any other man in Egypt. In the midst 
 of this conversation, Apollonius departed suddenly from 
 the Emperor, saying, the laws and customs of the Indians 
 permitted him only to do what was by them prescribed. 
 However, Vespasian, whose zeal was only redoubled by 
 what he heard from Apollonius, suffered not the tide iu 
 his affairs to pass by unheeded, but looked on all things as 
 now fixed and established by it. 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 EARLY the next morning, about break of day, Apollo- 
 nius entered the palace, and asked the officers in waiting 
 how the Emperor was employed? who said, he had been 
 for some time employed in writing letters. As soon as 
 Apollonius heard this, he went away, saying to Damis, 
 " This man will certainly be Emperor." At sun-rise he 
 returned again, when he found Dion and Euphrates in the 
 anti-chamber, both longing to know the result of the con- 
 ference of the preceding day. He then gave them the 
 apology which he had from the Emperor's own mouth, 
 concerning which he declined delivering his own private 
 opinion. Being the first admitted to see the Emperor, he 
 said, Dion and Euphrates, your old friends, are at the 
 door — men attached to your interest, and not unmindful of 
 the present posture of affairs. Call them in, I pray you, 
 for they are both wise. To wise men, replied Vespasian, 
 my doors are always open ; but to you, Apollonius, my 
 heart likewise. 
 
CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 WHEN Dion and Euphrates were introduced, the Em- 
 peror thus addressed them : Yesterday I made my apo- 
 logy, in the presence of this excellent man, Apollonius. 
 We have heard it, replied Dion, and think it not destitute 
 of reason. To-day, continued Vespasian, we shall philo- 
 sophize, friend Dion, concerning what are to be our future 
 plans of conduct, in order that every thing may be for- 
 tunate, and turn out to the public good. I have first con- 
 sidered the character of Tiberius, and can only think of 
 him as a man who changed the government into a wild 
 and cruel tyranny. When I call to mind Caius, who 
 succeeded him, I think of one under the dominion of the 
 most unbridled passions ; who clothed after the fashion of 
 the Lydians, and victorious in wars which never existed,* 
 defiled the empire by a bacchanalian insanity. When I 
 remember that good man Claudius, I only remember a 
 man who, stupified by women, forgot both the empire and 
 himself, and died, as was reported, by their hands. After 
 this, when I look to Nero, what am I to say of him ? It 
 has been comprised by Apollonius in one short and com~ 
 prehensive sentence, which he uttered concerning the in- 
 tenseness and remissness by which he disgraced the empire. 
 What shall I say of the commotions stirred up by Galba, 
 and of his being murdered in the middle of the forum, 
 after having adopted Otho and Piso, both sons of a com- 
 mon prostitute ?f For my part, if the empire is to be 
 conceded to such a man as Vitellius, the most abominable 
 
 * Such was his war with the Germans, for which he was seven times 
 proclaimed Emperor ; and such his expedition to Britain, which ended 
 in nothing but the gathering of shells on the sea-shore. 
 
 t Why he calls them so I do not understand ; for neither the one 
 aor the other were so born. 
 
283 
 
 of all his predecessors, I should think it better that Nero 
 returned again to life. Taking, then, my friends, into 
 consideration the several kinds of tyranny that have dis- 
 graced the state, I appoint you ray counsellors, to advise 
 what are the means most proper for meliorating a govern- 
 ment rendered so deservedly odious. What you have 
 said, says Apollonius, puts me in mind of a musician, a 
 man of great celebrity in his profession, who used to send 
 his pupils to hear the most unskilful performers, that they 
 might learn from them how they ought not to play. And 
 now, O prince ! you have learnt how you ought not to 
 govern from your predecessors, who have govemed so ill ; 
 but as to the way you ought to govern, we shall now con- 
 sider. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 EUPHRATES began now to entertain a secret jealousy 
 of Apollonius, from seeing the Emperor as much devoted 
 to him as votaries are to the shrine of a favourite oracle. 
 Incensed at this preference, he, in an angry tone of voice, 
 raised above its usual pitch, said, It is not right to flatter 
 the ambition of any man, nor to suffer ourselves to be 
 carried away, contrary to reason, by people who act with- 
 out any : on the contrary, we ought to bring them back to 
 reason, if we are worthy the name of philosophers. Our 
 first duty should have been to consider whether such or 
 such an enterprise was to be undertaken : instead of which 
 we are summoned to say how we should act, without 
 being consulted whether it is proper to act or not. I 
 think Vitellius should be put out of the way ; for 1 know 
 him to be abominable, and sunk in every kind of debauch- 
 ery. Though I know you to be a man, and possessed of 
 the most generous feelings, I do not think it would have 
 been becoming in you to have animadverted on his con- 
 
284 
 
 duct without first knowing what was your own duty. The 
 evils adhering to a monarchical form of government I need 
 not enumerate, for you have given us an ample display of 
 them. What I wish you to know is this — that when a 
 young man aspires to sovereignty, he acts in a way agree- 
 able to his youth, as he does when he loves wine or wo- 
 men : in wishing to obtain the empire, he is not accounted 
 wicked unless he is guilty of murder, or cruelty, or some 
 impurity in the steps taken to effect his purpose. But on 
 the other hand, when an old man possesses himself of the 
 sovereign power, the first blame which attaches to him is, 
 for desiring such a situation ; and though he may be of a 
 gentle quiet nature, the world will ascribe it only to the 
 maturity of his years ; for they will say, he ambitiously 
 courted it from his youth, but without success. Failures 
 in such attempts are sometimes set down to the account of 
 adverse fortune, and sometimes to that of pusillanimity. 
 The natural conclusion arising from which will be, that be 
 either neglected the object of his ambition from having not 
 trusted to his fortune, or having without a struggle given 
 way to the tyranny of another, from a dread of his supe- 
 rior courage. What might be said on the subject of bad 
 fortune we shall pass over in silence ; but the ignominy 
 arising from pusillanimity, how is that to be done away r 
 especially, as by it you seem to have feared Nero, who was 
 of all poor creatures the most timid and wretched. I 
 know you were considered the author of all the attempts 
 made against him by Vindex, as you were then at the head 
 of the army, and commanded those troops which were 
 marching against the Jews, and which would have been 
 better employed against Nero ; for the Jews, from the be- 
 ginning, were not only aliens to the Romans, but to all 
 mankind, and lived separate from the rest of the world. 
 They had neither food nor libations, nor prayers, nor sacri- 
 fices, in common with other men, and were greater 
 strangers to us than the people of Susa or Boetica, or the 
 
 
*8J 
 
 farthest Indians. To punish such aliens to mankind \ 
 unfitting ; it had been better, I think, not even to have had 
 them as subjects. But for Nero — is there a man alive 
 that did not wish to dispatch him with his own hand ? a 
 man drinking up, as it were, human blood, and singing 
 i n the midst of slaughter. For myself, my ears were ever 
 open to all that concerned you. And whenever a messen- 
 ger arrived, with an account of thirty thousand Jews 
 being slaughtered by you in one battle, or fifty thousand in 
 another, I used to take the courier aside, and ask him, 
 when alone, " But what is Vespasian doing ? Is he think- 
 ing of nothing greater than this ? Now that Vitellius is 
 become the express image of what Nero was, and that 
 you are engaged in war against him, finish what you have 
 begun, seeing that such things are worthy of praise. As 
 to what is to be done hereafter, let it be this : The Ro- 
 mans prefer a popular state to all others, because under it 
 they acquired all their greatness. Put an end to the mo- 
 narchy, of which you have spoken so much, and give to 
 the Romans popular power, and to yourself the glory of 
 having restored to them their liberty. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 WHILST Euphrates was haranguing in this manner, 
 Apollonius looking on Dion, who assented to all he heard, 
 and expressed his assent by frequent marks of applause, 
 said, Will not you, Dion, say something in addition to 
 the observations which have been made ? I will, replied 
 he ; and what I have to add shall be partly agreeable to it, 
 and partly not. I think 1 have already told you, Vespasian, 
 that it would have been better to have destroyed Nero, 
 than to have reduced the Jews to obedience; but instead 
 of doing that, you seem to have acted like one who strove 
 to prevent it ; for certainly he who quelled whatever insur- 
 
2S6 
 
 rections were excited against him, served to supply him 
 with the means of opposing all those who groaned under 
 his tyranny. The war against Vitellius meets my appro- 
 bation, because I think it more glorious to destroy a ty- 
 ranny in its infancy, than when grown to manhood. I like 
 a popular form of government; for though it be inferior 
 to an aristocracy, the more knowing have preferred it to 
 the monarchical and oligarchical forms. But I fear the 
 Romans are not able to make such a change, from being 
 so accustomed to the power of one. I am apprehensive 
 they have not virtue enough to emancipate themselves, and 
 cannot look a republic in the face, like people who, emerg- 
 ing from darkness, are unable to bear the light. Hence I 
 think Vitellius should be removed from the administration 
 of affairs in the most speedy and effectual way possible, 
 and at the same time that every preparation should be 
 made for war; and yet war is not what ought to be made, 
 but punishment inflicted if he does not immediately strip 
 himself of the purple. After conquering him, which I 
 think will be easily done, give the Romans the opportunity 
 and the power of chusing what form of government they 
 please; and if they prefer a popular state, allow them to 
 do it. This will be more to your honour than the pos- 
 session of many empires, or the gaining of many Olympic 
 victories. And in whatever clime monuments of brass 
 shall be erected to your honour, your name will supply 
 eloquence with more materials for praise than were ever 
 supplied by the names of Harmodius or Aristogiton. And 
 should the people chuse a monarchy, to whom can they 
 give that power in preference to you ? for in giving up that 
 of which you are in possession, they will give it back to 
 you in preference to all other men. 
 
£67 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 WHEN silence ensued, the countenance of the Emperor 
 expressed the conflict passing in his mind ; for considering 
 that he had spoken and acted as Emperor, what he heard 
 seemed as if meant to divert him from his purpose. 
 Whereupon Apollonius said, You both seem to me to 
 err in endeavouring to make the Emperor waver in a mat- 
 ter on which his heart is set, by using a style of conversa- 
 tion at once unseasonable, and like that of children ; for 
 if I was possessed of what power he has, and was asked 
 what good I could do with it, and were you to advise me 
 as you have done Vespasian, it is more than probable you 
 would bring me over to your opinion. The opinions of 
 philosophers are of use alone to hearers who love philoso- 
 phy. But you should now take into consideration that 
 you address a man vested with full consular power, one 
 who has long filled the very highest offices, and who, if 
 divested of his authority, has every thing to fear. What, 
 is he to be blamed for not rejecting what fortune throws 
 in his way, or for receiving what she holds out, or for 
 taking counsel how he should use it with moderation and 
 prudence! Suppose, for instance, we were to see an 
 athleta possessed of courage, of a goodly stature, of a 
 symmetry and texture of limbs sufficient to dispute the 
 prize at the Olympic Games, on his way to Arcadia, and 
 should advise him to behave well; and after gaining the 
 victory, suppose we were to counsel him not to let it be 
 proclaimed by the common crier, or have his head crown- 
 ed with parsley; if, I say, we were to act so, we should 
 appear like simpletons, making a mockery of others' toils. 
 Let us, therefore, out of consideration to the character of 
 the man, the number of his troops, and their excellent 
 discipline; and to the wisdom by which he has formed all 
 
288 
 
 his plans, leave him to follow his own genius, and pray for 
 his having good omens, and every thing which may ensure 
 success. Moreover, you appear as if you had forgotten 
 that he is the father of two sons, each at the head of an 
 army, but who both would become his bitterest enemies if 
 they were not sure of receiving the empire at his death. 
 What, then, is left for him, except a war with his own 
 family ? On the other hand, suppose he succeeds in ob- 
 taining the empire, he will be respected by his sons : he 
 will depend on them, and they will depend on him as their 
 stay and support. Them he will find the natural guardians 
 of his throne, and not mercenaries forced into allegiance : 
 he will find them not pretending to appear dutiful, but at- 
 tached and zealous in his service. As to myself, it is of 
 little consequence what form of government is established, 
 as I live under that of the Gods. Yet I should be sorry 
 to see mankind perish, like a flock of sheep, for want of a 
 wise and faithful shepherd. For as one man, who excels 
 in virtue, modifies the popular state of a republic, so as to 
 make it appear as if governed by a single individual, in the 
 same manner a state under the government of such a man, 
 wherein all things are directed to the common good, is 
 what is properly called popular, or that of the people. I 
 know, Euphrates said, you did not destroy Nero, Nor 
 did*yoir, Euphrates ; nor you, Dion ; nor did I do it my- 
 self : yet it is not charged to us as a fault, nor are we con- 
 sidered as cowards for not having done something in the 
 cause of liberty, though other philosophers have extirpated 
 so many tyrannies. As to myself, I resisted the power of 
 Nero, whilst under the most unjust accusations, and I op- 
 posed the cruel Tigellinus to his beard. In the assistance 
 I gave Vindex, I aimed a blow against the power of 
 Nero, but I will not on that account assert I put down 
 the tyrant, nor proclaim you for not having done so, more 
 effeminate than what is becoming the character of philoso- 
 phers, A philosopher, I know, may utter whatever he 
 
289 
 
 pleases; at the same time I think he will take care not to 
 utter -any thing contrary to reason and prudence. When a 
 man of consular authority meditates a blow against a ty- 
 rant, he should take care not to engage in such a business 
 till the enemy was off his guard; and next, to have the 
 best possible pretext for avoiding every appearance of per- 
 jury. He who takes up arms against a man who com- 
 mands an army, to whom his subjects are bound by their 
 oaths of allegiance to do all they can in his defence, should 
 first justify himself in the eyes of the Gods, in order to 
 secure their approbation in case of violating his oath. He 
 should next have many friends, for such high objects are 
 not to be effected without great assistance; and he should 
 have money to secure the powerful, where the object to 
 be attacked is master of the world. Consider, then, what 
 delays and time it will take to do all this. However, re- 
 solve on all these things* as you please : for our part we 
 will make no inquiry concerning them, from an idea that 
 the Emperor himself has well considered the state of them 
 in his own mind, and fouud all seconded by good fortune, 
 independent of his own efforts. But what will you say to 
 the following reflexion ? He who was Emperor yesterday, 
 and received the crown from several cities in these temples, 
 and published laws by the voice of the common cryer with 
 as much celebrity as justice, is the very man whom you 
 now command, by the voice of the same cryer, to declare 
 he will for the rest of his life live as a private man, be- 
 cause he invaded the empire without due consideration. 
 If he had accomplished his enterprise, he would have 
 found faithful friends in all his first advisers ; if he changes 
 his mind, he will find in them obstinate enemies. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 THE Emperor approved of what he heard, and said, If, 
 Apollonius, you had been in my breast, you co«ld not 
 
 u 
 
«90 
 
 have better expressed my feelings. I will follow your ad- 
 vice, as I think every word you have uttered is divine, 
 Tell me, then, 1 pray thee, what a good prince ought to 
 do. What you ask, said Apollonius, I cannot teach ; for 
 the art of government, of all human acquisitions, is the 
 most important, but cannot be taught. However, I will 
 tell you what, if you do, you will in my opinion do wisely. 
 Look not on that as wealth which is piled up in heaps, for 
 what is it better than a heap of sand? nor on that which 
 arises from taxes,* which men pay with tears ; for the 
 gold so paid lacketh lustre, and is black. You will make 
 a better use of your riches than ever sovereign did, if you 
 employ them in supplying the necessities of the poor, and 
 securing the property of the rich. Fear the power of 
 doing every thing you wish, for under this apprehension 
 you will use it with more moderation. Do not lop away 
 such ears of corn as are tall and most conspicuous, for 
 herein the maxim of Aristotle is unjust : but harshness 
 and cruelty of disposition weed out of your mind, as you 
 would tares and darnel out of your corn. Shew yourself 
 terrible to all innovators in the state, yet not so much in 
 the actual infliction of punishment, as in the preparation 
 for it. Acknowledge the law to be the supreme rule of 
 your conduct; for you will be more mild in the making of 
 laws, when you know you are to be subject to them your- 
 self. Reverence the Gods more than ever, for you have 
 received great things at their hands, and have still much to 
 ask. In what concerns the public, act like a prince ; and 
 in what relates to yourself, like a private man. In what 
 light you ought to consider the love of gambling, of wine 
 
 * When his son Titiis blamed him for the tax he had laid upon urine, 
 he applied to his nose a piece of the money received in the first pay- 
 ment, and asked him, " Num odoie offenderetur ?" But it appears, 
 when he opened his finaucial budget, he forgot his friend Apollonius's 
 advice. 
 
291 
 
 ind women, I need not to speak to you, who from your 
 youth never liked them. You have two sons, both, ac- 
 cording to report, of good dispositions ; keep them, I pray 
 you, under strict discipline, for their faults will be charged 
 to your account. Use authority, and even threats, if neces- 
 sary ; and let them know that the empire is to be consi- 
 dered not as a matter of common right, but as the reward 
 of virtue ; and that it is to be their inheritance only by a 
 perseverance in well-doing. Pleasures become, as it were, 
 denizens of Rome, are many in number, and should be 
 restrained with great discretion ; for it is a hard matter to 
 bring over at once an entire people to a regular mode of 
 living. It is only by degrees a spirit of moderation can be 
 instilled into the mind, and it is to be done sometimes by a 
 public correction, and sometimes by one so private as to 
 conceal the hand which does it. Suppress the pride and 
 luxury of the freed men and slaves under your subjection, 
 and let them understand that their modesty should keep 
 pace with their master's greatness. I have but one more 
 observation to make, and that relates to the governors sent 
 out to rule the several provinces of the empire. I do not 
 mean such governors as you will send out yourself (for you 
 will only employ the deserving) but those who are chosen 
 by lot ; for the men so sent out ought to be suited (as far 
 as can be made consistent with that mode of election) to 
 the several countries over which they are appointed to pre- 
 side. They who understand Greek should be sent to 
 Greece ; and they who understand Latin, to such countries 
 as use that language. I will now tell you why I say this. 
 Whilst I was in Peloponnesus, the governor of that pro- 
 vince knew nothing of Greek, nor did the people know 
 any thing of him. Hence arose innumerable mistakes; 
 for the people in whom he confided, suffered him to be 
 corrupted in the distribution of justice, and to be treated 
 more like a slave than the governor. 1 have said now what 
 has occurred to me to-day ; if auy thing else occurs, we 
 
 u 2 
 
292 
 
 shall resume the conversation at another time. At pre- 
 sent discharge your duty to the republic, to the end you 
 may not appear more indulgent to those under your autho- 
 rity than what is consistent with that duty. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 UPON this Euphrates said,* I agree to every thing pro- 
 posed; for what else can I do when the masters have 
 spoken ? But, O King, (for still one observation remains 
 to T>e made) approve and countenance that philosophy 
 which is consonant to nature, and shun that which affects 
 to carry on a secret intercourse with celestial beings ; for 
 they who entertain such unsound notions of the Gods, fill 
 us with nothing but pride and vanity. This, you see, was 
 directly levelled against Apollonius, who, without conde- 
 scending to make any reply, departed with his companions 
 the moment he ended his discourse. But when the Em- 
 peror perceived that Euphrates was going to take greater 
 liberties with the character of Apollonius, he interposed, 
 and said, Introduce such magistrates as are to enter into 
 office, and let my council take some form. It was thus 
 that Euphrates hurt himself by his imprudence with the 
 Emperor, who ever after looked on him as a jealous 
 meddling man, who spoke in favour of democracy, not ac- 
 cording to his own sentiments, but as he thought they 
 would be in opposition to Apollonius. Notwithstanding 
 
 * Euphrates is several times, says Lardner r mentioned by Philos- 
 tratus : but it has been observed by learned men, that Euphrates has 
 a good character from the younger Pliny, and from Epictetus, who 
 have never mentioned Apollonius, and from Eunapius. Eusebius has 
 made just remarks upon the differences between Apollonius and Eu- 
 phrates, and fails not to observe, that Euphrates was in his time a very 
 celebrated philosopher, who continued long in great esteem. 
 
293 
 
 the Emperor did not remove him from his councils, nor 
 shew him any mark of his displeasure. He continued to 
 love Dion, though he did not approve of his being of the 
 same opinion with Euphrates. Dion deserved to be loved, 
 as he was a man affable in conversation, an enemy to all 
 disputes, and who in his discourse instilled that pleasant- 
 ness which is breathed from the perfumes in a sacrifice : 
 in short, of all men living he was the readiest in speech 
 and the quickest in reply. But Vespasian loved Apollo- 
 nius, and had great delight in hearing him talk of what 
 antiquities he saw in his travels, of the Indian Phraotes, 
 of the rivers and wild beasts found in India, and, above all, 
 when he spoke of what was to be the future state of the 
 Roman world, as communicated to him by the Gods. 
 As soon, however, as the affairs of Egypt were settled, he 
 determined on taking his departure ; but before he did so 
 he expressed a wish that Apollonius should go with him, 
 which was declined on his part, as he said he had not seen 
 Egypt as he ought, nor as yet conversed with the Gymno- 
 sophists. He added, that he was desirous to compare the 
 learning of the Egyptians with that of the Indians, and to 
 drink of the source of the Nile. When the Emperor un- 
 derstood he was determined on making a journey into 
 Ethiopia, he said, Will you not remember me ? I will, 
 said Apollonius, if you continue to be a good prince, 
 and to be mindful of us. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 AS soon as all the proper sacrifices were performed, the 
 Emperor gave Apollonius leave publickly to ask what pre- 
 sents he chose. Apollonius, like one who seemed disposed 
 to make full use of his permission, said, And what pre- 
 sents do you mean to give me, O King ? Ten talents at 
 this time, said the Emperor, and all I have when you come 
 
294 
 
 to Rome. Then, said Apollonius, I will be as careful of 
 what you have, as if it was my own, and will not be pro- 
 digal of what must one day be mine ; at the same time, 
 I request, O Emperor ! you may attend to these men, 
 who will not despise your gifts ; in saying this he particu- 
 larly glanced at Euphrates. Whereupon, Vespasian bid 
 both Euphrates and Dion ask boldly what they wished. 
 On hearing this, Dion blushed, and said, reconcile me to 
 my master Apollonius, for having contradicted him, but 
 it was the first time of my Hie. The Emperor praised him 
 for this acknowledgment, and said, I asked the favour 
 yesterday, and it is done : now demand whatever you 
 please. To this, Dion replied, Lasthenes of Apamea, a 
 town in Bithynia, formerly studied philosophy with me ; 
 afterwards a passion for the uniform of a soldier and a 
 military life took possession of him ; he now wishes, I hear, 
 to return to his philosophical pursuits, and all the request 
 I make, is, that he may get his discharge, since he desires 
 it. You will not, I am sure, refuse me the indulgence of 
 contributing to make him a good man, nor him the liberty 
 of living in what manner he pleases. The moment the 
 Emperor heard it, he said, Let him be discharged, but 
 first let him receive the rewards due to the Emeriti,* be- 
 cause he loves you and philosophy. Afterwards he turned 
 to Euphrates, who had put his memorial in writing, which 
 he gave to the Emperor to read when alone ; but Vespa- 
 sian, anxious to give Apollonius and all present an oppor- 
 tunity of canvassing it, read it aloud. It appeared from 
 the memorial, that Euphrates made several requests, of 
 which some were relative to himself and some to other 
 people ; but all had money, either directly or indirectly, for 
 
 * When the soldiers had served out their time, the foot twenty 
 years, and the horse ten, they were called Emeriti, and obtained their 
 discharge. Adams. 
 
295 
 
 their object. Apollonius only smiled, and said, And how 
 came you, Euphrates, to speak so much in favour of a 
 republican form of government, who had so much to ask 
 from a monarch ? This is all I could find touching the 
 subject of difference subsisting between *Apollonius and 
 Euphrates. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 AFTER the Emperor's departure from Egypt, Euphrates 
 and Apollonius came to an open rupture ; the former gave 
 full vent to his passion without sparing any reproaches, the 
 latter conducted himself like a philosopher, and answered 
 all that he said with the coolest reason. The cause of the 
 altercation may be collected from the letters of Apollonius 
 to Euphrates, of which many are still extant ; it appears 
 from them to have arisen from Euphrates not having 
 acted in a manner becoming a philosopher. As to myself, 
 I will dismiss the man, for it is not my business to blame 
 him, but to make those acquainted with the life of Apol- 
 lonius who were before ignorant of it. In regard to what 
 is said of a billet of wood (with which it appears Eu- 
 phrates threatened him, without daring to throw it) the 
 forbearance he shewed on that occasion is ascribed by 
 many to the commanding influence of Apollonius ; how- 
 ever it was, I give the credit of it to his good sense, by 
 which he subdued that anger which had almost subdued 
 him. 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 APOLLONIUS thought Dion's philosophy savoured too 
 much of the rhetorician, and was too much adapted to 
 the ear ; and for this he rebukes him in his epistles, in 
 
296 
 
 these words, " Use your flute and lyre to flatter your hear* 
 ers with, and not your eloquence." Besides, in many.pas- 
 sages of his letters to Dion, he blames the affected orna- 
 ments of his style, and the arts he used to catch the atten- 
 tion of the people. 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 
 
 I SHALL now explain the cause why Apollonius ceased 
 visiting and conferring with the Emperor after this inter- 
 view, though often invited and written to for that purpose. 
 Nero gave liberty to Greece, and performed a work more 
 glorious than what was expected from the general tenor 
 of his character. The consequence was, that the towns 
 flourished and resumed their ancient attic and doric man- 
 ners : to which may be added, that a harmony sprung up 
 among them unknown even in their best days. Of this 
 liberty, that produced such good effects, Vespasian deprived 
 them, under the pretence of some disturbance or other 
 which did not require such a mark of his displeasure. 
 All this was considered by the sufferers, and Apollonius, 
 in a light more severe than what was becoming a govern- 
 ment founded on justice and equity. Hence the following 
 letters to the Emperor. 
 
 " Apollonius to the Emperor Vespasian, health. 
 
 " You have enslaved Greece, as fame says, by which you 
 imagine you have done more than Xerxes, without calling 
 to mind that you have sunk yourself below Nero, who 
 freely renounced that which he had. Farewel." 
 
 To the same. 
 " You who have, in anger to the Greeks, reduced a free 
 people to slavery, what need have you of my conversa- 
 tion? Farewel." 
 
297 
 
 To the same. 
 
 " Nero in sport gave liberty to Greece, of which you in 
 seriousness have deprived them, and reduced them to sla- 
 very. Farewel." 
 
 Insinuations such as these, caused the misunderstanding 
 between Apollonius and Vespasian. Yet when he heard 
 that in all other respects he governed his people well, he 
 did not hide his joy, as he considered much was gained by 
 his accession to the empire. 
 
 CHAP. XLII. 
 
 AMONG the wonderful things done by Apollonius, we 
 are not to omit what follows. There was a certain man 
 had a tame lion, whom he led about with a string like a 
 dog. This lion used to fawn not only on his keeper, but 
 on all who came near him. He walked with him through 
 the several towns, and went with him into the temples, a 
 liberty with which he was indulged as he came under the 
 description of clean animals. He never would lick the 
 blood of victims, nor touch their flesh, even when they 
 were skinned and cut into pieces ; but his delight was in 
 cakes of honey, and in bread, and confectionary of all 
 kinds, and dressed meats. One day, as Apollonius was 
 sitting in the temple, the lion approached him,* fawning 
 on his knees, and paying him more attention than any 
 other person, all which the spectators supposed was done 
 to get something to eat. Apollonius, on this, said, the 
 lion wishes me to inform you whose soul it is that ani- 
 mates him. It is the soul of Amasis, who was formerly 
 
 * This story of the lion brings to our remembrance the accounts 
 given in the life of Pythagoras of the Dauniau bear and the Tarentum 
 ox ; and is another instance of his strict adherence to the M§tempsy-» 
 chosis of Pythagoras. 
 
298 
 
 King of Egypt in the district of Sais. The moment the 
 lion heard this, he roared in a piteous strain, couching on 
 his knees, and bursting into tears at the same time. 
 Whereupon, Apollonius treating him with kindness, said, 
 He should be sent to Leontopolis,* and there placed in 
 the temple, as methinks it is unbecoming a King, though 
 transformed into the most royal of beasts, to wander up 
 and down the world like a mendicant. In consequence 
 of this, the priests met, and offered sacrifice to Amasis ; 
 then dressing out the lion with collars and garlands, they 
 sent him into the interior parts of Egypt, accompanying 
 him all the way with the sound of flutes, the singing of 
 hymns and verses made for the occasion.^ 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. 
 
 APOLLONIUS, staying as long as he thought necessary 
 at Alexandria, determined to visit the Upper Egypt, in order 
 to converse with the Gymnosophists. Menippus, one of 
 the number of those who, after completing their term of 
 silence, were entitled to address others themselves, was 
 left behind to watch Euphrates. Dioscorides, whose con- 
 stitution was unable to bear the fatigues of a long journey, 
 was advised by Apollonius not to go. He then assembled 
 the rest (for though many deserted him at Aricia,J many 
 had joined him since) with whom he talked of the journey 
 he was about to undertake, in the following manner. " I 
 
 * A town of the lower Egypt, in the Delta, on that branch of the 
 Kile called Busiriticus, and denominated so from the lions there kept 
 as objects of religious worship — at this day Tellessabe, or Hill of the 
 Lion. 
 
 t Voila (says Du Pin, at the conclusion of this tale) la plus extrava* 
 gante fable qu'on puisse imaginer. 
 
 t Where he stopt on his way to Rome in the time of Nero. 
 
299 
 
 think it right, my friends, to use an Olympic exordium 
 with you. The people of Elis (on the approach of 
 the Olympic Games) exercise their athletae for the space 
 of thirty days in their own town. The people of Delphi 
 and Corinth, at the celebration of their respective games, 
 address all those who are to contend at them in this 
 manner, " Enter the stadium, and shew yourselves men 
 worthy of victory." The Eleans, when come to Olympia, 
 thus address the athletae, " You, who have endured 
 labours fit for the men who come to Olympia, and have 
 not been guilty of any mean or illiberal action — go on 
 boldly : but ye who are not so qualified, go where you 
 please." Such of his disciples as understood the force of 
 this address, of whom the number amounted to twenty, re- 
 mained behind with Menippus* at Alexandria. The re- 
 mainder, whose number did not exceed ten, after offering 
 their prayers and sacrifices to the Gods for a good journey, 
 set out towards the Pyramids, mounted on camels, with the 
 Nile on their right. They went in boats, at times, in order 
 to see all that was worth their notice. No city, or temple, 
 or sacred spot, in Egypt, was passed by unobserved. An in- 
 terchange of knowledge every where took place between 
 them and such leamed Egyptians as they happened to 
 meet. The vessel in which Apollonius sailed on the Nile, 
 resembled the sacred galley of legation.*)* 
 
 * Whom Apollonius left at Alexandria, to watch the motions of Eu- 
 phrates. 
 
 t ©Eajjjf — the name given to the ship in which the Athenians made 
 their annual procession to Dclos. 
 
BOOK VI.— Contents. 
 
 Description of Ethiopia — Apollonius visits the Gymno- 
 sophists — Conversation with them — An Account of 
 the Nile, and its Cataracts — His Letter to Titus 
 after the taking of Jerusalem — Return to Greece — 
 Interview with Titus at Argos. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 XtiTHIOPIA occupies the most western wing of all the 
 land situate immediately under the sun's rays, as India does 
 the most eastern. Near Meroe, it borders on Egypt, 
 from whence stretching as far as Lybia Deserta, it termi- 
 nates in the sea called by the poets, the Ocean, under 
 which appellation is comprehended all the sea which sur- 
 rounds the earth. It gives Egypt the Nile, which rising 
 from Catadupa, carries down from Ethiopia all that mud 
 and slime which we may say form the land of Egypt. 
 Neither Ethiopia, nor any other much celebrated part of 
 the continent can be compared in magnitude with India. 
 Nay, if all Egypt was added to Ethiopia, (which I think, 
 is done by the Nile) both of them together would not be 
 equal in magnitude to the vast extent of India. The rivers, 
 however, in each, are alike, if any one will take the trouble 
 of comparing the peculiar phenomena of the Nile and 
 Indus.* Both have their inundations in that season of the 
 year when the land requires it most. Of all the rivers 
 
 * That rains fall in Ethiopia as well as in India, Arrian says in his 
 Indian History, he has no reason to doubt, seeing in all other respectSi 
 India so much resembles it. 
 
301 
 
 ■we know, they alone have the crocodile and the hippopo- 
 tamus ; and the account given of their religious ceremo- 
 nies, is similar in both, for what are performed on the 
 banks of the one river, are performed on those of the 
 other. That the nature of the soil in the two countries is 
 alike, appears from their producing the same kinds of 
 spices ; as also the lion and elephant, of which the latter 
 is taken, and put to servile offices. In them we find 
 wild beasts and black men,* that are to be found no where 
 else. In both, we meet with pygmies and cynocephali,*f- 
 who possess different modes of barking, and other mar- 
 vellous things besides. The griffons of India, and the 
 ants of Ediiopia, though not exactly shaped alike, are 
 possessed of the same instinct, according to the account 
 given of them. In both countries, they are the guardians 
 of the gold, and attached to the soil which produces it. 
 Of these things I shall say no more, but return to Apol- 
 lonius, who is the subject of our history. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 WHEN Apollonius arrived on the confines of Ethiopia 
 and Egypt, at a place called Sicaminus,J he found gold 
 
 * The natives of India and Ethiopia are not much different in their 
 features and complexion. Arrian. 
 
 t Though Philostratus is pleased here only to call the cynocephali 
 barkers, and to reckon them, as he does, black men, and the pygmies 
 among the wild beasts of those countries; yet Ctesias, from whom 
 Philostratus has borrowed a great deal of his natural history, styles 
 them men, and makes them speak, and to perform most notable feati 
 in merchandising. Tyson's Inquiry concerning Pygmies, 
 
 Tyson's design is to shew, that not only the pygmies, but the cyno- 
 tephali, and satyrs, and sphinges, were only apes and monkeys, and not 
 men. 
 
 % Sicaminus is called by Ptolemy, «p* orxajujvo?, and he is the only 
 geographer, I find, who mentions it, and which he does immediately 
 
 after 
 
30* 
 
 in wedges unstamped and flax, and ivory, with several 
 kinds of aromatic roots, perfumes and spices : all which 
 lay piled up in heaps, in a place where four ways meet, 
 without any guard whatever set over them. This must be 
 accounted for, # as the custom remains even unto our 
 days. The Ethiopians bring to sale the chief productions 
 of their country ; and the merchants of Egypt, who come 
 to purchase, bring in return, to the same place, such of 
 their goods as are considered equivalent in value; and 
 with them, of which they have a superfluity, they buy 
 what they most stand in need of. The people inhabiting 
 the frontiers of the two countries, are not quite black, but 
 of a complexion partaking of each ; they are not so black 
 as the Ethiopians, but blacker than the Egyptians. When 
 Apollonius understood how the commerce of these nations 
 was carried on, he said, our good friends the Greeks sup- 
 pose they could not live, if Obolus did not beget Obolus, 
 and if the goods they brought to market, (and which are 
 most carefully guarded,) did not produce an enormous profit 
 in their sordid dealings. And this species of traffic is car- 
 ried on under such considerations as the following, namely, 
 one man saying he has a daughter to marry, another, that 
 he has a son just come of age, a third, that he has a large 
 
 after noticing the nomos of Thebes, and Elethyia. The next stage 
 from Syene is called Hiera Sycaminus, a sycamore tree. Travellers, 
 says Bruce, in journeying through Egypt, must be obliged to take up 
 their quarters under a tree for want of towns. 
 
 * A custom similar to this prevailed among the Seres, who, as Pliny 
 says, avoid the company of all men at the very time they are desirous 
 of entering into commercial dealings with them. On this passage, 
 there is a marginal note in Philemon. Holland's translation of Pliny's 
 Nat. Hist, to the following effect, " Even at this day they set abroad 
 their wares with the prices, upon the shore, and goe their waes : then 
 the forain merchants come, and lay down the money, and have away 
 the merchandise : and so depart without any communication at 
 all." 
 
 

 
 siuii of money to pay, a fourth, that he has a house to 
 build, and the last of all declaring that it would be scan- 
 dalous in him, a merchant, not to die richer than his father. 
 How happy would it be for the world if riches were not 
 held in such estimation ? and if equality of rank flourished 
 more than it does. Iron would remain black, if men 
 lived in harmony and good will ; and the whole earth 
 would appear like one great family. 
 
 CHAP. Ill, 
 
 WHILST Apollonius talked according to his custom, as 
 the casual circumstances of the moment administered to 
 his discourse, he entered the district of Memnon. # His 
 guide happened to be a young Egyptian, of whom 
 Damis gives the following account. His name, he 
 says, was Timasion, a youth of great beauty, who had 
 just passed the age of puberty. He was, besides, of 
 singular chastity ; but his step-mother, who had fallen in 
 love with him, and was unsuccessful in her passion, had 
 kindled his father's anger against him. The charges she 
 brought against him were of a different nature from those 
 alledged against Hippolytus by Phaedra ; in short, she ac- 
 cused him of being a Pathic, as one who delighted more 
 in the company of men than women. This was the cause 
 of the young man's quitting the town of Naucratis,f in 
 which the aforesaid transaction happened, and settling near 
 Memphis, where he bought a miserable skiff, with which 
 he plied s a boatman on the Nile. Whilst in this em- 
 ployment, he saw Apollonius sailing up the river ; as soon 
 
 * Memnonius nomos — called Memnonium, which formed a part of 
 the city of Thebes, in the higher Egypt, on the west side of the 
 Nile. 
 
 t Naucratis, a town of Egypt on the left side of the Canopic 
 mouth of the Nile, built by the Milesians. It gave birth to Athenaeu? 
 
304 
 
 as he perceived that the vessel was full of sages, a circum- 
 stance which he conjectured by their singular garb, and 
 the books they had in their hands, he asked leave to be one 
 of their number, as a lover of wisdom. Whereupon 
 Apollonius said, the youth is of a good character, and de- 
 serves what he asks, and then in a low tone of voice, he 
 gave those near him an account of his step-mother's con- 
 duct, whilst the young man was doing all he could to get 
 near the boat. As soon as the boats approached, Tima- 
 sion jumped into Apollonius's one, and after a few words 
 to his own pilot respecting freight, &c. saluted him and 
 his companions. Apollonius requested him to sit opposite 
 to him, and addressed him in the following manner: 
 Young Egyptian (for you are, I suppose of this country,) 
 tell us the good and evil of your life, that you may be par- 
 doned for any thing you have done wrong by reason of 
 your youth, and praised for what you have done well ; 
 and may philosophize with me and my friends. When 
 Apollonius discovered that the youth blushed, and changed 
 colour, at one time as if disposed to speak, and at ano- 
 ther as if not, he the more urged his request, just as if he 
 had no foreknowledge of his character. The youth, as 
 soon as he recovered a little his presence of mind, cried 
 out, O ye Gods! what shall I say of myself? I am not 
 wicked, and yet I know not whether I can call myself 
 good, as little or no praise can attach to the negative vir- 
 tue of not having acted ill. Excellently observed, said 
 Apollonius, you speak as if instructed by the Indians, as 
 if you had learnt that sentiment from the lips of the divine 
 Iarchas himself; for it is his own. But how, or from 
 whom have you received such opinions ? for you appear as 
 if afraid to oflfend. When the youth began to speak of 
 his step-mother, and of the resistance he made to her pas- 
 sion, a shout was raised by all present, as if Apollonius 
 had foretold it by assistance of his demon. Upon which, 
 Timasion suddenly turning about, said, What is the mat- 
 
 , 
 
306 
 
 ter, my friends, for I think, what I have said, is as far 
 from exciting wonder, as it is from exciting laughter. 
 Damis immediately interposing, said, the cause of our 
 surprise, I believe, you are not acquainted with : but as 
 to what particularly concerns yourself, you are worthy of 
 our praise from not thinking you have done any thing which 
 deserves it. Then Apollonius said to the youth, Do you 
 sacrifice to Venus ? Yes, by Jupiter, replied Timasion, 
 and that daily, for I think her a Goddess deeply interested 
 in affairs both human and divine. As Apollonius was 
 much pleased with what he heard, he says, Let us unani- 
 mously decree the youth a crown on account of a conti- 
 nency far exceeding that of Hippolytus the son of Theseus, 
 who slighted Venus from perhaps never being affected by 
 the general passion, and was one in whose breast Love, 
 with his smiles, never dwelt, whose disposition was austere 
 and unbending. But Timasion, who has owned himself 
 to be the votary of the Goddess, opposed the solicitations 
 of a woman who loved him ; Timasion fled, from an ap- 
 prehension of the resentment of the Goddess, had he given 
 way to a criminal amour. The entertaining an aversion 
 for any particular deity, as that of Hippolytus for Venus, 
 is not to be reckoned as a virtue. On the contrary, I 
 think it highly praise- worthy to speak well of all the Gods, 
 and at Athens more than at any other place, where altars 
 are raised to the unknown Gods.* Such were the philo- 
 sophical reflections made by Apollonius on the subject of 
 
 * For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with 
 this inscription, To the unknown God. Whom, therefore, ye ignoranthj 
 worship, him ctclare I unto you—Acts of the Apostles. 
 
 The Athenians, says Dr. Franklin, the learned translator of Lucian, 
 not content with worshipping an infinite number of local and tutelary 
 deities, created an altar, and dedicated it r*> ayvotru &ta> — to the un- 
 known God ; a kind of tacit acknowledgment that they were dissatis- 
 fied with all their deities, and had some imperfect notion of a true 
 God, far superior to them. 
 
 X 
 
306 
 
 Timasion, whom he called Hippolytus on account of the 
 way he behaved to his step-mother. It was observed that 
 the youth paid particular attention to his person, and per- 
 formed with grace all the gymnastic exercises. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 UNDER the direction of this youth, Apollonius and 
 his companions approached the spot sacred to Memnon, 
 of whom Damis gives the account that follows. He says, 
 he was the son of Aurora, who died, not at Troy, where 
 by the way, he never came, but in Ethiopia, where he 
 reigned for five generations. The Ethiopians are the 
 longest-lived of all mortals,* and still lament Memnon, 
 as a youth cut off by a premature death. The place 
 where he was laid, is said to resemble an ancient forum, 
 like what is found in towns long desolate, where we see 
 broken columns, ruined walls, decayed seats, mutilated 
 thresholds, and figures of Hermes worn away, partly by 
 the hand, and partly by time. The statue of Memnonf 
 
 * Hence some of the people of Ethiopia have obtained the name of 
 Macrobii. 
 
 t Tacitus says, Germanicus saw the celebrated statue of Memnon, 
 which though wrought in stone, when played on by the rays of the 
 sun, returns a vocal sound.—In Desraontier's Letters on Mythology, 
 there is one of the prettiest accounts we have of this statue, which I 
 will give in his own words, " On eleva dans la suite une statue de mar- 
 bre noir, qui representait Memnon as3is, les mains elevees & la bouche 
 entr' ouverte, comme s'il allait parler. A peine le premier rayon de 
 1'Aurore frappit-il le corps de la statue, qu'elle prenait un air riant & 
 paraissait s'animer ; mais aussitot que le rayon atteignoit la bouche, U 
 en sortait un son harmonieux et ten'ire, qui semblait dire Bon-jour, 
 ma mere : le soir, au moment ou l'Aurore allait eclairer l'autre hemi- 
 sphere, un soupir faible et plaintif semblait dire ma mere adieu. 
 So to the sacred sun in Memnon's fane 
 Spontaneous concords quired the matin strain. 
 
 Botanic Garden. 
 See note on Memnon's lyre by Dr. Darwin. 
 
307 
 
 looked towards theorising sun, was made of black marble, 
 but had no beard. The feet were united according to the 
 fashion of sculpture in the time of Dedalus. The hands 
 rested on the base on which it was placed ; and though 
 sitting, seemed as if going to rise. The posture, the in- 
 telligence of the eyes, and whatever is said of the mouth, 
 as in the act of speaking, are circumstances of wonder 
 only at the time when it is stricken by the sun's rays, for at 
 no other do they appear as producing any effect to those 
 who are ignorant of its particular mechanism. But the 
 moment the sun's beams fall on it (which they always do at 
 his rising,) our travellers could not withhold their astonish- 
 ment. For as soon as they touched the mouth it uttered a 
 sound,* the eyes brightened, and seemed to look on the 
 light like those who are pleased with it. Then it was, 
 they understood the meaning of its being represented in 
 the act of rising, which was in imitation of mortals, 
 who, in a standing posture, pay their adorations to the 
 God of light. After sacrificing to the Ethiopian Sol, and 
 the Eoan-j- Memnon, the particular appellations given by 
 the priests to these deities, the one being called Ethiopian J 
 from producing heat, and the other Eoan from his mo- 
 ther Eos, or Aurora. Apollonius and his friends mount- 
 
 * Philostratus, says Savary, in his Letters on Egypt, misled by his 
 love of the marvellous, sets no bounds to his credulity, nor does Sava- 
 ry, I will add, set any bounds to the liberality of his translation. 
 Here it is — " The colossus of Memnon, though of ^'one, was gifted 
 with speech : at the rising of the sun, joyous to behold again his mo* 
 ther, he saluted her in a pleasing voice. Towards the setting sun, he 
 expressed his sorrow in a sad and mournful tone. " This marble had 
 the property of shedding tears at pleasure," &c. &c. 
 
 t Memnon called Eoan from h»s — Aurora who was his mother. 
 Homer calls him the son of Aurora, by which, I suppose, he only indi- 
 cates the east from whence he came. — However, the Memnon of the 
 text is not Homer's Memnon. 
 
 t Ai0« — uro. — 
 
 X 2 
 
308 
 
 ed on camels proceeded to the dwellings of the Gymno-* 
 sophists. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 THEY proceeded not far, till they met a person dressed 
 after the manner of Memphis, who seemed more like an 
 idle lounger than one who had any decided object in view. 
 Damis asked him who he was, and why he sauntered so 
 up and down ? To whom Timasion said, you had better 
 inquire of me ; for I fear he will not at once tell you his 
 situation, from being ashamed of it : but as I know the 
 man, and feel for his condition, I will tell you what 1 
 know of him. He has committed an involuntary mur- 
 der, and by the laws of Memphis in like cases provided, 
 he must leave his country, and take shelter with the 
 Gymnosophists, by whom, when purified and absolved, he 
 may return home, but not till atonement has been made 
 for his crime by visiting the tomb of the deceased, and 
 offering there a sacrifice of blood of no costly value. 
 Whilst excluded from the company of the Gymnosophists, 
 he wanders through these borders till they take compassion 
 on him as a penitent. And what opinion, said Apollo- 
 nius, do these sages entertain of the fugitive? That I 
 dont know, said Timasion, for he has been supplicating 
 his pardon from them these seven months, and has not yet 
 obtained it. I fear, returned Apollonius, you talk to me 
 of men who have not too much wisdom to boast of, if 
 they refuse expiating him ; men I fear who know not that 
 Philiseus whom he put to death was descended from Tha- 
 mus the Egyptian, who formerly ravaged the country of 
 the Gymnosophists. Timasion, in astonishment, exclaim- 
 ed, What's that you say ? Just what the young man did, 
 said Apollonius. Thamus meditated formerly a change 
 in the government of Memphis, for which, when repri- 
 
309 
 
 manded by the Gymnosophists, and baffled in his purpose, 
 he vented his fury, by ravaging the whole country, and 
 plundering that which lay nearest Memphis. From this 
 Thamus, in the thirteenth generation, is descended Philiseus 
 now killed, accursed, it is to be supposed, in the eyes of 
 all whose country he laid waste. And can these Gymno- 
 sophists be considered as wise in not at once acquitting a 
 man guilty only of but an involuntary crime, and a crime 
 so much to their advantage, whom it was their duty to ho- 
 nour with a crown, even had he perpetrated it by preme- 
 ditation. Whereupon the young man in amazement said, 
 And who are you, O stranger ? One whom you will find 
 with the Gymnosophists, replied Apollonius. But since 
 it js not lawful for me to address a man polluted with 
 blood, desire him, I pray thee, to keep up his spirits, 
 for he shall receive expiation of his crime, if he comes 
 to where I shall lodge. As desired, the young man 
 waited on Apollonius, who, after performing what cere- 
 monies are enjoined for purification by Empedocles and 
 Pythagoras, bid him go honje cleansed from all crimes. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 FROM the place where our travellers passed the night, 
 they set out the morning after at sun-rise, and about mid- 
 day arrived at the college of the Gymnosophists, who in- 
 habited a small rising ground* not far from the banks of 
 the Nile. In wisdom the Indians exceeded them as much 
 as they did the Egyptians. The Gymnosophists wore a 
 dress like the Athenians, who take such delight in basking 
 in the sun. They found but few trees in that district, and 
 the grove, in which the sages assembled for public bu- 
 
 * In imitation of the Indians, from whom they are descend- 
 ed. B. iii. c. 10. 
 
310 
 
 siness, was not large. They had no general place of 
 meeting for public worship, like the Indians : but we saw 
 many chapels on different parts of the hill, constructed 
 with that care which is peculiar to the Egyptians. What, 
 above all things, forms the chief object of their worship, 
 is the Nile, which they consider as both earth and water. 
 They live in the open air, and consequently have neither 
 cottage nor house. They have built a kind of caravansary, 
 for the use of strangers, in shape like the small porticos 
 which you meet with in Elis, where the athletae wait till 
 they hear the meridian voice of the public cryer. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 HERE Damis notices a proceeding on the part of Eu- 
 phrates, which it is impossible not to think puerile, and 
 very much beneath the dignity of philosophy. He, having 
 often heard that Apollonius intended to contrast the wis- 
 dom of India with that of Egypt, sent one Thrasybulus, 
 a Naucratite, to the Gymnosophists, for the express pur- 
 pose of misrepresenting him. Thrasybulus, on his arrival, 
 pretended he came to form a literary acquaintance with 
 them ; he told them the Tyonean would soon be with 
 them, whose coming would be attended with no little dan- 
 ger, as it was his object to raise the character of the 
 Indian sages (whom he was perpetually praising) at the 
 expense of those of Egypt. He added, he came stored 
 with arguments against their tenets, for that he allowed no 
 influence to the sun, nor to the heavens, or the earth ;* but 
 
 * When Iarchas, in the third book, says, that the doctrine of the 
 Metempsychosis was delivered by Pythagoras to the Greeks, but by 
 the Indians to the Egyptians, there is no doubt of his chiefly looking 
 to the Ethiopians who passed from India into that part of Egypt which 
 was called Ethiopia afterwards. 
 
311 
 
 gave them whatever motion, force, and place, he liked 
 himself. After the Naucratite made these observations he 
 took his leave of them. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 THE Gymnosophists,* though they concluded whatever 
 was said by Thrasybulus as true, did not totally decline 
 all intercourse with Apollonius when he arrived: they 
 affected, however, to be engaged in matters of great mo- 
 ment, and to be entirely taken up with them. They said, 
 they would speak with him when at leisure, and that they 
 were very well acquainted with the cause of his journey. 
 The person they sent to receive him ordered him and his 
 companions to wait their pleasure under the portico. 
 Whereupon Apollonius replied, I beg you may name no 
 covered place to me, as the climate here permits all to go 
 naked. (In this reply he glanced at the Gymnosophists, 
 who were naked from necessity, and not from virtue) Apol- 
 lonius continued, I am not surprised at their ignorance of 
 what I wish, or of what brought me here ; but I must say, 
 such questions were not asked me by the Indians. Mean- 
 while he rested under a tree, and allowed his companions 
 to make what inquiries seemed good to them. 
 
 * Apollonius having conversed with the Gymnosophists of India be- 
 fore his arrival here, was never tired with testifying how much he ad- 
 mired them. The Gymnosophists of Ethiopia, who had got a hint of 
 this from Euphrates, affected to mention those of India in a scornful 
 manner; upon which he answered them with a great deal of freedom, 
 as you will perceive in the sequel, wherein he says, that they slan- 
 dered the Indians only with a design to make the world believe that it 
 was not for some shameful reasons that they were forced to leave India 
 to go and settle in Ethiopia. See book iii. chap. 20. 
 
312 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 AFTER this, Damis, taking Timasion apart, asked him, 
 when alone, in what the Gymnosophists were wise ? (as it 
 is probable you must know from having often conversed 
 with them). In many important matters, replied he. If 
 that is so, said Damis, I think the manner in which they 
 treat us is not a proof of their wisdom ; for neither to con- 
 verse with such a man on the subject of philosophy, nor to 
 behave to him with any attention, what can it be called but 
 supercilious pride ? I think it nothing else, said Timasion; 
 and yet it is a pride which I did not perceive in my two 
 former visits : besides, their general character is that of 
 being kind and civil to all visitors. I believe it is not 
 more than fifty days since Thrasybulus visited them; and 
 though he is not very eminent in philosophical pursuits, he 
 was received by them with the greatest politeness, from 
 only saying he was one of Euphrates's disciples. What's 
 that you say, young man, says Damis ? Have you seen 
 Thrasybulus, the Naucratite, in this college ? I have, said 
 he ; and, what is more, I carried him back in my boat. 
 Now, by Minerva, cried Damis, enraged, I see how it is all 
 his contrivance. What I can tell you, said Timasion, is, 
 that yesterday, when I asked that man who he was, he 
 thought me unworthy of the secret : but if it is no mys- 
 tery, tell me, I pray you, who he is; as perhaps I shall 
 be able to throw some light on what you wish to be in- 
 formed of. The moment Damis said he was the Tyanean, 
 Timasion exclaimed, The secret is now out. When 
 Thrasybulus was sailing with me down the Nile, the an- 
 swer he made me as to the cause of his visit to the Gym- 
 nosophists was not one which deserved much commendation, 
 for he said in it that he had filled their minds with such sus- 
 picions of Apollonius, as would make him but little relished 
 
313 
 
 by them when he came. As to myself, I know nothing of 
 any difference between them ; but this I know, that it is 
 the part of a mind not only effeminate, but uninformed, 
 to have recourse to false accusations. I shall soon, how- 
 ever, learn, by talking with the Gymnosophists, what they 
 think of it, as I am on good terms with them. Timasion 
 waited on Apollonius in the evening, and said, he had just 
 paid them a visit, without saying any thing more ; at the 
 same time he privately whispered Damis that they would 
 be with him next day, full of all the suspicions instilled 
 into them by Thrasybulus. Spending the rest of the day 
 in conversation which was not worth being committed to 
 paper, they took their frugal meal, and went to rest. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 AS soon as it was day, Apollonius, after first paying his 
 adorations to the sun, according to his custom, stood like 
 one wrapt in meditation. Whilst in this serious posture, 
 one of the youngest of the Gymnosophists came running 
 to him and said, We are coming. You are doing what 
 you ought, replied Apollonius, for I have travelled from 
 the sea to see you ; and so saying, he followed Nilus. 
 When mutual salutations were passed (the Gymnosophists 
 met him near the portico) he said, Where shall we hold 
 our conference ? There, said Thespesion, shewing the 
 place with his hand. Thespesion took the lead as chief 
 and eldest of the Gymnosophists, who, like the Hellano- 
 dicae,* followed him with a slow and solemn pace. As 
 soon as all had taken their seats as chance directed (for 
 little or no order was attended to on the occasion) they 
 
 * Persons appointed to superintend the preparatory exercises of 
 those who offered themselves to contend, and to be instructed in the 
 laws of the Olympic Games by the keepers of the laws themselves. 
 
314 
 
 cast their eyes on Thespesion as chief orator, who thus 
 began : " Delphi and Olympia, you have seen, O Apol- 
 lonius; Stratocles, of Pharos, told us he met you there. 
 They who visit Delphi, it is said, are received with the 
 sound of flutes, and songs, and hymns ; they are besides 
 entertained with the representations of tragedies and come- 
 dies; and, after all, are favoured with a combat of naked 
 athletae. At Olympia the preceding circumstances are not 
 allowed, as being unsuitable to, and unbecoming the place; 
 and the simple representation alone of naked athletae is 
 given to the spectators according to the institution of Her- 
 cules. In proportion, then, as the Olympic Games are 
 more manly than the Pythian, just so is the wisdom of the 
 Ethiopians more orthodox than that of the Indians. The 
 Indians make use of various attractions, like those who 
 call together the spectators of Delphi ; but we are naked, 
 like the athletae at Olympia. Here the earth spreads no 
 carpeting under our feet ; it affords us no milk, no wine, 
 as it does to the votaries of Bacchus ; nor does the air 
 support us at a distance from its surface. We are humble 
 people ; we live on the earth, and partake of whatever 
 things it supplies us with of its own free will, without toil 
 or labour, unaided by any magic influence. Besides, to 
 shew that we are not unable to perform as wonderful 
 things as the Indians, Thespesion said, " Salute the wise 
 Apollonius, O Tree" (which words he addressed to the 
 third elm from the one underneath which they were sitting). 
 No sooner were the words uttered, than the tree* saluted 
 him, speaking in a voice which was articulate, and re- 
 sembling that of a woman. This sign was given for the 
 purpose of depreciating the character of the Indians, from 
 
 * This elm, it seems, spoke j bat the oaks in Dodona not only spoke, 
 but prophesied. In truth, it was as easy to give them the powers of 
 prophesying as of speech. 
 
315 
 
 an expectation that Apollonius might be induced to alter 
 his opinion of them, after hearing what could be said 
 against their acts and opinions. Thespesion then con- 
 tinued, It is enough for a wise man, that he is pure in 
 whatever he eats, that he touches nothing which has had 
 life, that he subdues all those irregular desires which make 
 their approaches through the eyes, that he remove far from 
 him envy; the mistress of injustice, which carries both 
 hands and mind to the commission of all wrong. Truth 
 requires no wonderful things to be performed, nor the use 
 of any magic arts. Let us now turn our eyes, said 
 Thespesion, to the Delphic Apollo, who dwells in the 
 centre of Greece, and see him in the act of giving out his 
 oracles. The petitioner who comes to Delphi for his an- 
 swer, proposes a brief question, and the God, without any 
 previous display of his power, simply tells what he knows, 
 though he could at the same time shake all Parnassus to 
 its centre, change Castalia's waters into wine, and stop the 
 course of the river Cephisus : and though I say he could 
 do all this, he plainly tells the truth without any parade or 
 ostentation. We are not to think that offerings of gold, 
 or of other sumptuous presents are made at his desire ; 
 nor suppose that Apollo takes any pleasure in his temple, 
 even supposing it had been built at double its present ex- 
 pense. In former times the God had but an humble 
 dwelling, nothing but a small cottage, in which the bee3 
 are said to have stored their wax, and the birds their fea* 1 
 thers. Frugality is the mistress of wisdom, and of truth 
 likewise, which if you prize as you ought, you will be re- 
 puted truly wise, and forget all the fables you heard 
 amongst the Indians. As to the mere uttering of such 
 words as, Do, or Do not — and J know, or know not — 
 and this, or that, why is it necessary to express them in 
 the voice of thunder, or with a mind in a state of phrenzy ? 
 You have seen among the pictures of Prodicus the one 
 in which Hercules is represented as a youth undetermined 
 
316 
 
 what kind of life to chuse, placed as you may remember, 
 between Pleasure and Virtue, and each in her turn striving 
 to drag him to herself. Pleasure is deckt in the richest 
 embroidery and purple, with rosy cheeks, curled locks, 
 painted eyes, and golden slippers, in which she seems to 
 pride herself. Virtue on the other hand appears as if tired 
 with labour, homely in her looks, quite unadorned, bare- 
 footed, in mean attire, in short almost naked, except where 
 decency requires a covering. Now suppose, Apollonius, 
 you were placed between the wisdom of the Indians and 
 that of ours, and were to hear the one saying, You shall 
 sleep on beds of roses, and drink milk, and live on honey ; 
 You shall have besides as much nectar as you can desire, 
 and wings to fly wherever you please ; You shall have also 
 tripods and golden thrones to sit on, together with all your 
 heart can wish for without any trouble ; and all the afore- 
 said luxuries to wait on you of their own accord. But the 
 wisdom we have learnt, inculcates a quite contrary doc- 
 trine, for it says, We must lie on the ground, prostrate 
 ourselves in the dust, go naked, and live as we do at pre- 
 sent in the midst of toils and hardships, and must account 
 nothing pleasant or agreeable which does not proceed from 
 labour. It gives no indulgence to vain-boasting and pride, 
 it pays no attention to dreams and visions, that lift men 
 above the earth, and their condition on it. If then you 
 make your choice like Hercules, and judge like a man, 
 you will not despise the virtue called frugality, nor that 
 temperance in living which is consonant to nature. Living 
 in this manner, you will gain a victory greater than what 
 has been obtained by the destruction of Lions, Hydras, 
 Geryons, and Nessusses. On the other hand, if you prefer 
 to what I have said the arts and contrivances of enchanters 
 and magicians, You will flatter the eyes and ears of men, 
 and will not be a whit wiser than others, and in the end 
 become the laughing stock of the Egyptian Gymnoso- 
 phist. 
 
317 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 WHEN Thespesion ended his discourse, all eyes were 
 fixed on Apollonius, whose disciples knew well what he 
 would say ; but Thespesion and his companions waited in 
 silent astonishment to hear what he should say. Apollo- 
 nius, after commending Thespesion for the eloquence of 
 his speech, and the gravity with which it was delivered, 
 asked if he had any thing more to say, to which he re- 
 plied, he had not. Then Apollonius asked if any other 
 Egyptian had any thing to say ? Thespesion said, In hear- 
 ing me, you have heard all. Whereupon Apollonius 
 making a pause, and with his eyes as it were fixed on what 
 he heard, thus began. The choice which Prodicus says, 
 was made by Hercules in his youth, has been rightly, and 
 philosophically explained by you, O wise Egyptians, but it 
 concerns me not. I come not here to consult with you about 
 the kind of life I am to chuse, having long before made my 
 election ; but I am come in consequence of being older 
 than you all (with the exception of Thespesion alone,) to 
 recommend from my experience a choice of wisdom, if 
 you have not already made one. Yet though I am ad- 
 vanced both in years and wisdom, I will with pleasure sub- 
 mit to your judgments the choice I have made, and will 
 hope to make it appear that I have chosen wisely, and 
 could not, considering every thing, have chosen better. 
 In the doctrine of Pythagoras I observed something sub- 
 lime ; I perceived the ineffable wisdom by which he not 
 only knew what he was himself, but what he had been. 
 In forming my opinion of it, I considered the purity with 
 which he approached the altars, his abstinence from all 
 animal food, his wearing no garments made of what had 
 life, the manner in which he bridled his tongue,* and the 
 
 * For the explauation of the proverb of &vq tvt yiurln — the bos in 
 lingua consult Erasmus. Proverbium de iis qui corrupt! pecuuia (in 
 qua olim bovis signum) loqui non auderent. 
 
 J ' ■ - 1 > A u 
 
 ' / A '«' *"* *f *>ff«J 
 
 fzr- > . -/ 
 
318 
 
 rules he prescribed for its right government; in short, 
 when I considered how he had laid down the rest of his 
 philosophical system, founded as it were on oracles and 
 truth itself; I flew at once, most excellent Thespesion, to 
 his doctrines, without chusing a philosophy composed of 
 two,* as you advise. Before, however, 1 made my final 
 election, philosophy set before me her various sects, giv- 
 ing each its peculiar ornament ; and commanded me to 
 examine them all, and chuse whichever I thought the best. 
 I was struck with the beauty of them all, which appeared 
 not only awful, but divine ; yet there were some that 
 seemed superior to the rest, and dazzled me by their ex- 
 ceeding brightness. I however considered them all, all 
 inspired me with confidence, and each in turn preferred her 
 claims, and promised what she could give. One-f* said, she 
 would procure every pleasure without any pain ; anotherj 
 promised me repose only after toil ; and a third, pleasure^ 
 mixed with labour. Pleasures were every where present- 
 ed to my sight, and the reins hanging loose on appetite : 
 my hands were left at liberty to grasp at wealth, and my 
 eyes to behold every object : add to which a latitude was 
 given to love and desire, and all the other train of pas- 
 sions : yet there was one sect that boasted she was able to 
 controul these unruly affections, whose temper was bold 
 and reproving, and never inclined to spare vice. She was 
 of such unspeakable beauty, as to have subdued Pytha- 
 goras himself: she appeared not in the crowd with the 
 others, but stood apart without speaking a word. As soon 
 as she understood I was not addicted to any particular 
 sect, and was as yet ignorant of her, she addressed me in 
 these words, " O young man ! I am sad, and full of 
 
 * Indian and Ethiopian. 
 
 t That of Epicurus. 
 
 % That of the Cynics and Stoics. 
 
 $ That of Aristotle. 
 
o\9 
 
 cares : it' any man conforms to my rule of life, he must 
 remove from his table all animal food, and forget the use 
 of wine : he must not trouble the cup of wisdom, which 
 is set in all hearts abstaining from wine. He is to wear no 
 garments made of either hair, or wool, his shoes must be 
 of the bark of trees, and his sleep wherever he can get it. 
 If I find him susceptible of love, I have deep pits, into 
 which Nemesis, the minister of wisdom, will plunge him. 
 But I am so severe to my own followers, that I have bri- 
 dles made for curbing the tongue. Attend now, and I 
 will tell you the rewards, which await him, who has made 
 me their choice. He shall possess, without a rival, tem- 
 perance and justice ; he shall be more a terror to tyrants 
 than their slave, and shall be more acceptable to the Gods 
 by his humble offerings of little value, than they who shed 
 the blood of bulls. When once he is made pure, I will 
 give him a knowledge of hereafter, and so fill his visual 
 ray with light,* as to make him capable of distinguishing 
 between Gods and heroes, and of appreciating duly all 
 shadowy phantasms, whenever they assume the likenesses 
 of mortals. This is the life I ha*c chosen, O learned 
 Egyptians ! and which I have done in obedience to sound 
 sense, and the precepts of Pythagoras ; in doing it, I think 
 I have neither deceived myself, nor have been deceived by 
 others. 1 have acted in every thing, as it became a philo- 
 sopher, and have acquired all that was promised by philo- 
 sophy. I have considered as a philosopher the origin of 
 this art, and whence are derived its principles : and it has 
 appeared to me to be the invention of men who excelled 
 in divine knowledge, and searched deeply into the nature 
 of the soul, whose immortal, and immutable essence, is 
 
 * He pureed with euphrasie and rue 
 
 The visual nerve, for be had much to see : 
 And from the well of life three drops distill'd 
 
 Milton. 
 
320 
 
 the true source from whence it flows. I never thought we 
 were indebted to the Athenians for the knowledge of the 
 soul. The doctrine Plato taught at Athens with such di- 
 vine eloquence, was there corrupted by the admission of 
 certain opinions contrary to his, and totally erroneous. 
 Hence it became necessary for me to inquire, whether any 
 nation, or people existed, amongst whom not one or two 
 men were of this, or that opinion concerning the nature of 
 the soul ; but to find out where its immortality had in all 
 times been the universal opinion. Under the direction of 
 youth, and an ignorance which still adhered to me, I turn- 
 ed my eyes towards you (for fame had spoken much in 
 your favour,) and consulted my preceptor on the occasion, 
 He spoke to me in the following manner, Suppose, says 
 he, you were old enough to be in love, and happened to 
 meet a beautiful youth, with whom you were enamoured ; 
 and suppose you inquired who his parents were, and found 
 that he was descended from men who had held high com- 
 mands in the state, and had formerly superintended the 
 public games, would you, I ask you, knowing this, say he 
 was the son of a trierarch, or tribune : and if you were so 
 weak as to make the assertion, could you imagine you 
 would conciliate by it the object of your affection ; or is it 
 not rather to be supposed that you would be considered as 
 uncivil in giving him an ignoble line of ancestors in place 
 of his own noble ones. Why do you who love the wis- 
 dom of the Indians, call it rather by the name of its 
 adopted, than its real parents ? and why do you give the 
 Egyptians a greater advantage than they had formerly, 
 when, it is said, the Nile run mixed with honey ? Such 
 were the reasons that induced me to visit the Indians be- 
 fore I came to you, first, considering them as men of sub- 
 limer genius by living in a purer atmosphere, and next, as 
 holding opinious of nature, and the Gods, more consonant 
 to the truth, by reason of being nearer heaven, .and the 
 fountain of an ethereal and vivyfying substance. As soon 
 
321 
 
 as I came to them, I was affected by the force of their 
 doctrine, as it is said, the Athenians were with the trage- 
 dies of Eschylus. He was a tragic poet, who, finding his 
 art rude and unadorned, diminished the number of persons 
 composing the chorus, as too numerous, and abridged the 
 dialogue, as too diffuse, from a dislike he had to the length 
 of the monodies. He thought all murders were to pass 
 behind the scenes, far removed from the sight of the au- 
 dience. Improvements in the art such as I have mention- 
 ed, let them not be considered of little consequence, be- 
 cause we might suppose them discovered by one much 
 inferior in talents to Eschylus. But this father of the 
 stage, taking into consideration the style in which tragedy 
 should speak ; and supposing, naturally, that it required a 
 language adapted only to solemn pomp and sublimity, in- 
 vented a dress suitable to the style and titles of its heroes. 
 In making his performers appear in buskins, he gave them 
 stature, and an heroic step ; and he was the first to dress 
 them in a fashion suitable to the characters they represent- 
 ed. For this, Eschylus is called the father of tragedy, 
 and invoked, though dead, at the celebration of the Dio- 
 nysia ; his tragedies are appointed to be acted by a public 
 decree, and he still carries off the victory. The pleasure 
 however arising from having not only corrected, but em- 
 bellished tragedy, is but short-lived, for it lasts only the 
 short space of a day, like the feasts of Bacchus ; but the 
 pleasure which springs from a philosophy harmonized, as 
 Pythagoras prescribed, and enriched with that divine tem- 
 perature which his Indian friends gave it, is not of short 
 duration, for it extends ad infinitum, and is unbounded by 
 number. Attachment therefore to a philosophy so endow- 
 ed and appointed, appears not to me unreasonable, such 
 as the Indians represent it, beautifully arrayed, and seated 
 in a high celestial machine. It is now time to make you 
 see my reasons for loving the Indians, and why I think 
 them both wise and happy. " I have seen men living upon 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 the earth and not upon it : defended without walls, having 
 nothing, and yet possessing all things." If I utter enig- 
 mas, the wisdom of Pythagoras allows it ; for he taught 
 us their use, when he discovered that learning was the 
 mistress of silence. You yourselves were the instructors 
 of Pythagoras in his philosophy,* which you recommend- 
 ed, at the time you sanctioned, and approved it as Indians. 
 But now ashamed of what caused the earth's displeasure, 
 which forced you to migrate to this country ,f you had ra- 
 ther pass for any other people than Ethiopians come from 
 India ; and you have done all in your power to effect it. 
 In consequence of this you have laid aside all the orna- 
 ments peculiar to Indians, as if with them you might lay 
 aside the name of Ethiopians. You have worshipped the 
 Gods more after the ritual of Egyptians than your own ; 
 and you have used a most unbecoming language in talking 
 of the Indians, just as if the blame cast on them, did not 
 recoil on yourselves as their descendants. And this cus- 
 tom, which began at the time of your changing their dress,J 
 is not yet altered ; even to this day you are- giving speci- 
 mens of a reproachful sarcastic style of conversation, in 
 saying that the Indians have made no useful discovery, but 
 only raised up apparitions, and spectres, and certain delu- 
 sions, by which they fascinate the eyes and ears. It is only 
 a proof of your folly when you judge of my wisdom, of 
 which you are quite ignorant. As to myself, I will say 
 nothing, I only wish I was such as the Indians think, who 
 
 * Apulcius says, Pythagoras went from Chaldea to the Braehmans : 
 these are wise persons, a nation of India, for which reason he visited 
 their Gymnosophists. 
 
 t B. iii, c. 20, 
 
 J Here ApolloniHS censures the Gymnosophists of Ethiopia for quit- 
 ting entirely the habit of the Indian Gymnosophists, by which they 
 hoped to persuade the world that they were not from India, but origi- 
 nally from Ethiopia. All this, says Bayle, is another proof that nei- 
 ther the Indian, nor Ethiopian Gymnosophists went naked. 
 
 
323 
 
 are a people I will never suffer to be treated with con- 
 tumely. If you possess the candour and wisdom of the 
 Himersean mau,* (who composed a palinodia on Helen, 
 in spirit and language directly contrary to what he had be- 
 fore written) and think there is any truth in what I say, 
 you will without delay revise your judgments, and change 
 your opinion. If the muses do not assist you in singing a 
 palinodia, it was at least your duty to have spared men, 
 whom the Gods think deserving of their favour, and who 
 are not despised by them, though their offerings all consist 
 in bloodless sacrifices. In your discourse, Thespesion, 
 you alluded to the Pythian oracle, and to the plain and 
 unadorned way in which it delivered its answers, and the 
 example you produced in your favor, was taken from the 
 temple built of wax and feathers. But in my opinion this 
 was no proof of want of design, for the verse by which 
 Apollo ordered his Delphic temple to be built, run thus, 
 " Birds, bring your feathers, and you, bees, your wax," 
 words which indicated, as well a form of building, as the 
 building itself. However, the God himself, finding, as I 
 think, such a building too small and unbecoming his wis- 
 dom, wished to have another kind of edifice, one of a 
 magnitude equal to what it is at this day, and of a hundred 
 feet in dimensions. In one of the chapels constructed for 
 him, he is said to have suspended birds of gold, whose 
 voices possessed the sweet notes of Sirens. To adorn 
 
 * Stesichorus, a lyric poet of Himera in Sicily. — It is said he lost 
 his sight for writing invectives against Helen, and that he recovered 
 the same only on condition of recanting what he had written. He was 
 the first inventor of that fable of the horse and the stag, which Horace 
 and some other poets have imitated, and which, it is said, he wrote to 
 prevent his countrymen from making an alliance with Phalaris. He 
 jived about 556 years before Christ, and died at Cataua, in the 85th 
 year of his age. — His name at first was Tisias, but was changed to 
 Stesichorus, in memory of his being the first who taught the chorus to 
 dance to the lyre. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 
 
 this Pythian abode, he has amassed in it the most costly 
 presents, and for that purpose has not rejected the sculp- 
 tor's art, which has conveyed to it colossal figures of men, 
 and Gods, and horses, and bulls, besides other animals ; 
 neither Glaucus coming with a bowl,* nor Polygnotusi* 
 with a picture of Troy in flames, has been turned away. But 
 though Apollo did not suppose the gold of Lydia would 
 add any ornament to his temple, yet he permitted its being 
 brought there, out of regard to the Greeks, who might, by 
 seeing the wealth of the barbarians, be disposed more to 
 make it an object of their plunder, than that of their own 
 country by civil dissensions. In adorning his temple, Apol- 
 lo has displayed a taste truly Grecian, and becoming his 
 own wisdom. The reason, I think, which he assigns for 
 delivering his answers in verse, is to give them more beau- 
 ty and effect, otherwise he would simply utter them in the 
 following short sentences, as, Do this, or Do not this. 
 Go, or Go not, Make such alliance, or Do not make it. 
 Expressions like these are short, and as you are wont to 
 say, naked and unadorned ; but Apollo adopts the style of 
 poetry, to make his responses more gracious and agreeable 
 to all who come to consult his oracle. He wishes to be 
 supposed ignorant of nothing, not even of the number of 
 the grains of sand on the sea shore, J nor of measuring the 
 ocean. And is this the knowledge which you are pleased 
 to consider in the number of magical delusions, and to 
 ascribe to the love of the marvellous ? merely because 
 
 * An artist of Chios. 
 
 t A celebrated painter of Thasos, about 422 years before the Chris- 
 tian aera. 
 
 $ This alludes to the answer given to the Lydians by the oracle at 
 Delphi.— 
 
 I count the sand, I measure out the sea : 
 
 The silent, and the dumb, are heard by me, &c. 
 
 Heroditus, Cleo. 47. 
 
 
325 
 
 Apollo pronounced it with splendour, and elevation ot 
 mind. Let not what I say offend thee, Thespesion ; the 
 old women who tell fortunes by means of a sieve, go to 
 the shepherds and herdsmen to cure their cattle when 
 sick, by their skill in prophesying, as they call it : and for 
 this they wish *o be thought wise, and even wiser than the 
 true prophets. When, therefore, I compare your wisdom 
 with that of the Indians, I think you exactly like these old 
 women ; and the Indians as men divine, dressed, and 
 
 adorned like the Pythian prophetess. But you — 
 
 however, I will say no more. Modesty in speech is prized 
 by me, as it is by the Indians, I wish to preserve it as the 
 guide and companion of my lips. Whatever 1 can ac- 
 quire by approbation and praise, I do ; whatever I cannot 
 I never make the subject of invective. You have read in 
 Homer how the land of Cyclopia* maintains a fierce and 
 lawless race of menf without cultivation ; with which ac- 
 count you are pleased ; and if any Edonians,J or Lydians, 
 keep the feasts of Bacchus, you have no doubt of the 
 earth supplying them with fountains of wine and milk suf- 
 ficient for their use. Nevertheless, you refuse to those who 
 are enthusiastically fond of wisdom, the gifts, I say, which 
 the earth yields of itself. Tripods of themselves attended 
 at the feasts of the Gods, yet Mars, incensed and ignorant 
 as he was, never blamed Vulcan for making them, for no 
 charge of such a nature would have been listened to by the 
 Gods as this, " You are wrong, Vulcan, in giving such 
 ornaments to the feasts of the Gods, and in manifesting 
 
 * Sicily. 
 
 t They, trusting to the Gods, plant not, or plough, 
 But earth unsow'd, untill'd, brings forth for them 
 All fruits j wheat, barley, and the vinous grape, &c. 
 
 Cowper, Od. 9, 105. 
 
 % Non ego sanius 
 
 Bacchabor Edonis. Hon. 1. ii. o. 7. 
 
326 
 
 your wonderful power." No accusation was brought against 
 him for making hand-maidens of gold, nor for corrupting 
 the metals by giving animation to gold. Ornament is the 
 object of all arts, to effect which they are invented. It is 
 even for the sake of ornament that men go without shoes, 
 and carry a cloak and wallet. The going naked seems to 
 present a condition the humblest and meanest, yet is stu- 
 died for the sake of ornament, from which it only deviates 
 by adopting a different kind of exterior. By the same 
 rule let us judge of the sun, and of the manner in which 
 he is worshipped, together with the ancient rites and cere- 
 monies of the Indians. The terrestrial Gods take delight 
 in caves, and the sacrifices performed in them. The air is 
 the vehicle of the sun, and it is necessary that they who 
 wish to honour him with becoming respect, should be 
 raised above the earth, and elevated to the same heighth 
 with the God himself. This exaltation is what is wished 
 for by all, but can only be effected by the Indians. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 DAM IS recovered new life when he heard all that Apol- 
 lonius said. The Egyptians were so much affected by his 
 discourse, that Thespesion, whose complexion was of a 
 dark and swarthy hue, appeared plainly to blush ; but all 
 were astonished at the firmness and eloquence with which 
 he had spoken. Daniis says, that the youngest of the 
 Ethiopians, whose name was Nilus, leaped with joy, and 
 running up to Apollonius, held out his hand, and request- 
 ed him to give an account of all that passed in India. To 
 whom Apollonius said, I can refuse nothing to those who 
 are of a docile disposition, and love science ; but as for 
 such men as Thespesion and others, who consider every 
 thing Indian insignificant, and of no value, I am unwilling 
 they should learn from me all I know of them and their 
 
327 
 
 knowledge. To this Thespesion said, Suppose, Apollo- 
 nius, you were a merchant, or captain of some vessel, and 
 were to bring a cargo of goods from India, would you 
 wish to have them disposed of without their being either 
 seen, examined, or tried ? On the contrary, replied Apol- 
 lonius, I should wish to have them examined by as many as 
 pleased : at the same time I must say, that if a person came 
 down to the beach just as the vessel arrived, and before 
 the goods were landed, was to run down the cargo, and 
 abuse me as coming from a country that had nothing good 
 in it, and besides, was to attack this kind of navigation as 
 useless and unproductive, and even try to bring over others 
 to his opinion, can you imagine I would cast anchor in the 
 harbour, or fasten my ship to land ; or is it not rather 
 your opinion that I should hoist sail, put to sea, and commit 
 my fortune more willingly to the mercy of the waves, than 
 to that of such uncandid, inhospitable men. However, said 
 Nilus, on this occasion, I here lay hold of the cable, and 
 request you may share your cargo with me : Nay, I will 
 insist on going aboard in quality of a passenger who knows 
 and acknowledges the excellency of what you have brought 
 home. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 HERE Thespesion, with adesign of putting an end to the 
 conversation, said, I am glad, Apollonius, you resented what 
 I said, as I hope you will pardon us for a like warmth of 
 temper we felt at the attack made on our wisdom previous to 
 your having any knowledge of it. This surprised Apollonius 
 a little, who had not been apprized of the machinations of 
 Euphrates and Thrasybulus, but as he was wont, he soon 
 comprehended its meaning; and said, nothing like this 
 could have happened with the Indians, who, from their 
 knowledge of futurity, would never have listened to the 
 
328 
 
 suggestions of Euphrates. As to myself, I have no cause 
 of difference with him ; I own, I once endeavoured to 
 withdraw him from his love of riches, and the passion he 
 has for turning everything to gain ; but he considered my 
 advice unseasonable, and such as he could not follow. 
 Nay, he took it as carrying a tacit reproach, for which 
 he has never ceased plotting against me. But since you 
 have deemed him a man of reputation, notwithstanding 
 his misrepresentation of my character, take care, I pray 
 you, that he has not treated yourselves in the same man- 
 ner. For, in my opinion, he who is the object of calumny, 
 incurs no inconsiderable share of danger, because he is 
 hated, though innocent ; and they who listen to calumnia- 
 tors, hazard also something, inasmuch as they make it ap- 
 pear that they love lies, and estimate them as they do 
 truth ; and shew themselves credulous, and inconstant, a 
 fault which in youth is unbecoming. Besides, they must 
 appear to us subject to envy, which alone moves them to 
 listen to every false accusation. And to this may be added, 
 that such people are more exposed to calumnies them- 
 selves, who give credit to everything they hear to the dis- 
 advantage of others : for know, the minds of men are ever 
 more prone to commit whatever does not exceed the 
 bounds of being believed. But God forbid such men 
 should obtain sovereign power, and have dominion over 
 the people, for a republic would become a tyranny in 
 their hands ; nor should they be placed at the head of the 
 law, for no cause would have a fair hearing with them; 
 nor at the head of naval affairs, for they would create a 
 mutiny in the fleet ; nor at the head of the army, for the 
 enemy would have the advantage of them ; nor should 
 such men even philosophize, for no right opinion of things 
 will be ever formed by them. But Euphrates has done you 
 wrong in bereaving you of your wisdom, for how can they 
 whom he has deluded with his lies, lay a claim to that, 
 from the maxims of which, they have departed at the sug- 
 
329 
 
 gestions of one who made them believe the most incredible 
 things ? Then Thespesion, with the design of appeasing 
 Apollonius, and making light of what had passed, says, 
 come Apollonius, we have talked enough of Euphrates, 
 and things of such little moment, let us now endeavour to 
 make you and him friends, for it is the part of wisdom to 
 arbitrate between the wise. But, returned Apollonius, who 
 will restore you to my favor ; for surely the man whose 
 character is attacked by lies, has some reason to be angry. 
 I grant it, said Thespesion : meanwhile, we shall philoso- 
 phize together, and that will the sooner make us friends. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 NILUS, who was very desirous to hear Apollonius, said, 
 I think, Apollonius, you should give us an account of your 
 journey to the Indies, and of what conversations you had 
 with them, as I suppose all turned upon the most impor- 
 tant subjects. And I wish very much, said Thespesion, 
 to hear what you have to say of the wisdom of Phraotes, 
 for, according to report, you have brought home the very 
 image and impression of what you heard from him . On this, 
 Apollonius beginning with what had passed at Babylon, 
 related everything in order, to the end ; with which they 
 were greatly delighted. Meanwhile, mid-day approached, 
 that being the time employed by the Gymnosophists in 
 their holy rites. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 WHILST Apollonius and his companions were taking a 
 frugal meal, Nilus waited on them with bread and herbs, 
 and a desert, of which he carried part himself, and the 
 remainder was carried by others. As the young man ap- 
 
330 
 
 proached, he addressed Apollonius with great respect, 
 and said, The Sages send these presents of hospitality to 
 you, and me — I say to me, as I mean, with your per- 
 mission, to eat with you, and shall not come, as they say, 
 without an invitation, as I now invite myself. Then, says 
 Apollonius, I accept this tender of your person and cha- 
 racter with great pleasure, as I am told your attachment to 
 the wisdom of the Indians and Pythagoras is great. Sit 
 down, says Apollonius, near me, and eat. I will, replies 
 Nilus, but I fear your repast will not be enough for me. 
 Am I to understand by this, returned Apollonius, that 
 you have an enormous appetite ? You are, said Nilus, 
 because if you provided a rich and sumptuous banquet for 
 me, I should shortly require more. What other name 
 can you give me, than that of an insatiable glutton. For 
 God's sake, said Apollonius, eat as much as you please, 
 you will give me matter of conversation, and I will be an- 
 swerable for the rest. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 AFTER their meal was over, Nilus said, Till this day 
 I have served under the banners of these Gymnosophists ; 
 I was enrolled among their light troops, and I am now 
 going to put on heavy armour, and adorn myself with your 
 shield. I am afraid, Egyptian, said Apollonius, that 
 such a step would be considered as ill-judged by Thespe- 
 sion, and the rest of the Gymnosophists ; who would not 
 fail to say you had taken it without having duly prepared 
 and examined yourself. I have the same fears too, said 
 Nilus : but if he who makes a choice, commits a fault, 
 perhaps he who does not, commits another : and if here- 
 after the Gymnosophists were to make the choice I have 
 done, would not they be more culpable than myself? For 
 surely greater blame will attach to them, who from their 
 
331 
 
 superior wisdom and advanced time of life, declined mak- 
 ing that choice I have done ; and who, notwithstanding 
 that superiority, neglected doing that which might have 
 been so much to their advantage. You speak well, young 
 man, said Apollonius ; but wise as you are, take care not 
 to subject yourself to their censure. I own you have rea- 
 sons for abandoning the sect of the Gymnosophists, but 
 methinks you press on with too ardent a zeal, and proceed 
 more after the manner of a reformer, than their disciple. 
 Then the Egyptian, contrary to what Apollonius expected, 
 thus answered, in all things wherein obedience was incul- 
 cated by my seniors, I complied as a young man, and as 
 long as I thought they possessed more wisdom than other 
 men, I frequented their society ; but I will now tell you 
 what gave rise to my present determination. My father 
 formerly traded in the Red Sea, having the command of 
 that ship which the Egyptians used to send out to India. 
 In his voyages thither, he conversed with some Indians 
 who lived on the sea coast, from whom he received the 
 same accounts of their wise men you have. My father 
 told me, they were the wisest of mortals, that the Ethio- 
 pians were a colony from India, who trod almost, as it were, 
 in the wise steps of their forefathers, and adhered strictly to 
 domestic discipline. In consequence of this account I re- 
 signed, though young, what hereditary patrimony I had, 
 to those who desired it, and naked, joined the naked, to 
 learn from them the wisdom of the Indians, or what at 
 least approached the nearest to it. I found them wise, 
 but not so wise as the Indians. When I asked them why 
 they followed not the philosophy of the Indians, they had 
 recourse to invectives such as you have heard this day. 
 Young as you still see me, they enrolled me in their 
 society, apprehending I might have followed my father's 
 example and gone to sea, which I swear to you by the 
 Gods, I would have done, and made my way to the Hill 
 of the Sages, had not some God sent you hither as my 
 
332 
 
 guide and assistant, to give me an intellectual relish of their 
 knowledge, without either putting me to the trouble of tra- 
 versing the Red Sea, or conversing with the dwellers on the 
 sea coast. It is not therefore at this day I have made 
 choice of my kind of life ; it was adopted long ago, but 
 till now I never thought I had obtained its object. Is it 
 wrong for a man to return to the right way, after having 
 wandered from it ? Suppose I were to bring these Gym- 
 nosophists to adopt my choice, what great act of temerity 
 should I be guilty of ? Youth is not to be prohibited from 
 doing it, a period of life more fitted to learn, than one more 
 advanced in years. He who counsels another to embrace 
 a system which he has chosen himself, avoids at least the 
 reproach of giving advice to others which he does not 
 follow himself; and whoever enjoys alone the good things 
 which fortune has bestowed, does them an injury, inas- 
 much as he takes from them the power they possess of giv- 
 ing pleasure to others. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 WHILST Nilus was talking like a young man, Apollo- 
 nius said, as yet you have never alluded to what reward I 
 am to receive for the communication of my wisdom, of which 
 you are so desirous to partake. That shall not be forgot- 
 ten, said Nilus, you may ask what you please. I ask, in 
 the first place, said Apollonius, that whatever choice you 
 make, should be made for yourself alone ; and next, that 
 you should not trouble the Gymnosophists, by giving them 
 councils which will not serve them. I agree to what you 
 say, said Nilus, and to the stipulated reward. These a*e 
 the conversations they held together. Afterwards Nilus ask- 
 ed Apollonius how long he meant to stay with the Gymno- 
 sophists, and he answered, as long as I shall judge their 
 wisdom deserving of it, when once an opportunity is given 
 
333 
 
 for conversing with them. He then said, he would go to 
 Catadupa,* to see the sources of the Nile, thinking it 
 would be not only delightful to examine them, but to hear 
 the noise they make. After discoursing in this manner, 
 and calling to mind all that happened in India, they lav 
 down on the grass and went to sleep. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 THE next morning, as soon as it was day-light, and their 
 accustomed acts of devotion performed, they followed 
 Nilus, who conducted them to Thespesion, where, after 
 mutual salutations, they sat down in a grove, and entered 
 into conversation. Apollonius thus began it, The dis- 
 course of yesterday, says he, proves clearly of what con- 
 sequence it is not to hide our knowledge. The Indians 
 gave me all the information I required, on the subject of 
 their philosophy ; and even now I do not forget my in- 
 structors, whose wisdom I am disseminating through the 
 world. I shall be likewise of some use to you, if you 
 make me acquainted with all you know. If you do, I 
 shall never cease noising it abroad ; I shall communicate 
 it to the Indians by letter. When the Gymnosophists 
 heard this, they said, propose what questions you please, 
 for all knowledge proceeds from interrogation. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 THEN, says Appollonius, I will first ask why you have 
 given to the people of this country representations of the 
 Gods so absurd, and ridiculous, with only the exception 
 
 * See note, chap. 23. 
 
334 
 
 of a few ? But why do I say few ? Because there are 
 but very few indeed conceived in wisdom, and formed in 
 any degree suitable to the divine nature. Of the worship 
 which you pay to the remainder, were we to form an 
 opinion, we might suppose that not Gods, but irrational, 
 and unseemly animals were the objects of it. At hear- 
 ing this, Thespesion with some indignation said, of what kind 
 then are the statutes of the Gods with you ? They are, 
 replied Apollonius, as beautiful, and as proper to repre- 
 sent the Gods, as can be devised. I suppose, said Thes- 
 pesion, you allude to the statues of the Olympian Jove, 
 and Minerva, and the Gnidian Venus, and Argive Juno, 
 and whatever others excel in beauty and grace? They 
 are not the only ones to which I allude, but I say in 
 general, that the art which shews itself in the rest, has pre- 
 served a most becoming propriety in their formation ; as 
 to what I have seen among you, I think you hold your 
 Gods rather in a ludicrous, than a serious point of view. 
 What, said Thespesion, are we to suppose the Phidiases 
 and Praxitelises went up^to heaven, from whence they 
 drew their art and their likenesses of the Gods ? or was it 
 any thing else which gave them a knowledge of the art? 
 Yes, said Apollonius, it was something else, and what was 
 pregnant with wisdom. And what was that, replied Thes- 
 pesion, for I think nothing can be alledged but imitation ? 
 Imagination, said Apollonius, a much wiser mistress, than 
 Imitation ; for the one only copies what it sees, the other 
 represents to the life what it has not seen. Imitation 
 often fails in its designs through fear ; Imagination never, 
 which advances fearless and bold to the execution of 
 whatever she undertakes. He who wishes to form in his 
 mind the image of Jupiter, should see him with the same 
 enraptured fancy Phidias did, sitting in the heavens, en- 
 compassed with the hours and stars. And he who would 
 represent Pallas, should have in his mind precise and 
 accurate ideas of war, and armies, and councils, and pru- 
 
335 
 
 cicnce ; and be able to judge what her appearance \va9 at 
 the timejshe started in full and complete armour, from the 
 brain of Jupiter. If you place a hawk, or an owl, or a 
 wolf, or a dog, in your temples, to represent Mercury, 
 Minerva, or Apollo, the beasts and birds may derive 
 dignity from such representations, but the Gods will lose 
 theirs. I think, said Thespesion, you slight our mode of 
 worship, before you have given it a fair examination. For 
 surely what we are speaking of is wise, if any thing 
 Egyptian is so ; the Egyptians dare not venture to give 
 any forms to the Deities, they only give them in symbols, 
 which have an occult meaning that renders them more 
 venerable. Apollonius smiling at this, said, O, ye Sages, 
 Great indeed is the advantage you have derived from the 
 wisdom of Egyptians and Ethiopians, if you find any 
 thing worthy of your worship in a dog, an ibis, or a goat : 
 or if you think such creatures fit to represent your Gods; 
 and yet this is what I now hear from the wise Thespesion. 
 But let me ask what degree of veneration or terror can be 
 excited by such objects ? I think it is more than probable 
 that the perjurer, the blasphenier, and the profane, would 
 despise more than fear such representations of celestial 
 beings. But if what the mind discovers couched under 
 such symbolical figures, is entitled to greater veneration, 
 surely the condition of the Gods in Egypt, would be more 
 highly respected if no statues whatever were erected to 
 them, and if theology was treated in a different manner, 
 with a little more wisdom and mystery. Men might build 
 temples in honour of the Gods, and order the necessary 
 altars to be erected, together with the sacrifices proper 
 to each ; it is their business to prescribe the time of their 
 duration, and the peculiar rites, and even words to be 
 used on the occasion, which might be all done without 
 the introduction of any image, but afterwards it is their 
 duty to leave to the worshippers themselves on entering 
 the temple, to give whatever likenesses they please to th<; 
 
'236 
 
 Gods. The mind forms to itself a something which it 
 delineates better than what any art can do ; but in the 
 present instance you have taken from the Gods the very 
 power of appearing beautiful either to the eye or the 
 understanding. To this Thespesion said, there was an old 
 Athenian of the name of Socrates, who was as great a 
 fool as ourselves, who thought a dog, a goose, and even 
 a Platanus, were Gods, and swore by them.* He was 
 no fool, said Apollonius, but a divine, and truly wise man; 
 he swore by these things, not as being Gods, but lest he 
 should swear by the Gods. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 AFTER this, Thespesion, like one who wished to change 
 the conversation, questioned Apollonius about the whip- 
 ping of the Lacedemonians, and asked whether they were 
 now publicly whipped ? They are, said Apollonius, and 
 with great severity, though men of an ingenuous and free 
 disposition. And how, said Thespesion, are their slaves 
 treated who offend ? They are no longer put to death as 
 the laws of Lycurgus permitted to be done ; but still the 
 same stripes await them. And what do the Greeks think 
 of this, said Thespesion ? They run, said Apollonius, as 
 it were to the feasts f of Hyacinthus, or the Gymuopoedia, J 
 to see it, viewing all with great composure and satisfac- 
 
 * Some say it was out of reverence to the Divinity, that he used to 
 swear by a cock, a dog, and a plane tree (under which they used to sit) 
 though it were interpreted Atheism. Stanley's Life of Socrates. Shal- 
 low swears by cock and pye. Sbakespear, Hen. IV. 2d part. Plane 
 trees were consecrated to the Genii. 
 
 t Hyacinthia — an annual solemnity at Amyclce in Laconia, in memory 
 of the beautiful youth Hyacinthus, with games in honour of Apollo. 
 
 $ Gymnopcedia — a solemn dance performed by Spartan boys. 
 
337 
 
 tion. But are not the good Greeks, returned Thespesion, 
 ashamed to see those who formerly had dominion over 
 them, whipped in public ? or rather do they not blush at 
 the recollection of being subject to the rule of men who 
 are publicly scourged with rods ? And why has not this 
 abuse been corrected by you, who, I am informed, paid 
 particular attention to the affairs of Lacedemon ? Where- 
 ever I thought my advice could avail, I gave it, said Apol- 
 lonius, and it was immediately complied with. The Lace- 
 demonians are the freest people of Greece, and obey only 
 those who give them good councils. But the custom of 
 whipping is still retained in honour of the Scythian Diana,* 
 and in obedience, as is said, to the commands of the 
 oracles, for, as I think, it is madness to make laws in 
 opposition to those of the Gods. Then it seems to me, 
 said Thespesion, that you make the Gods of the Greeks 
 of but little account, if they still think whipping necessary 
 for free men, who are so attached to liberty. It was not 
 the Gods, said Apollonius, that ordered the scourging with 
 rods, but they wished to have their altars sprinkled with 
 human blood on account of its being held in honour by 
 the Scythians. The Lacedemonians have ingeniously ex- 
 plained a sacrifice which they could not evade, and have 
 given a lesson of patience, by means of which they can 
 escape death, and appease the Goddess with their blood. 
 Why then, said Thespesion, dont they sacrifice strangers 
 
 * The Tanri, a people of European Sarmatia who inhabited Taurica 
 Chersonesus, sacrificed all strangers to Diana. The statue of this 
 Goddess, which they believed to have fallen down from heaven, was 
 carried away to Sparta by Iphigenia and Orestes. In a dispute which 
 took place among some people who were sacrificing at her altar many 
 lives were lost ; in consequence of which an oracle was given, signi- 
 fying that this altar ought to be spriukled with human blood. Lycur- 
 gus, however, changed the custom of sacrificing a man by lot, to the 
 scourging of young men with whips^as by this means the altar is 
 equally imbrued with blood. 
 
 Z 
 
338 
 
 to Diana, as was formerly customary with the Scythians. 
 Because, said Apollonius, the Greeks were never eager to 
 imitate the manners of the barbarians. However, said 
 Thespesion, it appears to me that there would be less 
 inhumanity in sacrificing one or two strangers, than in 
 putting the law of banishment in force against all. Let 
 us not blame Lycurgus, said Apollonius, nay, rather let 
 us enter into the spirit of the legislator, and know, that in 
 refusing strangers permission to remain in Sparta, it was 
 not his intention to preclude all intercourse with them, 
 but only to preserve their manners pure and free from 
 foreign mixture. But, replied Thespesion, I should believe 
 the Spartans to be such as they wish to appear, had they 
 known how to live with strangers, and retain the manners 
 of their country in their purity. For Spartans should 
 have appeared, like themselves, not only in the pre- 
 sence of strangers, but in their absence, by the main- 
 tenance of the same virtues. Yet though they banished 
 strangers, they corrupted their manners, and copied the 
 actions of the people to whom of all others they were 
 the greatest enemies. To councils savouring too much of 
 others, they owed the establishment of a marine and taxes ; 
 and what was at first considered by them as good ground 
 of just \var against the Athenians, was adopted afterwards 
 on a change of sentiment; and notwithstanding their 
 superiority to the Athenians in military glory, they were 
 always inferior to them in every thing they borrowed from 
 them. Besides, when they introduced a Goddess from 
 Tauri, and the Scythians, did they not adopt a custom of 
 strangers? and supposing it done in obedience to the 
 oracle, why was it necessary to introduce the custom of 
 whipping, and devise a patience in suffering, only fit for 
 slaves ? According to my opinion, it would have been 
 worthier the character of Lacedemonians, and better 
 adapted to strengthen their minds against the fear of death, 
 had they made a sacrifice of such Spartan youths as volun- 
 
339 
 
 tarily offered themselves at the altar. A sacrifice of this 
 kind would have added much to the glory of Spartan 
 courage, and averted Greece from taking up arms against 
 her. Had the Lacedemonians thought it necessary to 
 save their young men for war, the observance of the law 
 among the Scythians relative to the men of sixty years of 
 age, would have been more worthy their observance, than 
 that of Scythians, supposing they sought death from mo- 
 tives of sincerity and not of ostentation. What I have 
 said, is not against the Lacedemonians, it is rather against 
 you, Apollonius. For were we maliciously to search into 
 all institutions whose origin cannot be ascertained, and to 
 blame the Gods as if giving them their approbation, we should 
 run into many absurd opinions by such a train of reason- 
 ing. Suppose, for instance, we were to turn our attention 
 to the Eleusinian Mysteries, and ask why such, and such 
 ceremonies were established ; or suppose we were to con- 
 sider the religion of the Samothracians, or the feasts of 
 Bacchus, or the Periphallia, or the figures of Mercury, 
 and inquire concerning each, why this is done, and that 
 not, we should scarcely be able, I think, to withhold our 
 disapprobation of them. Let us turn then to other topics 
 more agreeable to you, to the doctrine of Pythagoras, 
 which we observe and reckon our own ; and which holds 
 it honourable to keep silence, if not in all things, at least 
 in some. To this Apollonius answered, if, O Thespesion, 
 it pleased you to pursue this argument, we could shew you 
 many Lacedemonian Institutions wherein that people 
 have distinguished themselves above all the other Greeks. 
 But since you think such a subject is impious and unfit 
 to make a part of our conversation, let us pass to another 
 which I think is of importance, and that is justice. 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 
 LET us then, said Thespesion, make justice the subject 
 of our discourse, as being one suited both to those who are 
 philosophers, and to those who are not. However, to 
 guard against the confusion arising from the intermixing 
 of any Indian opinions in our conversation, and to forbear 
 quitting our argument, till we come to some conclusion, 
 tell us first I pray thee, what are the sentiments of the 
 Indians concerning justice, as it is but natural to suppose 
 you have well examined them : for if their opinions are 
 right and conformable to truth, it is our duty to bow 
 assent to them ; but on the contrary, if it appears that 
 we reason more like philosophers than they do, I hope 
 you will submit to us from a sense of reciprocal justice. 
 Very well, said Apollonius, what you say, Thespesion, 
 meets my full approbation. Listen, and I will tell you 
 what made the subject of our disputations whilst among 
 the Indians. I told them that my soul formerly inhabited 
 another body, that I was then captain of a large vessel, 
 and that I thought I had acted with great justice on a 
 particular occasion, when a set of pirates promised me a 
 reward, on condition of delivering up to them my vessel, by 
 running her into a certain creek, where they were to be pre- 
 pared for taking possession of her on account of the 
 booty she had on board. All this I promised to do, to 
 save my ship from being taken, and in the mean time 
 slipped by them, and got beyond the promontory. What, 
 returned Thespesion, did the Indians look on this as an 
 act of justice? Far from it, replied Apollonius, they 
 laughed, and said there was no justice in barely not acting 
 unjustly. The Indians were right, said Thespesion, in 
 withholding from you the title of just on that account. 
 For prudence does not consist in the not planning foolish 
 enterprises, nor courage in the not quitting your post in 
 
341 
 
 the time of clanger, nor temperance in the not abstaining 
 from adultery ; nor is a man's not appearing wicked, con- 
 sidered as entitling him to praise. For every thing that is 
 equally remote from meriting either reward or punish- 
 ment, is equally remote from meriting the name of 
 virtue. How then, Thespesion, said Apollonius, shall 
 we be able to distinguish a truly just man, and for what 
 conduct esteem him deserving of a crown ? I think, 
 answered Thespesion, you discoursed on the subject of 
 justice, rather with caution, and in a way too much accom- 
 modated to circumstances, when you talked in the presence 
 of a King* who governed a rich country of great extent, 
 and who consulted you in a matter so nearly connected 
 with justice, as that of ruling his subjects. To this Apol- 
 lonius said, if it had been Phraotes with whom we con- 
 versed on the subject of justice, you might indeed have 
 blamed us, for not treating it with more gravity, but as 
 from what I said yesterday, you must have known that the 
 man we talked to was a drunkard, and an enemy to all 
 philosophy, where would have been the necessity of 
 troubling him, and vexing ourselves for the sake of one, 
 who thought all happiness lay in spending his time after 
 the manner of the ancient Sybarites ? But seeing an 
 inquiry concerning justice, is more fitting us as philoso- 
 phers, than kings and generals, let us come to the point, 
 and examine who is the truly just man. You will not give 
 the title of just to those who barely refrain from injustice, 
 nor to me who thought myself entitled to it, when I com- 
 manded my vessel, nor do you think us persons deserving 
 of any honor. Certainly not, replied Thespesion, for 
 there never was heard of a decree made by either Athe- 
 nians or Lacedemonians, which conferred a crown on a 
 man for not frequenting houses of ill fame; nor was it 
 
 Whose name has not been given by Philostratus. 
 
342 
 
 ever known that the rights of citizenship were granted to any 
 one for not having been guilty of the sin of sacrilege. Who 
 then, I say, will be numbered with the just, or what is a man 
 to do to entitle him to that character ? for I never remem- 
 ber a man to be crowned for his justice, nor a decree made 
 in favor of a just man, running in words like these, " it 
 is judged expedient to crown Caius, for having shewn 
 himself just in such an action." And when I call to mind 
 what befel Palamedes at Troy, and Socrates at Athens, 
 I find that justice is not even sure of success in this world, 
 and that persons the most just have suffered the most 
 unjustly. Yet all perished under the pretext of having 
 committed much injustice and wrong. But Justice her- 
 self destroyed Aristides the son of Lysimachus ; notwith- 
 standing the superiority of his character, he was exiled 
 because he was just. Justice then it must be acknow- 
 ledged is held in but a ridiculous point of view, for though 
 she was appointed by Jupiter and the Fates, to prevent 
 mens injuring each other, yet she is not able to defend 
 herself. The case~of Aristides, is, I think, sufficient to 
 distinguish the just from the unjust man. Tell me, is not 
 this the Aristides, who (according to what you and the 
 rest of the Greeks say) sailed to the isles to settle for them 
 the rate of tribute, and who after having fixed it at a 
 moderate valuation, returned in the same cloak in which 
 he set out. The same, replied Apollonius, who formerly 
 made the love of poverty flourish. Let us then, returned 
 Thespesion, suppose two orators at Athens, who had under- 
 taken to praise Aristides at his return from the allies, and 
 that the one decreed him a crown, " hecause he had not 
 returned richer by his embassy, and that, though the 
 poorest man in Athens before he set out, had come back 
 even poorer than what he was." And that the other pro- 
 posed a law to this effect, " since Aristides has not im- 
 posed a tribute above what the allies are able to bear, 
 and has taken care they should have no cause of complaint, 
 
343 
 
 and should live in good understanding with the people of 
 Athens, it is, and let it be decreed, that the honors of a 
 crown be granted to him on account of his justice." Do 
 not you think that Aristides would set himself in opposition 
 to the first decree, as being inadequate to his conduct, 
 inasmuch as it offered him a reward for not having done 
 any thing that was evil, and that he might probably approve 
 the second for having truly expressed what was the real 
 end and drift of his conduct, for he, looking only to the 
 real interest of Athens and her allies, fixed the tribute at 
 a moderate rate, which appeared evident after his death. 
 For as soon as the Athenians increased their taxes above 
 the valuation set by Aristides, their naval power, which 
 rendered them so formidable, declined ; on the contrary, 
 the power of the Lacedemonians rose at sea, when 
 nothing survived of her rival's greatness. The consequence 
 was, that all who were subject to the dominion of Athens, 
 run into revolt, rebellion, and innovation. From what 
 has been said, Apollonius, it appears, that the just man, in 
 the right acceptation of the word, is not he who is not 
 unjust, but he who acts justly, and does all he can 
 to prevent others acting unjustly. From such justice 
 many virtues will spring, and above all those of a juridical 
 and legislatorial nature. For such a man gives his opinion 
 with more equity, than he who swears on the dissected 
 parts of a victim. The laws made by him will be like 
 those of Solon and Lycurgus of old, for justice will 
 predominate at the making of them. This, says Damis, 
 is what passed on the subject of the just man, to which 
 Ke added, Apollonius gave his full assent, it being ever his 
 custom to yield to right reason. 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 AFTER philosophizing for some time on the immortality 
 of the soul and nature, in a way not unlike what is to be 
 
344 
 
 found in Plato's Temaeus, and after some long dissertations 
 on the state of the laws at present in force in Greece, 
 Apollonius concluded with saying, that he had undertaken 
 that journey for the sake of not only seeing them, but the 
 sources of the Nile, which not to have seen, might be 
 pardonable in a man who had only visited Egypt, but to 
 him who had penetrated into Ethiopia, the not seeing 
 them and learning something of their nature, would be 
 shameful indeed. Go in a good hour, said Thespesion, 
 and pay whatever vows you please to its sources, for 
 therein resides a divinity. You shall have, I think, Ti- 
 masion for a guide, formerly of Naucratis,. but now of 
 Memphis, one well acquainted with the sources of that 
 river, and so pure as not to require any expiation. As to 
 you, Nilus, we wish to have some private conversation 
 with you, the meaning of which was no secret to Apol- 
 lonius, who well knew that the Gymnosophists were not sa- 
 tisfied with Nilus for his attachment to him. However, to 
 give them an opportunity of speaking to him, he left them 
 to prepare for his journey, which he intended to begin 
 at sun-rise. Nilus soon after returned, but said nothing of 
 what passed ; he only now and then laughed by himself. 
 No one asked him why he did so, from the respect each 
 man had for secrecy. They then supped, and after some 
 conversation on matters of indifference, went to sleep. 
 
 GHAP. XXIII. 
 
 AT day-break they took their leave of the Gymnosophists 
 after the customary salutations, and began their journey 
 towards the mountains, with the Nile to their left, making 
 observations on whatever was most remarkable. The 
 Catadupse* are mountains of earth, like Tmolus in 
 
 * Philostratus speaks here of the Catadupas, as the mountains 
 
 through 
 
345 
 
 Lydia. The Nile runs furiously through them, and with 
 the soil, which it washes down from them, forms Egypt. 
 The noise made by the waters rushing from these moun- 
 tains, and tumbling into the bed of the Nile, is dreadful, 
 and insupportable to the ear : and many who have ap- 
 proached them nearer than they ought, have lost the use 
 of that sense. 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 WHILST Apollonius and his companions proceeded on 
 their way, they approached certains hills abounding in 
 trees,* whose leaves, bark, and gum, were turned to 
 advantage by the Ethiopians. Near the road they saw 
 lions, panthers, and several other kinds of wild beasts, 
 of which not one offered them the least violence, but all 
 retired as if afraid of men. Several other animals besides 
 were seen by them, together with deer, and goats, and 
 ostritches,f and wild asses. Boves-silvestres^ and Hirco- 
 boves were in great abundance, of which the former par- 
 took of the nature of the ox and the stag ; and the latter 
 of the ox and the goat, from which the name is directly 
 derived. They found some bones and carcasses half 
 
 through which pour the cataracts. Others speak of them as the 
 cataracts themselves, and some as the inhabitants of them. As to 
 the Catadnpes, says Pocoke, those high cataracts that fall with such 
 noise that they make the inhabitants deaf, I take all these accounts to 
 be fabulous. 
 
 * Olearius supposes he means the tree Myrobalanum. 
 
 t irpeQos — or rather a-rfaBoKa.fxr.xoq — a word derived from cn-paSo?, which 
 signifies a sparrow, or a bird m general, and xa^nXof, a camel, 
 on account of the resemblance which the ostritch bears to that qua- 
 druped. 
 
 X The particular animals alluded to under the appellation of Boa.y^ t 
 and BuTfayoi. I have not been able to ascertain. 
 
S46 
 
 devoured. For lions,* it is said, when once gorged with 
 fresh prey, mind but little what is left, from an assurance 
 of always finding new spoils. 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 THE country they were now in, was inhabited by Ethio- 
 pian Nomades, a people dwelling in waggons as in cities. 
 Their nearest neighbours were they who hunt the elephant, 
 whose flesh they cut in pieces and sell, hence their name 
 of Elephantophagi. The Nasamones,f and the Andro- 
 phagi,J the Pygmies,§ and Sciapodes>|| are all found in 
 Ethiopia, dwelling on the coasts of the Ethiopian sea, 
 which is never wont to be visited by mortals, except when 
 driven to it by tempests, and against their wills. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 WHILST our travellers were talking of- what wild 
 beasts they had seen, and of nature, which gives to each 
 
 * The lion cannot justly be branded with cruelty, since he acts 
 from necessity, and kills no more than he consumes. While the tiger, 
 the wolf, &c. delight in slaughter, and seem rather to gratify their rage 
 than their hunger. B. 
 
 t Nasamones, an uncivilized people of Lybia, who generally lived 
 upon plunder. Herodotus, Melp. c. 172. 
 
 X The Androphagi of Ethiopia are mentioned by Pliny. 
 
 $ Pygmies — Philostratus in his Icones, mentions that Hercules 
 once fell asleep in the deserts of Africa, after he had conquered 
 Antaeus, and that he was suddenly awakened by an attack, which had 
 been made upon his body by an army of pygmies, who discharged 
 their arrows with great fury upon his arms and legs. The hero was 
 to delighted with their courage, that he wrapped a great number of 
 them in the skin of the Nemean lion, and carried them to Eurystheus. 
 This story might have suggested to the genius of Swift, the idea of his 
 Lilliputians. 
 
 || Sciapodes. See b. iii. c. 45. 
 
347 
 
 its proper nourishment, a noise reached their ears like that 
 of thunder, not loud, but hollow, as if shut up within 
 clouds. Whereupon Timasion cried out, we are near 
 the cataract which is the last one to the descending, but 
 the first to the ascending traveller.* From hence ad- 
 vancing about ten stadia, their report is, that they saw the 
 river falling from a mountain, not less than the Marsyas 
 and Meander at their conflux. Here they offered up their 
 prayers to the Nile, and proceeded without seeing any 
 more wild beasts. As these animals are, by nature, timid and 
 afraid of every noise, they prefer dwelling near still waters, 
 and keep far from such as tumble down precipices, making 
 loud uproar. Going on about fifteen stadia farther, they 
 heard the sound of another cataract, which was both 
 terrible and insupportable to the hearing, twice louder 
 than the first, as it fell from much higher mountains. 
 Damis says his ears, and those of one of his fellow-travellers, 
 were so much affected by it, that he withdrew, and 
 begged Apollonius might not go farther, who notwith- 
 standing this remonstrance, advanced boldly with Tima- 
 sion and Nilus to the third cataract,*]- of which, when he 
 came back, he said, that the rocks which there hung over 
 the Nile, were eight stadia high, that the bank over 
 against the mountains, reared itself aloft, and looked like 
 an eminence cut out of stone in a most wonderful manner, 
 that the waters which burst from these mountains broke 
 over this rock with great violence, and fell foaming and 
 
 * This I suppose is the cataract of Syene, and which is described by- 
 Bruce in the first vol. of his Travels — he says, " the current of the 
 Nile, confined for a long course between the rocky mountains of 
 Nubia, tries to expand itself with great violence." He concludes with 
 saying that, " the noise it makes, fills the mind with confusion rather 
 than with terror." 
 
 t This cataract, Bruce says, was the most magnificent sight he ever 
 beheld. 
 
348 
 
 raging into the Nile.* He added, that accidents were more 
 frequent here by reason of the greater quantity of water,*f* 
 than at any of the other cataracts, that the noise occasioned 
 by the rebounding echoes through the mountains, was the 
 cause of its not being contemplated without great pain to the 
 hearing, and that all farther proceeding to the first foun- 
 tains, was not only difficult to be effected, but to be even 
 imagined. They told many strange things of the demons 
 there, not unlike what Pindar speaks so learnedly of in his 
 hymns, of the demon which he makes preside over those 
 springs, for the regulation of the Nile. 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 AFTER visiting the cataracts, Apollonius and his com- 
 panions stopped in a small village in Ethiopia, where, 
 whilst they were at supper, they amused themselves with a 
 variety of conversation both grave and gay. On a sudden 
 was heard a confused uproar, as if from the' women of 
 the village exhorting each other to seize and pursue. 
 They called to the men for assistance, who immediately 
 sallied forth, snatching up sticks and stones, with whatever 
 other weapons they chanced to find, shouting all the 
 time as if some violence was offered to their wives. All 
 this hubbub arose from a satyrj having made his appear- 
 
 * The noise it made was truly terrible — which stunned, and made 
 him for a time, perfectly dizzy. Bruce. 
 
 + The river fell in one sheet of water, without any interval, above 
 half an English mile in breadth. The noise it made was like the loudest 
 thunder, and made the solid rock (at least as to sense) shake to its very 
 foundation. Bruce. 
 
 t Or rather, I should suppose, the confusion arose from an Orang- 
 outang having made his appearance, whose dispositions perfectly cor- 
 respond with those attributed to the whole race of satyrs by the 
 ancient poets. Buffon says the Orang-Outang, or Satyrus Silvester, is 
 
349 
 
 ance, who for ten months past had infested the village. 
 This satyr was very fond of women, and, as was said, 
 had been the death of two, whom he had seemed most 
 attached to. The moment Apollonius perceived his 
 friends were alarmed at this, he said, don't be terrified, 
 it is only a satyr who is saucy to the women. By Jupiter, 
 said Nilus, he is one whom our college of Gymnosophists 
 have been unable to make desist from such improper con- 
 duct. For my part, said Apollonius, there is but one 
 remedy to be used in cases of such kind of insolence, and 
 is what Midas had recourse to. He was himself of the 
 race of the satyrs, as appeared plainly by his ears. A 
 satyr once invited himself to his house, on the ground of 
 consanguinity, and whilst he was his guest, libelled his 
 ears in a copy of verses, which he set to music and played 
 on his harp. Midas who was instructed, as I think, by 
 his mother, learnt from her, that if a satyr was made 
 drunk with wine and fell asleep, he recovered his senses 
 and became quite a new creature. A fountain happening 
 to be near his palace, he mixed it with wine, to which he 
 sent the satyr, who drank till he was quite overcome with 
 it. Now to shew you that this is not all mere fable, let 
 us go to the governor of the village, and if the inhabitants 
 have any wine, let us make the satyr drink, and I w ill be 
 answerable for what happened in the case of the satyr of 
 Midas. All were willing to try the experiment, and 
 immediately four Egyptian amphoras of wine, were 
 poured into the pond in which the cattle of the village 
 were accustomed to drink. Apollonius invited the satyr to 
 drink, and added, along with the invitation, some private 
 menaces in case of refusal. The satyr did not appear, 
 nevertheless the wine sunk as if it was drank. When the 
 
 an ape, as tall and strong as a man, and equally ardent for women 
 as for its own females, who knows how to bear arms, to attack 
 bis enemies with stones, and to defend himself with clubs. 
 
350 
 
 pond was emptied, Apollonius said, let us offer libations 
 to the satyr, who is now fast asleep. After saying this, he 
 carried the men of the village to the cave of the nymphs, 
 which was not more than the distance of a plethron # from 
 the hamlet, where after shewing them the satyr asleep, 
 he ordered them to give him no ill usage, either by beating 
 or abusing him ; for, says he, I will answer for his good 
 behaviour for the time to come. This is the action of 
 Apollonius, which by Jupiter, I consider as what gave 
 greatest lustre to his travels, and which was in truth, their 
 great feat. Any one who has perused the letter, which he 
 wrote to a dissipated young man, wherein he tells him he 
 had tamed a satyr in Ethiopia, must call to mind this 
 story. Consequently no doubt can now remain of the 
 existence of satyrs, and of their amorous inclinations. 
 When I was myself in Lemnos I remember one of my 
 contemporaries, whose mother, they said, was visited by a 
 satyr formed according to all the traditional accounts we 
 have of that race of beings. He wore a deer's skin on his 
 shoulders, which exactly fitted him, the fore-feet of which, 
 encircling his neck, were fastened on his breast. But of 
 this I shall say no more, as I am sensible credit is due to 
 experience, as well as to me.f 
 
 CHAP. XXVIIL 
 
 AFTER Apollonius returned from Ethiopia, the differ- 
 ence between him and Euphrates widened by daily dis- 
 putes. Euphrates, however he resigned to Menippus and 
 
 * A pletbron about 100 feet. 
 . t Veila, says Du Pin, le sommaire de la relation du voyage d'Apol- 
 lone en Ethiopie, corame il est rapport^ par Philostrate. Je laissa a 
 jnger aux personnes de bon sens, si ce n'est pas plutot un roman qu' 
 nne histoire. 
 
351 
 
 Nilus, and said little against him, whilst he shewed parti- 
 cular attention to Nilus. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 AFTER Titus had taken Jerusalem, and filled all places 
 with the dead, the nations round about offered him 
 crowns, of which he did not think himself deserving. 
 Saying, that it was not he who performed such mighty 
 deeds, and that he only lent his arm to God in the just 
 exercise of his vengeance. This answer was approved 
 by Apollonius as being a proof of the wisdom of Titus, 
 and of his knowledge in divine and human things, as also 
 of his great moderation in declining to be crowned for 
 having shed blood. He then wrote Titus a letter, which 
 he wished to be carried by Damis, to the following 
 effect, 
 
 " Apollonius to Titus, Emperor of the Romans, 
 health. 
 
 " To you who refusest being crowned, on account of 
 your success in war, and the destruction of your enemies, 
 I give the crown of moderation, seeing you are so well 
 acquainted with the reasons entitling you to that honour. 
 Farewell 
 
 Titus was well pleased with this letter, and said, In my 
 own name, and that of my father, I hold myself your 
 debtor, and will be mindful of you. I have taken Jeru- 
 salem, but you have taken me. 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 AS soon as Titus was declared Emperor, and invested 
 with the imperial dignity, he set out for Rome to become 
 
352 
 
 colleague with his father. But first thinking of what con- 
 sequence it might be to him, to have even a short confer- 
 ence with Apollonius, he requested him to come to Argos 
 for that purpose. On his arrival there, Titus embraced 
 him, and said, my father has written to me of all be wished 
 you to know. At present I have a letter, wherein he says 
 he considers you as his benefactor, and one to whom we 
 are indebted for what we are. I am only thirty years 
 of age, and have arrived at the same honours my father 
 did at sixty. I am called on to govern, before perhaps I 
 have learnt to obey, and I have my fears of engaging to 
 do what I am not equal to perform. Apollonius then 
 stroking Titus's neck, which was like that of an athleta, 
 said, who could subject to the yoke a bull with so fine a 
 neck? He who reared me from a calf, replied Titus. 
 In this answer Titus alluded to his father, under whose 
 discipline he had been educated from a boy. When 
 Apollonius heard this, I rejoice first at the readiness with 
 which you obey your father, (to whom they who are not 
 his children have pleasure in paying their obedience) and 
 next at seeing you as a client waiting at his threshold. 
 When a kingdom is directed by the vigor of youth, and 
 wisdom of age, what lyre, or flute, can produce such sweet 
 and harmonious music. The virtues of old age and youth 
 will be united; and the consequence will be that the 
 former will acquire vigor; and the latter decorum and 
 order by the union. 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 BUT, O Tyanean, said Titus, what advice have you to 
 give concerning the best mode of governing an empire ? 
 None to you, answered Apollonius, who are self-instruct- 
 ed, by the manner in which you shew your obedience to 
 your father, no doubt can be entertained of your becoming 
 
353 
 
 like him. Yet I will tell you a saying of Archytas which 
 is excellent and worthy of being remembered. Archytas* 
 was a Tarentine, a man well versed in the doctrine of Pytha- 
 goras ; in a treatise which he composed on the subject of 
 Education, he says " Let a father be an example of virtue 
 to his sons." A saying founded on the following considera- 
 tion, that parents would be more zealous in the pursuit of 
 virtue if they thought their sons would be like them. 
 Added to this, I will give you my friend Demetrius as a 
 companion to attend you, whenever you wish, and to ad- 
 vise you in what is good to be done. Pray, said Titus, 
 in what does his wisdom consist ? In liberty of speech, 
 in speaking truth, in an intrepidity arising from a cynical 
 spirit ! At hearing the word cynical Titus was troubled, 
 to whom Apollonius replied, Homer thought Telema- 
 chusy wanted two dogs on account of his youth, and 
 therefore has introduced both as his companions into the 
 council of the Ithacans, though without reason. But your 
 dog shall be Demetrius, who will bark for you against 
 others, and against yourself, if in any thiug you offend ; 
 and this he will always do with wisdom, and never without 
 reason. Give me then, says Tjtus, this dog companion, 
 
 * Archytas, son of Hestiaeus of Tarentum, was a follower of the 
 Pythagorean philosophy, and an able astronomer and geometrician. 
 He redeemed his master Plato from the hands of the tyrant Dionysius, 
 and for his virtues was seven times chosen by his fellow citizens 
 governor of Tarentum. He perished in a shipwreck about 394 years 
 before the Christian iEra. 
 
 " Thee, whose great mind could scan earth's wide domains, 
 
 " Trace the vast deep, the countless sands explore, 
 " Archytas, thee one narrow bed contains, 
 " One lonely spot on the Matinian shore. 
 
 Hor. Ode 28, b. i. Boscawen. 
 Archytas is said to have made a wooden pigeon that could fly. 
 t Bright in his hand, a pond'rous jav'lin shin'd 
 Two dogs, a faithful guard, attend behind. Pope. Od. ii. 
 2 A 
 
354 
 
 who shall have my full permission to bite me, whenever 
 he finds me acting as I ought not. I have a letter* said 
 Apollonius, ready to send to him to Rome, where I un- 
 derstand he is now philosophizing. I am glad of it, said 
 Titus, I wish some one would write to you in my favour, 
 and recommend your accompanying me in my journey. 
 To this Apollonius replied, you may depend on seeing 
 me, whenever it shall be to the advantage of both. 
 
 CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 AS soon as Titus found himself alone with Apollonius, he 
 said, O Tyanean, will you permit me to ask you some 
 questions which are of great moment to me ? With plea- 
 sure, returned Apollonius, ask, and let your confidence in 
 doing so, be in proportion to the magnitude of what you 
 ask. I would ask, said Titus, of things touching my life, 
 and of the persons I should guard against, for I would not 
 wish to shew fear where none exists, being already under 
 some apprehensions. Herein, replied Apollonius, you 
 will be but prudent and circumspect, and of all men I 
 think it is your duty to be on your guard. Then looking 
 up to the heavens, he swore by the sun, he would have 
 addressed him on this subject, even if no question had 
 been proposed: for the Gods commanded him to de- 
 clare to Titus, that, during his father's life, he should 
 guard against his greatest enemies, and after his death 
 against his most intimate friends. Titus then asked 
 of what kind of death he should die ? Of the same, 
 said Apollonius Ulysses* did, who is said to have re- 
 ceived his death from the sea. This prediction was in- 
 
 * Unknown to pain, in age resign thy breath, 
 When late stem Neptune points the shaft with death. 
 
 Od. Pop*. 11. 134. 
 
355 
 
 terpreted by Damis, who said Titus should beware of 
 the sting of the fish Trygon,* with which it is affirmed 
 Ulysses was wounded. From history we learn, that Titus, 
 after reigning two years, died of eating a Lepus Marinus,f 
 a fish from which, they say, issues a secret liquor which, of 
 all poisons derived from land or sea, is the most deadly to 
 man. A liquor which Nero was wont to mix up in vic- 
 tuals for his greatest enemies, and which DomitianJ after- 
 wards gave to his brother Titus, not from thinking there 
 would be any difficulty in having him for a colleague in 
 the empire, but from not wishing to have a colleague 
 possessed of a mild and benevolent temper. This was the 
 substance of what passed in private between Apollonius 
 and Titus. In public they embraced each other, and as 
 Titus was taking his leave of him, Apollonius said to him 
 with a loud voice, vanquish your enemies in arms, and 
 surpass your father in virtues- 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 THE letter which Apollonius wrote to Demetrius was to 
 the following effect. 
 
 " Apollonius the philosopher to the dog Demetrius, 
 
 health. 
 " I give you to the Emperor Titus, in order that you 
 
 * Celsus says, the fish we call Pastmaca, the Greeks call Trygon — 
 It has a poisonous sting in its tail, than which, says Pliny, nothing is' 
 more detestable, and pernicious. Nicander is the only author, who 
 says Ulysses was killed by this poison ; he mentions it in his Theriacs. 
 
 t Lepus marinus, a venomous fish, whose poison was given by Do- 
 initian to his brother. See Pliny. 
 
 X I believe Philostratus is the only writer who ascribes the death of 
 Titus to his brother Domitian. 
 
 2 A 2 
 
356 
 
 may instruct him in all royal virtues. Justify what I have 
 said of you, be everything to him, but everything without 
 anger. Farewel." 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 THE people of Tarsus of old bore no kindness to Apol- 
 lonius, because neither his continual reproaches, nor the 
 language in which he conveyed them, were adapted to 
 their soft and effeminate [manners ; however, at this time 
 they loved him, as much as if he had been their founder 
 and the great support of their city. It happened once 
 when Titus was sacrificing in public, that the whole city 
 assembled presented a petition to him, which contained 
 matters of the greatest moment. He said he would pre- 
 sent it to his father, and perform the duties of an ambassador 
 for them. When he said this, Apollonius came forward, 
 and thus addressed him, suppose I could prove to you 
 that some of the persons present are both enemies to you 
 and your father, that they came to Jerusalem on an 
 embassy for the purpose of exciting revolt, and that they 
 privately gave assistance to those who were in arms 
 against you ; if I could prove all this, what do you think 
 they would deserve ? Nothing, replied Titus, but instant 
 death. And are you not ashamed, said Apollonius, to 
 shew more promptitude in punishing delinquents, than in 
 rewarding those who never offended ; and in assuming to 
 yourself authority sufficient to punish, whilst you defer 
 that of recompensing, till you have seen and conferred 
 with your father. Titus was not displeased with this mode 
 of reasoning, and said, I grant them their petition, as I 
 know my father will not be angry with me for having sub- 
 mitted to truth and you. 
 
357 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 HITHERTO have been enumerated the many countries 
 visited by Apollonius for the purpose of giving instruction 
 to them, or receiving it from them. The journeys which 
 he afterwards made, were also numerous, but were neither 
 so loug as the foregoing, nor to nations unvisited before. 
 After his return from Ethiopia he passed some time in 
 that part of Egypt which stretches along the sea coast 
 called Lower Egypt. He visited also the Phenicians, 
 Cilicians, Ionians, and Acheans ; and again passed some 
 time with the Italians, but never omitting, wherever he 
 went, to shew that he was always the same, and like him- 
 self. Though the maxim of nosce teipsum is hard to be 
 acquired, yet what I consider as the hardest of all ac- 
 quisitions is that of a wise man remaining always the 
 same. He will make little or no improvement in the cor- 
 rupt minds of others, who has not so ordered his own, as 
 to appear not subject to any change. On this subject I 
 have written some discourses (to be found in another 
 place) whose object is to teach those, who will take the 
 trouble of reading them, that he who is really entitled to 
 the name of man, cannot change, or be reduced to slavery. 
 However, not to detain you with a too minute account of 
 all his philosophical discourses, nor on the other hand 
 lightly measure over a history which I compile, not without 
 trouble, for the instruction of those who are unacquainted 
 with the man, I have thought it my duty to relate such of 
 his actions as are most memorable and shining. Such 
 actions should be regarded as like to the visits of physi- 
 cians. 
 
358 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI, 
 
 THERE was at this time a young man who spent his 
 time in teaching birds to sing and speak, and who literally 
 lived with them for that purpose. He taught them to 
 speak like men, and imitate the notes of a flute. Apol- 
 lonius meeting him one day, said, pray young man what is 
 your employment ? But he talked of nothing except night- 
 ingales, and blackbirds, and what was most proper to im- 
 prove the notes of herons, having all the while a wretched 
 voice himself. Whereupon Apollonius said to him, I 
 think you spoil the voices of birds, in the first place by 
 not letting them use their own, which are far beyond all 
 musical instruments, and in the next place by making them 
 the pupils of your own ignorance, which you do by speak- 
 ing the Greek tongue so ill to them. Besides, you waste 
 your fortune to no purpose, for when I look to your ser- 
 vants and equipage, I must rank you with the rich and 
 luxurious, who are but sponges to be squeezed by the 
 hands of sycophants, whose tongues are as sharp as so 
 many swords against them. And then what will become 
 of your study of ornithology ? For though you should 
 bring all the nightingales in the world to sing in concert, 
 you will not be able to banish those parasites which will 
 stick to you, and never quit you ; you will be obliged to 
 lavish your substance on them, and throw your gold to 
 them as you would puddings to dogs. And notwith- 
 standing you do all this, you will not keep them from bark- 
 ing for more and more, till at last you become yourself 
 destitute of food, and be reduced to beggary. You must 
 undergo an illustrious conversion, with an entire change 
 of manners, to save yourself from being unknown to your- 
 self, deplumed of all you have, and of being made a sub- 
 ject more to be lamented by the birds, than celebrated by 
 them in their songs. The means for effecting this con- 
 
s$9 
 
 version are not difficult. In every city is to be found an 
 order of men of whom as yet you are ignorant, called 
 magistri, or masters. By giving them a small part of 
 your property, you will make yourself sure of the remain- 
 der, and from them you will learn that kind of eloquence 
 which is termed forensick : an art not difficult to be ac- 
 quired. If I had been acquainted with you in your youth, 
 I should have advised you to frequent the doors of the so- 
 phists and philosophers ; and to fence round your house 
 with every kind of knowledge. But as the time of making 
 these intellectual acquirements is gone by, learn now, at 
 least, an eloquence that will defend yourself ; and remem- 
 ber, that had you acquired a more perfect kind of know- 
 ledge, you would have resembled a soldier rendered formi- 
 dable by his heavy armour ; even yet, should you learn the 
 art of rhetoric, you will have the armour worn by the 
 light troops, and with it will be able to drive away syco- 
 phants as you would dogs. The young man fully sensible 
 of what was said, gave up his passion for birds, and fre- 
 quented the schools of the masters, by whom the powers of 
 his understanding and language were improved and aug- 
 mented. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 THERE were two stories prevalent at Sardis, one was, 
 that the Pactolus* of old supplied Craesus with his gold, 
 and the other that the trees were older than the earth. 
 The first Apollonius said was probably true, because it 
 was known that the mountain Tmolus contained gold dust, 
 which, when loosened by the rains, was carried down the 
 
 * Strabo observes that the Pactolus had no golden sands in his 
 age. 
 
360 
 
 stream ; but that by long lapse of time it ceased, as is 
 usual in such like cases. The other story of the trees be- 
 ing older than the earth, he laughed at, for no man who 
 had ever studied philosophy, could suppose the stars 
 older than the sky ; it being even his opinion that nothing 
 can exist before the subject exists by which it is sup- 
 ported. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 WHILST the governor of Syria was stirring up sedition 
 at Antioch and sowing dissension among the citizens, by 
 means of which the city was disturbed and divided into 
 factions, a violent shock of an earthquake was felt, which 
 so terrified the inhabitants that they run into all the holes 
 and corners they could find, as is customary in like prodi- 
 gies, and poured out prayers for each others safety. On 
 this occasion Apollonius happened to be present, who 
 thus said, A God has manifested himself among you for a 
 restoration of peace. Henceforth [ trust you will not for 
 the time to come fall into similar dissensions, from a full 
 sense of what has now happened. He then suggested 
 what might be expected from internal divisions, which was 
 a fate like to what had befallen the other cities of Asia. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 THE following circumstance is thought worth noticing. 
 A certain man was ofTering sacrifices to the earth, in hopes 
 of finding a treasure, and whilst thus employed, scrupled 
 not addressing Apollonius on the subject of his petition. 
 Apollonius understanding what he wished, said, I see 
 plainly how much your heart is fixed on riches. Say not 
 so, replied the poor man, but rather say I am unhappy : 
 
361 
 
 I have but a small fortune, and that scarcely enough to 
 support my family. What, said Apollonius, I suppose you 
 have a numerous family to maintain, and that it contributes 
 but little towards its support : for as to yourself you do not 
 appear of the number of the unwise. The man shedding 
 some tears at this, said, I have four daughters, and it will 
 be necessary to give each of them a portion : I have my- 
 self only twenty thousand drachmas, which when divided 
 amongst them, will be but little to each ; and I shall be 
 ruined, as nothing will be left for me. Apollonius hearing 
 this, had compassion on him, and said, The earth and I 
 will take care of you, for I am assured you offer sacrifices 
 to her. After this, without saying more, he walked into 
 the suburbs of the city, like one who seemed as if he in- 
 tended to buy fruit. Whilst there, he happened to see a 
 piece of ground planted with olive-trees, whose height 
 and beauty pleased him : and in it he discovered a little 
 garden abounding with bees and flowers. He entered this 
 garden like one who wished to examine it better, and after 
 offering up his prayers to Pandora, returned back to the city. 
 He then went in quest of the owner of the ground, whose 
 fortune had been acquired by the most unjustifiable means, 
 (in fact it was acquired by information given against the Phe- 
 nicians, or Jews, by which their properties were confis- 
 cated) and when found, he asked him for what he had 
 bought the farm, and what he had laid out in improving it ? 
 The owner told him he purchased it the year before for 
 fifteen thousand drachmas, on which he had not as yet 
 made any improvement. On hearing this, Apollonius 
 persuaded him to sell it for twenty thousand drachmas, by 
 which he would be a gainer of five thousand. The poor 
 man who looked for the treasure, knew not the value of the 
 present made him, he thought he had only got the worth 
 of his money, nay, rather less, inasmuch as the twenty 
 thousand drachmas, whilst they remained in his hands, were 
 entirely in his own power ; but the farm he got in place of 
 
36$ 
 
 them was liable to hail and rain, and such other inclemen- 
 cies of weather as are fatal to the productions of the earth. 
 But when he found a pitcher of three thousand darics* in 
 it not far from the Apiary, and had received a considera- 
 ble produce from his olives, though the year was not pro- 
 ductive, he celebrated Apollonius in hymns, whilst suitors 
 flocked from all quarters to woo his daughters, and pay 
 their respects to the father. 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 AMONG the memorabilia of Apollonius, is noticed what 
 follows. There was a young man who fell in love with 
 the statue of Venus, f which stood naked in Gnidus. He 
 made her many presents, and promised many more if she 
 would marry him. All this Apollonius considered as very 
 absurd : yet the Gnidiaus made no objection to it, on the 
 contrary they encouraged it, from thinking the Goddess 
 would acquire greater celebrity by being beloved. This is 
 what made Apollonius take the resolution of clearing the 
 temple from such a folly. The Gnidians asked if he 
 wished to make any reformation in their prayers and sacri- 
 fices ? All Apollonius said to this, was, that he would im- 
 prove their sight, but that the rites and ceremonies of the 
 
 * Daric — a famous piece of gold coined by Darius, not the father of 
 Xerxes, but one more ancient. It was dispersed over the East, and 
 also Greece : so that the Persian Daric called Stater, was the gold 
 coin best known in Athens. According to Dr. Bernard it weighed two 
 grains more than one of onr guineas, but as it was remarkably beauti- 
 ful, of the finest and purest gold, and contained little or no alloy, it 
 may be reckoned worth about 25 shillings of our money. — It bore the 
 image of Darius, and on the reverse, a chariot drawn by mules. 
 
 t Miratur, ethaurit 
 Pectore Pygmalion simulati corporis ignes. 
 
 Ovid. 
 
36S 
 
 temple he would leave as he found them. Then tuniing 
 to the love-sick youth, he asked him if he believed in the 
 existence of the Gods ? So much so, said he, as that I 
 have fallen in love with them ; and then he began to talk 
 of his marriage as a matter that might be brought about 
 after the due performance of certain sacrifices. When 
 Apollonius heard this, he said, Thou fool, it is the poets 
 who have inspired you with this folly, who in their fables 
 have talked of the loves of Anchises and Venus, and 
 Peleus and Thetis. • But of mutual love, my opinion is 
 this, that Gods love Gods, men love men, and beasts love 
 beasts ; and that every thing loves its like, by which it 
 produces what is of the same nature with itself. If a be- 
 ing of one species unites with that of a different one, it 
 cannot render either love or marriage permanent. If you 
 had called to mind the story of Ixion, you would never 
 have thought of falling in love with what is unlike your- 
 self. He is whirled through the heavens like a wheel ; and 
 you will be undone if you do not instantly quit this tem- 
 ple : and will have no cause to complain of the injustice 
 of the Gods. This remonstrance extinguished the flame 
 with which the youth was on fire, who, instead of making 
 a boast of his love, went away to offer sacrifice for his 
 pardon. 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 
 
 AT this time the towns situate on the left side of the 
 Hellespont were subject to earthquakes. Certain Egyp- 
 tians and Chaldeans taking advantage of the alarm, went 
 up and down through them, collecting what money they 
 could, under pretence of offering to Neptune and Tellus, 
 a sacrifice which would cost ten talents. Both towns and 
 individuals, whilst under the impression of terror, contri- 
 buted what they could from their public and private 
 
364 
 
 Btock ; these cheats having declared no sacrifices could be 
 offered till the money was lodged in the hands of their 
 bankers. Apollonius resolving not to neglect the interest 
 of the Hellespontines, went through their towns, and 
 drove* out of them those wandering impostors, who were 
 making gain of their misfortunes. Then inquiring into the 
 cause of the anger of Tellus and Neptune, he offered the 
 proper expiatory sacrifices to each, and by this means 
 averted the danger which hung over them at a small ex^ 
 pense, and the earth got some rest. 
 
 CHAP. XLIL 
 
 ABOUT this time the Emperor Domitian issued a decree, 
 forbidding the further making of eunuchs,f and planting 
 vines,J with a clause added to the latter prohibition, which 
 commanded such as were planted to be cut down. Apol- 
 lonius happening to come into Ionia, said, these orders of 
 the Emperor do not affect me, for of all men living, I 
 stand least in need of wine and the organs of generation : 
 but our most admirable Domitian does not perceive, that 
 though he spares men, he nevertheless castrates the earth. 
 By what Apollonius said, the Ionians assumed courage 
 sufficient to send ambassadors to the Emperor, with orders 
 to do all they could to prevent the execution of a law 
 tending to the great injury of the earth, by commanding 
 them not to plant it with vines. 
 
 * Philostratus does not tell us by what authority Apollonius did 
 this. 
 
 t Castrari mares vetuit. Suetonius. 
 
 t Edixit ne quis in Italia novellaret, utque in provinicis vineta sue- 
 ciderentur. Idem. 
 
365 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. 
 
 WHAT happened whilst Apollonius was at Tarsus, is 
 mentioned to his honour. There was a mad dog that as- 
 saulted a young man, and bit him, in consequence of 
 which the youth imitated all the cries of a dog, he barked, 
 he howled, &c. he walked on all fours, making use of his 
 two hands in running. As soon as Apollonius heard of 
 the accident, he went to see the young man, who had 
 been now thirty days ill. As soon as he saw him, he or- 
 dered the dog that bit him to be produced, but the peo- 
 ple of whom he inquired about the dog, said they had ne- 
 ver seen him, as the accident happened outside the walls 
 of the town, at the time the young man was employed in 
 the exercise of throwing the javelin. Apollonius next in- 
 quired of his patient what sort of dog he was, who told 
 him he knew nothing of him : then considering the case 
 for some time, he said, The dog, Damis, is white and 
 shaggy, of the shepherd's breed, and is like an Amphilo- 
 chian dog. He is at this moment standing near a certain 
 fountain which he named, wishing both to drink the water 
 and fearing it. Go and bring him to the bank of the river, 
 to w here the Palestra is :* to do this, you have only to say 
 I want him. As was desired, Damis brought the dog, 
 who, when he came, lay down at the feet of Apollonius, 
 moaning like a supplicant at the altar. Apollonius made 
 the dog more docile, by stroaking him with his hand ; he 
 placed the youth near him, all the time holding fast the 
 dog. That this grand arcanum might not pass unnoticed 
 by the people, he declared in all their hearing, that the 
 soul of Telephus had passed into the young man, and was 
 
 * The place where all the exercises of the Pentathlon, &c. were 
 performed. 
 
366 
 
 now subject to like orders of the Fates. After saying this, 
 he ordered the dog to lick the sore, in order to shew that 
 he who was the author of the wound should be the author 
 of its cure.* After this operation, the youth turned to his 
 father, knew his mother, saluted his companions, and 
 drank of the water of the Cydnus. Apollonius was not 
 forgetful of the dog, whom he made pass over the river, 
 after offering up his prayers to it. Having crossed it, he 
 stopped on the opposite bank, and set up such a barking 
 as mad dogs are seldom wont to do, he then hung down 
 his ears, and wagged his tail like one cured. Water be- 
 comes medicinal to dogs the moment they are able to en- 
 dure it.f I have now related all Apollonius did in favour 
 of temples and cities, for and against nations, for the dead 
 and the sick, with the wise and the foolish ; and with the 
 princesj who consulted him on the subject of virtue. 
 
 . * As Telephus was cured by the same spear with which he was 
 wounded. 
 
 t On voit bien, says Du Pin, que tout cela est une production d« 
 l'imagination de l'auteur, et non pas un rapport sincere d'un fait verita- 
 ble. 
 
BOOK VII.— Contents. 
 
 An account of certain Philosophers in times of danger — 
 Apolloniw superior to them — Cited to Rome — Ar- 
 rival there — Accused before Domitian — Thrown into 
 prison — Audience given him by the Emperor — - 
 Greater indulgence allowed him in consequence. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 1 AM not ignorant that the conduct of philosophers 
 under despotic governments, is the truest touchstone of 
 their character, and I like to consider how much one 
 man exceeds another in courage on such occasions, and 
 which to ascertain is the chief object of the following 
 reflections. During the reign of Domitian, Apollonius 
 was assailed on every side with accusations and informa- 
 tions ,• the causes whence and wherefore they originated, 
 together with the pretexts under which they were con- 
 cealed, shall be explained hereafter. But as it is ne- 
 cessary to specify the language he used, and the character 
 he personated, under which he escaped guiltless, and at 
 the same time overcame the tyrant, instead of being over- 
 come; so it is equally necessary to notice what I find 
 most remarkable in what has been done by other phi- 
 losophers against tyrants, and to compare all widi what 
 Apollonius himself did, for it is by such comparison we 
 shall come at the truth and a just appreciation of his 
 character. 
 
368 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 ZENO* of Elea, who is considered as the inventor of 
 logic, was seized in the very act of planning the destruction 
 of the tyranny of Nearchusf the Mysian. When put to the 
 rack, he, far from discovering his accomplices, named all the 
 tyrant's most intimate friends as guilty, who were all put 
 to death : in this way he liberated Mysia, by ingeniously 
 contriving to supplant tyranny by its own weapons. 
 PlatoJ declares he entered into the design of restoring 
 liberty to the Syracusans, by acting as an accomplice 
 with Dion, who was at the head of it. Phyton§ when 
 forced to quit Rhegium, fled to Dionysius the tyrant of 
 Sicily, by whom he was admitted to a greater share of 
 his confidence than an exile ought, by which he became 
 acquainted with the tyrant's secrets, and having learnt that 
 he designed to make himself master of Rhegium, he gave 
 information of it to the citizens by letters, and was dis- 
 covered. When taken, the tyrant had him fastened 
 alive to one of his machines, which he ordered to be ad- 
 vanced to the walls, presuming that the Rhegians would 
 not attack it with offensive weapons, out of regard to 
 Phyton. The moment he understood it, he cried out, 
 " Spare me not, for I am the signal of your liberty." 
 
 * Zeno of Elea, or Velia, in Italy, the disciple and adopted son of 
 Parmenides, and the supposed inventor of dialectic. He lived 466 
 years before Christ. 
 ' t Nearchus was a Mysian, and tyrant of the Eleates. 
 
 % See life of Plato in Diogenes Laertius. 
 
 § There is some disagreement between Philostratus and Diodorus, 
 concerning Phyton — the latter says he was general of the people of 
 Rhegium against Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, that he was taken by 
 the enemy, and tortured; and his son thrown into the sea. — A. 387, 
 before Christ. 
 
 
3(59 
 
 Ileraclides and Python,* who put to death Cotys the 
 Thracian, were young men of the academic school, both 
 wise, and consequently free.f Who is ignorant of what 
 was done by CalisthenesJ the Olynthian, who on the same 
 day, both praised and censured the Macedonians, when 
 at the summit of their greatness, and yet every one knows 
 he was put to death the moment he appeared disagreeable 
 to them. Let us not forget Diogenes of Sinope, and 
 Crates of Thebes,§ the one immediately after the battle 
 of Cheronea, waiting on Philip, rebuked him sharply 
 on account of the Athenians, (of whom Heraclides said, 
 he has destroyed by arms a people too vain of their 
 military glory) and the other, when Alexander told him he 
 would rebuild Thebes, said, he did not want a country, 
 which a more powerful man might again destroy. Many 
 other examples might be adduced in point, but as my 
 object does not admit of prolixity, I shall omit them ; for 
 otherwise 1 should be obliged to speak against actions 
 already noticed, not from their want of merit or general 
 approbation, but from their being inferior to what were 
 performed by Apollonius, though superior to what have 
 been done by others. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 THE actions of Zeno of Elea, and of those who killed 
 Cotys, are not to be compared with what Apollonius 
 
 * Two brothers who put to death Cotys, in revenge for the death of 
 their father, for which they were invested with the rights of citizenship 
 by the Athenians. 
 
 t Agreeable to the dogma of the Stoics, which says, " Solus sapiens 
 liber." 
 
 t See the life of Alexander. 
 
 $ Crates was a disciple of Diogenes, before Christ 324. 
 
 2 B 
 
370 
 
 did. It is easy to enslave Thraciaus, Mysians, and Getae, 
 but it is imprudent to make them free, because they do 
 not love liberty, nor consider, as 1 think, servitude a 
 disgrace. Plato shewed no great wisdom in determining 
 to meliorate the public affairs of Sicily, in preference to 
 those of Athens: because it appeared that money was 
 his object, and that he who thought to deceive others, was 
 deceived himself; but this I dare not say, from regard to 
 those who do not like to hear it. What Phyton did at 
 Rhegium against Dionysius, was done against him before 
 his power was fully established in Sicily, and if he had 
 not been pierced by the darts of its citizens, must have 
 fallen by the hands of the tyrant. But in all this I find 
 nothing extraordinary, for he only preferred dying, on 
 account of giving liberty to others, to that of living in 
 slavery himself. Calisthenes cannot escape the imputation 
 of depravity, because, by praising and blaming the same 
 persons, he either blamed those whom he thought deserved 
 praise, or praised those whom he thought deserved blame. 
 Hence it follows, that he who insults the good, will never 
 escape being thought envious ; and in the same manner, 
 he who praises and flatters the wicked, will be considered 
 as participating in their crimes, because the praise which 
 is lavished on them, only renders them the more wicked. 
 Had Diogenes spoken his mind to Philip before the 
 battle of Cheronea, he might have prevented* his making 
 war on the Athenians; but having only done it after the 
 action was over, he rebuked and did not correct. Crates 
 merits blame from all men who love the public good, 
 because he did not confirm Alexander in the design he 
 conceived of rebuilding Thebes. But Apollonius, with- 
 
 * Prevented Philip : prevented Buonaparte : a cynic speaking out 
 of a tub to prevent Philip making war. " Such men fetch their pre- 
 cepts from the cynic tub." 
 
371 
 
 out having any apprehensions either for his own safety or 
 that of his country, and without even the necessity of 
 humbling himself to make insipid harangues, had to deal, 
 not with Mysians or Getae. or with a man who was only 
 master of an island or some small territory ; but with 
 one whom both sea and land obeyed ; against him Apol- 
 lonins took up arms for the good of his subjects, after 
 having displayed the same courage he had done against 
 Nero. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 WHOEVER pleases, I know, may consider all Apollonius 
 did against Nero, as matter of mere ostentation, inasmuch 
 as he did not march out in battle against him ; but at 
 the same time it is well known he considerably weakened 
 his power, by the encouragement he gave to Vindex in 
 his revolt, and the reproaches he poured out against Ti- 
 gellinus.* I know also, that his attacking Nero, let what 
 will be said of it, required no great courage, as he 
 w as one who only led the life of a player on the lyre or 
 harp. But supposing is was so, what will they say of 
 Domitian,f a man of a most robust constitution, an 
 enemy to all the pleasures arising from vocal or instru- 
 mental harmony, which tends to soften man's rugged 
 nature,;}; a monster, whose luxury of delight was derived 
 from the misfortunes of his fellow-creatures, and whatever 
 gave them pain ; who said, that the distrust' of the people 
 
 * See b. v. c. 10. B. iv. c. 40. 
 
 t Domitian was of tall stature, of ruddy countenance, and of person 
 comely and graceful. Suetonius. 
 
 $ Under Domitian, it was our wretched lot to behold the tyrant, and 
 to be seen by him ; while he kept a register of our sighs and groans : 
 " cum suspiria nostra subscriberentur." Tacitus, 
 
 2b2 
 
S72 
 
 towards tyrants, and tyrants towards their people, was the 
 phyJactery, or charm, that supported power, and to sum 
 up all, that it was during the night an Emperor should 
 cease from all work, except that of death and slaughter. 
 Hence it came to pass that the senate was mutilated* 
 of its best members ; and philosophy so panick- 
 struck, that • somef of its professors fled in disguise to 
 the farthest parts of Gaul, others to the deserts of 
 Libya and Scythia, and some there were who embraced 
 the doctrines most suitable to the fashionable vices 
 of the age. At this time Apollonius was what Tire- 
 sias says of himself in the (EdipusJ of Sophocles, " I 
 am Apollo's subject and not thine," he always considered 
 wisdom as his sovereign mistress, and defended liberty 
 under Domitian. The words of Tiresias and Sophocles 
 he applied to himself ; he never entertained any fears for 
 his own life, but was deeply affected with what caused 
 the misfortunes of others. This was the true cause of his 
 turning against the tyrant all who were young in the senate, 
 and all in whom he found either wisdom or council. He 
 made journeys into the several provinces, he talked to 
 their governors, said the power of tyrants was not immor- 
 tal, and was easily subverted by its own fears. He set 
 before their eyes the panathenea of Athens, at which the 
 exploits of Harmodius and Aristogiton were celebrated ;^ 
 and the deed proceeding from Phyle, which brought on 
 
 * A:L>'jsTr.- r ta.&— mutilate, to deprive of some essential part. 
 
 t When Domitian was Emperor, the philosophers were, by a decree 
 of the senate, driven out of the city: aud banished Italy, at which time 
 the philosopher Epictetus went from Rome to Nicopolis on account of 
 that decree. Aclus Gellils. 
 
 X (Edipus Tyrannus. 
 
 § For when Thrasybulus fled to Phyle, which is a very strong castle 
 in Attica, (not a hundred stadia distant from Athens) he had no more 
 with him than thirty of his countrymen. " Hoc initium fiiit salutis 
 Atticorum, &c." C. Nepos. 
 
373 
 
 the destruction of the thirty tyrants. He called to their 
 remembrance the patriotic exploits of the Romans, who, 
 when the power of the people prevailed, drove tyranny 
 from their doors. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 A CERTAIN tragedian came to Ephesus, to represent 
 there the play of Ino.* The proconsul of Asia happened 
 to be present during the representation, who, notwith- 
 standing his youth, had considerable rank among the Viri 
 Consu/ares; but whose character wanted firmness in 
 matters which concerned the public. After the actor 
 had recited some iambics, in which Euripides says, that 
 tyrants of long established power, were sometimes over- 
 set by very trifles, Apollonius, it is said, started up, and 
 cried out, This poitron of a governor neither understands 
 me nor Euripides. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 WHEN Apollonius was informed that Domitian had put 
 to death three vestal virgins,^ who had violated their 
 
 * A tragedy of Euripides — not existing at this day — but the passage 
 alluded to here, is to be found among the valuable fragments preserved 
 by Stobaeus, a Greek writer who flourished about the year 405 of the 
 Christian JErn. I shall give the passage in the elegant translation o^ 
 Grotius. 
 
 Video tyrannos longa quos fovit dies, 
 
 Ut saepe res exigua momento brevi 
 
 Deturbet, alios rursus in Ccelum levet. 
 
 Pennata resfortuna — tain raultos ego 
 
 Vidi supinos spe procul volvi sua. 
 t The lewdness of the virgins, denominated vestal, which had been 
 overlooked by lus father and brother, he punished severely. Suetonius. 
 
374 
 
 vow of virginity, sworu to - the Ilian Minerva,* and neg- 
 lected the holy fire, as a rich atonement to the Roman 
 Vesta, he said, I wish atonement was made to you, O Sun, 
 for all the unjust murders committed throughout the 
 world. These things he said, and these petitions he offered 
 up, not in private as cowards are wont, but in public and 
 before all people. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 DOMITIAN, after putting to death Sabinus,f one of 
 his relations, married Julia, who was his widow and his 
 own niece, she being one of his brother Titus's daughters : 
 on account of this marriage, the people of Ephesus offered 
 a public sacrifice. Apollonius happening to be present, 
 exclaimed, O night of the Danaids, how singular hast 
 thou been. J ■ 
 
 CHAP VIII. 
 
 ALL Apollonius had to do at Rome, was done in this 
 manner. Nerva was often thought worthy to reign, and it 
 appeared, that when he mounted the throne after the 
 death of Domitian, he ruled with great moderation. The 
 
 * The statue of Pallas stood in the temple of Vesta, where she is 
 represented holding in her hand the Palladium, or the Minerva 
 Iliensis. 
 
 t He also put to death Flavius Sabinus, one of his cousins, because, 
 upon his being chosen at the consular election into that office, the 
 public crier had, by a blunder, declared him to the people, not consul, 
 but Emperor. Suetonius. 
 
 } In which the fifty daughters of Danaus, put to death their fifty 
 husbands, their cousins, one excepted, Hypermnestra, who saved her 
 husband Lynceus. 
 
/ 
 
 S75 
 
 *ame opinion was entertained of Orfitus* and Rufus.f 
 These men, after being accused of traiterous designs 
 against Domitian, were banished by him to the islands, 
 and NervaJ was ordered not to leave Tarentum. With 
 them Apollonius was closely connected all the time Titus 
 reigned with his father, and after his father's death, when 
 he reigned alone. With them Apollonius publickly cor- 
 responded on the subject of morality ; them he attached 
 to the Emperors interests, on account of their good 
 characters ; but he alienated them from Domitian, on 
 account of his tyranny and pride, and encouraged them 
 to stand forth in defence of the common liberty. Whilst 
 Domitian lived, he thought it unsafe to carry on any 
 epistolary correspondence whatever, as it was a fact, that 
 many of the most powerful citizens were betrayed by 
 their slaves, their friends, and their wives : and in short, 
 that there was not a house to be found possessed of a 
 secret. Apollonius, who was fully apprized of this, chose 
 
 * Salvidiemis Orfitus, banished by Domitian, quasi molitor rcrum 
 novarum, as one who designed an insurrection against him. 
 
 Suetonius. 
 He was soon after put to death in the place of his exile. 
 
 t Rufus is supposed by Olearius to be Lucius Minucius Rufus, who 
 was consul with Domitian, in the year of Christ, 88. 
 
 t If Nerva was banished, he returned home the same or the follow- 
 ing year, for, Dion Cassius says, he was at Rome when Domitian was 
 murdered ; nay, that writer takes no notice of the banishment of 
 Nerva, which makes us suspect the truth of what Philostratus writes, 
 who is often guilty of very considerable mistakes. Universal History. 
 
 Nerva would have been put to death from his horoscope, had not 
 an astrologer, who was his friend, diverted the Emperor from it, by 
 saying that he had not long to live in the course of nature. 
 
 These three senators, Orfitus, Rufus, and Nerva, says Crevier, 
 were men of great merit, and thought worthy of the empire, which 
 Nerva afterwards obtained. But if we credit Philostratus, adds the 
 same writer, Domitian's distrust of them was not gronndless, for 
 they all held a correspondence with Apollonius, who never ceased 
 to exhort them to deliver the world from a tyrant. 
 
376 
 
 out of his companions such as he thought most to be 
 depended on for their prudence, and of them so chosen, 
 he used to take apart, sometimes one and sometimes an- 
 other, and would say to them, I will entrust you with a 
 great secret. " You must go to Rome, and find such a 
 one ; and you must talk to him ; and to persuade him to 
 what you wish, you must be every thing I am." How- 
 ever, as soon as he heard that Orfitus and Rums were 
 banished for the spirit they shewed against the tyrant, and 
 had only failed from want of due precaution, he took up 
 his station at the grove of Smyrna, on the banks of the 
 Meles,* and discoursed of fate and necessity. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 APOLLONIUS, knowing that Nerva was to succeed 
 Domitian, spoke of it as a matter of public notoriety, and 
 shewed that tyrants themselves were unable to resist the 
 decrees of fate. Near the Meles stood a brazen statue 
 of Domitian, upon which when Apollonius got the eyes 
 of the spectators turned, he said, " Thou Fool, how little 
 understandest thou the decrees of fate and necessity." For 
 he whom they appoint to reign, will reign ; though he 
 should be put to death by you, he will again come to 
 life to fulfil their laws.f These words were carried to 
 Domitian by Euphrates the informer, but no one could 
 guess to whom the oracle alluded, whether to Nerva, 
 
 * Homer called Melesigenes, from being supposed to be born on the 
 banks of the Meles, and his compositions— Meletece chartce. 
 
 li Posse Meleleas nee mallem vincere chartas." Tibullus. 
 
 t La doctrine dApollone sue le destin, says Du Pin, surpasse en 
 extravagance tout ce qu'on peut imaginer. Whoever reasons as Apol- 
 lonius does in this place and in others, on the subject of destiny, is a 
 bad philosopher, and but a poor defender of the doctrine of fate and 
 necessity ; for if the end is ordained by the Fates, the means conducive 
 
 to 
 
377 
 
 Orfitus, or Rufus. Whereupon the tyrant, to free himself 
 from every apprehension, determined to put them all three 
 to death ; and to the end that he might not appear to act 
 without good reason, he cited Apollonius to appear before 
 him to give an account of all his caballing with them. For 
 Domitian was of opiniou, that if Apollonius appeared, 
 he would be found guilty, and then, that it might be sup- 
 posed his accomplices would not suffer till after a fair 
 hearing and conviction : or else, that if he should have the 
 address to make his escape, that the rest must equally 
 suffer, as being declared guilty by the flight of their as- 
 sociate. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 WHILST Domitian was considering this, and writing to 
 the proconsul of Asia to have Apollonius apprehended and 
 brought to Rome, the Tyanean was apprized of it all as 
 usual, by means of his Demon.* When he told his friends, 
 he was going to undertake a very singular journey, some 
 of them called to mind the storyf of the ancient Abaris, 
 and thought he was going to make a like one. However, 
 without communicating his intention to Damis, he set sail 
 with him for Achaia ; and landing at Corinth, and paying 
 
 to that end, must be likewise ordained: and it is of all follies the most 
 extravagant to suppose, that a thing will succeed by any other means 
 than by those which are absolutely necessary to produce it. 
 
 * It is not necessary, says Mr. Paley, to admit as a miracle, what 
 can be resolved into a palse perception ; of this nature was the Demon of 
 Socrates — and surely we may add, of Apollonius also. 
 
 t Herodotus says, that the story of Abaris, who was reported to be 
 an Hyperborean, and to have made a circuit of the earth without food, 
 carried on an arrow, merits no attention. 
 
 Iamblichus tells us that Apollo invested the Hyperborean Abaris 
 with the power of flying through the air on a magical arrow, wither- 
 soever he pleased. Bayle laughs at the idea of Abaris making his 
 entry into Athens riding on a broomstick. 
 
378 
 
 his vows, which he always did about mid-day, to the Sun, 
 he loosed sail in the evening, and made for Sicily and 
 Italy. As the wind was fair and the sea calm, he arrived 
 on the fifth day at Dicaearchia.* Here it was he met 
 Demetrius the philosopher, who shewed, by living so near 
 Rome, that he had more coinage than the rest of his bre- 
 thren. Apollonius, who know well he had kept out of the 
 way of the tyrant, said to him in the way of jest, " I am 
 glad to surprise you, Demetrius, in the midst of pleasures, 
 in the most charming spot of Italy, (if it is not entitled to 
 more praise) in the country f where Ulysses is said to 
 have forgotten, in the company of Calypso, J the smoke of 
 Ithaca and his family and household Gods." Whereupon 
 Demetrius, embracing him, and first deprecating the omen, 
 said, " What an injury will not philosophy receive, if a 
 man like this should suffer?" " What danger," replies 
 Apollonius, u is it to which you allude ?" " None I am 
 sure," returned Demetrius, " but what you are prepared 
 for : for if I dont know you, I dont know myself. But 
 let us not talk here, let us retire to a more private place ; 
 yet Damis is not to be excluded, whom, by Hercules, I 
 look on as the Iolaus§ of your labours." 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 AFTER saying this, he led them to a house which had 
 formerly belonged to Cicero, not far from the town. 
 
 * The ancient name of Puteoli. 
 
 + The situation, and even the existence of Calypso's Island, is dis- 
 puted by some writers. Philostratus places it somewhere on the 
 Italian shore, probably in the Island Circaeuni, the supposed residence 
 of Circe, now joined to the continent, and known by the name of 
 Monte Circello. 
 
 % See Odyssey, b. v. for what is noticed in the text. 
 
 $ A son of Iphiclus, king of Thessaly, who assisted Hercules in con- 
 quering the hydra. 
 
S79 
 
 They sat down under a Platanus, on whose boughs some 
 Cicadas,* invited by the season of the year, were singing. 
 Demetrius looking on them, cried out, how happy and 
 truly wise are ye, O Cicada?, who have been taught by 
 the Muses a song which has never subjected you either 
 to accusation or calumny. By them you are exempted 
 from the feelings of hunger, and are given an habitation 
 among those trees, beyond the reach of mortal envy, 
 whereon you joyfully chant their happiness and your own. 
 Apollonius, who well understood the tendency of what 
 he said, pretended to find it destitute of that interest and 
 concern, which he thought the exigency of the times re- 
 quired, and said, I see, Demetrius, you wished to sing 
 the praises of the Cicadae ; and as you had not courage 
 to sing them in public, have retired to this place for the 
 purpose, just as if a law had been passed, forbidding the 
 singing of their praises. I spoke so, replied Demetrius, 
 not merely to commend them, but to shew the liberty they 
 have of singing as they please, whilst we have scarcely 
 leave to mutter, and even find that our love of wisdom is 
 to be imputed to us as a crime. Even the accusation 
 which Anytus and Melitus laid against Socrates, charged 
 him only " with corrupting the youth and introducing new 
 Deities." But the accusation against us is to the follow- 
 ing effect, " Such a one acts wrong, so far as he cultivates 
 justice and wisdom ; and in proportion to the superior know- 
 ledge he has in divine and human affairs, in law in equity." 
 
 * Cicadae— Insects found in various parts both of the new and old 
 continent, where they subsist almost wholly on the leaves of trees, 
 and other vegetable substances. The Athenians wove golden Cicadae' 
 in their hair, to denote their national antiquity, that, like these crea- 
 tures, the,y were the first-born of the earth. Anacreon has an Ode 
 addressed to the Cicadae, which, in Moore's beautiful translation, begins 
 thus: 
 
 " O thou, of all Creation blest, 
 " Sweet insect," &c. 
 
380 
 
 The more you excel us in wisdom, the more circumspectly 
 has the accusation been laid against you. It is Domitian's 
 wish to make you an accomplice in the crime for which 
 Nerva and his associates are exiled. But for what crime, 
 said Apollonius, have they been banished? For that 
 which is considered, replied Demetrius, as one of the 
 greatest crimes in the eyes of him who prosecutes. He 
 says they are guilty of having aspired to the empire, and 
 that you are the man who urged them to make the attempt, 
 having, as I think, castrated a boy for the purpose. What, 
 said Apollonius, could it be supposed that I should castrate 
 a boy in order to have the empire possessed by an eunuch? 
 It is not on that account, said Demetrius, we are assailed 
 with calumnies, but they say you sacrificed a boy to learn 
 the secrets of futurity, which are only to be known by the 
 inspection of the entrails of such a victim. In the charges 
 which are brought against you, some of them relate to 
 your dress, others to your particular diet, and there are 
 some of them which even proceed to your being worshipped 
 by the people. This information I got from Telesinus, 
 who is not only my friend, but yours. I should consider 
 it a very fortunate circumstance, says Apollonius, were we 
 now to meet Telesinus, as I suppose you mean the philo- 
 sopher who was consul in the reign of Nero. The very 
 same, returned Demetrius; but what is the chance we 
 have of meeting him, seeing that tyranny is winged, when- 
 ever it is pleased, to attack those in power, who are known 
 to hold communication with men who lie under the accusa- 
 tions you do ? Telesinus, yielding to the decree which 
 banished the philosphers from Rome, abandoned the city, 
 thinking it better to go into exile as a philosopher, than 
 to remain in the city as a consul. I would not, says Apol- 
 lonius, wish him to run any risk on my account, seeing 
 that he has encountered so much for the sake of philo^ 
 sophy. 
 
 
:J81 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 BUT I pray you tell mo, said Apollonius, what it is you 
 would advise me either to say or do, in order best to com- 
 pose my fears ? Do not jest with me, returned Demetrius, 
 nor affect fears where you have none ; for if you thought 
 your present situation was attended with danger, you 
 should even avoid speaking of it. And would you, said 
 Apollonius, try to make your escape were you so circum- 
 stanced as I am ? I would not, I swear it by Minerva, 
 said Demetrius, if I had any hopes of getting a fair trial. 
 But we have here neither law, nor justice, nor a judge to 
 hear my defence ; and who, were he even to hear it, will 
 have me put to death, though I should be innocent. And 
 I know you would be little inclined to give me any indul- 
 gence, were I to chuse a cold and ignoble death, instead 
 of one becoming philosophy. Now the death which I 
 conceive worthy of philosophy, is when a man dies in the 
 act of giving liberty to his country, or in avenging his 
 parents, his children, brothers, or relations, or his friends ; 
 in d^nce^fjof whom, according to the sentiments of the 
 wise, a man will risk more than for relations, or even those 
 whom love has procured and united to him. But to die 
 out of vanity for a cause little approved of, and give the 
 tyrant the slightest pretence to suppose he has acted right, 
 would be a severer punishment, than the being whirled 
 aloft on a wheel in the air, as it is said Ixion is. A chief 
 part of your defence will rest on your appearance, which 
 you suppose will be placed to the account of a good con- 
 science, as it will not be imagined you would have under- 
 taken such a journey, had you been conscious of having 
 acted wrong. But remember Domitian will not thus 
 reason, he will consider your confidence as arising from 
 the secret power you possess in the magic art. It is not 
 more than ten days since you were cited, and here are 
 
382 
 
 you ready for trial before any day is appointed for hearing 
 you ; and what think you will be the consequence of this ? 
 Why, it will give weight to what is said of your having a 
 fore-knowledge of the event, and will tend to confirm the 
 story of the child. Beware of that coming to pass, which, 
 it's said, you supported in Ionia concerning the Fates and 
 necessity ; and take care, lest fate is not preparing some 
 misfortune which must of necessity fall on you, without 
 you bearing in mind, that it is always the part of a wise 
 man to be in a state of caution and vigilance. If you 
 have not forgotten the days of Nero, you will call to re- 
 membrance my situation ; and that I was not one who 
 wanted courage to die. And yet they were days which 
 admitted of some relaxation, some respite from cruelty ; 
 for if the harp of Nero shook off that decorum becoming 
 the imperial character, it tended to mitigate its severity. 
 Hence we had a truce with blood, a cessation from 
 slaughter. Hence I was not put to death, though the 
 sword was suspended over me, for these discourses we 
 had held together in the bath. And why was I spared ? 
 it was because he had succeeded in a favourite song, which 
 he thought he had sung to admiration. But to what lyre, 
 or harmony of sweet sounds, shall we now sacrifice ? for 
 every place is become foreign to the Muses,* and full of 
 discord and black bile : Domitian neither deriving com- 
 fort from himself, nor any other person. Hear what 
 Pindar says in praise of the lyre, " It can appease the 
 rage of Mars, and recal him from the field of battle/* 
 
 * Suetonius says, Domitian, in the beginning of his reign, laid aside 
 the study of the liberal sciences, though he took care to restore at a 
 vast expence the libraries which had been burnt down, by collecting 
 copies from all parts, and sending scribes to Alexandria, either to copy, 
 or correct from the repository of books at that place. Yet he never 
 applied himself to the reading of history or poetry, or to exercise his 
 pen for his own improvement. He read nothing but the commen- 
 taries and acts of Tiberius Caesar. 
 
333 
 
 Though the Emperor has instituted musical concerts,* 
 and rewards in public the victors with crowns, yet he has 
 put to death some of the performers who lately disputed 
 the prize in vocal and instrumental music. Besides, you 
 should not forget the situation of those f men who are 
 named your accomplices, for you will prove their ruin, 
 either by shewing too much security, or by saying what 
 you will not be able to make believed. Their safety and 
 your own are both before you. You see many ships in 
 harbour, of which some are bound for Libya, Egypt, and 
 Phenicia, others for Cyprus and Sardinia, and some even 
 to more distant lands. I should think it wise for you to 
 go aboard one of them, and sail to whatever couutry you 
 like. Tyranny is always more or less formidable to illus- 
 trious men, in proportion as the place of their retirement 
 is more or less obscure. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 DAMIS, being quite overcome with this discourse of 
 Demetrius, said, I trust the friendly advice you give 
 Apollonius may have its effect, and be useful to him. 
 I own my influence with him avails but little, whenever I 
 advise him not to run upon drawn swords, or expose 
 himself to a tyranny the cruellest ever experienced. With- 
 out seeing you, I should not have known the object of his 
 present journey. No one is more about him than I am, 
 and yet, when asked where I am going, I appear but in a 
 ridiculous point of view when not able to tell ; for here 
 am I traversing the Sicilian seas, and Tyrrhenean bays, 
 
 * He likewise instituted, in honour of Jupiter Capitoliuus, a solemn 
 contest in music, to be performed every five years, &c. 
 
 Suetonius. 
 t Nerva, Rufu», and Orfitus. 
 
3S4 
 
 and literally know not for what purpose. If I exposed 
 myself to danger in a business of which I was informed, 
 I should at least have the satisfaction of being able to 
 answer all questions that were asked ; for in that case I 
 might say Apollonius loves death, that I am his rival, and 
 that we sail together. But because I am ignorant of every 
 thing, it is right in me only to speak of what I know, and 
 that I will speak for the sake of the man If I die, phi- 
 losophy will not suffer much by it : inasmuch as I am but 
 the attendant of a courageous philosopher, whose sole merit 
 consists in following his master. But if they put Apollo- 
 nius to death, (as it is ever the spirit of tyranny to exalt 
 some, and pull down others) they will have, in my opinion, 
 to boast of having raised a trophy for the destruction of 
 philosophy in the person of him who of all men was the 
 best able to support her. We have to contend with many 
 Anytusses and Melitusses ; and many are the accusations 
 which are brought from all sides against the friends of 
 Apollonius, such as " one man having smiled when he 
 glanced at tyranny; another having justified what was 
 said ; one having given rise to the discourse, and another 
 having departed pleased with what was said." As for 
 my part, I think a man should lay down his life for phi- 
 losophy, as he would for his altars, and his city, and 
 his sepulchres ; and many are the illustrious men who have 
 died in defence of such things. But for the sake of de- 
 stroying philosophy, I would neither wish to die myself, 
 nor any one who loves her and Apollonius. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 TO this Apollonius replied, we must pardon Damis's 
 great precaution on the present emergency. He is an 
 Assyrian, and borders on the Medes, where absolute 
 power is r^esfjpted, and consequently it cannot be supposed 
 
385 
 
 lie can entertain very exalted ideas on the subject of 
 civil liberty. But for you, Demetrius, I cannot see in 
 what way you can justify yourself to philosophy ; for in- 
 stead of adding to Damis's fears, you should rather have 
 tried to remove them, even supposing them founded ; I 
 think it would have been more becoming you, to have en- 
 couraged, as knowing him to be a timid man, who might 
 have fears where none existed. The wise man will die 
 for the objects you have mentioned ; but he who is not, 
 will do the same. The law says we must die for liberty, 
 and nature that we must do the same for those connected 
 to us by relationship, or friendship, or love. All men 
 are subject to the laws of nature, and society : the one we 
 obey with our consent, the other we must obey whether we 
 consent or not. It is incumbent then on men to die for 
 the causes I have mentioned ; but it is" much more incum- 
 bent on wise men to die for the studies to which they 
 are addicted. For whatever is made the object of their 
 choice, independent either of written law, or natural 
 instinct, is made so under the inspiration of magnanimity 
 and courage ; and consequently any endeavour to destroy 
 such an object would be vain; neither fire nor sword 
 would terrify a wise man, or make him flinch, or have 
 recourse to falsehood or equivocation to save his life ; for 
 what he knows, he will as religiously preserve, as if the 
 hidden mysteries of Ceres were confided to him. My 
 knowledge is greater than that of other men, because I 
 know all things.* What I know, I know in part for the use of 
 the wise and good, in part for myself and the Gods - y but 
 I know nothing for tyrants, let them use whatever threats 
 and tortures they please. It is easy to see I am not come 
 
 * B. 3. c. 18. We know all things, says Iaichas, because we know 
 ourselves. He had better said, we know nothing, for we know not 
 onrselvts 
 
 o 
 
 ( 
 
386 
 
 here on a fool's errand. I am under no apprehensions on 
 account of my own life, for the tyrant's power is unable 
 to destroy me, even though I wished it myself. On the 
 other hand, I find that I endanger the lives of those men, of 
 whom the tyrant will make me either the head or the par- 
 tisan ; I will be whatever he will wish to make me. But 
 were I to betray them through my own indolence, or a 
 want of zeal in their favour, what opinion, I pray thee, 
 would be formed of me by all good men ? Who is there 
 will not justly put me to death for having wantonly sported 
 with the lives of those, to whom the Gods granted all I 
 asked from them ? I shall now endeavour to shew, that it 
 was not possible otherwise to escape the imputation of 
 treachery. The disposition of tyranny is two-fold; the 
 one passes sentence without hearing, the other leaves the 
 passing of it to the courts of law. Tyrants of the first 
 class resemble wild beasts of the most active furious natures ; 
 tyrants of the second are like wild beasts of a more tame and 
 indolent temper. Both species of tyranny are most offensive, 
 as appears from the frantic power of Nero, who despised all 
 forms of trial and justice, and from the gloomy and slug- 
 gish tyranny of Tiberius. The one put to death the un- 
 suspecting, who had no apprehension of danger; the other 
 the suspecting, who had long been a prey to their fears. 
 Yet those tyrannies are in my opinion the very worst, 
 which make use of the plea of justice and of a sentence 
 pronounced according to law, regardless of any law what- 
 ever ; for they pass sentences like tyrannies that observe 
 no kind of trial, and use the name of law as a pretext, not 
 only to gratify, but conceal their passions. For by the 
 very circumstances of having the sentence of death passed 
 under the sanction of law, the wretched sufferers are de- 
 prived of that general pity, which it is proper to bestow 
 in the place of sepulchral garments on those who suffer 
 unjustly. I perceive the usage of the present tyranny to 
 be of a judicial kind, which gives the shadow of a trial, 
 O 
 
387 
 
 and ends in a total neglect of it. For it passes sentence 
 on those whom it previously condemns unheard, exactly 
 as if no form of trial whatever was observed. Conse- 
 quently he who suffers by the sentence of the judge, evi- 
 dently suffers by that sentence alone, and as it were by his 
 sole fault, who does not decide according to the laws. 
 But he who has forfeited his recognisance, how is it pos- 
 sible he can avoid being condemed for it ! If, now that 
 the fortunes of so many men are put into my hands, I 
 should decline my exertions both for them and myself, to 
 what land, I beseech you, could I fly, where I should be 
 not tainted with guilt ? Suppose I tc ok your advice, and 
 followed it as being the best, and that in consequence of 
 it, these men were put to death; what prayers, I ask you, 
 could I offer up for a successful voyage ? On what coast 
 could I land, or to what people fly ? I must exile myself 
 from the whole Roman Empire, and go in quest of friends to 
 the unknown parts of the earth? On whose friendship 
 could I rely ? Is it on that of Phraotes, or the King of 
 Babylon,* or the divine Iarchas, or the generous Thes- 
 pesion ? Were I to go to the Ethiopians, what, my 
 friend, could I say to Thespesion ? For if I concealed such 
 conduct, I should appear not only a lover of lies, but a 
 servant of the same ; and if I was to give any account of 
 my conduct, I must speak of it in the following manner : 
 O Thespesion, Euphrates has accused me to you of crimes 
 of which I am not conscious ; he has told you I was a 
 boaster, a man fond of the marvellous, and who despised 
 the knowledge of the Ethiopians. I am not this, but I 
 am the betrayer and the executioner of my friends, and 
 one in whom no one places confidence, &c. If a crown 
 of virtue is to be given for such qualities, I am come to 
 carry it away : I am come to receive a crown for having 
 so effectually destroyed some of the first houses in Rome 
 
 * Bardanes. 
 C Z C 2 
 
388 
 
 as to be no longer habitable. I see, Demetrius, you 
 blush at hearing this. But what would you do, were you 
 to represent to yourself Phraotes and me flying to such a 
 man for his protection ! With what face could I look on 
 him ? or what reason assign for my flight ? Should I say, 
 when I paid my first visit, that I was virtuous and inno- 
 cent, and not indisposed to die for my friends ; but that 
 after conversing with him, I at your suggestion cast away 
 all these most excellent dispositions as things of no value. 
 Would Iarchas, were I to make him such a confession, 
 condescend so much as to ask me one question : would 
 he not drive me from his sacred hill, as Eolus* did 
 Ulysses from his island, for having abused the gifts which 
 he gave him to secure a successful voyage? and would 
 he not tell me I had violated the sacred privilege of the 
 cup of Tantalus, which required from all who drank of it, 
 a participation of the dangers of their friends. I know, 
 Demetrius, how able you are to abridge and appreciate 
 all dissertations, and that you would thus naturally address 
 me, " go not to the dwellers on the sacred hill, but go to 
 men with whom no intercouse of friendship has subsisted; 
 if you do this, your flight will turn out successful, and you 
 will lie concealed amongst a people who know you not/' 
 Let us now consider the weight of this suggestion, and see 
 how it is founded. My opinion of it is this. 1 conceive 
 a wise man does nothing in private, or alone, or even 
 conceals any thing in his mind, so remote from all wit- 
 nesses, as not to have himself a witness of what he does. 
 And whether the Pythian inscription be Apollo's, or that of 
 some mortal, who knew himself, and uttered it as a sen- 
 tence to be observed by all men, matters not; I am of 
 
 * Hence — be gone — 
 Thou worst of men ! I may not entertain 
 Or give safe conduct homeward to a wretch 
 Abhorr'd by all in heaven.^— Homek, Odyssey, b. 10. 
 
389 
 
 opiuion, a wise man who knows himself and examines his 
 own mind, does none of those things in private or in retire- 
 ment, which vulgar minds think themselves allowed to do ; 
 nor dares commit in public, and without shame, what 
 others do in sight of all without any shame whatever. 
 For they who are the slaves of despotic power, „have 
 pleasure in delivering up to it their dearest friends, merely 
 because they fear what is not to be feared, and rever- 
 ence nothing that ought to be respected. But wisdom 
 makes no allowance for such conduct, which, as well as 
 the Pythian inscription, sanctions the sentiment of Eu- 
 ripides, that it is " Conscience which torments poor mor- 
 tals whenever they call to mind their evil doings." Con- 
 science that represented to the mind of Orestes** the 
 images of the Furies, when he run mad and attacked his 
 mother. The mind is free and capable of judging what is 
 to be done ; conscience is not, it judges only from the 
 images which the mind presents to it. If the mind makes 
 virtue the object of its choice, conscience accompanies 
 with pleasure the possessor into the temples, and streets, 
 and sacred groves, and busy haunts of men. She forsakes 
 him not in his sleep, but orders a chorus of dreams to 
 join in sweetest harmony of song around him. If the state 
 of the mind inclines to do wrong, conscience suffers not 
 the culprit to look on men with a fixed countenance, or 
 to address them with an unfaltering tongue. She will 
 not let him approach tbe temples, nor suffer him to offer 
 up his prayers in them. She withholds him from raising 
 up his hands to the images of the Gods, and laughs at 
 him if he does, as she does at those who come to depre- 
 cate a merited punishment. Conscience drives him out of 
 company, and frightens him when asleep. Whatever 
 persons of this description see during the day, whatever 
 
 * Orestes of Euripides. 
 
390 
 
 they fancy they either hear or say, all is represented by 
 conscience as ideal and visionary ; and on the other hand, 
 the idle and fantastic terrors of their own brains are shewn 
 as real and dreadful. From what I have said, 1 think I 
 have made it very clear, under the guidance of truth itself, 
 how much my conscience would condemn me both among 
 known and unknown nations, if I should betray those men. 
 But I never will be false to myself, and I will combat 
 against the tyrant, singing in the language of Homer, 
 
 " Mars is our common Lord, alike to all, 
 
 " And oft the victor triumphs but to fall." Pope. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 DAMIS writes that he himself was so affected with this 
 discourse, that he quite derived new life from it, and adds, 
 that Demetrius persisted no longer in holding different 
 sentiments from Apollonius, but was loud in his praises, 
 saying, he spoke with a divine instinct, and that he was 
 entitled to high commendation for the dangers to which he 
 exposed himself, as was also his philosophy for the sake of 
 which he did it. He then offered to take him and his 
 companions to his lodgings, which Apollonius begged 
 leave to decline, from the consideration of its growing late, 
 and of his sailing in the night, the time appointed for the 
 weighing anchor of such vessels as were in harbour. 
 However, when times will mend, we shall sup together ; 
 at present, occasion might be taken of charging you with 
 high treason, should it be known that you had eaten with 
 the Emperor*s enemy. I do not wish you even to accom- 
 pauy me to the port, lest the very circumstance, of your 
 holding discourse with me, might involve you in the sus- 
 picion of criminal designs against the government. To 
 this reasoning Demetrius assented, and after embracing 
 Apollonius, took his leave, every now and then turning 
 
391 
 
 away his face to wipe off the tears that were falling from 
 it. Apollonius then looking on Damis, says, if you are 
 possessed of as much courage as I am, let us embark toge- 
 ther ; if you are not, it is time you should think of re- 
 maining where you are ; you can stay with Demetrius, who 
 is our common friend. To which Damis answered, And 
 what opinion would the world entertain of me, if after 
 what I have heard this day on the subject of friends, and 
 their mutual attachment to each other in the times of dan- 
 ger, I should decline sharing in yours, and should aban- 
 don you now in the hour of greatest need? for as yet I have 
 not appeared backward in any thing wherein your interest 
 was concerned. Your words are good, said Apollonius, 
 let us therefore set out, I will appear in the habit I do at 
 present, but for you, I should recommend an ordinary 
 habit instead of what you wear ; that you should cut your 
 hair, and put on a linen habit, and go without shoes. But 
 why I say this, I will now explain. I know we must suf- 
 fer much for the particular course of life we have adopted, 
 but I am decidedly against your sharing in all its dangers, 
 and being cast into prison, which must be the consequence 
 if you are betrayed by your habit. I wish you to follow 
 me, and to be present at all that passes, as one who in 
 other respects loves me, without being sworn to my philo- 
 sophy. This was the reason why Damis laid aside his 
 Pythagorean garb, which he assures us was done, not from 
 any fears or sorrow for having worn it, but from the ap- 
 probation which he gave to the idea of Apollonius, to 
 which he wished to conform, by reason of the necessity of 
 the times. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 LEAVING Dicaearchia,* on the third day they cast an- 
 chor in the mouth of the Tiber, from whence to Rome 
 
 • Puteoli. 
 
392 
 
 the passage is neither long nor tedious. The imperial 
 sword was then in the hands of iElian the Pretorian pre- 
 fect. This man formerly loved Apollonius, and used to 
 talk to him when in Egypt. Of this, iElian had taken no 
 notice to Domitian by way of defending Apollonius, for 
 the nature of his office did not admit his saying any 
 thing which might be disagreeable to him. For how could 
 he praise to him a man who passed for his enemy ? or in- 
 tercede for him as a friend ? However, in private he used 
 every means he thought might serve him, without seeming 
 at all interested in the matter. When iElian found that 
 Apollonius, before his arrival, lay under grievous accusa- 
 tions, he thus addressed the Emperor, and said, sophists 
 are nothing but prattle and flippancy, the art they profess 
 is all for shew, and whenever they are unable to derive a 
 maintenance from it, they wish to die. Sophists of this 
 description do not wait the voluntary approach of death, 
 but anticipate it by provoking those in power to inflict it. 
 It was under this consideration, I think, Nero declined 
 putting him to death, he knew he wished to die, and there- 
 fore, as it were, obliged him to live, not as granting him 
 a favour by so doing, but because he thought that by put- 
 ting him to death, he would give him too much celebrity. 
 This same prince kept Musonius the Tyrrhenian, who op- 
 posed. his authority in many instances, shut up in the little 
 island of Gyara.* The Greeks took great delight in 
 sophists of this kind, and used to sail to the island for the 
 sake of talking to him, but now they visit it for its foun- 
 tain. For, in this island, formerly destitute of water, 
 Musonius discovered a fountain, which is now no less 
 praised by the Greeks in their songs, than Caballinusf on 
 mount Helicon. 
 
 * Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris, & carcere dignum, 
 Si vis esse aliquis. Jl 1 venal. 
 
 + A clear fountain on mount Helicon, sacred to the Muses, and 
 called also Hippocrene, as raised from the ground by the foot of Pega- 
 sus. Caballus, a horse derived from the Greek Ka€«xx»?. 
 
;93 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 IT was in this manner iElian tried to soothe the Emperor 
 before Apollonius arrived ; but when he did, he used more 
 address to the same purpose. He ordered him imme- 
 diately to be apprehended and brought before him ; Apol- 
 lonius appeared ; his accuser attacked him with great vio- 
 lence, charging him with being an enchanter, and excel- 
 ling in that art. When iElian heard this, he said to the 
 accuser, I request you may reserve yourself and charges 
 for the Emperor's tribunal. All Apollonius said, was, 
 If I am an enchanter, how can I be brought to trial ? and 
 if I am brought to trial, how can I be considered as an 
 enchanter? This cannot be, without calumny, as it is 
 said, has acquired a power superior to magicians them- 
 selves. When iElian found that the accuser was going to 
 bring forward some more absurd charge, he stopped him, 
 saying, Give me the time which precedes the trial, as in 
 it I intend to prove the sophist apart, and not in open 
 court. Because, if he confesses the crime, the pleadings 
 will be greatly abridged in the case ; but if he does not, 
 the Emperor must decide/ iElian then retiring into the 
 most private part of the court, where causes only of the 
 greatest moment are tried sub silentio, he said, withdraw 
 all, and let no one stay to listen, for such is the Emperor's 
 pleasure. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 WHEN they were alone, iElian said to Apollonius, I 
 was but very young at the time the Emperor's father went 
 into Egypt to sacrifice to the Gods, and advise with you 
 on the state of his affairs. I accompanied him as 
 military tribune, in consequence of the knowledge I pos- 
 
3[H 
 
 sessed in the art of war. I remember you received me 
 with so much kindness, that, when the Emperor was ad- 
 ministering justice to the several cities, you took me aside, 
 told me who I was, what was my name, and who was my fa- 
 ther. You even then told me I should be possessed of my 
 present situation, which the majority of people hold to be 
 superior to every other human dignity. But, for my part, 
 I think it an employment attended with great trouble, 
 and a condition of life most wretched. By it, I am the 
 guardian of a cruel tyranny, and dread the punishment of 
 heaven if I fail in the discharge of any part of my duty. 
 I have already given you a proof of my friendship, and 
 what I told you from the beginning, of my unceasing re- 
 gard for you, may, I think, be sufficient to call to your 
 remembrance my character. My wishing to speak to you 
 alone on the charges of your accuser, is a mere pretence 
 and contrivance of mine to shew you the confidence that 
 is to be placed in me, and what you have to expect from 
 the Emperor. I know not what sentence he will pass on 
 your case, but I know he is very much in the temper of 
 those judges who wish to condemn, and yet are ashamed 
 to do so without some solid grounds : besides, he is anxious 
 to make use of you as a plea to destroy some men of con- 
 sular authority. The fact is, he desires to do what ought 
 not to be done, and to do it under the cloak of justice. 
 This the reason why it is necessary for me to dissemble, 
 and to seem to act with a degree of zeal in the business ; 
 for if the Emperor once suspected me of proceeding with 
 indifference in the cause, I know not which of us would 
 be the first to perish. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 WHEN Apollonius heard this, he said, As we can now 
 speak together without restraint, and as you have opened 
 
395 
 
 your mind to me, I think it but fair for me to open mine 
 to you. You speak of my affairs like a philosopher, like 
 one of my old disciples, and as you seem from affection 
 disposed to share in my dangers, I will tell you my whole 
 heart. I had it in my power to escape by flight, (for still 
 there are many parts of the earth not yet subject to your 
 power, to which I might have retired). I could have 
 found an asylum with wise men, men much wiser than 
 myself, who worship the Gods according to right reason ; 
 in a country inhabited by a people much more pious than 
 the people of Rome, with whom exists neither informa- 
 tion nor accusation, the reason of which is, that they 
 neither commit injury themselves, nor suffer it to be com- 
 mitted by others, and of course have no need of courts of 
 justice. But fearing to incur the character of traitor, 
 should I decline a defence, and that they who are in dan- 
 ger on my account, should suffer in consequence, I am 
 come to plead my own cause. I request you may fur- 
 nish me with the articles of my accusation, on which it 
 will be necessary for me to make my defence. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 THE articles with which you are charged, said iElian, 
 are of different kinds, and not few in number. Among 
 them are noticed your dress, your manner of living, and 
 the adoration that is paid you — to which is added, the an- 
 swer you gave the Ephesians relative to the plague. You 
 are charged besides with many things said against the Em- 
 peror, of which, some were spoken in private, others in 
 public ; and all are affirmed to have been uttered under the 
 immediate direction of the Gods. But the charge, which 
 of all others is the least credible, and which I know to be 
 so, from your known aversion to the shedding of blood, 
 is one that appears to the Emperor the most likely to be 
 
396 
 
 true ; the charge is, that you met Nerva in a field, where 
 you sacrificed an Arcadian boy for him ; that you did it to 
 procure for him the death of the reigning Emperor, and 
 that by this sacrifice you have given Nerva hopes of one 
 day obtaining the empire. The above is all said to have 
 taken place by night, during the waning of the moon. 
 This last charge, by reason of being more serious than the 
 rest, is considered as the chief, and only one deserving of 
 attention ; for as to what respects your dress, your man- 
 ner of living, and knowledge of futurity, all that only tends 
 to make the last more probable, and each separately taken 
 tends as a collateral circumstance to strengthen your power 
 of offending, and your courage to make such a sacrifice. 
 This is the accusation, to answer which you must be pre- 
 pared, and in the apology you make, I advise you so to 
 speak as not to offend the Emperor. As a proof that it is 
 not my wish to shew the least disrespect to the Emperor, 
 I am come here, said Apollonius, to make my defence. 
 And had I the hardyhood to treat with disrespect his pow- 
 er, I should submit my conduct to your judgment, first, 
 on account of your own worth, and next, the regard you 
 have ever shewn for me. To pass for worthless in the 
 eyes of an enemy, is not a matter of heavy affliction, be- 
 cause it is probable he hates us, not so much for what has 
 brought down on us public disgrace, as for what shocks 
 him as an individual. But to be esteemed worthless in the 
 opinion of a friend, is a much more serious consideration 
 than all that can happen from an enemy, because it is pro- 
 bable that the dislike of a friend arises only from what 
 gives the decided character of being wicked. 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 
 LILIAN liked what he said, and encouraged him not to 
 despair, as the opinion he formed of him was such, that 
 
397 
 
 they could not terrify him, even if they held up the Gor- 
 gon's* head before him. He then called the keepers of 
 the prison, and ordered them to take Apollonius into cus- 
 tody, and there detain him till the Emperor's pleasure was 
 known, who might now learn from his own mouth what he 
 had said : whilst giving these orders, he put on the air and 
 look of a man in great wrath. After this, he went to the 
 palace to discharge the duties of his office. Here Damis> 
 relates a circumstance which was somewhat like what hap- 
 pened to Aristrides, who, when banished by Ostracism 
 from Athens, on account of his virtue, had no sooner got 
 out of the city than he was met by a countryman, who 
 asked him to write the name of Aristides on his shell — he 
 confessed he did not know the man, nor even how to read 
 or write, and all he knew was, that it grieved him to 
 hear every one call him just. A tribune happening to 
 know Apollonius, asked him in jest the cause ojf his pre- 
 sent trouble, to whom he said he did not know. Well, re- 
 turned the tribune, I do, and it is the worship paid you by 
 some men, which has given rise to the suspicion of your 
 wishing to pass for a God. And pray who, replied Apol- 
 lonius, has worshipped me ? I myself, said the tribune, 
 when a boy, at Ephesus, at the time you delivered us from 
 the plague. You did well, answered Apollonius, as did 
 the city of Ephesus when delivered from such a calamity. 
 With this consideration, continued the tribune, I have 
 found out the means of saving you, and drawing you out of 
 the above difficulty. Let us go outside the city, and if I 
 cut off your head with a sword, the accusation against you 
 will fall to the ground, and you will stand acquitted. But 
 if you terrify me so as to make the sword drop out of my 
 hand, then you will be esteemed a God, and acknowledg- 
 
 * Rigida cum Gorgone Perseus. Claudia*. 
 
398 
 
 ed as such by a public decree.* Here was a tribune who 
 far surpassed in barbarity, him who wished to banish 
 Aristides, inasmuch as all he said was done in way of jest 
 and mockery. But Apollonius never once affected to hear 
 him, for he was talking all the time to Damis on the na- 
 ture of the Delta, around which, it is said, the Nile divides 
 into two branches. 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 AFTER this, iElian sending for Apollonius, ordered him 
 into the prison where the captives were not bound, and 
 there to remain till the Emperor had leisure to speak to 
 him, as he wished, in private. When dismissed from the 
 tribunal and led back to prison, he said to Damis, Let us 
 have some conversation with the people here, for what 
 else can we do till the Emperor thinks fit to give us an 
 audience. I fear, replied Damis, that the prisoners will 
 think us rather officious, and will not be much obliged to 
 us if we keep them from thinking of their defence ; and 
 besides, I think it will appear rather absurd in us to talk 
 to people in grief, and who must have very little inclination 
 to hear us. On the contrary, said Apollonius, I think 
 people in their situation stand more in need of assistance 
 and comfort than others. For were I to call to mind 
 what Homer says of Helen'sf mixing certain Egyptian 
 
 * On ne comprend pas bien (says Du Pin) le dessein de cet homme, 
 ouplntot de Philostrate dans cette histoire; mais quel qu'il puisse 
 @tre, on ne croira jamais, que cela ait pu etre dit serieusemeat, et on 
 ne peut excuser Apollone de Papprobation qu' il donne a ceux qui Iui 
 avoient rendu des honneurs divins a Ephese. 
 
 t Meantime, with genial joy to warm the soul, 
 
 Bright Helen^mix'd a mirth-inspiring bowl, 
 
 Temper'd with drugs of sov'reign use, t'assuage 
 
 The boiling bosom of tumultuous rage ; 
 
 To clear the cloudy front of wrinkled care, 
 
 And dry the tearful sluices of despair. Homer, Od. b. iv. 
 
399 
 
 drugs in a bowl, for curing the diseases of the mind, I 
 might suppose Helen, who was instructed in the learning 
 of Egypt, assuaged sorrow by the enchantments of her 
 cup, and applied both the powers of eloquence and wine 
 to the comfort of the afflicted. What you say, said Da- 
 mis, is likely enough, especially if it is certain that Helen 
 came into Egypt, and conversed with Proteus ; or if, as 
 Homer says, she was acquainted with Polydanma the wife 
 of Thone * However, for the present let us change the 
 conversation, as I wish to propose some questions myself. 
 I know them already, said Apollonius, you wish to know 
 all that passed between JElian and me, and whether his 
 manner of receiving me was kind, or not ; and then he 
 proceeded to give him a particular account of their inter- 
 view, which, when he had finished, Damis adored him, 
 and said, that he now entertained no doubt of Leucothea 
 having formerly given Ulysses a scarf, f by means of which 
 he passed the sea, after the loss of a ship, by only the 
 steerage of his arms. For to us who have fallen into 
 difficulties great and perilous, I think, says he, some God 
 has stretched out a hand to save us from perishing. Here 
 Apollonius, not exactly approving of what Damis said, 
 replied, how long will you continue to entertain such 
 fears, and know not that wisdom deeply affects all who 
 are but sensible ofits influence, and is itself affected by 
 no one. But, returned Damis, we have now to deal with 
 a man who is destitute of wisdom, who cannot be affected 
 by us, and who does not suffer himself to be affected by 
 
 * These drugs, so friendly to the joys of life 
 Bright Helen learn'd fro/u Thane's imperial wife. 
 
 Homer, Od. b. iv. 
 Thon, or Thonis, was King of Egypt. 
 
 t This heav'nly scarf beneath thy bosom bind, 
 And live ; give all thy terrors to the wind. 
 
 Homer, Od. b. iv. 
 
400 
 
 any persoa. Seest thou not, said Apollonius, that Do- 
 mitian is inflated with pride, and labours under evident 
 insanity. I do, replied Damis, it is impossible not to see 
 it. Well then, added Apollonius, the more you are 
 acquainted with the tyrant, the more you ought to despise 
 him and all he can do. 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 WHILST they were talking in this manner, a man from 
 Cilicia, I believe, approached, and said to them, all my 
 danger, Sirs, arises from my riches. That's not impro- 
 bable, answered Apollonius, if you have acquired them 
 by means not justifiable ; for instance, by robbery, or by 
 the vending of poisonous drugs, or by ransacking* the 
 tombs of ancient kings, stored with gold and precious 
 treasure ; if, I say, you have been guilty of such dark 
 transactions, you ought not only to be called to account for 
 the same, but capitally punished. I know that wealth is 
 sometimes procured by ways such as these, but then it is 
 always accounted infamous and accursed. But if what 
 you possess has been acquired by inheritance, or by 
 fair, and not usurious dealings, what man has the effrontery 
 to dare to deprive you of that under "the colour of* law, 
 which has been made under its venerable sanction. My 
 property, returned the Cilician, has arisen from numerous 
 relations, all which has at last centered in myself; I 
 use it not as if it belonged to other people, but I use it 
 as my own sole right ; and yet not absolutely as my own, 
 because I share it in common with all good men. How- 
 
 * Humana effodiens ossa, thesanrum canis 
 Invenit : et violavit quia manes Deos, 
 Tnjecta est illi divitiarum cupiditos 
 Panas ut sanctae religioni penderet. Pjwedrus. 
 
401 
 
 ever informers abuse me, and pretend to say that the pos- 
 session of such a property cannot be to the iuterest of 
 the prince; because, if I attempted any innovation, it might 
 be injurious to him; and in case I joined the disaf- 
 fected party, it might be of the most serious con- 
 sequence. Then allegations are produced like so many 
 oracles against me, as, that riches when they exceed 
 mediocrity, generate pride; that when they pass the 
 common measure of great fortune, they raise the head of 
 the possessor above other men, elate the heart, inspire a 
 contempt of the laws, and smite, as it were, the very face 
 of the magistrates sent out to rule the provinces, and who 
 are themselves the slaves of riches, or who overlook the 
 crimes of their possessors, merely because they are rich. 
 As to myself, when I was young, and not master of one 
 hundred talents, 1 laughed at every thing, and had but 
 few fears then on account of fortune. And yet when, by 
 the death of an uncle, I became in one day possessed of 
 five hundred talents, what a change was made in my way 
 of thinking ! exactly the same as is made in horses by the 
 skill of intelligent grooms, who break and cure them of 
 all their bad habits. But after Plutus made such an acces- 
 sion to my property, both by sea and land, I became such 
 a slave to fear, that part of it I gave to sycophants to stop 
 their mouths, part to magistrates to defend me against 
 cheats and impostors, part to relations to prevent envyings 
 and jealousies, and part to my slaves to keep them from 
 growing worse under pretence of being neglected by me. 
 To this may be added, that I supported a numerous retinue 
 of friends, of whom, some were to superintend my affairs, 
 and others to give advice. And notwithstanding all the 
 pains I have taken to secure my riches, and to fence them 
 round, as it were, by a wall, I am in perils on their ac- 
 count, and know not whether I shall come out safe or 
 not. When he had done speaking, Apollonius said, take 
 courage, Plutus is responsible for your person, for it is 
 
 2 D 
 
402 
 
 on his account you are in prison ; he will deliver you from 
 it, and the necessity you are under of complying with the 
 wishes of slaves and informers, to whom you have been 
 exposed hitherto for his sake. 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 TO the chief magistrate of Tarentum, who was to vin- 
 dicate himself from the charge of having omitted to 
 say that Domitian was the son of Pallas,* in a sacrifice 
 he made, Apollonius thus replied : You, forsooth, believed 
 that Pallas never brought forth by reason of her perpetual 
 virginity, and yet were ignorant, I suppose, that the 
 Goddess was accessary in giving the Athenians a ser- 
 pent.f 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 THE case of one of their fellow prisoners was as follows. 
 He possessed a piece of ground in Acarnania, near the 
 mouths of the Achilous, from whence lie used to visit 
 the EchinadesJ in a little boat. Observing that one of 
 these islands was joined to the main land, he planted it 
 with goodly trees and sweet-bearing vines ; and made it 
 
 * Minerva, whom he worshipped even to superstition. 
 
 Suetonius. 
 
 t Ericthonius, a deformed monster, with the tails of serpents instead 
 of legs, said to be the offspring of Minerva by Vulcan, though properly 
 only of Vulcan himself. 
 
 Addison calls her, " The childless Goddess." 
 
 X Five small islands near Acarnania, at the mouth of the river 
 Achilous. They have been formed by the inundations of that river, 
 and by the sand and mud which its waters carry down, and now bear 
 fee name of Curzolari. 
 
403 
 
 so convenient for living in, that he introduced whatever water 
 was necessary for its use from the continent. Hence a sus- 
 picion arose, that the Acarnanian was guilty of great crimes : 
 his accusers added, he had left the continent because it 
 was polluted by him. As Alcmeon, the son of Am- 
 phiaurus, after being delivered from the furies who per- 
 secuted him on the death of his mother, had retired to 
 the mouths of the Achilous, so it was concluded this 
 Acarnanian had taken the same resolution from a con- 
 sciousness of a similar offence, or one not very different. 
 On the part of the Acarnanian, it was said, he did not 
 go there for any such cause, but only to enjoy the quiet 
 and peace which the place afforded ; let it be what it 
 may, it was made an occasion for instituting a suit 
 against him, in consequence of which he was thrown into 
 prison. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 IT was said there were above fifty persons confined in 
 prison, of whom, some laboured under sickness, others 
 under dejection of spirits, and some under the expectation 
 of death, whilst others bewailed and called on their chil- 
 dren, parents, and wives. Of these wretched sufferers, 
 many flocked about Apollonius, making bitter complaints 
 of their hard situation, to whom he said, turning to 
 Damis, these men seem to require that medicine* to which 
 I have before alluded. For whether it be the growth of 
 Egypt, or the production of every soil, which has wisdom 
 enough to gather it, I know not ; but let us give plenty of 
 it to these miserable men, lest the present state of their 
 sufferings may not take them out of the world before the 
 
 • Helen's Egyptian Drug, mentioned in c. 22. 
 
 2D2 
 
404 
 
 sentence of Domitian. I agree with you, replied Damis, 
 in thinking they should get plenty of it, for greatly do they 
 seem to require it. Whereupon Apollonius, calling them 
 together, thus addressed them. O you, who are my 
 fellow companions in this dreary abode, I am sorry to 
 see you putting yourselves to death before it is 
 known whether the information against you will destroy 
 you. I think you are killing yourselves before the 
 judge pronounces sentence, and are bold in what you 
 ought to have fears, and have fears in what you ought to 
 be bold. You should not so conduct yourselves, but 
 should remember the words of Archilochus the Parian, 
 who said, that patience under adversity, which he called 
 endurance, was an invention of the Gods to enable men 
 to bear the evils of life, after the manner of those, who 
 by superior skill and judgmeut, are able to get the better 
 of the waves at the time they are rising above the sides of 
 the vessel. Account not then those things so hard, which 
 you endure and cannot help, and to which I have exposed 
 myself of my own free will and consent. For if you are 
 conscious of guilt, you should lament the day in which 
 your hearts deceived you, and made you commit actions 
 at once unjust and cruel. But if you, Sir, say that you 
 did not inhabit an isle near the Achilous, for the reasons 
 assigned by your accuser; nor that you, Sir, disposed of 
 your wealth in a way to hurt your prince, nor that it was 
 your intention, Sir, to strip him of his title of being called 
 the son of Minerva ; if, I say, you are able to prove, that 
 all the reasons held out for your being here, are unfounded, 
 why all these whinings and lamentations for nothing? 
 Believe me, your courage should rise in proportion to 
 the sorrow you feel for them most nearly connected with 
 you. These are the trials of patience. Perhaps you 
 think it a hard thing to be detained here, and to live in a 
 prison ? Or think perhaps that this is only the beginning 
 of sorrow? Or else suppose it punishment sufficient, 
 
405 
 
 though you may not suffer more ? But for me, who 
 am acquainted with the nature of man, I will give you 
 some instruction which is not inferior to the prescriptions 
 by physicians, particularly as what I give procures strength 
 and releases from death. Whilst we live, we are all men 
 in prison. Our soul, attached to this mortal body, suffers 
 much, and is subject to all the vicissitudes of mortality. 
 The men who first built houses, never supposed they 
 were inclosing themselves in a second prison. For un- 
 doubtedly they who inhabit the strongest fortified palaces, 
 are to be considered in closer custody than they whom 
 they put in chains. When I turn my eyes to cities and 
 fortifications, I find them only to be common prisons* 
 So that in truth, merchants and orators, frequenters of 
 the public shews, and the managers of the same, are all 
 only so many prisoners. The Scythians* who live in 
 waines, are as much in prison as we are : they are shut iu 
 by the Ister, the Thermodon, and Tanais rivers, which 
 can only be passed when congealed with ice. They spread 
 awnings over the waines in which they travel, by means 
 of which they are inclosed in small dwellings. And if it is 
 not to be considered as too puerile an observation, I should 
 «ay that the ocean incloses the earth as it were with a 
 chain. J)raw near, ye poets, (for it is your deeds I am 
 going to relate) and sing to these poor afflicted prisoners, 
 how that Saturn of old was bound by the artful contrivance 
 of Jupiter; and Mars the belligerent was confined by 
 Vulcan in heaven, and by the Aloidae in earth .f Think 
 
 * Called from so living, Hamaxobii. 
 
 t Othus and Ephialtus sons of Aloeus the giant. 
 
 The mighty Mars in mortal fetters bound, 
 And lodg'd in brazen dungeons under ground, 
 Full thirteen moons imprison'd roar'd in vain, 
 Otus and Ephialtes held the chain : &c. 
 
 Homer, Pope, b. 5. 
 
406 
 
 of all this, and of the number of wise and powerful men 
 whom the tyranny of the people, or of the prince, has 
 thrown into prison, and never let it be said that we 
 are not equal to them in bearing like calamities. What 
 Apollonius said, had such an effect on the prisoners, that 
 some of them took food, whilst others wiped away their 
 tears, and entertained hopes that no harm could befal them 
 as long as Apollonius was with them. 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 NEXT day, whilst Apollonius was haranguing in the 
 same strain, a person entered the prison, who was sent 
 by Domitian to take note of our philosopher. He had 
 a melancholy air, and was, as he said himself, in immi- 
 nent danger. He had great volubility of speech, and 
 talked much after the manner of those pleaders who have, 
 had the drawing up of eight or ten malicious informations. 
 Apollonius seeing at once the snare that was laid for him, 
 said nothing which could serve his purpose. He talked 
 of rivers, and mountains, and wild beasts, and trees : all 
 this, whilst it amused the other prisoners, profited nothing 
 the informer. He tried, however, to induce Apollonius 
 to say something to the disadvantage of the tyrant ; but he 
 was on his guard, and said, you may say any thing you 
 please, my friend, for I will not turn informer : as to 
 myself, I will tell the Emperor in person whatever I think; 
 reprehensible in his conduct. 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 OTHER circumstances fell out in the prison, of which 
 some were designedly and insidiously contrived, others the 
 effects of mere chance ; all were however of no great 
 
407 
 
 moment, and deserved little attention. Damis speaks of 
 them, in order not to be charged with any omission. Such 
 as merit attention, I shall notice. On the evening of the 
 fifth day of his confinement a stranger came into the 
 prison, who used the Greek tongue, and asked where the 
 Tyanean was. As soon as he was shewn him, he took 
 him aside from the other prisoners, and said, the Emperor 
 will speak to you to-morrow ; and this information he 
 seemed to have received from iElian. This is a secret I 
 understand, said Apollonius, for it is what iElian alone 
 could know. The messenger proceeded, orders are given 
 to the keeper of the prison to supply you with what you 
 want. That is doing what is right, said Apollonius, but 
 my manner of living is the same here as it is in every 
 place else. I talk on common occurrences as usual, and 
 I want nothing. But, returned the messenger, would not 
 you wish for the advice of a friend, O Apollonius, just to 
 say how you should address the Emperor. I should, in- 
 deed, said Apollonius, provided he were not one who 
 would advise me to flatter him. But suppose, replied the 
 messenger, he was to advise you not to treat him with 
 disrespect, nor speak to him with any kind of insolence? 
 I thank you for the advice, said Apollonius, it is good, and 
 what I am determined to follow. To give this advice, 
 answered the messenger, was the cause of my coming 
 here, and I am rejoiced you are resolved to keep your 
 temper, and act in obedience to it. I thought it right to 
 prepare you to support, as you ought, the voice and terri- 
 ble * countenance of the Emperor ; for the former is 
 harsh and dissonant, even when he wishes to speak gently 
 
 * Pliny, in his panegyric, says, he was visu terribilis. Tacitus says 
 he had sctvus valtus. Murphy has thus translated the whole passage, 
 " With that fiery visage, of a dye so red, that the blush of guilt could 
 never colour his cheek, he marked the pale, languid countenance of 
 the unhappy victims who ihuddered at his frown. 
 
403 
 
 to you, and the latter is furnished with a pair of eye-brows 
 which hang heavy over his eyes, and with cheeks so bloated 
 with bile as to distinguish him from all other men. But 
 let not these things, O Tyanean, intimidate you, for they 
 are natural and unavoidable defects. When Ulysses, re- 
 plied Apollonius, entered the cave of Polyphemus, he 
 neither knew his gigantic stature, nor the kind of food he 
 used, nor his thundering voice ; he did not lose his presence 
 of mind, and though at first he entertained some fears, 
 he soon recovered his accustomed courage ; and acting 
 like a man of spirit, he left the cave in perfect safety. For 
 my part I shall be satisfied if I can escape myself, together 
 with my companions, for whose sakes I am in my present 
 perilous situation. All that passed in conversation with 
 the messenger he repeated to Damis, and then went to 
 sleep. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 ABOUT break of day a notary belonging to the-Emperor's 
 tribunal arrived, with orders for Apollonius to attend the 
 palace at noon, not, said he, for the pleading your cause, 
 but that the Emperor may see what you are, and may 
 speak to you face to face. But why, replied Apollonius, 
 do you speak to me on that subject? What, said the 
 notary, are not you Apollonius ? Yes, I am the Tyanean. 
 And to whom then, returned the notary, should I deliver 
 my orders, if not to you? To those officers, replied 
 Apollonius, whose business it is to conduct me to the 
 palace, for you know I must come out of prison. I have 
 given proper orders for that purpose to the guards, said 
 the notary, and I will take care to be punctual as to time. 
 My duty is to give you this information in consequence of 
 the orders which were give to me late the evening before^ 
 and saying this, he departed. 
 
409 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 WHILST Apollonius was in bed, he said to Damis, I 
 have need of sleep, I have passed a sleepless night in call- 
 ing to mind all Phraotes said to me. I think, said Damis, 
 you had done better, had you remained awake, and pre- 
 pared for the announced interview, as being a matter of 
 some moment. And how can I, replied Apollonius, 
 prepare for what I am as yet ignorant of ? And is it your 
 intention, said Damis, to argue a cause, in which your life 
 is concerned, without any preparation ? It is, replied 
 Apollonius, for as my way of life has been hitherto with- 
 out preparation, it shall remain so to the end of it. But 
 I shall now tell you all that occurred to me of what 
 Phraotes said, as bearing on my present situation. In the 
 taming of lions Phraotes ordered no severity to be used, 
 from an idea that such treatment would not be forgotten ; 
 nor on the other hand did he recommend too much gentle- 
 ness, lest it might tend to make them unmanageable ; but 
 both methods properly blended, he thought best adapted to 
 render them more tame and manageable. This advice of 
 Phraotes was not given for the purpose of taming lions, 
 for we were not then reasoning on the best mode of 
 managing wild beasts, but on that of putting a bridle into 
 the mouths of tyrants, which he hoped whoever would 
 apply, would do it in a \vay not to exceed the bounds of 
 moderation. A lesson of this kind, says Damis, is well 
 suited to the nature of tyrants. In JEsop there is a fable 
 of a lion who lay stretched out in his den, not sick, but 
 only pretending to be so, for the purpose of seizing on 
 every animal who came to visit him. But iEsop adds, 
 there was a fox, who, in considering the case of this lion, 
 observed, I do not find that any one remains with him, nor 
 
410 
 
 the footsteps of any who return from him.* And yet, 
 said Apollonius, I should have thought more of the fox's f 
 wisdom, had he entered the cave without suffering himself 
 to be taken ; and on his return, had been able to shew his 
 own footsteps. After saying this, he had some sleep, light 
 and of short continuance. 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 AS soon as it was day, Apollonius paid his adorations 
 to the rising Sun, as well as he could in a prison, and 
 talked to all who came to him on whatever subjects they 
 liked themselves. About mid-day an officer arrived, order- 
 ing his attendance at the palace, who said he came to 
 have him in readiness before he was called, As soon as 
 Apollonius heard this, he said, " Let us go," and forth- 
 with set out with some eagerness. He was guarded by 
 four men who attended him, but who kept at a greater 
 distance from him than was their custom when guarding 
 a common prisoner. Damis followed him, but followed 
 him with great fear and pensiveuess. All eyes were turned 
 upon him ; his singular dress attracted their attention, and 
 the admiration which his whole appearance excited, bor- 
 dered on something divine. The dangers he encountered 
 for the sake of Nerva, Rufus, and Orfitus, conciliated the 
 affection of all, even of his enemies. Whilst he stood at 
 the palace gates, he particularly noticed the attentions and 
 the compliments which were mutually given and received 
 
 * Quia me vestigia terrent 
 
 Omnia te adversura spectantia, nulla retrorsum. 
 
 Horace. 
 t The fox, I think, shewed himself wiser than Apollonius, in not 
 going to the den at all. 
 
411 
 
 by different classes of people, together with the noise and 
 hurry attending such as were passing and repassing ; after 
 considering it all, he said, this scene reminds me of a bath, 
 for they who are without, are trying to get in, and they 
 who are within, are trying to get out; the former are 
 like those who have not bathed, and the latter those who 
 have. This idea I wish to have appropriated solely to 
 Apollonius, and not ascribed to any other person : it is so 
 peculiarly his property, that he has used it in one of his 
 letters. Observing in the crowd a man worn out with 
 years, canvassing for the government of a province, and on 
 that account paying the most servile court to the Emperor, 
 he says, O Damis, Sophocles himself would be unable to 
 persuade this man to fly a wild and furious master. Whom, 
 replied Damis, we have of our own accord chosen, Apol- 
 lonius, and for that now stand before these doors. I 
 believe, Damis, said Apollonius, you imagine CEacus to 
 be the keeper of these gates, as he is said to be of those 
 of Hell, for you appear to me like a dead man. Not 
 quite a dead man, returned Damis, but one about to die 
 shortly. So, Damis, said Apollonius, you still seem rather 
 averse to death, notwithstanding your long attachment to 
 me, who have been a philosopher from my youth. I 
 thought you prepared for death, and instructed, as well as 
 myself, in all the necessary means of defence. And as 
 courage is necessary for great warriors, together with a 
 knowledge of tactics sufficient to instruct them in the best 
 mode of attack, in the same manner should philosophers 
 consider the time most fitting them to die, at which they 
 should leave the world with the greatest deliberation, and 
 not after the manner of men taken by surprise and unpre- 
 pared. I have proved in a set apology in your presence, 
 and often and fully to yourself, that my mind is always on 
 reflection prepared for death whenever any person is 
 pleased to inflict it, and that in a way most becoming a 
 philosopher. But of this subject enough. 
 
412 
 
 CHAR XXXII. 
 
 AS soon as the Emperor was at leisure and free from 
 business, Apollonius was introduced into the palace by the 
 officers in waiting, who took care not to let Damis follow 
 him. The Emperor having on his head a garland of 
 green boughs, had stopt in the hall of Adonis. This hall 
 was embellished with shells of flowers, like as are carried 
 about by the Assyrians in their sacred festivals ; * and 
 these shells were so arranged as to be under the protec- 
 tion of the same roof with the hall itself. The Emperor, 
 who was still intent on the sacrifice in which he had been 
 engaged, turning about, and being struck with the extra- 
 ordinary appearance of the man, cried out, O JElian, you 
 have brought me a Demon. At this, Apollonius, without 
 being in the least intimidated, taking occasion from what 
 he heard, said, O Emperor, I was considering you like 
 Diomed at Troy under the protection of Pallas, f who 
 purged his eyes of that mist which dims the sight of mor- 
 
 * The A&wtf, or feasts of Adonis, were celebrated in most of the 
 cities of Greece in honour of Venus, and in memory of her beloved 
 Adonis. Images or pictures of Adonis and Venus were brought forth 
 with all the pomp and ceremonies used at funerals — the women tore 
 their hair, beat their breasts, &c, They also carried with them shells 
 filled with earth, in which grew several sorts of flowers and herbs, 
 particularly lettuces ; in memory that Adonis was laid out by Venus 
 on a bed of lettuces. These were called mmi, gardens, and hence 
 A&vvifo; ttnvoi were proverbially applied to things unfruitful and fading* 
 because these herbs were sown only a short time before the festival* 
 after which they were cast out into the water. It is manifestly in this 
 sense that Plato, Plutarch, and the Emperor Julian, employed this 
 proverb, the hint of which was borrowed from the pots and baskets of 
 flowers which were carried in the above procession. 
 
 t I also purge thy sight ; the mist, that once 
 Obscured it, fled, thou shalt distinguish Gods 
 From mortals clearly : Homer, Iliad, b. v. 
 
413 
 
 tals, and gave him the faculty of distinguishing between 
 Gods and men. But from your eyes, O Emperor, the 
 Goddess has not yet removed that mist, otherwise you 
 would have known better Pallas herself, and not have 
 ranked men among the appearances of Demons. But 
 how long, philosopher, replied the Emperor, is it since 
 your eyes were purged of their darkness ? It is a good 
 while now, returned Apollonius, it is from the time in 
 which I began to study philosophy. And how has it come 
 to pass that you have considered as Gods my greatest ene- 
 mies, said the Emperor? What, answered Apollonius, 
 do you war with Iarchas and Phraotes, Indians, whom of 
 all other men, I consider as divine and deserving of the 
 appellation of Gods? I beg you may not turn the con- 
 versation to Indians, but answer me as to Nerva, your 
 intimate friend, and his accomplices. What, said Apollo- 
 nius, do you command me to plead his cause, or not ? I 
 do, returned the Emperor ; plead it, for he is already con- 
 victed of his crime. And are not you also arraigned as 
 being privy to the same ? This is what I wish to be in- 
 formed of? Listen, said Apollonius, and you shall hear 
 how far I am concerned, for why should I conceal the 
 truth ? From this the Emperor had hopes of coming at 
 some notable secrets, and concluded that every thing now 
 promised fair for the ruin of these men. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 WHEN Apollonius perceived that the Emperor's expecta- 
 tions were raised to the highest pitch, he said, I know 
 Nerva to be one of the most moderate and mildest of 
 men ; I know that he is much attached to you, and is an 
 excellent magistrate, and one so little disposed to meddle 
 in affairs of state, that he even shrinks from the honours 
 attending them. Besides, his friends, Rufus and Orfitus, 
 
414 
 
 are, in my opinion, moderate men and despisers of worldly 
 wealth ; they are, in short, as far as I know them, men 
 too backward to interfere where they ought, and is lawful * 
 Men of this description, O Emperor, do not readily 
 attempt innovations in governments, nor have much in- 
 clination to lend assistance to those who do. On hearing 
 this, the Emperor, burning with anger, exclaimed, And 
 have you found me guilty of uttering a calumny against 
 those men ? Do you recommend as peaceable and loyal 
 subjects those whom I have found out to be the vilest of 
 mortals, and the common disturbers of my empire : men 
 who, if interrogated about you, would probably say that 
 you were neither an enchanter, nor hot-headed, nor a 
 braggadocio, nor covetous, nor a despiser of the laws, so 
 much are ye all agreed in mischief, ye wicked ones. But 
 the charge now preferred against you, will bring all to 
 light : for I know as well as if I had been on the spot 
 with you, the oath which was taken on the occasion, and 
 the cause and time of you meeting, and the sacrifice offer- 
 ed- But Apollonius, without being intimidated by what 
 he heard, said, it is not honest in you, O King, nor agree- 
 able to law, either to enter into a judicial discussion of 
 what you are already persuaded, nor to be persuaded of 
 that of which the merits have not been discussed. If 
 such is your pleasure, permit me to begin my defence, 
 with saying that you are prejudiced against me, and more 
 unjust than the common informer ; for what he has pro- 
 mised to prove, you take for granted without any proof. 
 Begin then, said Domitian, your defence, from whatever 
 circumstance you please, as to myself I know where I 
 ought to begin, and end. 
 
 * Martial has an Epigram characteristic of Nerva's disposition. 
 " Quanta qnies placidi, tanta est facundia Nerva? — 
 " Sed cohibit vires, ingeniumque pudor." 
 
415 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 AFTER this the Emperor began to treat him with great 
 contempt : he ordered his hair and beard to be cut off,* 
 and to be sent back to prison loaded with irons, and cast 
 among the vilest felons. It was on this occasion Apollo- 
 nius said he did not know he incurred any danger on 
 account of his hair : and added, if, O Emperor, you con- 
 sider me as an enchanter, how can you think of binding 
 me in chains ? I have bound you, returned the Emperor, 
 and I will not let you go till you first become either water, 
 or a wild beast, or a tree. Though I was capable of be- 
 coming what you say, answered Apollonius, I will not do 
 it, lest I should betray those men who run the risque of 
 being unjustly put to death. What I am, that I will 
 remain, subject to all you can inflict, till I have pleaded 
 their cause. And who, said the Emperor, will defend 
 you ? Time, answered Apollonius, and the spirit of the 
 Gods,*f and the love of philosophy, to which I have been 
 addicted. 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 THIS, says Damis, was the preamble to the defence made 
 by Apollonius in private before Domitian. There are 
 some who give an invidious turn to the whole transaction, 
 
 * The cutting off the hair of guilty persons, seems to have been a 
 punishment rather shameful, than painful : and yet it is thought that 
 pain was added to the disgrace, and that they sometimes tore off the 
 hair with violenct, as if they were plucking a bird alive. 
 
 t A mode of speech rare amongst heathens, which Olearius sup- 
 poses Apollonius learnt at Babylon. Daniel, in whom is the spirit of 
 the holy Gods. c. 4, v. 8. 
 
416 
 
 and say that he first made his defence, was then put in 
 irons, and afterwards shaved. They have also forged a 
 letter, written in the Ionic dialect, and tediously prolix, 
 wherein Apollonius is made to deprecate as a suppliant, 
 the chains ordered by the Emperor. It is true that Apol- 
 lonius wrote his will in that dialect ; but though I have 
 made a collection of most of his letters, I never saw one 
 written in the same language. Besides, I never discovered 
 he was prolix in his style ; his letters being all concise, 
 and composed after the manner of the dispatches of the 
 Lacedemonian Scytale.* There can be no doubt of his 
 coming off superior in his cause ; and if so, how did it 
 happen he was put in chains after sentence passed ? But 
 the question is not now of what took place at the trial, 
 but of what preceded it, relative to the cutting of his hair, 
 and the conversation on the occasion, which I have deemed 
 worthy of notice. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 TWO days after he was bound in chains, a stranger enter- 
 ed the prison, who said he could be of considerable service 
 to him, if allowed a conference, and that the object of 
 his visit was to advise with him on his present situation. 
 He was a Syracusan,f the mind and tongue of Domitian, 
 and like one some time ago, was suborned by the Em- 
 peror ; but the part he had to act was better contrived 
 and more difficult to be found out. The first took a most 
 circuitous way of sounding Apollonius; the one we are 
 now speaking of, began his attack at once, exclaiming, 
 who, O ye Gods, could have thought of binding Apollo- 
 
 * As expressive of their brevity. 
 
 t This is agreeable to the style of speaking among the Persians, 
 whose kings called their ministers, their ears and eyes. 
 
417 
 
 nius in chains ? He who did it, replied Apollonius ; and 
 he would not have done it, had he not thought himself ca- 
 pable of it ; and who, continued the Syracusan, could have 
 thought of cutting off your ambrosial hair 1 Myself, said 
 Apollonius, who let it grow. And how do you bear your 
 confinement ? As a man should do, who came here, not 
 entirely of his own accord, nor yet entirely against it. 
 But pray, said the Syracusan, how do your legs bear the 
 fetters ? I know not, answered Apollonius, for my mind 
 is otherwise employed. And yet, continued the other, the 
 mind is in general affected by the sufferings of the body ? 
 Not at all, said Apollonius, because the mind, in a man 
 of courage, will either not feel pain ; or if it does, will be 
 able to lighten it. And how, says the other, is the mind 
 all the time employed ? In not thinking of it, said Apol- 
 lonius. The Syracusan then turned the conversation to the 
 subject of the cutting off his hair, when Apollonius observed, 
 it is well, young man, you were not one of those Greeks 
 who sailed to Troy ; for if you had, how much would you 
 have lamented the loss of Achilles's hair, which he cut off 
 in honour of Patroclus (if it was cut off) and how sorely 
 would you have been distressed : for, if as you say, you 
 really grieve for mine, among which are scattered many 
 gray and squalid locks, what would have been your suffer- 
 ings for the loss of his golden hair, so nicely trimmed and 
 curled? All the Syracusan said, was spoken with the 
 insidious design of trying his temper, and finding out 
 whether he would reproach the Emperor for his sufferings. 
 Being at last reduced to silence by the answers which fell 
 from the lips of Apollonius, he said, you have incurred the 
 Emperor's displeasure on many accounts, but particularly on 
 account of Nerva and his friends having made their escape, 
 though guilty of high treason. Certain false accusations 
 have been also carried to him of some discourses held by 
 you when in Ionia, and which have been reported as 
 uttered with most hostile tendency. But as far as I un- 
 
 2 E 
 
418 
 
 derstand, he pays little or no attention to such calumnies, 
 because his displeasure on the present occasion has arisen 
 from subjects of higher moment. And yet the man who 
 has given him all his present information, is one who 
 stands high in reputation. You allude, said Apollonius, 
 to some person who has gained a crown at the Olympic 
 Games, and now supposes he can acquire another byexcel- 
 ling in calumny. I know you mean Euphrates, who has 
 calumniated me, and to whom I am indebted for other 
 instances of similar kindness. This man, when he learnt I 
 was going to visit the Gymnosophists in Ethiopia, even 
 there had his malicious calumnies gone before me ; and 
 had I not had a previous knowledge of his wicked machi- 
 nations, I might have been forced to return without having 
 seen them. The Syracusan, amazed at what he heard, 
 said, do you think it then of less account to be accused by 
 the Emperor, than to be under-rated by the Gymnosophists 
 on account of what Euphrates said. I do indeed, said 
 he, for I went to them to acquire knowledge, and to you 
 I am come to communicate it. To communicate what, 
 are you come ? returned the Syracusan. That I am of 
 good and honest repute, replied Apollonius, of which the 
 Emperor is ignorant. But I think, said the Syracusan, 
 you would consult your own interest better, if you should 
 tell him now, what if you had done before, you would 
 never have been cast into prison. When Apollonius 
 found that the discourse of the Syracusan was of the same 
 tendency with that of the Emperor, and that it was expect- 
 ed he was to turn evidence against the men from dislike to 
 his confinement, he said, if, my friend, I have merited 
 these chains by speaking the truth to Domitian, what do 
 you think I should gain by telling him the contrary ? When 
 he said this, the Syracusan left the prison, declaring that he 
 admired Apollonius as a man who was more than a philo- 
 sopher. 
 
419 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 AS soon as he was gone, Apollonius, turning to Damis, 
 says, did you understand that Python? I did, said he, 
 and knew he was suborned for the very purpose of taking 
 you by surprise: but I know not what you mean by 
 Python, or who he was ? Python,* returned Apollonius, 
 was a Byzantine orator, a man, in the opinion of some, 
 possessed of great powers of persuasion. He was sent 
 by Philip, the son of Amyntas, to persuade the Greeks 
 to submit to his yoke, who, regardless of the other Greeks, 
 cultivated the Athenians alone, amongst whom the art of 
 rhetoric flourished. He complained of the injuries they 
 did Philip, and said they were highly criminal in their 
 endeavours to restore Greece to its liberty, of which, they 
 say, he made a public declaration before the people. 
 But Demosthenes, the Paeanian, opposed this audacious 
 man with great spirit, and writes that he alone was a 
 match for him in speaking. For my own part I do not 
 think my having made resistance to such a train of machi- 
 nations a matter of very great consequence ; he had the 
 same part to act that Python had, for he was bribed by 
 a tyrant's gold to give the worst advice. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 DAMIS says Apollonius held many conversations of the 
 same kind, but for himself he confessed he had lost all 
 
 * Python, a native of Byzantium, in the age of Philip of Macedon. 
 He was a great favourite of that monarch, who sent hira to Thebes, 
 when that city, at the instigation of Demosthenes, was going to take 
 arms against him. 
 
 2e2 
 
420 
 
 hopes/ and saw no other way of escaping from their pre- 
 sent difficulties, except what might arise from prayers to 
 the Gods, which had saved them from greater perils. 
 Sometime before mid-day, Damis said to him, O Tyanean 
 (an appellation with which he was always pleased) what do 
 you think will become of us? Nothing but what has 
 usually happened to us, returned Apollonius, for there is 
 no one will put us to death. And do you think, replied 
 Damis, any one is invulnerable ? Who, after saying this, 
 asked, But when, Sir, will you be set at liberty ? To- 
 morrow, answered he, if it depended on the judge ; and 
 this instant, if it depended on myself. And without a 
 word more,* he drew his leg out of the fetters, and said 
 to Damis, You see the liberty I enjoy, and therefore I 
 request you will keep up your spirits. It was on this oc- 
 casion, Damis says, he was first sensible of Apollonius 
 possessing a nature something divine, and above what was 
 human. For without offering sacrifice, which he could 
 not do in a prison, without sending up any prayers to the 
 Gods, and without saying a word, he made a mockery of 
 his fetters ; and again put his leg into them, and continued 
 to behave like men in chains. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 OPERATIONS of this kind are ascribed to magicians 
 by weaker mortals, who are subject to similar mistakes 
 in many other things, the mere effects of human industry. 
 
 * As Damis's word is not enough to prove the fact mentioned in the 
 text, it consequently can only be considered as the unfounded assertion 
 of a weak man, easily imposed on, who was willing to magnify the 
 character of his master at the expeuce of truth : therefore he who 
 wishes to be deceived by the evidence of such a Sancho Panca, let 
 him, I say, be deceived. 
 
421 
 
 The very athletae, and other candidates at the Olympic 
 Games, fly to the magic art* from a desire of victory; and 
 yet if they knew the truth, they would know that such 
 means avail but little in securing it. Whatever success they 
 meet with, is imprudently ascribed, not to themselves, but 
 the magic art ; and what is strange, is, that when the very 
 contrary happens, it is attributed to the same cause. For 
 they all say, had they sacrificed this thing, or burnt that, 
 victory would not have deserted them ; and of this they say 
 they aie persuaded. A similar species of folly pervades the 
 houses of the merchants, who ascribe the profits arising 
 from trade, to the arts of the enchanter, and their 
 losses to a parsimony in sacrificing in a manner 'hdequate 
 to their means. But people in love, above all others, are 
 devoted to this art, for they labour under a malady, 
 which so peculiarly makes them the dupes of this impo- 
 sition, that they have recourse even to the assistance and 
 advice of old women. Nothing worthy of admiration is 
 ever executed by those who consult the professors of this 
 art, and lend their ears to magicians, who give out 
 charmed girdles,f and stones,J some dug out of the 
 
 * Ammianus Marcellinus writes, that one Hilaruis, a horse-racer, 
 was put to death by Apronianus, then governor of Rome, for being 
 convicted of having sent his son to a magician to be -taught by him 
 certain secret spells and charms, by which, without any man's know- 
 ledge, he might be enabled, in the way of his profession, to effect all he 
 desired. A magician in those ages, says Dr. Douglas, bishop of Salis- 
 bury, was looked upon (as appears from Origen, adds he) to be one 
 who, by the use of certain incantations and charms, and forms of bar- 
 barous words, or by the celebration of certain odd rites, could force 
 superior beings or demons to assist him. 
 
 t QafpaHsta — A divination commonly performed by certain medicat- 
 ed and enchanted compositions of herbs, minerals, &c. To this also 
 belonged enchanted girdles and other things worn about the bodies, &c. 
 Sume Cytheriaco medicatum nectare ceston : Martial. 
 
 t Called AtQofxavTua— it was performed by a precious stone called 
 
 Sderites, 
 
422 
 
 bowels of the earth, and others that have fallen from 
 the moon and stars : to which they add all the aromatics* 
 that grow in the gardens of the Indians : by such means 
 great fortunes are made by these people, and no good ever 
 done to their duped votaries. If affection meets with 
 a return, either from the good pleasure of the object 
 beloved, or from the force of presents, the magic art is 
 praised as ail-powerful ; but if it does not, the failure is 
 laid to the accourit of something being omitted either in 
 the burning or sacrificing the victim, or melting f some- 
 thing in the fire that ought to have been done ; a matter 
 looked on by them as of great moment. The means such 
 impostors use to perform their wonderful tricks, have been 
 all described by writers, who have uniformly derided the 
 art. As to myself it is enough, by way of digression, to 
 have shewn to young people that they should never form 
 any connection with such false pretenders, or make them- 
 selves familiar with their practices, even in merriment an<$ 
 sport. I have done, for why dwell on a subject which is 
 as contrary to the laws of nature, as it is to the laws of 
 the land. 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 WHILST Apollonius was shewing Damis what kind of 
 man he was, and talking to him on a variety of subjects, 
 a certain person entered the prison about mid-day, with 
 the following verbal message from Domitian. The Em- 
 
 Siderites, which they washed in spring water in the night by candle- 
 light. 
 
 * Verbenosque adole pingues, et mascula thura. Virgil. 
 
 t Haec ut cera liquescit 
 
 Uno codemque igni sic nostro Daphnis amore. Virgil. 
 
423 
 
 peror, says he, at the solicitation of iElian, orders you to 
 be loosed from your fetters, and gives you leave to in- 
 habit a more roomy apartment till the time for making 
 your defence arrives, and which, I hear, will be allowed 
 you five days hence. But who, said Apollonius, will 
 take me out of this place? I myself, answered the 
 stranger, come, and follow me. As soon as they who 
 inhabited this new part of the prison where Apollonius 
 was carried, cast their eyes upon him, they all run and 
 embraced him, as one restored to them contrary to all 
 expectation. For like as children love their parents, who 
 give them good advice with gentleness, and tell all that 
 befel them in their youth, so did these prisoners ex- 
 press their regard for Apollonius, in the most public 
 manner. As to Apollonius, he never ceased giving ad- 
 vice. 
 
 CHAP. XLL 
 
 THE day after Apollonius called Damis to him, and 
 said, I must make my defence at the time appointed: 
 but do you, my friend, take the road leading to Dicaear- 
 chia,* and go on foot, as it is the better mode of tra- 
 velling ; you will salute Demetrius, and then turn to the 
 sea-side, where is the island of Calypso, and there you 
 will see me. What, alive,*]- said Damis, or how else ? 
 At hearing this, Apollonius laughed, and answered, alive 
 in my opinion, but in yours, raised from the dead. J 
 
 * Puteoli. 
 
 t See b. 8, c. 10. 
 
 X On voit par-la (says Du Pin) que Philostrate affecte de relever 
 les moindres circonstances des discours et des actions d'ApoIlone, a- 
 fin de les faire passer pour des merveilles et de les faire cadrer auv 
 evenements qu'il suppose ctre arrivez. 
 
424 
 
 After this, Damis says, he set out sore against his will, 
 doubtful between hope and fear, and not knowing whether 
 he would be saved, or perish. Arriving at Dicaearchia 
 the third day, he heard of a violent storm at sea, accompa- 
 nied with heavy rain, in which some vessels were lost, and 
 others driven to the Sicilian straits. When Damis heard 
 this, he understood why Apollonius advised him to make 
 his journey on foot. 
 
BOOK VIII.— Contents. 
 
 Trial of Apollonius before Domitian — Apology, Depar- 
 ture from the Tribunal, and sudden Appearance at 
 Puteoli after the Trial — Sails into Greece — Goes to 
 Olympia — Visits the Cave of Trophonius — Sees at 
 Ephesus the Murder of Domitian as it happened at 
 Rome — His Letter to Nerva — His Mode of leaving 
 this World unknown. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 LET us now approach the tribunal, and hear Apollonius 
 make his defence. We are told that from sun-rise the 
 people of the higher ranks had access to the court. Some 
 persons belonging to the royal household say, that the 
 Emperor eat nothing from the preceding day, which must 
 have arisen from his thoughts being all taken up with the 
 business which was to come before him. It is said he 
 perused the indictment which was given him, sometimes in 
 great wrath, and sometimes with more composure. I 
 think we may represent Domitian to our minds as a man 
 highly incensed at the laws for ever having suffered such 
 things as tribunals to have been constructed. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 ON this occasion, Apollonius appears more like a man 
 taking a part in a mere matter of dispute, than in that of 
 pleading a cause in which his life was concerned, and this, 
 I think, is manifest from what took place before the trial. 
 
426 
 
 Whilst on his way, he asked the officer of the court, wh# 
 conducted him, where they were taking him? who re- 
 plied, to the tribunal. Then, said Apollonius, against 
 whom am I to plead ? Against your accuser, returned 
 the officer ; and afterwards the Emperor will give sentence. 
 But who, said Apollonius, will judge between the Em- 
 peror and me ? for I will demonstrate the injury he does 
 philosophy. And what cares the Emperor, answered the 
 officer, whether he injures philosophy or not? And 
 yet, returned Apollonius, it is of infinite consequence to 
 philosophy that the Emperor governs with prudence and 
 discretion. As this remark met the full approbation of the 
 officer, who, from the first, was well-disposed to Apollo- 
 nius, he said, What quantity of water will you require for 
 your defence, # a circumstance necessary to be known be- 
 fore you make it. If, replied Apollonius, the Emperor 
 permits me to say as much as the cause requires, all the 
 water of the Tiber will not be enough to measure the 
 time ; but if only as much as I wish, the interrogant will 
 fix the limits of time necessary for the respondent. I see, 
 said the officer, you have cultivated very opposite talents, 
 in the knowledge you have acquired of speaking either 
 briefly, or at length, on the same subject. The talents you 
 mean, said Apollonius, are not opposite, but very similar, 
 for he who excels in the one, will not be deficient in the 
 other ; but there is a talent lying between both, and equally 
 partaking of one and the other, which constitutes, not what 
 I shall call the third, so much as the first talent, of an ora- 
 tion. My fourth talent on a trial, is what I call silence. 
 Sure, returned the officer, this is a talent which can be of 
 no use, either to you or any other person in a capital in- 
 
 * Here an allusion is made to the Clepsydra, which will be more 
 particularly mentioned in a future note. 
 
427 
 
 formation. And yet, said Apollonius, it was extremely 
 useful to Socrates, the Athenian, when he delivered himself 
 from the charge brought against him. And pray, answer- 
 ed the officer, how did it serve him, inasmuch as he died 
 in consequence of his being silent. He did not die, said 
 Apollonius, but the Athenians believed it. It was thus 
 Apollonius was prepared against every thing which could 
 befal him from the tyrant. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 WHILST they were waiting at the door of the tribunal, 
 another officer belonging to the same, came up, and said, 
 Tyanean, you must enter naked. What, returned Apol- 
 lonius, is it to bathe, or to plead my cause I am come 
 here ? What I have said, replied the officer, alludes, not 
 to your clothes, but to the Emperor's order, forbidding 
 your bringing with you either amulet, or book, or charm, 
 or any writing whatever. And does he also forbid, con- 
 tinued Apollonius, my bringing along with me a rod for 
 the back of those who have given him such foolish advice. 
 On hearing this, the accuser cried out with a loud voice, 
 This conjurer, O Emperor ! threatens me with stripes, as 
 being the man who gave you this advice. To which Apol- 
 lonius answered, if that is so, you are more of a conjurer 
 than I am, for you confess you have persuaded the Em- 
 peror to believe I am that which I never could make him 
 comprehend that I am not. One of the freed men of 
 Euphrates stood by the side of the accuser all the time he 
 was uttering these calumnies. This man had been sent by 
 Euphrates into Ionia to collect every thing Apollonius said 
 whilst there, with orders at the same time to furnish the 
 accuser with whatever money he might want. This is what 
 may be called the prelude, as it were, to the trial. 
 
428 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 WHAT passed at the trial is as follows.* The court 
 was fitted up as if a panegyric was to be pronounced in 
 it. All the illustrious men of the day attended the 
 emperor, who was particularly anxious to make it appear 
 that the persons accused were concerned in the guilt 
 of rebellion. Apollonius treated the Emperor with a 
 great degree of supercilious pride, without once deigning 
 to look at him. This mark of disrespect was turned to 
 the disadvantage of Apollonius by the accuser, who com- 
 manded him to look on the Emperor as the God of all 
 men.f When Apollonius heard this, he lifted up his 
 eyes to the vaulted arch of the court, and by his gesture 
 shewed they were turned to Jupiter, and that he looked 
 on him who admitted of such gross flattery, viler than 
 the flatterer himself. On this the accuser exclaimed,J 
 measure out now, O Emperor, the water for him, for 
 if this fellow is suffered to speak without some certain 
 limits first assigned, he will suffocate us all. I have here 
 
 * This trial, Echard, in his Ecclesiastical History, supposes to have 
 taken place in the fourteenth year of Domitian, under the consulship 
 of Asprenas and Lateranus, a little before the second general per- 
 secution of the church, about twenty five years after the destruction 
 of Jerusalem. 
 
 t When Domitian dictated, says Suetonius, the form of a letter 
 to be used by bis procurators, he began it thus, * Our Lord and God 
 commands so and so" whence it became a custom to style him so, both 
 in writing and conversation. 
 
 t The time which judicial speeches were not suffered to ex- 
 ceed, was previously fixed, according to the nature of the cause, and 
 was regulated by the dropping of water through a glass called 
 Clepsydra. 
 
4«9 
 
 the roll containing the heads of the charge to which 
 he must answer, and reply distinctly to each and every one 
 of then i. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 THE Emperor commended the accuser for his good 
 advice, and ordered Apollonius to plead in the way he 
 (his accuser) should prescribe. Hence those articles were 
 omitted which did not deserve notice, and four only 
 retained, as being esteemed most embarrassing and diffi- 
 cult to be answered. The accuser thus began his exami- 
 nation. What is the reason, Apollonius, you do not wear 
 the same kind of garments other men do, but only such 
 as are peculiar, and truly singular ? Because, replied he, 
 the earth which supplies me with food, supplies me also 
 with raiment, and by wearing garments derived from it, I 
 offer no injury to miserable animals. The accuser pro- 
 ceeded, Why do men call you a God ? Because, said he, 
 every man that is good, is entitled to the appellation.* How 
 this doctrine came to form part of his philosophical sys- 
 tem, has been already shewn by the conversations he held 
 when among the Indians. His third interrogatory turned 
 on the plague at Ephesus, and he was asked, whether 
 itTwas by an instinctive impulse or mere conjecture he 
 predicted it ? By living on a lighter diet than other men, 
 O Emperor, I was the first, said he, to foresee its ap- 
 proach : and if it now meets your approbation, I will 
 enumerate the several causes of pestilential diseases. Do- 
 mitian, apprehending lest he might consider among the 
 
 * This is one attestation, says Dr. Enfield, among many others, of 
 Apollonius's great celebrity, that during his lifetime," he was called 
 a God, and accepted the appellation, 6ayiDg that every good man is 
 honored by it. 
 
430 
 
 causes, his injustice, his incestuous nuptials,* said, it was 
 not necessary at present to enter into the detail. On the 
 accuser's coming to the fourth interrogatory, relative to the 
 suspected persons, he did not at once enter on it with 
 ardor, but paused long, like one in deep thought ; and then, 
 as if embarrassed, brought it forward in a way which dis- 
 appointed all present, who supposed the mask would be 
 thrown off, that no mercy would be shewn to any of 
 them, and that loud complaints would be made of the 
 sacrifice. But the case was the very reverse, for the 
 accuser approaching the question, as it were, by little and 
 little, said, tell me, Apollonius, on whose, account you 
 sacrificed a boy on the day you left your house and went 
 into the country ? Apollonius, like one chiding a child, 
 said, good words I beseech you : if it can be proved I 
 left my house on the day alluded to, I will grant my being 
 in the country and offering the sacrifice in question ; and 
 if I did offer such a sacrifice, I will allow (what is of all 
 things the most atrocious) that I eat of the human flesh on 
 the occasion. At the same time that I allow all this, 
 I must say, that it will require persons of both credit and 
 character to substantiate the fact. On saying this, a shout 
 of applause arose, louder than what was suitable to the 
 gravity of an imperial tribunal. This note of praise was 
 ascribed by the Emperor to the approbation of the spec- 
 tators, and being himself affected by the strength and 
 ingenuity of his answers, he said, I acquit you of the 
 crimes laid to your charge, but here you shall stay till I 
 have had some private conversation with you. As this 
 mode of acquittal added new strength to the natural cou- 
 rage of Apollonius, he replied, I thank you, O King, 
 for this ; but on account of the wicked informers by whom 
 you are infested, I must tell you, your cities are in ruins, 
 
 * Book vii. c. 7. 
 
431 
 
 the islands are filled with exiles, the continent with groans, 
 the army with fears, and the senate with suspicions. Listen 
 to me if you please, if not, send persons to take my body, 
 for it is impossible to take my soul : and I will add, not 
 even my body, for as Homer says, " not even thy deadly 
 spear can slay me, because I am not mortal," in uttering 
 these words, he vanished # from the tribunal, taking the 
 wisest part, as I think, when all the circumstances of the 
 case are considered : for it was notorious that the Emperor 
 was insincere, and bore him no good will ; and that had 
 he remained, he .would have been interrogated on matters 
 very irrelavent, merely from idle curiosity. In the part 
 Domitian acted, he thought himself entitled to great credit 
 for not having put him to death; and Apollonius, by 
 what he did, thought he had secured himself from ever 
 falling into the like difficulties. Besides, he judged that 
 it would make his peculiar character better known to the 
 world, and at the same time shew that there would be no 
 possibility of taking him against his will ; and lastly, that 
 it would free him from any fears he might have of injuring 
 the men in question. For how would it be possible for 
 
 * But the great miracle of all, says Bishop Parker, was his vanish- 
 ing away at his trial before Domitian, in the presence of all the great 
 men of Rome. But then, though our historian be very desirous 
 we should believe it, yet he faulters afterwards, like a guilty liar, in 
 his confidence. In the passage before us, he positively affirms, 
 T>$a.vi<r6ri — he quite vanished away, and yet in the 8th chapter, which 
 follows, he only says aTmxQe— he went away. And this, though he 
 would seem to affirm, that it was after a wonderful manner, and no- 
 body knows how, is a pitiful abatement to the bigness of his former 
 expression, " vanishing away." Though the truth is, if he had stood to 
 it, it must unavoidably have proved itself a lie : for it is utterly incre- 
 dible, that so strange a thing as that should have been done in so great 
 a presence, and yet never any notice be taken of it. Of course it 
 certainly was [a gross untruth, and the historian who could be guilty of 
 such dbingenuity, deserves little credit as to almost any thing he 
 *ays. 
 
432 
 i 
 
 the tyrant to sentence men to death, under any plausible 
 
 colour of law, whose crimes had not been legally proved, 
 
 and concerning whom no inquiry had been instituted. 
 
 This is all that passed at the trial as far as I can find. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 BUT as a speech was written by Apollonius, which he 
 intended to have spoken by the Clepsydra, I shall give it 
 to the public, though he did not speak it, in consequence 
 of the Emperor having confined him to the four interro- 
 gatories before enumerated. I know the speech is not 
 relished by persons who approve of no style of speaking 
 but what is seasoned with such language as only the licence 
 of a buffoon could warrant; they say, also, it is not so 
 correct as what it ought to be, and is not sufficiently ele- 
 vated either in language or sentiment. But when I take 
 into consideration the character of the man as a philoso- 
 pher, I think he would not have rightly consulted the re- 
 pect due to it, by delivering a speech full of measured 
 cadences and antitheses, and words sounding like timbrels, 
 a species of oratory fit for rhetoricians, but not for such 
 men as Apollonius. For the power of eloquence in 
 judicial pleadings, if once it becomes apparent, will make 
 the speaker be suspected of a design of imposing on his 
 judges : but when concealed, he will come off victorious. 
 Eloquence has effect in proportion as its manifest object 
 is kept out of sight of him who sits in judgment. A wise 
 man, in defending himself, (for he who is wise will never 
 bring to trial those whom he can punish himself) will 
 pursue a different practice from what they do who pass 
 their lives in judical proceedings. The speech of a wise 
 man should be laboured without appearing to be so, and 
 should possess an elevation of mind that scorned the com- 
 mon forms of pleading. He should not suffer persons to 
 
433 
 
 imagine that he wished to excite compassion, for why 
 should he endeavour to do it, who suffers no intercession 
 to be made in his favour ? Such, I think, the following 
 defence will appear to all who have not been heedless 
 listeners either to me or him. Here is the speech just as 
 it was composed by him. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 THE defence intended to have been spoken by Apollo- 
 nius before the Emperor Domitian — 1. The cause at pre- 
 sent before us, O Emperor, is concerning matters of great 
 moment. You run a greater risk than ever Emperor did, 
 if you appear, without reason, to be the enemy of philoso- 
 phy ; and 1 encounter a greater danger than ever Socrates 
 at Athens did, whose accusers affirmed, he supported 
 new opinions touching the religion of the state, but they 
 did not call him a God, nor did they think him one. As 
 the danger hanging over us both is so imminent, I will not 
 fear to give you that advice, of which I feel myself per- 
 suaded. Since an informer has given rise to the difference 
 at present subsisting between you and me, an opinion is 
 gone abroad of us, little conformable to the truth. It is 
 imagined, that in hearing this cause, you will listen only to 
 anger, and consequently, that I shall be put to death with- 
 out considering whether a sentence of that nature is right 
 or wrong. As to myself, it is believed, I shall withdraw 
 from the tribunal by some of the various ways that are 
 supposed to be in my power. Though all these things 
 have reached my ears, I do not therefore appear with any 
 prejudice against you, nor do I think unfavourably of the 
 hearing you will give my cause. In obedience to the laws 
 I stand before my judge, and I advise him to listen to their 
 voice. Justice requires of you neither to condemn me 
 
 2 F 
 
434 
 
 without a fair hearing, nor to carry to the seat of judgment 
 any prejudice whatever, or persuasion of my having com- 
 mitted any evil against your person or interest. I know 
 you trust in Armenians, and Babylonians, and others bear- 
 ing rule in the most distant provinces, who command a 
 numerous cavalry, and legions of archers and soldiers, and 
 a rich country : and you would laugh, I suppose, if told 
 that any one of them could deprive you of your empire; 
 and yet you distrust a poor harmless unarmed philosopher, 
 as if he had the means of attacking the Emperor of Rome ; 
 and listen to the idle talcs of an Egyptian sycophant, of 
 whose truth you have received no intimation from Pallas, 
 whom you consider as your protectress, and guardian 
 Deity. This I do not understand, unless it is that 
 calumny and flattery have so prospered with some men, 
 as to have given them the power of making you believe, 
 that in things of little consequence, as for instance, opthal- 
 niies, and fevers, and intestine complaints, the Gods con- 
 descend to act as your advisers, and sometimes even as 
 your physicians ; but that in matters wherein the interest 
 of the state, 'and your own individual security are con- 
 cerned, these same Gods neither council you as to the 
 persons you should avoid, nor as to the way in which you 
 should guard against your enemies. Have they persuaded you 
 to think, that calumniators stand in the place of the iEgis 
 of Pallas, and the hand of Jove ? Is it possible, I say, 
 such men could make you believe, that in what concerns 
 your own safety, they know more than what the Gods 
 themselves do ; and that their sleeping and waking is all for 
 your sake, if ever it can be supposed such men sleep, 
 who are heaping woes upon woes, and composing, as the 
 proverb says, a succession of Iliads. Let these men then 
 have the liberty of keeping white horses, and driving about 
 the forum in splendid equipages: let them eat off gold 
 and silver, and form alliances by marriages, and maintain 
 
435 
 
 boys at a monstrous expence, and intrigue with married 
 women whilst it can be done in secret; and afterwards 
 marry the victims of their adulteries when discovered, 
 and be praised for their glorious deeds; whilst a philo- 
 sopher, or a man of consular rank, of the best character, 
 if he happens to fall into their hands, is unjustly devoted 
 by you to destruction at their suggestion. That such 
 wretches should be suffered to indulge in this abominable 
 style of living, and at the same time be considered as wiser 
 than the rest of mankind, and more knowing than the 
 Gods, is what I cannot praise, nor reflect on without the 
 greatest horror. If such conduct meets your approbation, 
 I should not wonder if these men were to accuse you of 
 holding heretical opinions concerning the established 
 religion ; and I should expect that such an accusation 
 should be brought against yourself, whenever these syco- 
 phants shall have no one else to accuse. But I find I am 
 acting rather as a plaintiff than a defendant ; and therefore 
 I hope you will pardon me for having spoken in favour 
 of laws, which ought to govern you, if you wish to govern 
 others. 
 
 2. But who is to be my advocate ? For if I invoke 
 Jupiter, by whom I know I live, I shall be called an en- 
 chanter, and said to bring down heaven on earth. That 
 being so, let us appeal to a man, whom many suppose 
 dead, but I do not ; I mean your father, in whose eyes 
 I was held in the same estimation as he is in yours. He 
 made you Emperor, but I made him. He shall be my 
 advocate in pleading my cause, for he knows my affairs 
 better than you do. He came into Egypt before he was 
 made Emperor, to offer sacrifice to the Gods of the 
 country, and to confer with me on the then critical state 
 of the empire. When he met me in my long flowing 
 hair, and in the dress I now wear, he made no particular 
 inquiries about it, from an idea that every thkig I did was 
 2 F 2 
 
436 
 
 right. He confessed he undertook the journey on my 
 account ; he parted with me after much commendation, 
 and said he had communicated with no other person, nor 
 had heard from any man what he heard from me. I con- 
 firmed him in his purpose of aspiring to the diadem, 
 though others # made him hesitate, which, 1 think, you 
 yourself would consider as unwise; and the men who 
 advised him against taking into his hands the reins of 
 government, were they who would have deprived you of 
 the power of succeeding him. I advised him to think 
 himself deserving of the empire, which was, as it were, 
 at his door, and to make you his heir. He acknow- 
 ledged the wisdom of my advice, which raised him to 
 the summit of his wishes, and you likewise. Had he 
 deemed me a magician, he would never have made me 
 acquainted with his most secret purposes. When he first 
 met me, he did not speak of my compelling the Fates, or 
 of my affecting a power greater than Jupiter himself, or 
 even of my pretending to any thing extraordinary in order 
 to shew and prove my character, as for instance, of making 
 the sun rise in the west, and set in the east, &c. I should 
 not have considered him worthy of the throne, had he 
 thought me capable of such a conduct, or of having recourse 
 to any other means in seeking it, than those pointed out 
 by virtue. Moreover, I discoursed with him publicly in 
 the temples of the Gods, which are known to be avoided 
 by the corporation of magicians, as being holy, and hostile 
 to their craft, who, wrapped up in darkness and obscurity, 
 suffer not their foolish votaries to ma*ke use of either their 
 eyes or ears. I have talked with him also in private, when 
 only Euphrates and Dion were present, of whom the first 
 was my greatest enemy, and the latter a friend, tied to me 
 by all the bonds of affection : for whilst I live, I shall 
 
 Dion and Euphrates. 
 
437 
 
 never cease ranking Dion amongst my best friends. Who 
 would presume talking of magic before wise men, or men 
 pretending to wisdom ? And who is there that is not de- 
 sirous of appearing in a good light as well to friends as 
 foes ? on the contrary, we have spoken against magicians. 
 You will not perhaps believe, that your father trusted 
 more to magic, in looking to the empire, than to his 
 own virtue ; and that it was at my suggestion alone, he 
 ascribed the acquisition of it to the Gods. Vespasian, 
 before his coming into Egypt, entertained hopes of gaining 
 the empire ; and after his arrival, he talked to me only of 
 the most important subjects, namely, the laws, the right 
 possession of riches, the lawful worship of the Gods, and 
 the advantages, which they who govern according fb jus- 
 tice, are to hope from such conduct. To such subjects I 
 need not say that magicians are the greatest enemies ; and 
 why ? because whenever the laws are in force, the magic 
 art is gone. 
 
 3. There is one thing, O Emperor"! you ought to con- 
 sider, which is, that all the arts exercised by men, though 
 different in their operations, have but one object, which is 
 the acquisition of money, of which some bring in little, 
 others much, and others only bare necessaries. This is 
 not only the object of the servile, but also of the liberal 
 arts, and those that have any affinity with them, to the 
 exception of philosophy alone. I call the liberal arts, 
 poetry, music, astronomy, logic, and oratory, as practis- 
 ed in the forum by sophists and rhetoricians. The arts 
 allied to the liberal ones, are painting, carving, sculpture, 
 pilotage, and agriculture, when under the guidance and 
 regulation of the seasons. These are arts which are not 
 much inferior to what are called the liberal. There is 
 also an art, O EmperorJ that does not appertain to true 
 wisdom, and is only becoming the practice of vain quacks 
 and mountebanks, which ought not to be confounded 
 with the art of divination : an art, if true, most highly to 
 
438 
 
 be prized ; and yet I am at a loss whether to call it an 
 art, or not. Magicians, I affirm, are pseudosophists, 
 and I attribute entirely to the heated imaginations of their 
 duped votaries, the power they possess of making that 
 which is, appear as if it was not ; and that which is not, 
 appear as if it was. The truth is, their whole art lies in 
 the deluded fancies of the spectators. And yet magic is 
 an art, for they who profess it, love money, and all the im- 
 positions they practise, is for the sake of vile lucre. They 
 amass great wealth by deluding all their votaries, who are 
 fond of it, and making them believe they can do every 
 thing. But of what wealth have you discovered me pos- 
 sessed, O Emperor ! as to make you think I profess a 
 pseudophilosophy ? particularly as I am the man whom 
 your father found superior to corruption by money. 
 
 To shew you I utter the truth, where is the letter of 
 that great, if not rather divine man, wherein he praises 
 me for many thiugs, but above all things for my poverty ? 
 
 The Emperor Vespasian's Letter to the Philosopher 
 Apollonius, greeting. 
 
 " If all men, Apollonius, as well as you/i would but 
 cultivate philosophy, philosophy and poverty would flourish 
 and be happy. The former would then be above corrup- 
 tion, and the latter respected. Farewel." 
 
 This is the defence your father set up for me, in which 
 he ascribed to me a philosophy incorruptible, and a vo- 
 luntary poverty. He remembered what happened in 
 Egypt, when Euphrates and others, that masked them- 
 selves under the cloak of philosophy, came to him, asking 
 for money, and that not in silence. As to myself, I never 
 paid him court for the sake of money, and ever discou- 
 raged those who did, as soon as I discovered them not 
 sincere in the cause of philosophy. From my very youth 
 I despised riches : the fortune I derived from my fore- 
 fathers, which was considerable, appeared to me but as 
 
4;;9 
 
 the transitory possession of a day, and 1 gave it up to 
 my brothers, and friends, and indigent relations, having 
 learnt, as it were, from my cradle, the virtue of living on 
 a little. I speak nothing here of Babylon, and India on 
 the other side Caucasus and the river Hyphasis, countries 
 which I traversed always like myself: how I conducted 
 myself in them and abstained from money, I appeal 
 even to the testimony of the Egyptian himself. With 
 respect to the criminal conduct and wicked councils im- 
 puted to me, he has not set forth either what I acquir- 
 ed by them, or what I proposed to acquire. And does 
 he now think me so mad as to turn magician and per- 
 petrate crimes for nothing, which are committed by others 
 so much to their own advantage ? Is it expected I should 
 have a market; with a cryer proclaiming thus, " Come 
 hither, all ye blockheads who have lost your senses, I 
 practise magic, not for money, but for nothing : you shall 
 all and every one of you obtain whatever you wish, and I 
 shall have the satisfaction of being exposed to all the dan- 
 gers and informations arising from it." 
 
 4. But not to be carried away too far by this foolish 
 rhapsody, let me ask of my accuser to what charge I 
 must first speak ? And why necessary to interrogate him ? 
 for he, in the exordium of his speech, spoke of my dress, 
 and of the particular kind of food of which I did, and 
 did not, eat. To you, O divine Pythagoras ! I will com- 
 mit my defence on these two articles ; for we are sum- 
 moned here to give an account of those peculiar precepts 
 of which you are the author, and I the follower. The 
 earth, O Emperor ! supplies all things necessary for man, 
 who, if they would but live in peace with the brute beasts, 
 would want for nothing needful to existence. Enough 
 may be had from her, by the help of the plough and 
 sickle, to support her own children, according to the 
 proper seasons. But men, forgetful, as it were, of all her 
 favours to them, have unsheathed the sword against her 
 
440 
 
 animals, for the sake of procuring food and raiment. 
 Such a conduct on their part was not approved by the 
 Indian Brachmans, who persuaded the Gymnosophists of 
 Egypt not to sanction it by their approbation. When 
 Pythagoras, the first Greek who ever conversed with the 
 Egyptians, understood this, he left the earth its animals, 
 and Jived on its genuine productions, from an idea 
 of their being clean, and sufficient to support soul and 
 body. Garments made from what hath life, and which 
 are worn by the bulk of mankind, he held as impure ; 
 and on that account he clothed himself in linen, and wore 
 shoes, in obedience to the same rule of discipline, made 
 out of the bark of trees. From this pure mode of living 
 he derived many advantages, and above all, that of knowing 
 his own soul, for he knew he lived at the time when Troy 
 was besieged on account of the rape of Helen, that he, 
 who was the most beautiful of the sons of Panthus, wore 
 the finest clothes, was killed in the flower of his age, and 
 was lamented by Homer for his untimely fate. After 
 migrating through various bodies, agreeable to the Adras- 
 tian law, which requires the soul's passage through different 
 states, he at length assumed the human form, and was 
 born of Mnesarchus the Samian, being changed from a 
 barbarian into a sage, and from a Trojan into an Ionian ; 
 and rendered so immortal in death, that he never forgot 
 he was Euphorbus. I have now given the father of my 
 philosophical system, and proved that it is not my inven- 
 tion, but that of another, and is come to me as an in- 
 heritance. But however that is, I will not condemn 
 those who feast on the Phoenicopterus, # or the bird of 
 
 * Phoenicopterus, Red Flamingo, a bird, haviug its wings of a 
 crimson colour, whose tongue was a great dainty among the Romans : 
 Et Scythicae Volucres et Phoenicopterus ingens. Juvenal. 
 
 Apicius describes the scientific mode of seasoning them. Helioga- 
 balus ordered for his table dishes filled with their tongues. 
 
441 
 
 Phasis,* or the martin of Pannonia,f which is fattened 
 up for the banquets of those who indulge in every kind 
 of luxury. 1 will pass no sentence against those who buy 
 fish at greater price, than what were formerly given by the 
 rich for horses branded with the mark Koppa.J I will 
 envy no man his wearing purple or Pamphylian garments ;§ 
 but I will, O ye Gods ! strive to defend myself from an 
 action brought against me for eating asphodels, and fruits, 
 and pure food. 
 
 5. My very garments are not safe, for my accuser en- 
 deavours to deprive me of them, just as if a particular 
 kind of dress was a matter of some moment in the eyes 
 of a magician. But if once the doctrine which makes 
 the difference between animate and inanimate things be 
 done away, in the observance, or neglect of which, one 
 may appear pure and another not, wherein will be the ad- 
 vantage of wearing a linen habit in preference to one of 
 wool ? The wool is shorn from the gentlest of all ani- 
 
 * Pheasants, or the birds of Phasis, were confined, it is said, to 
 Colchis, before the expedition of the Argonauts, who, finding these 
 beautiful birds scattered on the banks of that river, carried them home 
 to Greece. 
 
 t Martin of Pannonia — this is not mentioned in the text, and is only 
 collected from an epigram of Martial, which says, 
 
 " Pannonicas nobis nunquam dedit Umbria cattta." 
 
 What animal is understood by cat ta, is not known accurately. 
 
 X This custom of marking horses with some letter is very ancient, 
 and is mentioned in the clouds of Aristophanes, Or eirpitfAw to* 
 KowTTtfTtttv, &c. — Eustathius says, the Greek letter Cappa is called by 
 some Coppa. The custom which we have at this day of marking horses 
 on the flank with a red-hot iron is mentioned in Anacreon. 
 
 Ev icrxiott; /uiv ivrirot 
 Tlvpot; ytLfayfA tx,e<ri 
 
 § Pamphylian garments. — Olearius supposes the sheep that pastured 
 among the rocks of Pamphylia produced fleeces, from the wool of 
 which most expensive garments were made. 
 
442 
 
 mals, one dear to the Gods* themselves, who have not 
 disdained being shepherds. An animal which the Gods, 
 or ancient fables, have adorned with gold.f Flax is sown 
 without previous preparation, and no fables whatever make 
 any allusion to it of gold. But as it is not torn from 
 any living creature, the Indians and Egyptians reckon it 
 pure, and on that account it is the cause of its supplying 
 Pythagoras and me with the garments we wear, whilst en- 
 gaged in disputing, praying, and sacrificing. We even 
 suppose the mere passing the night under linen contributes 
 to a greater purity ; for the dreams of those who live as I 
 do, are wont to convey more luminous oracles. 
 
 6. It is necessary also for me to set up a defence on 
 account of my hair, which I formerly let grow ; seeing a 
 charge of a criminal nature is preferred against me for its 
 negligent, undrest appearance. An accusation of this 
 kind surely comes not well from the mouth of an Egyptian, 
 who would have acted more in character, had he brought 
 such a charge against those nice, well-drest beaus with 
 golden hair, whose only object is to kindle a flame in the 
 hearts of their mistresses, to whom they are so assiduous 
 in paying their addresses. The accuser has my full per- 
 mission to think them happy in their flowing perfumed 
 locks, provided he does not deprive me of the pleasure I 
 enjoy in my negligence of attire, and dislike of love. But 
 what follows,- is the answer I shall make to his objections. 
 I will say, Cease, ye unhappy youths, to disparage by your 
 calumnies, an invention of the Dorians. The letting the 
 hair grow, is a custom derived from the Lacedemonians, 
 who adopted it at the time when their military character 
 
 * Apollo— Pan— -and Mercury. 
 
 t The ram with the golden fleece, the offspring of Neptune and 
 Theophane, so celebrated in ancient story. 
 
443 
 
 was at its highest pitch. Leonidas,* King of Sparta, wore 
 his hair long as a mark of courage ; he wore it so to appear 
 venerable to his friends,, and formidable to his foes. 
 Hence Sparta wore the hair in his time as it did in that of 
 Lycurgus and Iphitus. Scissars should never come in con- 
 tact with the hair of a wise man. It is a sacrilege to let 
 them approach the head, the source and seat of all the 
 senses, from whence proceed oracles, and prayers, and 
 speech, the interpreter of wisdom. Empedocles-f- marched 
 boldly through the most frequented places of Greece with 
 his hair tied up in fine purple fillets, reciting hymns, in 
 which he announced his change from a man to a God. J 
 Yet I, who wear my hair careless and neglected, and never 
 composed any hymns in praise of it, am dragged to justice 
 before this tribunal. But what shall 1 say of Empedo- 
 cles ? Was it the effect of his own happy temper, or that 
 of the age in which he lived, that he was never exposed to 
 the tongue of calumny on account of it. 
 
 7. However, on the subject of hair I will not say a 
 word more : mine has been cut off, and the prejudice 
 which preceded this part of my accusation, makes it now 
 necessary for me to vindicate myself from another most 
 grievous charge, which in itself, O King ! is enough not 
 only to terrify you, but even Jupiter himself. My accuser 
 says, Men think me a God, and publish this opinion, which 
 they found on the various tricks and delusions I practise. 
 Now, before an accusation of this kind should be made, 
 
 * Long hair distinguished the free man from the slave, and accord- 
 ing to Plutarch, Lycurgus was accustomed to say, that long hair added 
 grace to handsome men, and made those who were ugly more terrific. 
 The answer brought back by Xerxes's messenger from Thermopylae, 
 was, that the Lacedemonians were employed in combing their hair. 
 
 t Diogenes Laertius says, that Empedocles, after restoring peace and 
 good government in Agrigentum, clothed himself in purple, and wore 
 a golden girdle, as Phavorinus says, and a Delphic crown, and had 
 servants attending him. 
 
 $ See b. i. c. 1. 
 
444 
 
 I think it would be first right to mention the subjects of 
 my disputation ; and next, tire wonderful things, either said 
 or done, that could have prevailed on men to worship me. 
 I never declared to the Greeks either from what body my 
 soul has migrated, or into what body it is to migrate, 
 though perfectly acquainted with it. I never spread abroad 
 such an opinion of myself, nor went about publishing ora- 
 cles and predictions in my favour, like other itinerant fana- 
 tics. I never knew of any city making proclamation of 
 offering sacrifice to Apollonius ; yet I have benefitted as 
 many as stood in need of my assistance, and many there 
 have been who required it in curing the sick, in promoting 
 a stricter observance of religious ceremonies, and in check- 
 ing oppression by giving a greater energy to the laws. 
 And what has been my reward for all this ? Nothing but 
 the reformation thereby effected, wherein I considered 
 myself as having rendered to you, O Emperor ! a great 
 service. For as graziers serve their employers by keeping 
 their cattle always in good condition, and as shepherds 
 take care to fatten their sheep for the benefit of their em- 
 ployers, and bee-keepers save their hives from distempers 
 for the better security of their master's swarms, so did I 
 bring your cities under a more regular police by correcting 
 in them whatever I found amiss. If then they considered 
 me as a God, it is to you the error would have been of 
 service ; under this delusion they would have listened more 
 willingly to any advice of mine, through the fear of doing 
 any thing displeasing to the Gods. But the truth is, they 
 never formed any such opinion of me ; they conceived, and 
 rightly too, that men had some degree of affinity with a 
 deity, in virtue of which, they of all creatures know a 
 God, and can reason philosophically of their own nature, 
 and how far it is participant of the divine. Our form 
 speaks its likeness to a God, as appears* from the arts of 
 
 * Statuaries and painters always represent the Gods with human 
 countenances. 
 
445 
 
 statuary and painting. The virtues are supposed to de- 
 scend from the Gods, in consequence of which, they who 
 are endowed with them, most resemble them. I will not 
 call the Athenians the authors of this sentiment on account 
 of their being the first who gave men the titles of Just, 
 and Olympian.* and otherf* like appellations, which seem 
 to include something more divine than what is befitting 
 mortals ; but 1 will call the Pythian Apollo himself the 
 author of it, as appears from what I am going to mention. 
 Lycurgus of Sparta visited the temple of Apollo after 
 delivering to his countrymen that code of laws and statutes 
 on which their city was founded. The God J addressed 
 him on his entrance, and it is said, seemed to deliberate, as 
 it were, with himself what judgment he should form of him, 
 in giving his answer ; at first he was in doubt whether to 
 call him a God or a man, and at last decreed him the style 
 and title of a God, as being a man of virtue. No process 
 of any kind was issued against Lycurgus for this, nor did 
 he incur any danger with the Lacedemonians, either for 
 having aspired to immortality, or for having not corrected 
 the Pythian God for his mode of salutation. The answer 
 returned by the oracle gained universal assent, from a full 
 conviction that Lycurgus merited the appellation before it 
 was delivered. This doctrine is that of the Indians and 
 Egyptians. The latter blame the Indians in some things, 
 and call in question certain of their precepts touching mo- 
 rality ; but the doctrine which the philosophers of the East 
 
 * Aristides and Pericles, the former obtained the appellation of the 
 just on account of his integrity — and the latter that of the Olympian, 
 on account of his commanding eloquence- 
 t Olcarius says, Cleon was surnamed Pythius. 
 $ Herodotus has preserved the answer of the oracle. — 
 " Thou com'st, Lycurgus, to this honour'd shrine, 
 " Favour'd by Jove, and ev'ry pow'r divine. 
 " Or God, or mortal : how shall 1 decide ; 
 " Doubtless to beaten, most dear, and most allied." 
 
446 
 
 hold of the Demiurgns,* or maker of all things, is so ap- 
 proved of by the Egyptians, that they instruct others in its 
 tenets, notwithstanding it is of Indian origin. This doc- 
 trine acknowledges God to be the author of nature and of 
 all existence ; and makes his goodness the efficient cause of 
 all things. If, then, goodness is so intimately connected 
 with the Divinity, I cannot avoid considering myself found- 
 ed irfthe opinion of good men partaking of the Divine 
 nature. JBy the world, which depends on God as its great 
 Demiurgus, we understand all things in heaven, and in earth, 
 and in the sea, of which all men equally partake, though their 
 several conditions as to fortune may be very different. But 
 there is a world in every good man's power, the regulation 
 of which does not exceed the limits of human wisdom, 
 which you will allow, O Emperor i requires a man like 
 unto a God to govern. What is the appearance of this 
 world? Souls in a state of corruption assume various 
 forms in despite of reason. Laws to them seem obsolete, 
 moderation lost, the worship of the Gods neglected, idle- 
 talking in fashion, and dissipation, from whence flows indo- 
 lence, the very worst counsellor in all things. Souls of 
 this description, besotted, as it were, by intemperance, 
 plunge inconsiderately into a variety of excess, and nothing 
 is able to restrain their wild irregularity : not if they were 
 to swallow all those potions, which, like mandragora,f 
 
 * From all the properties of man and of nature, from all the various 
 branches of science, from all the deductions of human reason, the gene- 
 ral corollary, admitted by Hindus, Arabs, and Tartars, by Persians, 
 and by Chinese, is the supremacy of an all-creating and all-preserving 
 spirit, infinitely wise, good, and powerful, but infinitely removed from 
 the comprehension of his most exalted creatures. Sir W. Jones on the 
 Philosophy of the Asiatics. 
 
 t Not poppy, nor mandragora, 
 
 Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world, 
 
 Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep, 
 
 Which thou owedst yesterday. Othello. 
 
447 
 
 are medicined for sleep. The man who is to take the care 
 of regulating a world of such souls as these, should resem- 
 ble a God* deputed by Divine wisdom. He alone is 
 capable of recalling them from love, to which they are 
 carried by more than usual bias ; and from avarice, which 
 is never satisfied with riches .till choaked by them. Such 
 a man may, perhaps, not find it impossible to keep them 
 from the pollution of murder, butf to purge them for 
 murder committed, is neither possible for me, nor for that 
 Go.d who is the maker of all things. 
 
 8. Now as to the charge of my having restored health 
 to Ephesus, let my accuser bring it forward in the way 
 most fitting his purpose : let him, if he pleases, urge it 
 in the following manner, The Scythians and Celtae, who 
 dwell not far from the banks of the Danube and Rhine, 
 have a town belonging to them, not much inferior to 
 Ephesus in Ionia. This town is the bulwark to the bar- 
 barians, your enemies. A plague was on the point of 
 destroying it, and Apollonius saved it. In a case like this, 
 a wise man would not be without his answer, if the Em- 
 peror wished to destroy his enemies by force of arms, and 
 not by force of disease. But God forbid, O Emperor ! 
 that any city should be utterly destroyed either by you or 
 me ; and as to myself, I would not like to see diseases 
 in the temples, J to where the sick repair for the sake of 
 health. But granting it was not necessary to assist the 
 barbarians in their distress, or to restore them to health 
 when sick, on account of being the great and implacable 
 enemies of our nation ; who, I say, will presume to say 
 
 * ©so? am c-oyia;, seems to allude, io the opinion of Olearius, to the 
 well-known phrase of Geo? arro fA.nna.nq— the introduction of a God 
 on the stage. 
 
 " Nee Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus 
 " Incident." Horace. 
 
 t Airon-^at. — By tliose who spoke accurately, to wash the hands 
 before supper, was termed vi^as-Bmi— to wash after supper tmm+tu-Bai. 
 $ Temples of Esculapius. 
 
448 
 
 it was not right to deliver Ephesus from the plague ? 
 Ephesus that derives its origin from the purest Attic* 
 source, that has 'grown in rank above all the cities in 
 Ionia or Lydia, and has stretched even to the sea by 
 means of the neck of land on which it is built. A city 
 rich in the literary labours of its philosophers and rheto- 
 ricians, insomuch, that it flourishes not so considerably 
 by the strength of its cavalry, as by the number of its 
 citizens devoted to science. Do you thiuk there is any- 
 wise man who would not take much pains to save a city 
 like this ? particularly if he called to mind Democritusf 
 who delivered the people of* Abdera from a plague ; and 
 Sophocles the Athenian, who appeased the windsj when 
 blowing louder than usual; or if he recollected Empe- 
 docles' § checking the fury of a cloud when ready to burst 
 over Agrigentum. 
 
 9« But I see the accuser looking at me ; you see it 
 also, O Emperor ! he says I am accused, not for having 
 
 * Founded by Androclus, son of Cedrus, king of Athens, 
 t This account of Democritus's delivering the Abderites from a 
 plague, is not mentioned by Laertius — he says, however, that he was 
 honored as a God by them on account of his predictions. Olearius 
 refers us to the observations of Menage on the Lives of Laertius, for 
 the confirmation of this delivery from the plague. 
 
 $ To this Mr. Gerard Hamilton alludes in his Ode to Sleep — Printed 
 for Mr. Payne. 1808. 
 
 With longing taste, with eager lip, 
 
 In raptured visions oft I sip 
 
 The honeys of the tragic bee ;** 
 
 Whose strains could every tempest quell, 
 
 Could every noxious blast dispel, 
 
 And still the hollow roaring of the sea, &c. 
 § Laertius relates, that when the Etesian winds were very violent 
 at Agrigentum, so as to destroy the fruits of the earth, Empedocles 
 ordered some asses to be flayed, and that having made bottles of 
 their skins, they were placed at the tops of the hills for stopping the 
 winds. What can be thought of a speech illustrated by so silly an 
 allusion. 
 
 ** Sophocles. 
 
449 
 
 delivered the Ephesians from a plague, but for having 
 foretold that it would attack them. This foreknowledge 
 he thinks is more than human, and partakes of the mar- 
 vellous : and he is of opinion I could never have arrived 
 at its discovery without being either a magician or one of 
 the wicked. What will Socrates say here, to defend what 
 he said he had from his Demon ? What will Thales and 
 Anaxagoras say, of whom the one predicted a great 
 plenty of olives,* and the other,f a variety of celestial 
 phenomena ? Was it the magic art they made use of to 
 utter these predictions ? They were brought before tri- 
 bunals for very different reasons, and amongst all the ar- 
 ticles alledged against them, it was never once insinuated 
 they were magicians for having foretold what was to hap- 
 pen. A charge of this nature would have appeared ridi- 
 culous, and one which it was not probable would have 
 been brought against wise men in Thessaly, where old 
 women are under the evil report of drawing down the 
 moonj from heaven. You will ask, perhaps, how have I 
 foreseen the extraordinary phenomenon which happened 
 at Ephesus ? You heard my accuser speak to that point, 
 he said himself, I did not live after the manner of other 
 men, which was noticed by me in the exordium of my 
 speech, when I allowed I used a particular kind of food 
 that was most frugal, and more agreeable to me than the 
 nicest delicacies of Sybaris. This is the kind of living 
 which acts in the place of an occult cause, and keeps my 
 senses unimpaired, without suffering any thing to obscure 
 
 * Thales predicted aplenty of olives, antequamjlorerecccpissent, says 
 Cicero. 
 
 t For the predictions of Anaxagoras, see b. i. c. 2. 
 
 X Carmina vel coelo possunt deducere lunani. Virgil. 
 
 The Thessalians were thought to be possessed of this art, more thau 
 any other people. 
 
 The sorceress in Theocritus frequently calls on the moon to tell her 
 whence her passion came. 
 
 2 G 
 
450 
 
 them ; this, in fine, is the cause of my seeing, as it were, 
 in the speculum of a mirror, all that is, and is to be. A 
 wise man will not wait till the earth sends forth vapor, or 
 the atmosphere is infected, if evil comes from above ; but 
 he will perceive such things are at hand, not so soon 
 as the Gods, yet sooner than the generality of men. 
 The Gods see what is to come, men what is come, and 
 wise men what is coming. As to what respects the causes 
 of the plague, inquire of me, O Emperor ! in private, 
 for they are too deep to be divulged. The way in which 
 I live is the only thing which gives that sub til ty to the 
 senses, or more properly speaking, that energy which is 
 fit for producing great and wonderful effects. The truth 
 of what I say may be collected from many things, but 
 particularly from what occurred at Ephesus, during the 
 time of the plague. The form the malady assumed, was 
 that of an old beggar-man. # I saw him, and as soon as 
 I saw him, I apprehended him : not abating the distemper, 
 but extirpating it. The statue erected by me at Ephesus 
 to Hercules Averruncus, is a proof whose assistance I 
 implored on the occasion. To him I offered up my 
 prayers, whose wisdom and courage of old delivered Elis 
 from a plague, at the time he turned the course of a river 
 into that province, which swept away all its pestilential 
 vapors, in the reign of King Augeas. Will any man, O 
 Emperor ! who wishes to pass for a magician, ascribe to 
 a God what he has performed himself? Will any man 
 admire his craft, if he gives to a God the merit of all that 
 is marvellous? or did you ever hear of a magician calling 
 on Hercules for assistance ? Such things magicians ascribe 
 
 * Had Apollonius been suffered to make this defence, what must 
 Domitian and the court have thought of his representing the pslague as 
 an old beggar-man. 
 
 Si dicentis erunt fortuuis absona dicta, 
 
 Romani tollent equites peditesque cachinnum. Horace. 
 
4M 
 
 to the digging of trenches and the infernal Gods, with 
 whom Hercules has no place on account of the purity of 
 his life, and his benevolence to men. Corinth was once 
 infested with the appearance of a Lamia, who supported 
 herself by devouring beautiful boys. In combating with 
 her, Hercules lent me his assistance, and what did he 
 ask as a reward for this service? only a few cakes 
 made of honey, a little frankincense, and the pleasure 
 of doing good to mortals. This is the recompense he 
 looked to, for all the labors which he accomplished 
 by the orders of Eurystheus. Take it not ill, O Em- 
 peror ! that I speak to you of the labours of Her- 
 cules : he was under the immediate protection of 
 Minerva, because he was good and useful to man- 
 kind. 
 
 10. But seeing you wish me to speak on the subject 
 of the sacrifice, which I suppose is signified by the motion 
 of your hand, listen to what is the ingenuous truth. 
 Though anxious to do all I can for the good of mortals, I 
 never sacrificed for them, nor mean to do it. I wish 
 to have nothing to do with sacrifices where blood is shed, 
 or to offer up my vows with the sacrificing knife in view, 
 or with any thing -which you call a sacrifice. I am no 
 Scythian, O Emperor! nor one sprung from an inhos- 
 pitable soil. Far from adopting the religious ceremonies 
 of the Massagetae or Tauri, I have caused them to cease 
 from their usual bloody sacrifices, and blamed their folly 
 in many discourses had with them on the subject of divi- 
 nation, and in what it may be considered as efficient, and 
 in what not. Can I, therefore, (who know better than 
 any other, that the Gods declare their will to men who 
 are wise and pure, though they do not aim at the gift of 
 divination) stain my hands in blood, and touch the entrails 
 of victims, the bare mention of which is forbidden, and 
 excites horror : and by such a defilement thereby forfeit 
 the gift of divination ? But setting aside the horror I feel 
 2 g 2 
 
452 
 
 at such sacrifices, I think, if my accuser was desired to 
 reflect on what he has said, he will acquit me himself. He 
 has said I foretold the plague at Ephesus, without having 
 recourse to any sacrifice, and if he did say so, why does 
 he suppose it necessary for me now to offer bloody sacri- 
 fices to foretel what might have been foretold without 
 them ? Or why suppose I stood in want of the gift of 
 divination, concerning events of which I and others were 
 fully persuaded. If I am called on to answer for Nerva 
 and his friends, I shall only repeat what I said before, 
 when accused by you. I look on Nerva as fit for the dis- 
 charge of any office, and worthy of all praise; but ill 
 calculated for the execution of any enterprise. His body is 
 enfeebled with disease, which has so affected his mind, 
 as to leave him scarcely equal to the management of his 
 domestic concerns. He* commends the vigor of your body 
 and mind, wherein he is right, for men are ever prone to 
 praise in others what they are incapable of doing themselves., 
 In his intercourse with me, his modesty is remarkable, for I 
 never saw him laugh or indulge in a jest in my company, as 
 he is accustomed to do in that of his friends, but like boys 
 in the presence of their parents or preceptors, he utters, 
 with a kind of blushing timidity, whatever he has to say.f 
 Sensible of the value I set upon modesty, he is so particular 
 in making a show of it before me, as to appear more 
 
 * Domitian's person was graceful, aud in his youth was completely 
 such, excepting only that his toes were bent somewhat inward. 
 
 Suetonius. 
 
 t Nerva is commended by all the ancients, as a prince of a most 
 sweet and humane temper, and one who looked upon himself as 
 raised to the empire, not for his own advantage, but for that of his 
 people. He seems to have been naturally timorous. Apollonius was 
 the first, if Philostratus is to be credited, who solicited him to assume 
 the sovereignty, or at least to deliver Rome from the tyranny of 
 Domitian. 
 
 
453 
 
 humble than what he ought, or is becoming. Who* can 
 think that Nerva would aim at sovereign power, who is 
 well content with the government of his own family ? Or 
 that he should confer with me on subjects of the greatest 
 moment, who has not courage to talk to me on the most 
 trifling ? or communicate matters to ine, which he ought 
 not to breathe to any mortal living, if he took my advice ? 
 or how could I ever expect to pass for a wise man, if I 
 was to rest my credit on the art of divination, without 
 once listening to the dictates of prudence ? Orfitus and 
 Rufus are men of integrity and moderation, and peaceable, 
 as far as I know them. When it is said they are suspected 
 of aspiring to the empire, I know not whether the mistake 
 is not as great with respect to them, as it is with respect to 
 Nerva, or if it is more probable, Nerva wishes to mount 
 the throne under the direction and guidance of such ad- 
 visers, or that these advisers have inspired him with such an 
 idea. 
 
 1 1 . But he who summoned me to trial, should have 
 considered how, or in what way I could have given assist- 
 ance to innovators in the empire. My prosecutor does 
 not say I have received money from them, or have been 
 bribed to join their party. But it may be said I had 
 great claims on them, and on that account put off the day 
 of retribution to that in which it might be supposed they 
 would be masters of the government, when I might have 
 demanded much, and obtained more. But how can this 
 be proved ? Call to mind, O Emperor ! yourself and your 
 predecessors, I mean your brotherf and your father, j and 
 likewise Nero, whilst they governed the empire. Under 
 
 * The evasive mode of reasoning adopted here by Apollonius, is 
 not perfectly suitable to the openness and candour of a great phi- 
 losopher. 
 
 t Titus. 
 
 t Vespasian. 
 
454 
 
 them I lived in some degree of celebrity, even before my 
 journey to India. During the space of eight and thirty 
 years,* which is the time elapsed since, I never frequented 
 the doors of Emperors, (save those of your father in 
 Egypt, but he was not as yet Emperor, and he confessed 
 it was on my account he came) nor ever condescended to 
 any thing humiliating in complimenting Kings, or even 
 people for the sake of Kings. I never boasted of the 
 letters written me by Kings, nor of those I wrote to them ; 
 nor did I ever once deviate from the respect due to myself, 
 by a mean flattery of Kings for what they had to bestow. If 
 you ask me,, after due consideration had of the condition of 
 poor and rich, amongst whom I enrol myself, I will say 
 amongst the very rich. For I consider the virtue of wanting 
 nothing equal to the possession of the riches of Lydia and 
 Pactolus. How could I expect that men not in possession 
 of power, should make presents to me when they were, who 
 never accepted any thing from you, or those who were in 
 full enjoyment of it ? or how could any body suppose I 
 should have been dreaming of changes in government to enrich 
 myself, who never once made use of the people in power 
 to do it ? And yet what may be acquired by a philosopher 
 paying his court to the great, is evident from the history 
 of Euphrates. From what, I pray you, does he draw 
 his wealth ? There are springs from whence his wealth 
 flows ; at this time he holds his philosophical disputations at 
 the tables of the money-changers, where he appears in the 
 several characters of a merchant, a retailer, a publican, 
 and an usurer, in short, where he appears all things to 
 all, a seller, and yet to be sold. He is more nailed to 
 the doors of the great, and spends more time in dangling 
 
 * We have so few documents to ascertain the different eras in the 
 life of Apollonius, that I think it useless to enter into the discussion, 
 particularly as both the year of his birth, and that of his death, are 
 squally unknown. 
 
455 
 
 after them, than their porters. He is often found shut up 
 in their houses like one of their hungry dogs. No philoso- 
 pher ever contrives to get a farthing from him ; he hoards 
 up his riches, and with what he can extort, and squeeze 
 from others, he feeds this Egyptian, and sharpens a tongue 
 against me, which if it had its desert, ought to be cut out 
 of his head. 
 
 12. But to you, O Emperor! I resign Euphrates; if you 
 are not very much enamoured of flatterers, you will find 
 him worse than I have described him. Listen, I pray 
 thee, to what remains of my defence. And what is it, 
 and upon what subject? My accuser has told you a 
 melancholy tale of my cutting an Arcadian boy in pieces, 
 and though he has told you, I know not yet whether he 
 says it happened by night or in a dream. This boy, he 
 adds, was of a good family, and as handsome as Arca- 
 dians generally are, whose good looks are not affected by 
 the meanness of their attire. This youth I am accused of 
 killing whilst in the act of supplicating me with tears, and 
 at the time, when my hands were stained with his blood, of 
 having implored the Gods to reveal the truth of what was 
 to come to pass. Thus far the accusation comes home 
 to myself; what follows concerns the Gods, for it is 
 added, they heard my prayers, displayed favourable signs 
 in the entrails, and put not to death the impious sacrificer. 
 Why is it necessary for me, O Emperor ! to speak of that 
 which cannot be heard without a crime? As to what 
 respects this part of my defence concerning the Arcadian, 
 let us inquire who he is ? For if he was not of an ob- 
 scure family, and of no inelegant appearance, surely it is 
 time to ask the name of his parents and family ; and in 
 what town of Arcadia he was educated, and from what 
 penates he was dragged here to be sacrificed ? For not- 
 withstanding my accuser's ingenuity in the art of lying, he 
 has no evidence on which to found these things. Granted 
 — let us then suppose the boy a slave, for whom this up- 
 
456 
 
 roar is made, for what else can he be who has no name, 
 nor parentage, nor city, nor inheritance. And if all this 
 is so, we may fairly ask who sold him ? and who was the 
 purchaser ? for if an Arcadian's entrails are the fittest for 
 illustrating the power of divination, it is probable the boy 
 must have cost much, and that a special messenger was 
 dispatched to Peloponnesus to bring him to Rome. Here 
 there is no difficulty in buying Pontic, or Lydian, or 
 Phrygian slaves, of whom you may sometimes meet 
 whole droves on their way to Rome. The countries from 
 whence these slaves come, and the other barbarous ones 
 who have always been under the rule of foreign masters, 
 do not consider slavery as disgraceful. Nothing is com- 
 moner in Phrygia than parents selling their children, and 
 if once made slaves, never thinking of their ransom. But 
 the Greeks are still fond of liberty, and not one of them 
 will sell a slave to be carried out of the country. Hence 
 it is that Greece is not visited either by slave-stealers, or 
 slave merchants ; but of all parts of it, Arcadia is the least 
 subject to this traffic, both on account of its inhabitants 
 loving liberty better than the other Greeks, and of their 
 requiring a greater number of slaves for their own use. 
 Arcadia is a country spacious, abounding in plants and 
 herbs, with lands, of which some are open and flat, and 
 some mountainous. The cultivation and management of 
 these grounds require many hands to till them, together 
 with many persons to take care of their goats, and swine, 
 and sheep, and oxen, and horses. It requires also many 
 wood-cutters, and in this kind of labour, the inhabitants 
 are employed from their youth. But supposing the Ar- 
 cadians not such as here described, and suppose they sold 
 their slaves, like other people, what advantage could this 
 famous art derive from its having an Arcadian sacrifice 
 made in preference to any other ? The Arcadians do not 
 so much exceed the other Greeks in wisdom, as to make 
 us perceive any thing in their entrails different from what 
 
457 
 
 is to be seen in those of others. They are the simplest of 
 all people in their manuers, and in some circumstances, as 
 well as in that of eating acorns, resemble their swine. In 
 painting the manners of the Arcadians, and digressing 
 into Peloponnesus, I have, I fear, pleaded my cause more 
 after the manner of a rhetorician than what I ought. 
 What then is the defence I should have made, as most 
 becoming my character ? It is the following : — u I have 
 shed no blood in sacrificing ; I shed no blood, I touch no 
 blood, nor any altar sprinkled with it." This is what 
 Pythagoras and his disciples, the Gymnosophists in Egypt, 
 and the wise men in India, have commanded and ordained. 
 They who perform their religious duty pursuant to their 
 institutions, do nothing displeasing to the Gods; they 
 grow old by the means of moderate indulgence, and keep 
 their bodies and minds in sound health, and free from 
 disease. They encrease in wisdom, are less dependant 
 than others, and want for nothing. I think it not absurd 
 to pray to the Gods, who are good, by making them pure 
 offerings, and I think the Gods themselves have been of 
 the same opinion, as appears from their having placed the 
 frankincense-bearing country # in the purest region of the 
 world, from whence men might get wherewithal to offer 
 to them, without being obliged to fly to the sacrificing 
 knife, and the shedding of blood. And yet it is supposed, 
 that I, without any respect had for the Gods and myself, 
 have sacrificed in a way not familiar to me, and in which 
 I wish not to be followed by any mortal. 
 
 13. But the time marked by my accuser, will acquit 
 me. For if the day on which he says I committed the 
 crime, I was in the country, I will confess having offered 
 the sacrifice ; and if I do that, I will not deny the having 
 
 * Arabia thurifira, called also, odorifira y dives and beatq. 
 
458 
 
 shared in eating it. And yet you, O Emperor ! continue 
 to repeat the question, whether I was not at that time in 
 Rome? a thing not denied. You were there likewise, 
 most excellent Prince, and I am sure, will not allow of 
 having offered such a sacrifice. My accuser himself was 
 also there, and will never own to the having committed 
 murder. Multitudes of other people were there as 
 well as we, whom you would treat with more lenity by 
 sending at once into banishment, than by exposing them 
 to accusations, in which their being at Rome might be 
 brought forward as an argument of their guilt. On the 
 other hand, I think the very circumstance of a man's 
 coming to Rome, is a proof of innocence, and of his not 
 being concerned in rebellion. For unless a man had an 
 inclination to leave this world, he would never meddle 
 with innovation in a city, where all eyes and ears are 
 open to see and hear, both what is done, and what is 
 not ; and where all moderate and prudent men learn to 
 walk heedful, in the most plain and direct paths. 
 
 14. What then, O accuser! did I do that night? if 
 you were to question me as if I was yourself, since you 
 are come to interrogatives, I would tell you, I was laying 
 indictments against the worthy, and snares for the ruin of 
 the innocent, and instilling lies into the mind of the Em- 
 peror, for the purpose of honouring myself, and disho- 
 nouring him. If you were to ask me as a philosopher what 
 I was doing, I would say, I was commending the laughter 
 of Democritus which he used in deriding all human things. 
 But if you were to ask myself what I was doing — here is 
 my answer, Philiscus of Melos who studied philosophy 
 with me for four years, was then very sick in his bed, 
 and on that night I sat by him till he died. Then it 
 was that I wished to possess such magic charms as could 
 have saved his life, and to know if Orpheus had any verses 
 by which the dead are restored to this world. Had it 
 
459 
 
 been permitted, I should have gone to the infernal regions 
 on his account, so endeared was he to me, both as a friend 
 of congenial sentiments, and a philosopher of my way of 
 thinking. Of the truth of what I say, O Emperor! Teli- 
 sinus, the consul, will inform you, who passed the same 
 night I did with Philiscus in the most friendly attentions. 
 And if any doubt is entertained of his testimony, from 
 being numbered with the philosophers, I appeal to that of 
 the physicians who attended him, Seleucus of Cyzicus, 
 and Stratocles of Sidon, from whom you may learn 
 whether what I say is true or not. Besides, Philiscus him- 
 self had above thirty disciples who can all testify the same. 
 I would wish to call in the relations of Philiscus, but if I 
 expressed this wish, you might think I was inclined to put 
 off judgment, as they have all left Rome, for Melos, to 
 pay the last sad duties to the deceased. Come into court, 
 ye other witnesses who are cited, and are permitted to 
 appear. (Here follows, it may be supposed, the depositions 
 of such witnesses as were examined). The depositions you 
 have just heard, prove clearly how very consistent with 
 truth the libel was laid, for it appears from them I was 
 not in the suburbs, but in the city ; not outside the walls, 
 but within them; not with Nerva, but with Philiscus; 
 not offering bloody sacrifices, but prayers for the recovery 
 of my friend's health ; not occupied in the business of the 
 state, but in that of philosophy ; not planning insurrection 
 against you, but intent on saving the life of a man like 
 myself. 
 
 15. What then becomes of the story of the Arcadian 
 boy? what of the story of the victims, and the credit 
 which has been given them ? For supposing what is 
 false to be adduced in a court of justice, instead of that 
 which is true; in what way, I pray thee, O Emperor! 
 should the absurdity of such a sacrifice be treated ? In 
 old times there were soothsayers, whose business was to 
 inspect the exta of beasts ; men versed in the art, and of 
 
460 
 
 great celebrity, of whom Megistias, # the Acarnaniait? 
 Aristander f the Lycian, and Silanus J the Ambracian, 
 were the chief. The first was soothsayer to Leonidas, 
 the King of Sparta ; the second to Alexander of Macedon; 
 and Silanus, the third, to Cyrus, at the time he was as- 
 piring to the throne of his brother. If any thing had been 
 discovered by these men in the exta of human victims, 
 more luminous, more profound, or more explicit than in 
 those of others, they would have had neither scruples 
 nor difficulty in procuring them ; for the Kings by whom 
 they were employed had plenty of cupbearers and slaves 
 at their disposal ; and they were men themselves of such 
 character as would not have declined making use of human 
 victims, through any fears either of danger or prosecution. 
 But 1 take for granted the same sentiments occurred to 
 them, as do to me, who stand here arraigned for my life 
 for similar offences ; they thought that probably the exta 
 of animals that lose their lives without having any pre- 
 science of death, or sense of what they are about to suffer, 
 undergo no change whatever. But who will believe that 
 a man who has ever some fear of death, though not im- 
 mediate, can, whilst the apprehension of death is present, 
 and as it were before his eyes, give any intimation of 
 futurity by his exta, and be a proper subject for a sacri- 
 fice ? To be convinced that my conjectures are right, and 
 consonant to the truth, I think, O Emperor ! you should 
 consider the matter in the following light. The liver, 
 which the most skilful soothsayers affirm to be the 
 tripod of divination, consists not of pure blood, for it is 
 
 * Megistias, a soothsayer, who told the Spartans that defended 
 Thermopylae, that they should all perish. Herodotus. 
 
 t Aristander, a celebrated soothsayer, greatly esteemed by Alexan- 
 der. It is said Alexander relied much on his veracity. Pun*. 
 
 t Silanus, an augur in the army of the ten thousand Greeks, at their 
 return from Cynaxa. See Xenophon's Anabasis, 
 
461 
 
 the heart which retains and circulates, by the veins, the 
 pure blood through the whole body. The gall which is 
 contained in the liver, is put into motion by anger, and is 
 confined by fear within the cavities of the liver. So that 
 the gall, whenever it becomes to effervesce in men of 
 warm passions, and is not able to be kept within its own 
 proper vessels, diffuses into the liver, by which it occupies 
 the whole left region of the entrails, wherein is seated the 
 foundation of the art of divination. When a man is under 
 the influence of fear, his liver contracts and darkens the 
 light in the left region. For then the purer part of the 
 blood withdrawing itself, by means of which the liver is 
 distended like the spleen, and sinking by a natural motion 
 into the membrane inclosing the heart, swims upon the 
 gross matter. Whence then, O Emperor ! the necessity 
 of human sacrifices, if they give no signs of futurity to be 
 depended on ? But man's own nature is the true cause of 
 its not giving such signs, he himself being under the fear 
 of death. Brave men die with anger, cowards with fear. 
 Hence this art of divination, with people not wholly savage, 
 approves of the sacrificing of kids and lambs, because of 
 their being harmless, and not differing from creatures 
 entirely devoid of sense. But cocks, and swine, and bulls, 
 as being of a more generous nature, it considers unfit 
 to be used in their secret rites. I see, O Emperor ! that 
 my adversary is not pleased with my making you a more 
 enlightened hearer than himself, nor with the attention 
 you seem to pay to my defence. If in any point I have 
 explained myself in a way not so satisfactory as what I 
 ought, I beg you may interrogate me respecting it. 
 
 16. I have said what was necessary as an answer to the 
 libel of the Egyptian. But since the calumnies of Eu- 
 phrates are not to be passed over in silence, you will judge, 
 O Emperor ! which of us two philosophizes best. His 
 object is to say every thing false of me, and mine not to 
 follow his example. He fears you, as a slave fears his 
 master, and I respect you as a subject should his sovereign. 
 
462 
 
 He puts a sword into your hand against me, but I do not 
 arm you against him. He makes my conversations in Ionia 
 the grounds of his charge against me, which he says were 
 uttered with an evil mind ? and yet all I said there regard- 
 ed nothing but fate and necessity. To illustrate my dis- 
 course by examples, I sought in the history of princes for 
 such as were appropriate, because, in human affairs, your 
 rank, O Emperor ! is most conspicuous. I reasoned on 
 the force of fate, and said, its decrees are so unchangeable, 
 that if they decreed a kingdom to one man, which, at the 
 time of making the decree was possessed by another, and 
 that, if the reigning prince was even to put to death his 
 appointed successor to prevent his succeeding to the throne, 
 I said the dead man would return to life to satisfy the de- 
 crees of fate. Men, you know, are sometimes accustom- 
 ed to talk in figures and hyperboles to those who will not 
 believe them when they talk in reason and moderation. 
 It is as if I was to speak in the following language, He 
 whom the Fates destine to be a carpenter, will be one 
 though his hands were cut off. He whom they appoint 
 to win at the Olympic Games, will win even if his legs 
 were broken : and he whom they have decreed to hit his 
 mark, will do it though his eyes were put out. My ex- 
 amples which I adduced, were taken from the history of 
 Kings, and those I had in view, were Acrisius, # Laius,f 
 and Astyages the Mede, and many others who thought they 
 had taken the best precautions to secure themselves in their 
 kingdoms. Of these princes, some by putting to death their 
 sons, and others their grandsons, thought to give them- 
 selves security ; and yet they were all bereft of their 
 kingdoms by those- sons and grandsons, who rose out of 
 darkness by the predominant power of fate. If I was in- 
 clined to flatter, O Emperor ! I would say that your situa- 
 
 * Acrisius, the father of Daniie, whose story is well known, 
 t Laius, the father of (Edipus, and Astyages, the grandfather of 
 Cyrus, whose stories are equally well known. 
 
463 
 
 tion* occurred strongly to me when you were besieged in 
 this city by Vitellius, and the temple of Jupiter Capitoli- 
 nus was burnt. Vitellius supposed every thing would go 
 well with him, could he have prevented your escape from 
 the capitol, though at that time you were young, and far 
 from what you are at present. But as the Fates decreed 
 otherwise, he perished in the midst of his projects, and 
 you now possess his throne. However, as the song of 
 flattery is unpleasing to my ears, from its want of due ca- 
 dence and melody, I must break its string. Do not be- 
 lieve my thoughts have been engrossed by your affairs ; I 
 have spoken only of the Fates and Necessity, which is what 
 my accuser has alledged against me. As to the doctrine 
 of Necessity, most of the Gods themselves do not object 
 to it, and even Jupiter is not displeased at hearing it men- 
 tioned by the poets, who, when speaking of the affairs of 
 Lycia, make him say, 
 
 " The hour draws oo, the destinies ordain, 
 
 " My godlike son shall press the Phrygian plain." 
 
 Nor is he angry with the Fates, when they deprive him of 
 that son. And in other places, the poets, when speaking 
 of the abode of departed spirits, tell us that Jupiter ap- 
 pointed Minos,f Sarpedon's brother, whom he could not 
 
 * Domitian on the first eruption of the besiegers, was conveyed to 
 the apartments of the warden of the temple, and there protected till 
 one of his freedmen had the address to conduct him to a place called 
 the Velabrum, where he lodged him safe, under the care of a man 
 firmly attached to Vespasian. Tacitus, Hist. iii. c. 74. 
 
 f High on a throne, tremendous to behold, 
 ** Stern Minos waves a mace of buruish'd gold ; 
 Around ten thousand thousand spectres stand 
 Thro' the wide dome of Dis, a trembling band. 
 Still as they plead, the fatal lots he rolls, 
 Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls. 
 
 Odyssey, b. xi. 1. 567. Pope. 
 
464 
 
 exempt from the laws of destiny, judge in the court of 
 Pluto, and honored him with a golden sceptre. Why 
 then, O Emperor ! are you displeased with this doctrine ? 
 a doctriue tolerated by the Gods themselves, whose con- 
 dition is unchangeable, and who punish not with death the 
 poets on account of it. We must obey the destinies, we 
 must not repine at the changes and chances of this life, 
 and must give credit to Sophocles, who says, " The 
 Gods alone are exempt from old age and death," and, 
 " Time in the end is victorious over all things," and in 
 this, he expresses himself better than was ever done by 
 mortal. The fortune of men is variable, and their hap- 
 piness only endureth for that of a day. # Neither he who 
 has my estate, nor the man who has the estate of him who 
 possesses mine, can be considered as the real possessors. 
 Taking this into consideration, put a stop, O Emperor ! 
 I beseech you, to all banishments and shedding of blood. 
 Use philosophy in every thing you like, for true philosophy 
 frees the mind from trouble. Wipe the tears from the 
 eyes of men, whose multiplied groans resound from the 
 sea, and yet more from the land, all and every one lament- 
 ing what they held most dear. The evils resulting from 
 hence are more in number than can be counted, evils all 
 to be ascribed to the tongues of informers, who make 
 every thing odious to you, and you, O Emperor ! odious 
 to every one.i* 
 
 * Hence to your fields, ye rustics ; hence away, 
 Nor stain with grief the pleasures of a day. 
 
 Od. b. xxi. 1. 85. Pope. 
 + The observation of Tillemont on this long and laboured defence of 
 Apollonius, is just, and much to the purpose : Apollonius pretended to 
 know the thoughts of men, and to foresee futurities ; nevertheless, as 
 he observes, he composed a very long apology for himself, with a design 
 to deliver it to Domitian : but his pretended prophetic spirit did not 
 advertise hiui, that Domitian would not give him time to pronounce 
 it, and that the pains he was at in composing it would be useless. 
 
4o5 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 I HAVE given the speech Apollonius prepared for his 
 defence. At the close of his first speech before Domi- 
 tian, I found these words of Homer, " Not thy deadly 
 spear can slay me, because Lam not mortal," to which 
 were added the ones preceding, on which they depended* 
 After Apollonius departed from the tribunal,* the Em- 
 peror behaved like one under a divine influence, and in a 
 way not easy to be explained, because it was totally dif- 
 ferent from the general expectation of those who were 
 best acquainted with the tyrant. It was supposed he would 
 have burst out into violent exclamations, and have issued 
 orders through all parts of the. empire, for discovering and 
 prosecuting him wherever found. — It was the very reverse ; 
 it seemed as if he intended to disappoint all mens' expec- 
 tations, by the conduct he adopted. Whether it was, that 
 he had not sufficient power against the man, or that he 
 held him in contempt, may be conjectured from what is 
 to foilow. I think it will appear that he was an object 
 more to excite wonder with Domitian, than contempt. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 THE Emperor heard another cause the same day with 
 that of Apollonius. One of his cities had a matter of 
 
 * cnnxQe — In chapter 5 — Philostratus says, that Apollonius vanished 
 away out of the Emperor's presence before a great number of people : 
 " But here reason bids me observe, that altho- gh it is reported to 
 have been done in the presence of a great number of people, yet I 
 have but the testimony of one man for the truth of it, and that man 
 not a contemporary." 
 
 2 H 
 
466 
 
 dispute with a certain citizen on the subject of a will, as 
 I remember. During the hearing of this cause, Domitian 
 forgot not only the names of the parties, but the argu- 
 ments used in the case. His questions were unmeaning, 
 and his answers totally irrelavent to the cause ; all which 
 argued the degree of astonishment and perplexity under 
 which he laboured, so much so that his flatterers made 
 him believe that nothing escaped his recollection. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 LEAVING the tyrant in this state of mind, and shewing 
 that he, who was the terror of Greek and barbarian, was 
 but a play-thing in the hands of philosophy,* Apollonius 
 vanished from the tribunal before mid-day, and in the 
 evening of the same, appeared to Demetrius and Damis 
 at PuteohVf- This accounts for his having desired Damis 
 to go there without waiting for his defence. [ He had 
 given Damis, however, no previous notice of his inten- 
 tions, but only told him, who was so very useful to him, to 
 do what best accorded with his plans. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 DAMIS had arrived at Puteoli the day before, and had 
 informed Demetrius of all that took place previous to the 
 
 * nalyi/iw a\>9pa>vos Gswv is a sentiment of Plato's. 
 
 t Which was above three days' journey from Rome : the dispatch 
 with which he made this journey was not exceeded by his great proto- 
 type Pythagoras, who was on the same day present, and discoursed 
 in public, at Metapontum in Italy — and at Tauromenium in Sicily. If 
 it could be proved he had found the flying arrow of Abaris, there would 
 have been no difficulty on the occasion. This journey has^ been noticed 
 before, of Pythagoras from Metapontum to Tauromenium. B. iv. c. 10. 
 
407 
 
 hearing judgment. This account filled Demetrius with 
 fears, and made him more uneasy about the fate of Apol- 
 lonius, than what was becoming one of his hearers. He 
 questioned Damis the following day of all that passed, 
 whilst they were musing and walking together on the sea 
 shore celebrated by the story of Calypso. They had 
 little or no hopes of ever seeing him again, from the 
 knowledge they had of the tyrant's cruelty, being felt 
 among all descriptions of people. And yet out of respect 
 for his character, they wished to obey his commands. 
 Tired at length with their walk, they sat down in a Nym- 
 phaeum,* wherein was a cistern of white marble, contain- 
 ing a living spring of water which never rose above its 
 margin, nor lessened by being drawn from. They talked 
 of the nature of this water with less interest than usual, 
 on account of the sorrow which filled their hearts, and 
 then turned the conversation to what had happened before 
 the trial. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 HERE Damis's grief breaking out afresh, he cried, O ye 
 Gods ! are we never to see more our good and virtuous 
 friend? When Apollonius, who had already arrived at 
 the Nymphaeum, heard this, he said, you shall see him, 
 or rather you have seen him. What, alive ? cried Deme- 
 trius, for if dead we shall never have done lamenting 
 him. Hereupon Apollonius stretching out his hand, said, 
 take it, and if I escape you, regard me as an apparition 
 just arrived from the kingdom of Proserpine, of the same 
 
 * Nymphaea, were buildings adorned with statues of the nymphs, 
 and abounding, as it is thought, with fountains, and waterfalls, which 
 afforded an agreeable and refreshing coolness, borrowed from the 
 Greeks. Adam's Rom. Ajitiquitks. 
 
 <l H 2 
 
468 
 
 kind with those which the terrestrial Gods present to the 
 eyes of afflicted mortals. But if 1 bear being touched, 
 I wish you would persuade Damis to think I am alive, 
 and have not yet laid aside the body. Doubting no longer 
 the truth of what he said, they rose, and ran to the man 
 and kissed him. Afterwards they asked him if he had 
 made a defence. Demetrius thought he had made none, 
 from knowing that he must die, though innocent. Damis 
 thought he had made a defence, but sooner than was sup- 
 posed : for he never supposed it was that day. Apollo- 
 nius says, my friends, I have made my defence, and we 
 are victorious ; I made it a few hours ago,* whilst the 
 day was verging to noon. How, said Demetrius, have 
 you performed f so long a journey in so short a time r 
 Think of it, as you please, answered Apollonius, but 
 think not I made use either of the ram of Phryxus, or 
 the wings of Dedalus ; ascribe it to a God. I am clearly 
 of opinion, says Demetrius, that a God is interested in 
 all you do and say, under whose direction it is your 
 affairs prosper. But tell me, I pray you, the defence you 
 made, and what were the several articles of accusation 
 laid against you : tell me the character of your judge, with 
 the questions asked, and the objections urged for and 
 against, that I may relate every thing to Telesinus, who 
 never ceases making inquiries. It is now fifteen days since 
 Telesinus was with me at Antium, and when we were 
 sitting at supper, he leant on the table and fell asleep. 
 Whilst the cup J of good Genius was carrying round, he 
 
 • Of tire truth of this fact we have no testimony except his own 
 ipse dixit — and the ipse dixit of no man ever did, or can establish the- 
 truth of a miracle. 
 
 t Performed as Pythagoras' journey was from Metapontum to Tau- 
 romenium, as I have observed before in speaking of his journey from 
 Smyrna to Ephesus. 
 
 $ The first cup was that of Jupiter the Saviour the second that of 
 jjood Genius, and the third that of Mercury. 
 
460 
 
 had a dream in which he thought he saw a fire running 
 along the ground, overwhelming every thing in its way ; 
 he thought he saw it sweeping away like a torrent all who 
 even attempted to fly from it, whilst you alone suffered 
 not with the rest, but passed safely through it as it divided 
 on either side. After this dream Telesinus offered libations 
 to the Deities presiding over propitious dreams, and bid 
 me keep up my spirits, and hope the best. Telesinus 
 thinking of me in his dream, said Apollonius, does not 
 surprise me ; for 1 know he has long thought of me when 
 awake. I will withhold nothing from you that passed at 
 the trial, but I will not tell it here. Mid-day is past, and 
 it is time to return to the city. Talking on the way is 
 • pleasant,* as it stands in the place of company. Let us 
 therefore set out, and as we proceed, talk of what you 
 wish to know. You shall hear every thing that passed in 
 court to day. You both know what took place before 
 the trial ; you, Damis, from being present, and you, Deme- 
 trius, from having heard it not only once, but many times, 
 if I am not mistaken. I shall therefore relate what you 
 do not yet know, beginning with some things that happened 
 before the hearing, and with what related to my appear- 
 ing naked. He then reported his speech, without for- 
 getting the line of Homer beginning with " Thou shalt 
 not kill me," and the identical way in which he took his 
 departure from the tribunal. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 WHEN he had ended, Demetrius cried out, I thought you 
 out of danger, and it is only the commencement of it. 
 Domitian will proscribe you, and reduce you to the dilemma 
 
 •variocjue, viam sermone levabat.— Virg. 
 
470 
 
 of not knowing where to turn for safety. But Apollonius 
 bidding his fears to cease, says, I wish to God it was not 
 more easy for him to take you, than it is to take me. I 
 know how he is situated at this moment. He who has 
 ever been accustomed to hear nothing but flattery, has of 
 late heard something of a very different nature. This is 
 what breaks and irritates the tempers of tyrants. But I 
 have need of rest, having enjoyed none since I first en- 
 gaged in this contest. Then Damis turning to Deme- 
 trius, said, the opinion I had of this man's situation was 
 such, that I endeavoured what I could to divert him from 
 the way he took. You also advised him not to expose 
 himself to so great danger. But after he was cast into 
 prison, where he lay bound with chains, as I thought, and 
 when I supposed his situation most critical, he assured 
 me he was at perfect liberty, and without a word more, 
 shewed me his leg free from the bonds. Then it was, 
 indeed, I began to understand what sort of a man he was ; 
 that there was something divine about him, and much 
 superior to our wisdom. This is the reason why I did 
 not fear, under his auspices, to expose myself to greater 
 risk than I ought, and even to the loss of life. But since 
 the evening is at hand, let us retire to a tavern, and take 
 care of him. When Apollonius heard this, he said, I 
 require nothing but sleep;* for as to every thing else, it 
 is a matter of indifference whether I get them or not. 
 Afterwards paying his vows to Apollo and the Sun,* he 
 entered the house where Demetrius lodged, and washing 
 his feet, he gave orders to Damis and his companions to 
 take some refreshment, which they seemed in want of, and 
 then threw himself on the bed. Instead of an hymn to 
 
 * II avoue, says Du Pin, qu'il avoit bien besoin de repos, parceque 
 depuis qu'il etoit sorti da Pretoire, il nes'etoit point repose. Si c'etoit 
 par une vertu divine qu' Apollone eut 6te transported le Dieu qui lui 
 avoit fait faire tant de chemin en si peu de temps, eut du aussi le pre- 
 server de cette grande lassitude. 
 
471 
 
 bleep, he repeated some verses of Homer,* and went to 
 rest, as if the present state of his circumstances required 
 no manner of solicitude whatever. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 EARLY in the morning Demetrius, (whose ears were 
 already filled with the imaginary sounds of the horses and 
 horsemen, dispatched by the tyrant in search of Apollo- 
 nius) waited on him to know where he intended to stay, 
 or what he intended to do. Apollonius said, wherever I 
 am, or wherever I go, neither Domitian, nor any one 
 else will follow me ; I shall now sail into Greece. And 
 do you suppose you will be safe there, said Demetrius ? 
 that country is most illustrious ; do you think you will be 
 able to elude the tyrant's grasp in a place of such notoriety, 
 which you find so much difficulty in doing in a place of 
 obscurity? To this Apollonius said, I want no place 
 wherein to conceal myself, for if, as you think, the whole 
 earth is the tyrant's, it is better to die in the sight of men, 
 than live in secret. Saying this, he turned to Damis, 
 and asked him if he knew of any vessel that was shortly to 
 sail for Sicily ? I do, said Damis, we are at the sea-side, 
 the crier is at the door, and a ship ready to sail, which 
 I collect from the shouting of the sailors, and the exertions 
 they are making to weigh the anchor. Let us embark in 
 this vessel, cried Apollonius, and sail to Sicily, and after- 
 wards to Peloponnesus. I am satisfied, replied Damis, 
 let us get on board. They then took leave of Demetrius, 
 who was sorrowful at their going ; they bid him keep up 
 his spirits, and behave like a man who had his friends in- 
 
 • Iliad— 14— v. 233. 
 
 Sleep over all, both Gods and men, supreme ; 
 
 If ever thou hast heard, hear also now 
 
 My suit ; I will be grateful evermore. Cowper. 
 
472 
 
 terest at his heart. With these words they set sail with a 
 fair wind, and got over to the coast of Sicily. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 PASSING by Messana, they arrived on the third day at 
 Tauromenium. From thence sailing to Syracuse, they got 
 over to Peloponnesus by the beginning of Autumn. On 
 the sixth day after crossing the bay, they came to the 
 mouths of the Alpheus,* where that river pours its waters, 
 still sweet, into the seas of Adria and Sicily. Landing 
 here, and thinking it would be worth their while to go to 
 Olympia, they went there, and spent some time in the 
 temple of Jupjter, without proceeding farther from it than 
 the little town of Scillus.f A rumour, constant and re- 
 peated, run through Greece, that Apollonius was alive and 
 at Olympia : at first little or no credit was given to the 
 story ; for humanly speaking, they could never suppose he 
 would escape safe from the prison into which he had been 
 thrown. Various rumours were spread concerning him ; 
 one was that he was burnt alive, another was that he was 
 alive, but had his back stuck full of little hooks ; some 
 people said he was cast into a deep pit, and others that 
 he was drowned in a well. But as soon as his arrival was 
 fully ascertained, all Greece flocked to see him with more 
 eagerness than they ever did to the Olympic Games. 
 People came there from Elis, and Sparta, and from 
 Corinth situate at the extremity of the Isthmus. Athe- 
 
 * The story of the river Alpheus passing under the sea without 
 mingling itself with the salt water, and rising in Ortygia on the coast 
 of Sicily, is well known. 
 
 t Scillus is a town near Olympia, rendered illustrious by being 
 made the retreat of Xenophon, where he is said to have written most 
 of his works. See Mitford's Hist, of Greece. 
 
473 
 
 nians, though out of the precincts of Peloponnesus, were 
 found among the people who flocked to the gates of Pisa ; 
 and the temple was visited by the principal Athenians and 
 the youth who had come to Athens from all parts of the 
 world. Some magicians were likewise there, together 
 with many Beotians, and Argives, and others of some 
 note from Phocis and Thessaly. Of these many had 
 conversed with him before, who were all again anxious 
 to acquire a new stock of knowledge, being satisfied they 
 had heard a greater number of extraordinary things from 
 him, than from any other person. There were others 
 who had never known him, and who would have thought 
 it a shame not to have heard him. They asked him how 
 he had escaped from the hands of the tyrant ? Apollonius, 
 wishing to avoid all vain- boasting, said only, he pleaded 
 his cause, and came off safe. But as many who had just 
 come from Italy, told what passed at the trial, the Greeks 
 were so affected by the recital, that they proceeded 
 almost to adoration, from an idea that he was a divine 
 man, on account of his not exalting himself above others. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 OF the young men who came from Athens, there was 
 one who happened to say that the Goddess Minerva was 
 extremely partial to the Emperor, which when Apollonius 
 heard, he replied, take care, Sir, how you talk of such 
 things at Olympia, and revile the Goddess in the presence 
 of her father.* The youth without attending to what was 
 said, indulged in a greater license of expression, and ob- 
 served that the Goddess was right in so doing, because 
 
 * Jupiter. 
 
474 
 
 the Emperor was sovereign of the city which bore her 
 name. And does he also preside as sovereign, returned 
 Apollonius, at the feasts of the Panathenea ?* He silenced 
 the young man, in making him see by his first answer, 
 that he had but a bad opinion of the Gods if he thought 
 them favourable to tyrants ; and by his second he shewed 
 clearly that the Athenians would annul their decree passed 
 in favour of Harmodiusf and Aristogiton, whose statues 
 had been erected by them in the forum for their patriotic 
 conduct, if they should now freely grant to tyrants, and 
 their deputies, the honours of presiding at this festival. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 DAMIS seeing there was but little money for their jour- 
 neying and expenses on the way, told Apollonius of it, 
 who immediately replied, " I will remedy it to-morrow." 
 Next day entering the temple, he bid the priest give him 
 a thousand drachmas out of the treasury of Jupiter, if he 
 did not think such a sum would be displeasing to the God. 
 The reply of the priest was, that it was a matter of little 
 consequence to the God, who, he supposed, would ra- 
 ther be uneasy at his not taking more. 
 
 * Panathenea, an Athenian festival in honour of Minerva, the pro- 
 tectress of the city of Athens. 
 
 t The account of those two celebrated friends of liberty is well 
 known. 
 
 Quis myrte& ensem fronds reconditum 
 Cantabit? ilium, civibus Harmodi 
 Dilecte servatis, tenebas : 
 Tu que fidelis Aristogiton. 
 
 Ad Libertatem carmen, by Sir W. Jones. 
 
475 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 A CERTAIN Thessaliaii, named Isagoras, in a conver- 
 sation he had with Apollonius, was thus addressed, 
 What do you think of the Panegyris ? # said Apollo- 
 nius. I think, returned Isagoras, it is, of all human things, 
 the most charming, and the most acceptable to the Gods. 
 But of what materials, said Apollonius, does it consist ? 
 the purport of my question is the same, as if I asked you 
 of the materials of this statue, and you replied, it consist- 
 ed of gold and ivory. What, said the Thessalian, can be 
 the materials of a thing incorporeal? Things of many 
 and various kinds, returned Apollonius. In the Panegyris 
 are sacred places and holy rites, and stadia for running, and 
 other scenic decorations ; in it are men of different descrip- 
 tions, some from the neighbourhood, others from remote 
 countries, and some even from beyond the sea. Besides, 
 it is probable that many arts and inventions go to form 
 it, as well as true wisdom, and poetry, and civil disputa- 
 tions, and logical controversy, and the gymnastic and mu- 
 sical professions, as are practised by ancient custom at the 
 Pythian Games. So then it seems, O Apollonius, said 
 Isagoras, that the Panegyris is a thing not only corporeal, 
 but composed of more noble materials than cities ; inas- 
 much as it brings into one place whatever is most excellent 
 and most valuable in the world. Shall we then, Isagoras, 
 continued Apollonius, consider such places of general re- 
 sort as the Panegyris, in the way people* do walled cities 
 
 * The Olympic Games drew together all Greece, and hence obtain- 
 ed the name of iravnyvpit; — Panegyris. 
 
 Quintilian says, " Panegyrim a Gratis appellari scimus Nundinas, 
 festas celebritatas, et conventus." 
 
476 
 
 and ships ? or must we form a different idea of them ? 
 Your idea is right, said Isagoras, and I think it will be 
 proper to adopt it. And yet, in my opinion, returned 
 Apollonius, it will appear incorrect to him who considers 
 the Panegyris in the light I do. Ships seem to me to re- 
 quire the assistance of men, and men also to require the 
 assistance of ships, and I do not think men would ever 
 have thought of going to sea had there not been ships : in 
 like manner it is that men give security to walls, and vice 
 versa, walls give security to men. By parity of reasoning 
 the Panegyris appears to me only a convention of men, 
 and at the same time is a place where men necessarily as- 
 semble; the hand of man is required to build fortified 
 places, and ships, and the same hand spoils those places 
 whereof we are speaking, by depriving them of their na- 
 tural beauty, for it is supposed that people meet in them 
 on account of that very circumstance. It is true that 
 gymnasia, and porticos, and fountains, and houses, are 
 constructed by human industry, as well as cities and ships. 
 But the Alpheus here, and the hippodrome and stadium, 
 with the groves thereunto belonging, existed before men 
 did. The river gave plenty of water for the use of drink- 
 ing and bathing ; the circus, a wide plain, wherein horses 
 might run ; and the stadium, a place ( for the athletae to 
 contend, not only in running, but in wrestling, as the 
 length of the valley gives the length and limits of the sta- 
 dium. From the groves the victors were supplied with 
 garlands, and a shade under which to exercise themselves 
 in the course. It is in this point of view Hercules con- 
 sidered the place, when, attracted by its natural beauty, he 
 deemed it worthy of all the games which at this day are 
 celebrated in it.* 
 
 * It is not easy to ascertain the tendency of the above dialogue on 
 the Panejryris, nor to understand it, 
 
477 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 APOLLO.NIUS staid forty days at Olympia engaged irf 
 disputes, in which he explained a variety of matters with 
 great wisdom. After this, he said, I will for the time to 
 come discourse with you, O Greeks ! in your towns, in 
 your assemblies, in your sacred processions, mysteries, sa- 
 crifices, and libations, for all these things require the advice 
 and assistance of a good man. But at present I must go 
 down into Lebadea, because I have not yet conversed 
 with Trophonius, though I formerly visited his temple. 
 Saying this, he set out for jVrcadia, attended by all his 
 real admirers, of whom not one remained behind. There 
 is at Lebadea* a cave dedicated to Trophonius, the son 
 of Apollo, and only accessible to those who consult the 
 oracle. The entrance to this cave is not in the temple, 
 but at a little distance from it on a rising piece of ground, 
 surrounded with a sort of balustrade, on which are placed 
 obelisks of iron. The aperture is so narrow, that they 
 who go down are hurried along in a sitting posture, dressed 
 in white garments, carrying in their hands cakes made of 
 honey to appease the reptiles that might assail them in de- 
 scending. Of the votaries who consult the oracle, some 
 are restored to the light near the entrance of the cavern, 
 and others at a greater distance from it. Some make their 
 appearance on the other side of Locris and Phocis, but 
 most of them within the precincts of Beotia. When 
 Apollonius entered the temple, he says, I have a mind to 
 go down for the sake of philosophy : here the priests made 
 an objection, and told the people they would never suffer 
 a man who was an enchanter to examine the sacred cave ; 
 
 * See a minute description of this cave in Pausanias, 
 
478 
 
 and turning to Apollonius, put him in mind that it was only 
 the wicked and impure who were to consult the oracle. After 
 this he took his seat near the springs of Hercyne, and 
 talked the remainder of the day of nothing but the rise of 
 the oracle and the manner of consulting it, because, of all 
 oracles it was the only one which gave its answers to the 
 consulter himself, without their passing through any inter- 
 mediate person. As soon as evening arrived, he went up 
 to the mouth of the cave,* and plucking up four of the 
 obelisks which surrounded the entrance of it, he descend- 
 ed, wrapped up in his cloak, as if prepared for a conference. 
 The God was so pleased with his conduct, that he appeared 
 in person to the priests, and severely chid them for their 
 treatment of Apollonius, at the same time ordering them 
 to go to Aulis, where he was to issue from the cavern in 
 a most extraordinary manner. On the seventh day he 
 made his appearance by a way untrodden by any who had 
 ever before consulted the oracle, and brought with him a 
 book fitted for answering all questions ; for in going down 
 he had asked Trophonius what philosophy he accounted 
 the best and most pure. The little book he brought with 
 him contained the opinions of Pythagoras, to which the 
 oracle gave its full suffrage. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 THIS book is kept at Antium, which, on this account, is 
 visited by the curious traveller. Antium is a maritime 
 town of Italy, and the history I have given of the book 
 
 * The oracle of Trophonius was upon a mountain, within an inclo- 
 sure made of white stones, upon which were erected obelisks of brass, 
 — In this inclosure was a cave, of the figure of an oven, cut out by 
 art. The mouth of it was narrow, and the descent to it was not by 
 steps, but by a small ladder. 
 
479 
 
 was taken from the inhabitants of Lebadea. As to the 
 book itself, I will tell you all I know of it. It was carried 
 to the Emperor Adrian along with some letters written by 
 Apollonius, (for all did not reach him) and was left in his 
 palace at Antium, which, by the way, he preferred to all 
 his other palaces in Italy.* 
 
 CHAP. XXL 
 
 ALL his followers, whom the Greeks named Apollonians, 
 come to him out of Ionia, and with them, the young men 
 of the parts adjacent, forming a company that, both for 
 their numbers and philosophical zeal, were entitled to 
 admiration. At this time the art of rhetoric lay neglected, 
 and little or no attention was shewn its professors by the 
 Apollonians, on account of its making only elocution its 
 chief object. But people went in crowds to hear the 
 philosophy of Apollonius ; and as it is said, Gyges and 
 Cresus opened the doors of their treasuries to all who 
 wanted money, so did Apollonius impart his wisdom to 
 all who came to make inquiry, by granting to all, and 
 every one, permission to ask whatever questions they 
 pleased. 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 WHEN some people reproached him for not suffering 
 his followers to accept of magisterial offices, and for 
 rather promoting idleness in them ; and when by way of 
 
 * This is a proof of the fame Apollonius enjoyed after his death, that 
 the Emperor Adrian collected his letters, and kept them in his palace 
 at Antium, with a book written by him, containing answers from the 
 oracle of Trophonius. 
 
480 
 
 raillery one told him, that he drove away his flock when- 
 ever he saw the men of the law approach, he answered, 
 I do it through fear of the wolves coming and attacking 
 the fold. By these words he meant, that the people of 
 the law were in great credit with the multitude, that by 
 them they rose from poverty to riches, that their conse- 
 quence was derived from the contests and divisions exist- 
 ing among mankind, from which they drew their support, 
 and that it was on this account he wished to keep the 
 young men out of their society. Those who lived in 
 familiarity with them, he rebuked sharply, as if to clear 
 them of so foul an aspersion. It is true he had an old 
 grudge against the attorneys, and was angry with the pro- 
 fession, from seeing in the Roman prisons some sutTering, 
 and even perishing in their chains ; all which he thought 
 was to be ascribed rather to their wranglings and false 
 eloquence, than to the cruelty of the tyrant. 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 AT this time, when Apollonius philosophized in Greece, 
 an extraordinary phenomenon * was seen in the heavens. 
 There appeared a circle of the likeness of a rainbow 
 surrounding the orb of the sun, and obscuring his rays. 
 Every one understood a change of some kind or other 
 was portended by it.-j* It was on occasion of this appear- 
 
 * Philostratus seems to have borrowed a phenomenon, (not men- 
 tioned by any other writer) from the 28th chapter of the second book 
 of Pliny, and the explanation of the name from him who was to per- 
 petrate the deed, which he intended should be prefigured by the ap- 
 pearance in the text. — ZTE^avo? — corona. — a circle. 
 
 t Cernuntur & Stellae cum sole totis diebus, plerumque et circa 
 
 solis orbem, ceu spiceae corona?, et versicolores circuli, qualiter Augusto 
 Cesare in prima Juventa Urbem intrante, post obitum patris, ad no- 
 men ingens capessendum. 
 
481 
 
 ance, that Apollonius was invited by the governor of 
 Achaia to come from Athens into Beotia. As soon as he 
 arrived, the governor told him he had heard of his know- 
 ledge in things divine. And have not you also heard, re- 
 plied Apollonius, of my knowledge in things human? I 
 have, returned the governor, and believe it. Since, said 
 Apollonius, you grant me this knowledge, I advise you 
 not to search too minutely into the will of the Gods ; and 
 this advice 1 give from what I know of things human. 
 When the governor pressed him in flattering terms to say 
 what he thought on the subject, as he was afraid of all 
 things being involved in general darkness, Apollonius said, 
 keep up your spirits, for some light will * arise out of 
 this night. 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 APOLLONIUS satisfied with having staid two years in 
 Greece, during which he had not neglected the affairs of 
 that country, sailed into Ionia with his whole company. 
 He philosophized most part of his time whilst there, at 
 Smyrna and Ephesus, without overlooking the other towns, 
 of which there was not one wherein he was not well 
 received; on the contrary, he was in all thought worthy 
 of a reception the most flattering, on account of the ad- 
 vantage he was to every one who deserved his attention. 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 THE time was now at hand which the Gods decreed for 
 depriving Domitian of the empire. He had lately put to 
 
 * He was wise in keeping clear of what he did not understand. 
 2 I 
 
482 
 
 death Clemens,*" a man of consular rank, to whom he had 
 married his sister.f Three or four days after this murder, 
 he had determined she should follow him. This is the 
 reason why her freed-man, Stephanus, J marked out by 
 the late phenomenon in the heavens, resolved, whether 
 from regard § to the deceased, or love to mankind, to rid 
 the world of a tyrant after the manner practised by the 
 Athenians, who were such lovers of liberty. Fastening 
 a dagger under his left arm, which was tied up in a band- 
 age to make it look as if broken, he approached the tyrant 
 as he was coming from the tribunal, and said, I wish to 
 have a private conference with you, O Emperor! as I 
 have matters of great moment to communicate. Not 
 refusing an audience, he took Stephanus into his private 
 closet, where, when they came, the freed-man said, Your 
 mortal enemy Clemens is not dead as you think, but lives 
 in a place I know, and is now preparing to attack you. 
 At these words the Emperor uttered a loud shriek ; 
 Stephanus attacked him in this confusion, and drawing the 
 dagger he had concealed under his arm, he gave him || a 
 wound in the thigh, which though it did not instantly kill 
 him, was mortal. Domitian, who was robust of body, 
 and not more than forty years of age, turned upon 
 Stephanus, wounded as he was, threw him on the floor, 
 and himself over him, and then endeavoured to pull out 
 his eyes, striking him on the face with a golden chalice, 
 
 * He put to death Clemens his cousin German, and his two sons, 
 upon some very slight suspicion, by which violent act, says Suetonius, 
 he very much hastened his own destruction. 
 
 t Flavia Domitilla the wife of Clemens, was not the sister of Domi- 
 tian, but his niece, his sister's daughter. 
 
 X Stephanus— in Greek ir^avog— corona, a circle. 
 
 § Suetonius says, Stephanus was then under a prosecution for de> 
 fraudiug his mistress— he was a man of great strength, and well fitted 
 for the enterprise. 
 
 jt Suetonius says he stabbed him in the groin— suffodit inguina, 
 
I 483 
 
 that happened to be in the room for some sacrificial pur- 
 pose, and at the same time calling on Pallas # for her 
 assistance. His body-guards hearing the noise, and con- 
 cluding all was not well, rushed into the closet, and find- 
 ing the tyrant fainting, put an end to his life. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 ALL this happened at Rome, and all this Apollonius 
 saw at Ephesus,f as if he had been present at the trans- 
 action, which took place about mid -day in the Emperor's 
 palace, at the time when Apollonius was walking and dis- 
 puting among the trees planted in one of the xystas, near 
 the town. At first he let his voice fall, as if alarmed at 
 something ; he then went on conversing, but in a lower 
 accent than usual, like persons whose thoughts are en- 
 gaged with something different from what they are saying ; 
 at last be became quite silent, as if he had lost the thread 
 of his discourse. Then fixing his eyes stedfastly on the 
 earth, and advancing three or four steps, he cried out, 
 " Strike the tyrant,"—" Strike—" this he did, not like 
 one who guessed at what was passing from seeing its 
 image in a mirror, but from literally seeing it, and as it 
 were promoting it. All Ephesus was astonished at what 
 they heard, (for every one was present at this disputation) 
 but Apollonius stopping for some time, like those who 
 wait the issue of a doubtful action, at length cried out, 
 " Keep up your spirits, O Ephesians! for this day the 
 tyrant is killed ; J and why do I say this day ? at this very 
 
 * His guardian Deity. 
 
 t What would Boswell say to this second sight ? 
 X Philostratus, says Crevier in his Roman Emperors, asserts this posi- 
 tively as a fact, and Dion Cassius will not allow one to doubt it. We 
 
 can 
 
484 
 
 moment, whilst the words are in my mouth, I swear it by 
 Minerva, the deed is done ;" after this he became silent. 
 The Ephesians thought him mad, who, though they 
 devoutly wished he had spoken the truth, feared to run the 
 risk of giving credit to it. For my part, said Apollonius, 
 I am not surprised at your hesitating about a transaction 
 not yet known in all parts of Rome. But hold, " it is 
 now known," exclaimed he, " for it has run through the 
 whole city. Thousands at this moment believe it, and are 
 leaping with joy. Twice as many credit it, yes four times 
 as many, and now all Rome. The news will soon be 
 here. You will be right to suspend all sacrifices till the 
 arrival of the messenger. For myself, I will go and pay 
 my vows to the Gods for what I have seen with my 
 eyes."*' 
 
 can have no interest, adds he, to deny it, since it does not at all ex- 
 ceed the power of the Demons with whom Apollonius hetd a magic 
 commerce. I shall only observe, continues Crevier, that Philostratus 
 and Dion Cassius are two such credulous writers, thafr their testimony 
 can be of little weight to counterbalance so great an absurdity as this, 
 if it be called a miracle. 
 
 * In Xiphilius's abridgment of Dion Cassius, the same thing is men- 
 tioned in the following terms. That which appears to be more extra- 
 ordinary than the rest, and which I reserved to mention in this 
 place, is, that on the very day, nay, the moment Domitian was assas- 
 sinatcd, as it was afterwards known upon a very exact search into the 
 matter, Apollonius Tyaneus got up, whether it was in the city of 
 Ephesus or elsewhere, upon a very high stone, and calling the people 
 together, cried out with a loud voice, " Courage, Stephanus, courage, 
 strike the murderer. Thou hast struck him. Thou hast wounded 
 him. Thou hast killed him." As incredible as this fact seems to be, 
 it is no less true. There might have been some accidental coincidence 
 of circumstances which seemed to countenance this. 
 
 At all events it can only be credited upon the supposition, that the 
 plot against the life of the Emperor had been concerted with him, and 
 the day and hour fixed for perpetrating the same. 
 
485 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 FULL credit was not given to what Apollonius said, till 
 the good news was brought by messengers, who confirmed 
 by their testimony the wisdom of the philosopher. The 
 death of the tyrant, with the day and hour in which it 
 happened, and the murderers whom Apollonius en- 
 couraged, corresponded exactly with the account given 
 by Apollonius whilst holding his disputations. Thirty 
 days afterwards, Nerva sent him a letter, saying he pos- 
 sessed the empire by the councils of the Gods and Apol- 
 lonius, which he thinks he would more easily maintain, if 
 Apollonius would come to Rome, and assist him with his 
 advice. The answer written by Apollonius appeared at 
 the time enigmatical, which was, " we shall live together 
 a very long time, in which we shall not command others, 
 nor shall others command us ;"* by these words he wished 
 to say that he was soon to leave this world, and that 
 Nerva's reign was not to be long. In fact, his reign lasted 
 but a year and four months, during which short space he 
 established a character of the greatest moderation. 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 HOWEVER, not to appear unmindful of his excellent 
 friend and sovereign, he wrote him a letter some short 
 time after, in which he gave him advice as to the best 
 mode of governing well. When finished, he sent for 
 Damis, and said to him, the critical state of my affairs 
 requires your assistance : the secrets contained in this epis- 
 
 * Intimating, probably, bis expectation that they would soon live 
 together in another world. 
 
486 
 
 tie are addressed to the Emperor, and are of such a nature 
 as can only be communicated by myself in person, or by 
 you as an internuntio. Damis allows it was some time 
 before he understood his artifice in this business. He says 
 the letter was written in the best style, and contained 
 matters of the greatest importance ; but he adds, there was 
 another reason for making use of him as a messenger to 
 carry it. What then was the cause of his using a particular 
 address on this occasion? During his whole life he used, 
 it is said, to have these words frequently in his mouth, 
 " Conceal your life, and if you cannot do that, conceal 
 your death." To remove Damis from his presence, in 
 order not to have any witnesses to his death, was the rea- 
 son of his using the pretext of sending him to Rome with 
 a letter- Damis speaks of the sorrow he had at parting 
 with him, though then ignorant of what was to be the 
 consequence. Apollonius, who knew it well, said not a 
 word of what \s generally done by people who are not to 
 see each other again, so desirous was he of persuading 
 Damis he would live for ever. All I find he said to him 
 was, " Whenever you are alone, and give up your whole 
 mind to philosophy, think of me " 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 HERE ends the history of Apollonius the Tyanean, as 
 written by Damis the Assyrian. Concerning the manner 
 of his death, if he did die,* various are the accounts. 
 
 * If he did die— O Philostratus ! 
 
 Here is an imitation of the writers of the life of Pythagoras, who 
 either ghre no account of his death, or say there are different accounts 
 in several authors of the manner of his death. And some said he died 
 in the eightieth year of his age, others in the ninetieth, and some said 
 
 he 
 
487 
 
 Damis says not a word of it. But as I wish to have my 
 history complete, I cannot pass it over in total silence: 
 of his age Damis says nothing, but some say he was above 
 fourscore, others above fourscore and ten, and there are 
 some who say his age exceeded one hundred years.* His 
 body carried with it the* marks of old age, but his mind 
 was vigorous and more agreeable than what even young 
 people are in general. His wrinkles had something 
 pleasing in them, which added a brilliancy to his looks/f- 
 which is still to be seen in his effigies in the temple built 
 to him at Tyana ; and what literary monuments still sur- 
 vive, speak more highly of his old age than they do of the 
 youth of Alcibiades. 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 SOME say he died at Ephesus, waited on by two hand- 
 maids,;}; (for his freed-men, whom we have before spoken 
 of, had already paid the debt of nature) of whom, when 
 he gave the one her liberty, he was upbraided by the 
 other for not thinking her entitled to the same favour. 
 The observation Apollonius made on the occasion was 
 
 he lived to be almost an hundred, others that he reached to the hundred 
 and fifth year of his age. Lardner. 
 
 To the above may be added, that Apollonius often said he would 
 die without any one's knowing it, to the end , ; t may be supposed, that 
 he, as Empedocles, might be thought immortal. 
 
 * He died, it is supposed by some, at Ephesus, from the mere 
 decay of nature, about the year 97, having nearly reached the great age 
 of one hundred years. 
 
 + Philostratus never loses sight of Pythagoras, his hero's prototype, 
 who was reckoned the handsomest man of the age in which he lived. 
 
 J A most indecorous death for a philosopher to die, between two 
 young damsels. 
 
488 
 
 this, It is meet the one should serve the other, as it will 
 be the beginning of good fortune to her. After Apollo- 
 nius's death, the one became the slave of the other, who 
 sold her to a slave-merchant for but a small price ; this 
 merchant sold her, though she was not handsome, to an- 
 other slave-merchant, who, being°a man in good circum- 
 stances, fell in love with her, married her, and had by her 
 sons, whom he acknowledged as his own. To return to 
 Apollonius, some say he entered the temple of Minerva 
 at Lindus,* and there disappeared. Others affirm his exit 
 was made at Crete in a more extraordinary way than it 
 was at Lindus. During his stay in Crete, it is said, he 
 possessed greater authority, and was more admired than 
 he ever was before, and used to enter the temple of 
 Dictynna,f at unseasonable hours of the night. This 
 temple is under the protection of dogs, who take care of 
 the riches laid up in it. These dogs are supposed by the 
 Cretans to be of a breed not inferior to that of bears, or 
 other wild beasts. Whenever Apollonius entered the 
 temple, these dogs did not bark at him, but received 
 him with as much fawning affection as they would have 
 done their most familiar friends. The priests who had the 
 care of the temple seeing this, seized him at his entrance, 
 and bound him, as if he was not only a magician but 
 a robber, saying he had given them a sop to tame them. 
 About midnight he freed himself from his chains, and 
 called those who had bound him in them, to shew he 
 did nothing in secret, then running to the gates of the 
 temple, he found them open. As soon as he entered 
 
 * Lindus, a city at the south east part of Rhodes, built by Circaphus, 
 son of Sol and Cydippe. The Danaids built there a temple to Mi- 
 nerva, surnamed Lindia. 
 
 t Diana was worshipped in Crete, indifferently under the name of 
 Dictynna and of Britomartis. 
 
489 
 
 them, they shut of themselves as they had been before, 
 and the temple resounded with the singing of many virgins, 
 the burden of whose song was, " Leave the earth, come 
 to heaven — come — come," which seemed as if they said, 
 (i Proceed from earth to heaven."* 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 OF the immortality of the soul, Apollonius philosophized 
 even after his death, teaching that the doctrine is true, but 
 that all too curious investigations concerning things so im- 
 portant is to be avoided.f There happened to come 
 
 * Ces circonstances de la mort D'Apollone (says Du Pin) se contre- 
 disent, et elles ne sont toutes fondles de l'aveu meme de Philostrate, 
 que sur des bruits vagues et incertains, qui ne meritent aucune 
 creance. 
 
 t But in the last place, says Bishop Parker, the historian would 
 fain bid at something of his hero's appearing after death : yet he does 
 it so faintly, that in the conclusion of all it comes to nothing, espe- 
 cially when he tells us, that the time of his death was altogether un- 
 known, and that the uncertainty of it took in no less than the compass 
 of thirty years. And then, they that were so utterly at a loss, as to 
 the time of his decease, and that for so long a space, were very likely 
 to give a very wise account of the certain time of any thing he did 
 after it. 
 
 But how, or to whom did he appear? Why, to a young man, one of 
 his followers, that doubted of the immortality of the soul for ten 
 months together after his death. But how, or where? "Why, the 
 young man being tired with watching and praying to Apollonius that 
 he would appear to him, only to satisfy him in this point, one day fell 
 into a dead sleep in the school, where the young men were performing 
 their several exercises : and on a sudden he starts up in a great fright 
 and a great sweat, crying out, itnQofAav rot, I believe thee — O Tyanean * 
 And being asked by his companions the meaning of this transport : 
 Why, says he, do you not see Apollonius ? They answer him — No : 
 but they would be glad to give all the world if they could. It is true, 
 
 says 
 
 2 K 
 
490 
 
 to Tyana a young man who was a fierce disputant, anct 
 one not much inclined to listen to the truth. Apollonius 
 was no longer numbered with the living : after this change, 
 great was the opinion abroad of him, and no one presum- 
 ed to call in question his being immortal. At this time 
 there were many opinions concerning the nature of the 
 soul, for numbers of young men were addicted to philoso- 
 phical studies. The aforesaid youth not assenting to the 
 doctrine of the immortality, said, all you who are present 
 come and bear witness, that for these ten months past I 
 have prayed to Apollonius to enlighten me on the subject, 
 but I have prayed in vain — he, poor man, is so dead that he 
 has neither appeared, nor attended to my prayers, nor 
 persuaded me that he is immortal. This is the purport of 
 what the young man said. Five days afterwards he re- 
 sumed the same subjeet, and fell asleep in the place he 
 had the conversation. Whilst he slept, the rest of the 
 young men, who had been disputing with him, amused 
 themselves, some in reading, and others in describing 
 geometrical figures in the dust. At length the youth, still 
 half asleep, started up like one suddenly seized with mad- 
 ness, and whilst the sweat was running down his body, cried 
 out — / believe you now. The people present asked him 
 what was the matter ? What, replied he, do you not see 
 there the wise Apollonius listening to our disputations, 
 and chanting forth the most wonderful things of the soul ? 
 Where is he ? they all cried, and why does he not shew 
 himself to us, who wish more to see such a sight than the 
 richest earthly possessions ? He seems to have come, said 
 
 says he, for he only appears to me, and for my satisfaction, and is in- 
 visible to all others. And then he tells them what he had said to him 
 in his sleep concerning the state of souls, «f 
 
 This poor account of a dream and vision of an over-watched boy, is 
 all that this great story affords as to the resurrection of Apollonius. 
 
 ! b v% *l 
 
 (W 
 
491 
 
 the youth, for the sake of discoursing solely with me con- 
 cerning what I was unwilling to believe. Listen then to what 
 he speaks, as it were from a tripod. " The soul is im- 
 mortal — immortality does not belong to you, but to the 
 goodness of Providence. After the dissolution of the 
 body, the soul like a mettlesome courser, when freed from 
 all restraint, mingles in thin air, impatient of the servile 
 state to which it was subject. But how do these things 
 affect you, who say that the soul does not survive the de- 
 struction of the body ? why search into such matters you 
 who are like unto the brutes ?" — So luminous was the ora- 
 cle which issued from the tripod of Apollonius, declaring 
 the Arcana of the soul, in order that men fully conscious of 
 their own nature might chearfully go wherever their Fates 
 direct. I do not remember ever having seen any tomb 
 or cenotaph raised to the honour of the man, though I have 
 gone over most part of the known world, and met in all 
 countries with men who told wonderful things of him. 
 Tyana is held sacred, not being under the jurisdiction* of 
 governors sent from Rome, and Emperorsf have not re- 
 fused him the same honours paid to themselves. 
 
 * At what time Tyana received this privilege is not known : when 
 Aurelian took the town — Gibbon says, a superstitious reverence in- 
 duced him to treat with lenity the countrymen of Apollonius the phi- 
 losopher. 
 
 t The Emperor Adrian made a collection of his letters, which he de- 
 posited in his palace at Antium. Caracalla honoured him, and built a 
 temple to him as a hero,— and he was in such estimation with Alexan- 
 der Severus that he had his statue in his private closet. 
 
 TlLLEMONT. 
 
 And now upon the review of this whole history, concludes Bishop 
 Parker, it seems evident to me, that this man was so far from being 
 endowed with auy extraordinary divine power, that he does not deserve 
 the reputation of an ordinary conjurer : for though Huctius has taken 
 some pains to prove him so, yet he gives no evidence of it besides the 
 
 opinion 
 
X 
 
 
 492 
 
 opinion of the common people ; and if that were enough to make a 
 conjurer, there is no man of an odd and singular humour (as Apollonius 
 affected to be) who is not so thought of by the common people. And 
 therefore, when he was accused for it before Domitian, the Emperor 
 upon coming to hear the cause, slighted both him and his accuser, and 
 dismissed him the court for an idle and fantastic fellow. And it is ma- 
 nifest, continues the bishop, from the whole series of his history, that 
 he was a very vain man, and affected to be thought something extraor- - 
 dinary : and so Wandered all the world over in an odd garb to be gazed 
 at and admired, and made himself considerable in that age by wit, im- 
 pudence, and flattery ; of all which he had a competent share. And 
 for his wonder-working faculty which he would needs pretend to, he 
 fetched that as far off as the East Indies, that is, the farthest off as he 
 thought from confutation : and yet the account which he has given of 
 those parts is so grossly fabulous, that that alone convicts his whole life 
 of imposture and impudence. From whence it appears, says Dr. 
 Lardner, that his history, as told by Philostratus, is fabulous, and not 
 to be relied on, and that Apollonius was not so considerable a person 
 as some have imagined. And I hope I may say, concludes Lardner, 
 that these observations of Dr. Parker do in a great measure confirm 
 those which have been before proposed by me. In fine, the history of 
 Apollonius which is now offered to the public, may be admitted, say 
 the liberal compilers of the New Biographical Dictionary, in concur- 
 rence with other collateral evidence, as sufficient testimony, not only 
 that such a man as Apollonius existed, but that he was an eminent 
 philosopher of the Pythagorean sect, who travelled as his master did, 
 through almost every part of the civilized world, exhibiting in his own 
 character, an example of rigid morality, teaching lessons of moral 
 wisdom, and doctrines of speculative philosophy ; at the same time 
 attracting popular attention and reverence by pretending to superna- 
 tural powers. They add, that it is not easy to separate the impostures 
 of the man from the tales of his biographers ; but from the whole nar- 
 rative just perused, I think with them, that there can be little or 
 no room to doubt, that after the example of Pythagoras, he practised 
 the arts of delusion, and that though with wise men he was a philoso- 
 pher, among the vulgar he was a magician. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 J. M'Creery, Printer, 
 Black-Horse-court, Fleet-street, LondoB. 
 
n 
 H 
 
 mtb ran 
 
 OB wetm 
 
 ^m 
 
 
 HI P 
 
 mmnE H_ 
 
 ■ ■ ^H 
 Mai 
 
 ■ 
 
 H 
 
 mil HP 
 
 9 
 
 EbilQSTTOOO 
 
 SS3H9NOD