Lives of the sophists

 to follow, having scattered it like some mist. At once, therefore, the divine Plutarch records his own life, scattered throughout his books, and that

 not one man has written a biography, at least so far as we know but for one collecting from the signs given during the reading, such were the things

 And after these things he deals with many other matters, how one must take care of them. And he says that he also pursued and cast out a certain demon

 ungrudging. Therefore, he did few things by himself, apart from his companions and pupils, revering the divine but for the most part he was with his

 Golden locks gleamed about his back and his breast, and he seemed altogether as one bathing and having been bathed. And when his companions were aston

 of beauty. Thus that man also, choosing to praise him for the sake of the truth, on the one hand reveals the magnitude of the punishments and misfortu

 they neglected the plot. Therefore, just as in the time of the old and great Socrates, no one of all the Athenians (even though they were a democracy)

 But she happened to be skilled also in delivering women in their confinement. <and> as she was setting a cup before the Egyptian and pouring the spice

 his own hand and the things written, he found the oracle written on his hand. 6.4.4 And it is this: Threads are set on the threads of two Fates for yo

 with easy proofs, he orders him to come out, and he came out, having overthrown a tyrant with his speech and he immediately invited him to his table

 is your life as well, a gift as high as heaven and reaching the stars, leave this Sosipatra with us, her truer nurses and fathers, and for five years

 is it, child? And she, pausing for a little, said, But now I understand what was said. For as they, weeping, handed these things to me, they said, '

 he was doing, and revealed the signs that appeared. And as he fell gaping to the ground, and confessed that Sosipatra was openly a goddess, Rise up,

 I have no need to write their names for the account hastens on not to the base but to the good. Except for what one of her children (Antoninus was hi

 human. For collecting the bones and heads of those convicted of many crimes, whom the civil court had punished, they both declared them gods, and they

 he had arrived, and his body was weary and foremost among his school, and holding first place, were Maximus, on whose behalf this is being written, a

 the torches will light up, which the goddess carries in her hands and the light, flaring up on the torches, anticipated the words. We then, for the

 sent him gifts <and> an escort for the care of the temples of Hellas, he immediately summoned 7.3.10 Maximus and Chrysanthius. And the summons was one

 nevertheless unmoved, not lifted up by the imperial power, but bringing down the imperial power and leveling it to a more philosophical state. 7.4.8 B

 he contributed great good will to affairs, exposing his body to the foremost dangers, and being openly at odds with the praetorian prefect, so that no

 for immediately those who had conspired and been numbered and with everyone everywhere being seized and slaughtered, like hens at a festival and symp

 Pergamon, and the more honored of the companions were present 8.1.6 but the teacher, implanting a certain harmony and care for what is human in his s

 in imitation of the public theaters 9.1.6, but smaller and as is fitting for a house. For so great was the strife in Athens of the men and youths of t

 (And Tusciunus, who was present at the trial, and within the group of the accused, related these things to the author) Prohaeresius came forward into

 the sun makes the night longer by becoming more southerly (for it had entered Libra and the nights were about to lengthen) and the ship-captain, bein

 he was handsome, and one marveled at the power of his beauty, that for so great a body 10.3.2 it sufficed throughout for the most excellent form and

 for the sake of wealth, but for Prohaeresius argument alone was enough, just as the Homeric Hermes escorting Priam to the tent of Achilles10.3.17 even

 no one knew the future but when he said I will ask for another, more difficult thing, then, having been ordered 10.5.2 to speak, he says, let not

 being of a most distinguished rank, to grasp, and to draw into sight the phantom conceived from ancient images, 10.6.4 he hurried to Greece. And havin

 transferring their astonishment to his appearance and what they saw, they were amazed at both the beauty and height of his body, as if looking up with

 very quickly leaped into political life. 10.8.1 But when Julian was emperor, being excluded <ἐν> from his position of teaching (for he was thought to

 they say. HIMERIUS: Bithynia bore this man, but the one writing these things did not know him and yet he was living in those times. But having crosse

 to Libanius 16.1.10 and of those thought worthy of his company he departed unstung but his character was immediately recognized for what it was, and

 blaming the greatness of that man's nature, but himself testifying to his own 17.1.3 hyperattention and precision regarding petty words as if unaware

 he was a distinguished child, having partaken of all education which both contributes to and perfects virtue. 21.1.2 And advancing in age, he became a

 precision, and to confess openly that when they met with Ionicus, they learned in practice the things said by the ancients, and brought them out for u

 having something contentious and stubborn in his nature, resisting the signs that had appeared from the gods, he would ask for and demand 23.2.2 other

 of those present, a stir arose, and it seemed good to him to contribute something to what was being said, everything was full of silence, as if no peo

 All were present, and he who is writing these things was present but Justus, standing over it, and fixing the gaze of his eyes (for the victim lay in

 shook souls into fear, he alone remained unshaken, so that 23.6.2 one might have conjectured * that the man was not even on earth. At those times inde

of beauty. Thus that man also, choosing to praise him for the sake of the truth, on the one hand reveals the magnitude of the punishments and misfortunes he suffered in the courts, but being neither naturally inclined nor having chosen to explain the causes or pretexts for these in a political manner, he confused the whole character of the life, barely leaving this for the sharp-sighted to grasp, that he admired the man, and especially his endurance in the face of terrible things and his fearlessness, and the 5.3.10 sharpness in his speeches and †he was furnished with incisiveness†. And this man was from Alexandria. And these are the things about Alypius. And he died in Alexandria as an old man, as did Iamblichus after him, having left behind many roots and springs of philosophy. The one writing these things was fortunate enough to be part of this movement. For some of the aforementioned associates were scattered elsewhere throughout the entire Roman dominion; but Aedesius took up residence in Mysian Pergamum. AEDESIUS. Aedesius of Cappadocia takes up the school and teaching of Iamblichus for his companions. He was of the highest noble birth, but there was not much wealth in the family, and his father, having sent him from Cappadocia to Greece for a money-making education, then expecting to find a treasure in his son, when at last, upon his return, he perceived that he was philosophizing, drove him from the house as 6.1.2 useless. And as he drove him out, he said, "For what good is wisdom?" But he, turning back, said, "It is not small, father, to revere a father even as he drives me out." And upon hearing this, the father, 6.1.3 both called his son back, and admired his character. And giving himself over completely, he dedicated him, bringing him to his remaining education. And the one, having sent his son forth, was cheerful, and rejoiced exceedingly, as if he had become the father of a god rather than a man. 6.1.4 And he, passing by all the others, as many as were more famous at that time and of whom he happened to have heard, and having gathered wisdom by experience, made his way and completed the not-long journey from Cappadocia to Syria to the most glorious Iamblichus. And when he both saw the man and heard him speak, he hung on his words, and was not sated with listening; until at last he became Aedesius* and little inferior to Iamblichus, except in those things at least that pertain to the divine inspiration of Iamblichus 6.1.5. For we are able to record none of these things, because on the one hand Aedesius himself perhaps concealed them on account of the times (for Constantine was reigning, destroying the most prominent of the temples and erecting the dwellings of the Christians), and on the other hand perhaps the best of his pupils was inclined and predisposed towards a certain mysterious silence and hierophantic reserve. 6.1.6 At any rate, the one writing these things, having become a student of Chrysanthius from boyhood, was scarcely deemed worthy of the truer doctrines in his twentieth year, so great a thing of the philosophy of Iamblichus was extended to us and lasted through time. 6.2.1 When Iamblichus had left his human life, some were scattered elsewhere, and no one was without fame or unknown. But Sopater, the most formidable of all, both because of the loftiness of his nature and the greatness of his soul, not bearing to associate with other men, ran swiftly to the imperial courts, so as to rule over and 6.2.2 alter by his speech the policy and impulse of Constantine. And he attained to such a degree of wisdom and power, that the emperor was indeed captivated by him, and had him as a public counsellor, seating him in the place on his right, which is incredible 6.2.3 both to hear and to see. But those who held power at court, bursting with envy against an emperor just learning to philosophize, watched for the moment of the Cercopes (not only Heracles sleeping, but also irrational Fortune awake) and they held secret meetings, and there is not any 6.2.4 part of the ill-fated

κάλλους. οὕτω κἀκεῖνος ἐπαινέσαι προελόμενος διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν, τὸ μὲν μέγεθος ἐμφαίνει τῶν καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις κολάσεων καὶ ἀτυχημάτων, αἰτίας δὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἢ προφάσεις οὔτε πεφυκὼς ἐξηγεῖσθαι πολιτικῶς, οὔτε προελόμενος, τὸν πάντα χαρακτῆρα συνέχεε τοῦ βίου, μόλις τοῦτο καταλιπὼν τοῖς ὀξυδορκοῦσι ξυλλαβεῖν, ὅτι τὸν ἄνδρα ἐθαύμαζεν, καὶ διαφερόντως αὐτοῦ τήν τε παρὰ τὰ δεινὰ καρτερίαν καὶ τὸ ἀνέκπληκτον, τήν 5.3.10 τε ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ὀξύτητα καὶ †τομὴν κατεσκευάζετο†. ἐξ Ἀλεξανδρείας δὲ οὗτος ἦν. καὶ τὰ μὲν εἰς Ἀλύπιον ταῦτα. καὶ ἐτελεύτα γε ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ γηραιός, Ἰάμβλιχός τε ἐπ' αὐτῷ, πολλὰς ῥίζας τε καὶ πηγὰς φιλοσοφίας ἀφείς. ταύτης ὁ ταῦτα γράφων τῆς φορᾶς εὐτύχησεν. ἄλλοι μὲν γὰρ ἀλλαχοῦ τῶν εἰρημένων ὁμιλητῶν διεκρίθησαν εἰς ἅπασαν τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν ἐπικράτειαν· Αἰδέσιος δὲ κατέλαβε τὸ Μύσιον Πέργαμον. ΑΙ∆ΕΣΙΟΣ. Ἐκδέχεται δὲ τὴν Ἰαμβλίχου διατριβὴν καὶ ὁμιλίαν ἐς τοὺς ἑταίρους Αἰδέσιος ὁ ἐκ Καππαδοκίας. ἦν δὲ τῶν εὖ γεγονότων εἰς ἄκρον, πλοῦτος δὲ οὐχ ὑπῆν τῷ γένει πολύς, καὶ ὅ γε πατὴρ αὐτὸν ἐκπέμψας ἐπὶ παιδείαν χρηματιστικὴν ἐκ Καππαδοκίας ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, εἶτα ἐκδεχόμενος ὡς θησαυρὸν ἐπὶ τῷ παιδὶ εὑρήσων, ἐπειδή ποτε, ἐπανελθόντος, φιλοσοφοῦντα ᾔσθετο, τῆς οἰκίας ὡς 6.1.2 ἀχρεῖον ἀπήλαυνε. καὶ ἐκδιώκων "τί γάρ" ἔφη "σοφία ὠφελεῖ;" ὁ δὲ ὑποστραφείς "οὐ μικρά, πάτερ," ἔφη, "πατέρα καὶ διώκοντα προσκυνεῖν." καὶ τοῦτο ἀκούσας ὁ πατήρ, 6.1.3 ἀνά τε ἐκαλέσατο τὸν παῖδα, καὶ τὸ ἦθος ἐθαύμασε. καὶ ὅλον ἐπιδοὺς ἑαυτὸν ἀνέθηκε φέρων ἐς τὴν ἔτι λειπομένην παιδείαν. καὶ ὁ μὲν τὸν παῖδα προπέμψας εὔθυμος ἦν, καὶ περιέχαιρεν, ὡς θεοῦ γεγονὼς μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνθρώπου πατήρ. 6.1.4 Ὁ δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας παραδραμών, ὅσοι τῶν τότε ἦσαν εὐκλεέστεροι καὶ ὧν ἐτύγχανεν ἀκηκοώς, καὶ πείρᾳ τὴν σοφίαν συλλεξάμενος, ἐπὶ τὸν ἐρικυδέστατον Ἰάμβλιχον οὐ μακρὰν ὁδὸν ἐκ Καππαδοκίας εἰς Συρίαν συνέτεινε καὶ διήνυεν. ὡς δὲ εἶδέν τε τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ ἤκουσε λέ γοντος, ἐξεκρέματο τῶν λόγων, καὶ τῆς ἀκροάσεως οὐκ ἐνεπίπλατο· ἐς ὃ τελευτῶν Αἰδέσιός* τε ἐγένετο καὶ μικρὸν ἀποδέων Ἰαμβλίχου, πλὴν ὅσα γε εἰς θειασμὸν Ἰαμβλίχου 6.1.5 φέρει. τούτων γὰρ οὐδὲν εἴχομεν ἀναγράφειν, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἐπέκρυπτεν ἴσως Αἰδέσιος αὐτὸς διὰ τοὺς χρόνους (Κωνσταντῖνος γὰρ ἐβασίλευε, τά τε τῶν ἱερῶν ἐπιφανέστατα καταστρέφων καὶ τὰ τῶν χριστιανῶν ἀνεγείρων οἰκήματα), τὰ δὲ ἴσως καὶ τῶν ὁμιλητῶν ἄριστον πρὸς μυστηριώδη τινὰ σιωπὴν καὶ ἱεροφαντικὴν ἐχεμυθίαν ἐπιρρεπὲς ἦν καὶ συνε6.1.6 κέκλιτο. ὁ γοῦν ταῦτα γράφων ἐκ παιδὸς ἀκροατὴς Χρυσανθίου γενόμενος, μόλις εἰς εἰκοστὸν ἔτος ἠξιοῦτο τῶν ἀληθεστέρων, οὕτω μέγα τι χρῆμα εἰς ἡμᾶς τῆς Ἰαμβλίχου φιλοσοφίας διετάθη καὶ συμπαρέτεινε τῷ χρόνῳ. 6.2.1 Ἰαμβλίχου δὲ καταλιπόντος τὸ ἀνθρώπειον, ἄλλοι μὲν ἀλλαχῆ διεσπάρησαν, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἦν ἔξω φήμης καὶ ἄγνωστος. Σώπατρος δὲ ὁ πάντων δεινότερος, διά τε φύσεως ὕψος καὶ ψυχῆς μέγεθος, οὐκ ἐνεγκὼν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις ὁμιλεῖν, ἐπὶ τὰς βασιλικὰς αὐλὰς ἔδραμεν ὀξύς, ὡς τὴν Κωνσταντίνου πρόφασίν τε καὶ φορὰν τυραννήσων καὶ μετα6.2.2 στήσων τῷ λόγῳ. καὶ ἐς τοσοῦτόν γε ἐξίκετο σοφίας καὶ δυνάμεως, ὡς ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς ἑαλώκει τε ὑπ' αὐτῷ, καὶ δημοσίᾳ σύνεδρον εἶχεν, εἰς τὸν δεξιὸν καθίζων τόπον, ὃ καὶ ἀκοῦσαι 6.2.3 καὶ ἰδεῖν ἄπιστον. οἱ δὲ παραδυναστεύοντες ῥηγνύμενοι τῷ φθόνῳ πρὸς βασιλείαν ἄρτι φιλοσοφεῖν μεταμανθάνουσαν, τὸν Κερκώπων ἐπετήρουν καιρόν (οὐ τὸν Ἡρακλέα καθεύδοντα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἄλογον ἐγρηγορυῖαν Τύχην) καὶ συλλόγους τε λαθραίους ἐποιοῦντο, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι καθ' ὅ τι 6.2.4 μέρος τῆς κακοδαίμονος