12

they say the things decreed by fate, but he followed the things from the Fates and foretold them, as they would necessarily come to be, but he foretold them not by practicing sorcery, but from what the gods revealed. And having seen among the Indians the tripods and the wine-pourers and all the things they said moved of their own accord, he neither asked how they contrived them, nor did he desire to learn, but he praised them, yet did not think them worthy of emulation.” And in saying these things, he is clearly showing the famous philosophers of the Indians to be sorcerers. For in making his argument about sorcerers, he also mentions these men, saying that they contrive paradoxical things, and suggesting that the one, about whom the argument is, is alien to such sophistry of theirs, as it is not refined. Therefore if Apollonius should be found calling these men gods and naming them his teachers, it would be time to subject him also to the slanders against his teachers. He is therefore introduced, among those whom he calls the Egyptian gymnosophists, saying these things in these very words: “It seems to me I have not experienced something unreasonable in being overcome by a well-ordered philosophy, which the Indians, having brought it to a suitable state, reveal upon a high and divine stage-machine. As indeed I was justly amazed, and justly consider them wise and blessed, it is time to learn.” And a little later he says: “For these men are both gods and are adorned according to the Pythian oracle.” And he is also introduced saying to Domitian, “And what war have you with Iarchas or with Phraotes the Indians? whom I alone of men consider to be both gods and worthy of this title?” And likewise in other places the account, having designated the aforementioned men as both gods and teachers of the man, and having admitted that he had received rings from them, has now forgotten and does not perceive that he is slandering the student along with the teachers. But further on in the writing, he puts forward a flute-player and he goes through Apollonius speaking about modes of flute-playing very earnestly in long explanations, as if it were some very great and most wise science. And he relates that the emperor Vespasian prayed to him as to a god, and that Vespasian said as in a prayer: “Make me king,” and that he replied: “I have made you.” And who would not reasonably hate the voice of arrogance, which falls short of madness in nothing, when indeed the pilot of the Egyptian ship boasts that he is himself a god and a maker of kings? For Apollonius himself has revealed to us a little earlier that he himself had become this in his soul in his conversations with the Indian. And to the same king, who was asking him to make known to him which of the philosophers he himself would approve as advisors on what should be done, he says word for word: “Good advisors on these matters are also these men,” pointing out Dion and Euphrates, who had not yet come into conflict with him. And again, “O king,” he said, “Euphrates and Dion, being long known to you, are at the gates, not unconcerned for your affairs. Call them, then, into our common discussion, for the two men are wise.” To which Vespasian said, “I provide unlocked doors for wise men.” Bravo for the foreknowledge of the hero! Euphrates is now good and wise, since he had not yet come into conflict with him. But if he should come—and this will be very soon—see what the same man writes about him to Domitian: “And indeed the case of Euphrates shows all the things that happen to a philosopher who flatters the powerful; for from this source, for him, what am I saying, money? nay, rather, fountains of wealth exist, and he already converses at the money-changers' tables, becoming all at once a retailer, a petty huckster, a tax-collector, a money-lender, everything that is sold and that sells, and he is always stamped on the doors of the powerful and stands by them for a longer time than the doorkeepers, and he has often been caught by the doorkeepers, just like gluttonous dogs. And though he never gave away even a drachma to a philosopher, he now builds a fortress with his own wealth against others, feeding this Egyptian with money and sharpening against me a tongue worthy of being cut out. Euphrates, then, I leave to you; for you, if you do not praise flatterers, will find the man more wicked than I describe.” He then, to the father the

12

φασι τὰ εἱμαρμένα, ὁ δὲ εἵπετο μὲν τοῖς ἐκ Μοιρῶν καὶ προέλεγεν, ὡς ἀνάγκη ἔσεσθαι αὐτά, προέλεγε δὲ οὐ γοητεύων, ἀλλ' ἐξ ὧν οἱ θεοὶ ἔφαινον, ἰδὼν δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Ἰνδοῖς τοὺς τρίποδας καὶ τοὺς οἰνοχόους καὶ ὅσα αὐτόματα ἐσφοιτᾶν εἶπον, οὔθ' ὅπως σοφίζοιντο αὐτὰ ἤρετο, οὔτε ἐδεήθη μαθεῖν, ἀλλ' ἐπῄνει μέν, ζηλοῦν δὲ οὐκ ἠξίου.» ταῦτα δὲ λέγων δῆλός ἐστι τοὺς περιβοήτους Ἰνδῶν φιλοσόφους γόητας ἀποφαίνων. περὶ γάρ τοι γοήτων ποιούμενος τὸν λόγον μνημονεύει καὶ τούτων σοφίζεσθαι δὴ τὰ παράδοξα λέγων αὐτοὺς καὶ τόν, περὶ οὗ ὁ λόγος, τῆς τοιασδὶ αὐτῶν σοφιστείας ὡς ἂν μὴ ἀστείας ἀλλότριον ὑποτιθέμενος. οὐκοῦν εἰ φαίνοιτο τούτους θεοὺς ἀποκαλῶν καὶ διδασκάλους ἐπιγραφόμενος αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἀπολλώνιος, ὥρα ταῖς κατὰ τῶν διδασκάλων καὶ αὐτὸν ὑπάγειν διαβολαῖς. εἰσῆκται δὴ οὖν παρ' οἷς φησι γυμνοῖς Αἰγυπτίων, ῥήμασιν αὐτοῖς ταῦτα φάσκων· «οὐκ ἀπεικός τε παθεῖν μοι δοκῶ φιλοσοφίας ἡττηθεὶς εὖ κεκοσμημένης, ἣν ἐς τὸ πρόσφορον Ἰνδοὶ στείλαντες ἐφ' ὑψηλῆς τε καὶ θείας μηχανῆς ἐκκυκλοῦσιν. ὡς δὴ ἐν δίκῃ μὲν ἠγάσθην, ἐν δίκῃ δὲ ἡγοῦμαι σοφούς τε καὶ μακαρίους, ὥρα μανθάνειν.» καὶ μετὰ βραχέα φησίν· «οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ θεοί τέ εἰσι καὶ κεκόσμηνται κατὰ τὴν Πυθίαν.» καὶ ∆ομετιανῷ δὲ εἰσῆκται λέγων «καὶ τίς πρὸς Ἰάρχαν σοι πόλεμος ἢ πρὸς Φραώτην τοὺς Ἰνδούς; οὓς ἐγὼ μόνους ἀνθρώπων θεούς τε ἡγοῦμαι καὶ ἀξίους τῆς ἐπωνυμίας ταύτης;» καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις δὲ ὁμοίως θεούς τε καὶ διδασκάλους τἀνδρὸς ἐπιγράψας ὁ λόγος τοὺς δεδηλωμένους δακτυ 396 λίους τε παρ' αὐτῶν εἰληφέναι ὁμολογήσας αὐτὸν ἐπιλέλησται νῦν καὶ συνδιαβάλλων τοῖς διδασκάλοις τὸν μαθητὴν οὐκ ἐπαίει. ὑποβὰς δ' ἐν τῇ γραφῇ αὐλητὴν ὑποτίθεται καὶ τὸν Ἀπολλώνιον ὥσπερ τινὸς οὔσης μεγίστης καὶ σοφωτάτης ἐπιστήμης τρόπους αὐλήσεως μάλα σπουδαίως μακροῖς τοῖς διεξηγήμασιν εἴροντα διεξέρχεται, καὶ αὐτοκράτορα Οὐεσπασιανὸν οἷα δὴ θεῷ προσεύξασθαι αὐτῷ ἱστορεῖ, καὶ τὸν μὲν ὡς εὐχῇ εἰρηκέναι τὸν Οὐεσπασιανόν· «ποίησόν με βασιλέα,» τὸν δὲ ἀποκρίνασθαι· «ἐποίησα.» καὶ τίς οὐκ ἂν μισήσειεν εὐλόγως τῆς ἀλαζονείας τὴν φωνὴν μανίας τὸ μηθὲν ἀποδέουσαν, ὅτε γε ἤδη αὐτὸς θεὸς καὶ βασιλέων ποιητὴς εἶναι φρυάττεται ὁ τῆς Αἰγυπτίας κυβερνήτης νεώς; τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ὁ Ἀπολλώνιος γεγονέναι τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τὸν Ἰνδὸν ὁμιλίαις μικρῷ πρόσθεν ἡμῖν δεδήλωκε. τῷ δ' αὐτῷ βασιλεῖ, οὓς ἂν αὐτὸς δοκιμάζοι τῶν φιλοσόφων συμβούλους τῶν πρακτέων, γνωρίσαι αὐτῷ ἀξιοῦντι κατὰ λέξιν φησίν· «ἀγαθοὶ δὲ τούτων σύμβουλοι καὶ οἵδε οἱ ἄνδρες, τὸν ∆ίωνα δείξας καὶ τὸν Εὐφράτην μήπω αὐτῷ ἐς διαφορὰν ἥκοντα.» καὶ αὖθις, «ὦ βασιλεῦ, εἶπεν, Εὐφράτης καὶ ∆ίων πάλαι σοι γνώριμοι ὄντες πρὸς θύραις εἰσὶν οὐκ ἀφρόντιδες τῶν σῶν. κάλει δὴ κἀκείνους ἐς κοινὸν λόγον, σοφὼ γὰρ τὼ ἄνδρε.» πρὸς ἃ Οὐεσπασιανὸς «ἀκλείτους» ἔφη «θύρας παρέχω σοφοῖς ἀνδράσιν.» εὖγε τῆς προγνώσεως τοῦ ἥρωος· Εὐφράτης νῦν ἀγαθός τε καὶ σοφός, ἐπεὶ μὴ ἐς διαφοράν πω αὐτῷ ἐληλύθει, εἰ δ' ἔλθοι-ὅσον οὔπω δὲ τοῦτ' ἔσται-ὅρα οἷα περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ αὐτὸς πρὸς ∆ομετιανὸν γράφει· «καὶ μὴν ὁπόσα γίγνεται φιλοσόφῳ ἀνδρὶ κολακεύοντι τοὺς δυνατοὺς δηλοῖ τὰ 397 Εὐφράτου· τούτῳ γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν, τί λέγω χρήματα; πηγαὶ μὲν οὖν εἰσι πλούτου, κἀπὶ τῶν τραπεζῶν ἤδη διαλέγεται κάπηλος ὑποκάπηλος τελώνης ὀβολοστάτης πάντα γιγνόμενος τὰ πωλούμενά τε καὶ πωλοῦντα, ἐντετύπωται δὲ ἀεὶ ταῖς τῶν δυνατῶν θύραις καὶ προσέστηκεν αὐταῖς πλείω καιρὸν ἢ οἱ θυρωροί, ἀπελήφθη δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν θυρωρῶν πολλάκις, ὥσπερ τῶν κυνῶν οἱ λίχνοι, δραχμὴν δὲ οὐδὲ φιλοσόφῳ ἀνδρί ποτε προέμενος ἐπιτειχίζει νῦν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πλοῦτον ἑτέροις τὸν Αἰγύπτιον τουτονὶ βόσκων χρήμασι καὶ ὀξύνων ἐπ' ἐμὲ γλῶτταν ἀξίαν ἐκτετμῆσθαι. Εὐφράτην μὲν δὴ καταλείπω σοί, σὺ γάρ, ἢν μὴ κόλακας ἐπαινῇς, εὑρήσεις τὸν ἄνθρωπον κακίω ἢ ἑρμηνεύω.» ὁ δὴ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα τὸν