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

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," she says, "O child; the gods love you, if you look to them and are not inclined toward 6.9.8 earthly and perishable possessions." And he, having heard these things, went out having become more boastful, and having had certain experience of the divinity in the woman. But Philometor, coming in with many companions, met him cheerfully at the doors; 6.9.9 and Maximus, speaking loudly from a distance, said: "By the gods, Philometor," he said, "my friend, stop burning the wood in vain," having perhaps seen something of this sort about him 6.9.10 concerning the evil deeds he was doing. And he, greatly revering Maximus, thought him a god, and ceased from his plot, laughing at the intention for what he had even attempted; and Sosipatra thereafter regarded 6.9.11 Philometor genuinely and exceptionally, admiring him because he had admired her. Once, when everyone had gathered at her house, Philometor was not present, but was staying in the country, the topic and 6.9.12 the inquiry was concerning the soul; and after many arguments had been raised, as Sosipatra began to speak, gradually resolving the propositions with proofs, then falling into the discussion about the descent of the soul and what in it is punished and what is immortal, in the midst of her Corybantic frenzy and Bacchic transport, as if her voice were cut off, she fell silent, and after a short pause, "What is this?" she cried out to them; "Our kinsman Philometor was being carried in a carriage, and the carriage has overturned in some difficult terrain, and he 6.9.13 is in danger with respect to his legs; but his servants have pulled him out safe, except for the wounds he has received on his elbows and hands, and these are not dangerous; and he is being carried on a lit-6.9.14 ter, lamenting." She said these things and so it was, and everyone knew that Sosipatra was everywhere, and present at all that happened, just as the philosophers say concerning 6.9.15 the gods. And she died leaving three children. And of two of them I have no need to write the names, but Antoninus was worthy of his parents, who, having taken over the Canopic mouth of the Nile, and having devoted his whole self to the rites performed there, brought to pass the prophecy from his mother. 6.9.16 And the youth of those sound in soul and desiring of philosophy frequented him, and the temple was full of young 6.9.17 priests. He himself, then, while still seeming to be a man and conversing with men, foretold to all his disciples that after him the temple would no longer exist, but also the great and holy temples of Serapis would pass into darkness and formlessness and be transformed, and a fabulous and unseemly darkness would hold sway over the most beautiful things on earth. And time proved all these things, and the event fulfilled the force of an oracle. 6.10.1 Of this family, for I was not eager to write the so-called *Ehoiai* of Hesiod, some offshoots, as of stars, were left behind, and were scattered and distributed into certain other families of philosophers, 6.10.2 for whom the kinship was an advantage in philosophizing. But most of them were in peril in the law courts, just as Socrates was around the Stoa of the King; so did they despise possessions and hate 6.10.3 gold. For them, philosophy was the worn cloak and the remembrance of Sosipatra, and to have Eustathius on their lips, but what was seen were large bags quite full of little books, and these as if they were a burden for many camels. 6.10.4 And they knew the books very accurately; and these were not by any of the ancient philosophers, but wills and copies of these, and contracts and <περὶ ὠνῶν καὶ> about sales, and as many things as the wretched life that inclines towards wandering and disordered ruin 6.10.5 is accustomed to praise. Thus not even <ἓν> thing in what followed did Sosipatra fail in her oracle, and of these things the

ἔπραττεν, καὶ τὰ φανέντα ἀνεκάλυψε σημεῖα. τοῦ δὲ πεσόντος ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἀχανοῦς, καὶ θεὰν ἄντικρυς εἶναι τὴν Σωσιπάτραν ὁμολογοῦντος, "ἀνίστω" φησίν "ὦ τέκνον· θεοί σε φιλοῦσιν, ἐὰν σὺ πρὸς ἐκείνους βλέπῃς καὶ μὴ ῥέπῃς ἐπὶ 6.9.8 τὰ γήϊνα καὶ ἐπίκηρα χρήματα." καὶ ὁ μὲν ταῦτα ἀκούσας, ἐξῄει μεγαλαυχότερος γεγονώς, καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν γυναῖκα δὲ θειότητος ἀσφαλῶς πεπειραμένος. ὁ δὲ Φιλομήτωρ φαιδρὸς ἀπήντα περὶ θύρας αὐτῷ μετὰ πολλῶν ἑταίρων εἰσιών· 6.9.9 ὁ δὲ πόρρωθεν μέγα φθεγξάμενος εἶπεν ὁ Μάξιμος· "τοὺς θεούς σοι, Φιλομήτωρ" εἶπεν "ἑταῖρε, παῦσαι μάτην κατακαίων τὰ ξύλα" ἐνεωρακώς τι τοιοῦτον ἴσως αὐτῷ 6.9.10 περὶ ἃ κακουργῶν ἔπραττεν. καὶ ὁ μὲν τὸν Μάξιμον ὑπερευλαβηθεὶς θεὸν ᾠήθη, καὶ τῆς γε ἐπιβουλῆς ἐπαύσατο, καταγελάσας τῆς προθέσεως ὅ τι καὶ ἐνεχείρησεν· ἡ δὲ Σωσιπάτρα γνησίως καὶ διαφερόντως ἑώρα τοῦ λοιποῦ τὸν 6.9.11 Φιλομήτορα, θαυμάζουσα αὐτὸν ὅτι αὐτὴν ἐθαύμασε. ποτὲ γοῦν συνεληλυθότων ἁπάντων παρ' αὐτῇ Φιλομήτωρ δὲ οὐ παρῆν, ἀλλ' ἐν ἀγρῷ διέτριβεν, ἡ μὲν πρόθεσις ἦν καὶ 6.9.12 τὸ ζήτημα περὶ ψυχῆς· πολλῶν δὲ κινουμένων λόγων, ὡς ἤρξατο Σωσιπάτρα λέγειν, κατὰ μικρὸν ταῖς ἀποδείξεσι διαλύουσα τὰ προβαλλόμενα, εἶτα εἰς τὸν περὶ καθόδου ψυχῆς καὶ τί τὸ κολαζόμενον καὶ τί τὸ ἀθάνατον αὐτῆς ἐμπίπτουσα λόγον, μεταξὺ τοῦ κορυβαντιασμοῦ καὶ τῆς ἐκβακχεύσεως, ὥσπερ ἀποκοπεῖσα τὴν φωνήν, ἐσιώπησεν, καὶ βραχὺν ἐλλιποῦσα χρόνον, "τί τοῦτο;" ἀνεβόησεν εἰς μέσους· "ὁ συγγενὴς Φιλομήτωρ φερόμενος ἐπ' ὀχήματος, τό τε ὄχημα κατά τινα δυσχωρίαν περιτέτραπται, κἀκεῖνος 6.9.13 κινδυνεύει περὶ τὼ σκέλη· ἀλλ' ἐξῃρήκασί γε αὐτὸν οἱ θεράποντες ὑγιαίνοντα, πλὴν ὅσα περὶ τοῖς ἀγκῶσι καὶ χερσὶ τραύματα εἴληφε, καὶ ταῦτά γε ἀκίνδυνα· ἐπὶ φο6.9.14 ρείου δὲ φέρεται ποτνιώμενος." ταῦτα ἔλεγεν καὶ εἶχεν οὕτως, καὶ πάντες ᾔδεσαν ὅτι πανταχοῦ εἴη Σωσιπάτρα, καὶ πᾶσι πάρεστι τοῖς γινομένοις, ὥσπερ οἱ φιλόσοφοι περὶ 6.9.15 τῶν θεῶν λέγουσιν. καὶ ἐτελεύτα δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς τρισὶ παισί. καὶ τῶν μὲν δύο τὰ ὀνόματα οὐδὲν δέομαι γράφειν, Ἀντωνῖ νος δὲ ἦν ἄξιος τῶν πατέρων, ὅς γε τὸ Κανωβικὸν τοῦ Νείλου καταλαβὼν στόμα, καὶ τοῖς ἐκεῖ τελουμένοις προσθεὶς ὅλον ἑαυτόν, τήν τε ἀπὸ τῆς μητρὸς πρόρρησιν ἐξεβιάζετο. 6.9.16 καὶ ἡ νεότης τῶν ὑγιαινόντων τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ φιλοσοφίας ἐπιθυμούντων ἐφοίτων πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν νεανί6.9.17 σκων ἱερέων μεστὸν ἦν. αὐτὸς μὲν οὖν ἔτι ἄνθρωπος εἶναι δοκῶν καὶ ἀνθρώποις ὁμιλῶν, πᾶσι τοῖς ὁμιληταῖς προὔλεγεν, ὡς μετ' ἐκεῖνον οὐκ ἔτι τὸ ἱερὸν ἔσοιτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ μεγάλα καὶ ἅγια τοῦ Σεράπιδος ἱερὰ πρὸς τὸ σκοτοειδὲς καὶ ἄμορφον χωρήσει καὶ μεταβληθήσεται, καὶ τὸ μυθῶδες καὶ ἀειδὲς σκότος τυραννήσει τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς κάλλιστα. ὁ δὲ χρόνος ἀπήλεγξεν ἅπαντα, καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμά γε εἰς χρησμοῦ συνετελέσθη βίαν. 6.10.1 Τούτου δὲ τοῦ γένους, οὐ γὰρ τὰς Ἡσιόδου καλουμένας Ἠοίας ἔσπευδον γράφειν, ἀπόρροιαί τινες, ὥσπερ ἀστέρων περιελείφθησαν, καὶ εἰς φιλοσοφούντων ἕτερα ἄττα γένη διεσπάρησαν καὶ κατενεμήθησαν, οἷς τοῦ φιλοσοφεῖν 6.10.2 ἡ συγγένεια κέρδος ἦν. τὰ πλεῖστα δὲ ἐν δικαστηρίοις, ὥσπερ ὁ Σωκράτης περὶ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως στοάν, ἐκινδύνευον· οὕτω περιεφρόνησαν χρήματα καὶ κατεστύγησαν 6.10.3 χρυσίον. ἦν γοῦν αὐτοῖς φιλοσοφία, τὸ τριβώνιον καὶ τὸ μεμνῆσθαι Σωσιπάτρας, καὶ τὸν Εὐστάθιον διὰ στόματος φέρειν, τὰ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ὁρωμένοις σακκία τε ἁδρὰ καὶ ὑπόμεστα βιβλιδίων, καὶ ταῦτα ὡς ἂν ἄχθος εἶναι καμήλων πολλῶν. 6.10.4 καὶ ἐξηπίσταντό γε πάνυ ἀκριβῶς τὰ βιβλία· καὶ ταῦτά γε ἦν εἰς οὐδένα φέροντα τῶν παλαιῶν φιλοσόφων, ἀλλὰ διαθῆκαί τε καὶ ἀντίγραφα τούτων, καὶ συμβόλαια καὶ <περὶ ὠνῶν καὶ> περὶ πράσεων, καὶ ὅσα ὁ κακοδαίμων καὶ ὁ πρὸς τὴν πλανωμένην καὶ ἄτακτον ἄτην ἐπικλίνων βίος 6.10.5 ἐπαινεῖν εἴωθεν. οὕτως οὐδὲ <ἓν> ἐν τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα Σωσιπάτρα ἐς τὸν χρησμὸν ἀπετύγχανε, καὶ τούτων γε τὰ