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

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 would grovel before the bones and supposed them to be superior 6.11.9 to be so, defiling themselves at the tombs. At any rate they were called martyrs and certain deacons and ambassadors of petitions from the gods, slaves who had served wickedly, and had been worn out by whips, and bearing the scars of their depravity on their 6.11.10 images; but nevertheless the earth bears these gods. At any rate this contributed to the great foresight and <shrewdness> of Antoninus, that he asserted to everyone that the 6.11.11 temples would become tombs; (just as, I suppose, the great Iamblichus too—a point which we have omitted in the account of him—when a certain Egyptian man had summoned Apollo, and he came, and those present were astounded at the sight, said, "Cease, companions, from your wonder; for it is the phantom of a man who fought as a gladiator;" thus it is one thing to perceive with the mind and another with the deceptive eyes of the body. But Iamblichus foresaw the terrible things of the present, while Antoninus foresaw those of the future; and this alone brings him weak-6.11.12 ness). But for him the end was painless, having reached a healthy and advanced old age, and for those with sense, the end of the temples foreseen by him was painful. MAXIMUS. We have mentioned Maximus before, and the one writing these things had not failed to see the man, but while still young met him when he was old and heard a voice, such as one might have heard from the Homeric Athena or Apollo. The pupils of his eyes were somehow winged, and his beard hung down grey, and his eyes revealed the impulses of his soul. 7.1.2 And a certain harmony was present both for the listener and the observer, and through both senses the one in his company was struck, bearing neither the quick movement of his eyes nor the rush of his 7.1.3 words. But not even if one of the very most experienced and clever men were conversing with him, did he dare to contradict, but quietly surrendering themselves, they followed what was said as if from tripods; so great a charm sat upon his lips. 7.1.4 He was, then, of noble birth, and he possessed a rather substantial fortune, and he had true brothers, whom he, being first himself, prevented from being so, both Claudianus who took over Alexandria and taught there, and Nymphidianus who was a famous sophist in Smyrna. 7.1.5 This man was one of those who had been filled with the wisdom of Aedesius. He was deemed worthy to become the teacher of Julian who became emperor. He, when all had been killed by Constantius (these things have been written more accurately in the account of Julian), and the family of Julian had been stripped bare, was left 7.1.6 alone, having been despised on account of his age and gentleness. Nevertheless, royal eunuchs attended him and there were some guards, so that he might be a firm Christian; but he, even in these circumstances, showed the 7.1.7 greatness of his nature. At any rate, he so knew all the books by heart that they were vexed at the brevity of his education, as they had nothing to teach 7.1.8 the boy. And since they had nothing to teach, and Julian had nothing to learn, they requested that his cousin be permitted to listen to both rhetorical and philosophical discourses. And he, with God's assent, permitted it, wanting him to wander among books and be idle rather than be reminded of his lineage and the imperial power. 7.1.9 This having been permitted to him, although deep and very weighty estates lay everywhere, he went about with royal suspicion and a bodyguard, and he walked wherever he wished. And so he arrived in Pergamum according to 7.1.10 the fame of the wisdom of Aedesius. But he was already in a long old age

ἀνθρώπινον. ὀστέα γὰρ καὶ κεφαλὰς τῶν ἐπὶ πολλοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν ἑαλωκότων συναλίζοντες, οὓς τὸ πολιτικὸν ἐκόλαζε δικαστήριον, θεούς τε ἀπεδείκνυσαν, καὶ προσεκαλινδοῦντο τοῖς ὀστοῖς καὶ κρείττους ὑπελάμβανον 6.11.9 εἶναι μολυνόμενοι πρὸς τοῖς τάφοις. μάρτυρες γοῦν ἐκαλοῦντο καὶ διάκονοί τινες καὶ πρέσβεις τῶν αἰτήσεων παρὰ τῶν θεῶν, ἀνδράποδα δεδουλευκότα κακῶς, καὶ μάστιξι καταδεδαπανημένα, καὶ τὰς τῆς μοχθηρίας ὠτειλὰς ἐν τοῖς 6.11.10 εἰδώλοις φέροντα· ἀλλ' ὅμως ἡ γῆ φέρει τούτους τοὺς θεούς. τοῦτο γοῦν εἰς μεγάλην πρόνοιαν καὶ <εὐστοχίαν> Ἀντωνίνου συνετέλεσεν, ὅτι πρὸς ἅπαντας ἔφασκεν τὰ 6.11.11 ἱερὰ τάφους γενήσεσθαι· (ὥσπερ που καὶ Ἰάμβλιχος ὁ μέγας-ὅπερ ἐν τοῖς κατ' ἐκεῖνον παραλελοίπαμεν-ἀνδρός τινος Αἰγυπτίου τὸν Ἀπόλλω καλέσαντος, τοῦ δὲ ἐλθόντος, καὶ καταπλαγέντων τὴν ὄψιν τῶν παρόντων, "παύσασθε," εἶπεν "ἑταῖροι, θαυμάζοντες· μονομαχήσαντος γὰρ ἀνδρός ἐστιν εἴδωλον·" οὕτως ἕτερόν τί ἐστιν τῷ νῷ θεωρεῖν καὶ τοῖς τοῦ σώματος ἀπατηλοῖς ὄμμασιν. ἀλλ' Ἰάμβλιχος μὲν τὰ παρόντα δεινά, Ἀντωνῖνος δὲ τὰ μέλλοντα προεῖδεν· καὶ τοῦτό γε αὐτοῦ μόνον ἀσθέ6.11.12 νειαν φέρει). ἄλυπον δὲ αὐτῷ τὸ τέλος εἰς γῆρας ἄνοσον ἀφικομένῳ καὶ βαθύ, καὶ λυπηρὸν τοῖς νοῦν ἔχουσι τὸ προεγνωσμένον ἐκείνῳ τῶν ἱερῶν τέλος. ΜΑΞΙΜΟΣ. Μαξίμου καὶ πρότερον ἐμνήσθημεν, καὶ ὁ ταῦτα γράφων οὐκ ἦν ἀθέατος τοῦ ἀνδρός, ἀλλὰ νέος ἔτι γηραιῷ συνετύγχανεν καὶ φωνῆς τε ἤκουσεν, οἵας ἄν τις ἤκουσε τῆς Ὁμηρικῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἢ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος. τῷδὲ καὶ πτηναὶ μέν τινες ἦσαν αἱ τῶν ὀμμάτων κόραι, πολιὸν δὲ καθεῖτο γένειον, τὰς δὲ ὁρμὰς τῆς ψυχῆς διεδήλου τὰ 7.1.2 ὄμματα. καὶ ἁρμονία γέ τις ἐπῆν καὶ ἀκούοντι καὶ ὁρῶντι, καὶ δι' ἀμφοῖν τῶν αἰσθήσεων ὁ συνὼν ἐπλήττετο, οὔτε τὴν ὀξυκινησίαν φέρων τῶν ὀμμάτων, οὔτε τὸν δρόμον τῶν 7.1.3 λόγων. ἀλλ' οὐδὲ εἴ τις τῶν ἐμπειροτάτων πάνυ καὶ δεινῶν διελέγετο πρὸς αὐτόν, ἀντιλέγειν ἐτόλμα, ἀλλ' ἡσυχῆ παραδόντες αὑτούς, τοῖς λεγομένοις ὥσπερ ἐκ τριπόδων εἵποντο· τοσαύτη τις ἀφροδίτη τοῖς χείλεσιν ἐπεκάθητο. 7.1.4 ἦν μὲν οὖν τῶν εὖ γεγονότων, καὶ πλοῦτος ἁδρότερος ὑπῆν αὐτῷ, ἀδελφοὺς δὲ εἶχε γνησίους, οὓς ἐκώλυεν εἶναι πρώτους αὐτὸς ὤν, Κλαυδιανόν τε τὸν καταλαβόντα τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν κἀκεῖ παιδεύσαντα, καὶ Νυμφιδιανὸν τὸν ἐν Σμύρνῃ περιφανῶς σοφιστεύσαντα. 7.1.5 Ἦν δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ οὗτος τῶν διαπλησθέντων τῆς Αἰδεσίου σοφίας. Ἰουλιανοῦ δὲ τοῦ βασιλεύσαντος ἠξιώθη γενέσθαι διδάσκαλος. οὗτος, πάντων ἀνῃρημένων ὑπὸ τοῦ Κωνσταντίου (ταῦτα δὲ ἐν τοῖς κατὰ Ἰουλιανὸν ἀκριβέστερον γέγραπται), καὶ ψιλωθέντος τοῦ γένους Ἰουλιανοῦ, περιελείφθη 7.1.6 μόνος, δι' ἡλικίαν περιφρονηθεὶς καὶ πρᾳότητα. εὐνοῦχοι δὲ αὐτὸν ὅμως ἀμφεπόλευον βασιλικοὶ καὶ παραφυλακαί τινες ἦσαν, ὅπως εἴη χριστιανὸς βέβαιος· ὁ δὲ καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα τὸ 7.1.7 μέγεθος τῆς φύσεως ἐπεδείκνυτο. πάντα γοῦν οὕτω διὰ στόματος εἶχε τὰ βιβλία, ὥστε ἠγανάκτουν ἐκεῖνοι πρὸς τὴν βραχύτητα τῆς παιδείας, ὡς καὶ οὐκ ἔχοντες ὅ τι διδάξουσι 7.1.8 τὸ παιδίον. ὡς δὲ οὔτε ἐκεῖνοι παιδεύειν εἶχον, οὔτε Ἰουλιανὸς μανθάνειν, ἐξῄτησαν τὸν ἀνεψιὸν ἐπιτραπῆναί οἱ καὶ ῥητορικῶν ἀκροάσασθαι καὶ φιλοσόφων λόγων. ὁ δέ, θεοῦ νεύ σαντος, ἐπέτρεψεν, περὶ τὰ βιβλία πλανᾶσθαι βουλόμενος αὐτὸν καὶ ἀργεῖν μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ γένους καὶ τῆς βασιλείας 7.1.9 ὑπομιμνήσκεσθαι. τοῦτο δὲ ἐπιτραπὲν αὐτῷ, πανταχοῦ βαθέων καὶ βαρυτάτων ὑποκειμένων κτημάτων, μετὰ βασιλικῆς ὑπονοίας καὶ δορυφορίας περιεφοίτα, καὶ διέστειχεν ὅπῃ βούλοιτο. καὶ δὴ καὶ εἰς τὸ Πέργαμον ἀφικνεῖται κατὰ 7.1.10 κλέος τῆς Αἰδεσίου σοφίας. ὁ δὲ ἤδη μὲν εἰς μακρόν τι γῆρας