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he would be judged truly more divine and far more blessed, or conversely, having been convicted of false philosophy, he will carry off the first prize of the wretched. Again in the writing it says that he philosophized in Ionia about the power of the Fates, teaching that what they spin is so unchangeable, that even if they should decree a kingdom for someone that already belongs to another, one could not even kill him, lest the rule ever be taken away by him, and he would come back to life if he died, for the sake of what was decreed by the Fates. and to these he adds in the very same syllables: 'whoever is fated to become a carpenter, this one, even if his hands are cut off, will be a carpenter; and whoever is to win the footrace at Olympia, this one, not even if his leg were maimed, will miss the victory; and whoever the Fates have ordained to have mastery in archery, this one, not even if he should lose his sight, will fail to be a good marksman.' With these things, flattering the ruler, he adds, saying: 'I spoke of the affairs of kings, looking no doubt to the stories of Acrisius and Laius and Astyages the Mede and many others who thought to arrange such things well, of whom some, thinking they had killed their sons, and others their grandsons, were deprived of their rule by them when they sprang up against them from obscurity along with what was fated, and if I loved flattery, I would have said that I had considered these things also, when you were cornered by Vitellius, and the temple of Jupiter on the brow of the city was being burnt, and he claimed that his own affairs would be secure, if you did not escape him—and yet you were but a youth, and not yet this one—but nevertheless, since other things seemed best to the Fates, he perished by his own counsels, while you now possess what was his. But since I am vexed by the harmony of flattery, for it seems to me to be among the things that are unrhythmical and not sweet-sounding, let this string be cut for me, and do not think that I have considered any of your affairs.' Through these words, the argument on behalf of the truth presents the man as at once a flatterer and a liar and anything rather than a philosopher; for having previously said so many things against Domitian, the noble man now flatters and plays the hypocrite as though nothing had been moved by him against him, but rather on his behalf, concerning the Fates and necessity in Ionia. Take up the history, then, O writer, and having sobered up from your drunkenness, go through what was previously written by you with a clear and truth-loving voice, holding nothing back, how when staying in Ephesus he 'was turning the men away from Domitian and strengthening them for the salvation of all, and he thought that conversations by letter were not safe for them, and taking aside the most prudent of his companions, one at one time and another at another, he would say, "I am making you a minister of a glorious secret, and you must go to Rome to so-and-so and so-and-so and converse with him,"' and how 'he discoursed on behalf of the Fates and necessity and went through the argument, that not even tyrants are able to do violence to the decrees of the Fates,' and how 'when a bronze statue of Domitian was set up by the Meles, turning to it those who were present, he said, "Foolish one, how greatly you err concerning the Fates and necessity; for he who is fated to be tyrant after you, even if you should kill him, will come back to life."' He, then, who after such words flatters the tyrant and dissembles that none of these things had been said by him against him, how should he not be judged guilty of all wickedness and servility, unless perhaps one were to posit that those who have committed these things to memory were certain false-speaking accusers of the man, and not true writers? And where are Philalethes's 'writers who have attained the highest level of education and honor the truth, both Damis the philosopher who also spent time with the man in question and Philostratus the Athenian,' from whom he quotes these things, whom the light of truth has clearly refuted as so clearly contradicting themselves, and boasting falsely, and presenting themselves with conflicting arguments, as manifest liars and uneducated charlatans? Finally, he relates that Apollonius, having been released from the court, came to Lebadeia, wanting to descend into the cave of Trophonius, but was not permitted by the

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θειότερος ἀληθῶς καὶ μακρῷ εὐδαιμονέστερος ἂν κριθείη, ἢ ἔμπαλιν ψευδοσοφίας ἁλοὺς κακοδαιμόνων ἀποίσεται τὰ πρωτεῖα. Πάλιν δ' ἐν τῇ γραφῇ περὶ Μοιρῶν ἰσχύος φιλοσοφῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ φησὶ διδάσκοντα οὕτως ἄτρεπτα εἶναι, ἃ κλώθουσιν, ὡς εἰ καὶ βασιλείαν τῳ ψηφίσαιντο ἑτέρῳ ἤδη ὑπάρχουσαν, οὐδ' ἂν ἀποκτείνειέ τις τοῦτον, ὡς μὴ ἀφαιρεθείη ποτὲ ὑπ' 405 αὐτοῦ τὸ ἄρχειν, καὶ ἂν ἀναβιῴη ἀποθανὼν ὑπὲρ τῶν δοξάντων ταῖς Μοίραις. καὶ τούτοις ἐπιλέγει αὐταῖς συλλαβαῖς «ὅτῳ πέπρωται γενέσθαι τεκτονικῷ, οὗτος, κἂν ἀποκοπῇ τὼ χεῖρε, τεκτονικὸς ἔσται, καὶ ὅτῳ νίκην ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ δρόμου ἄρασθαι, οὗτος δ', οὐδ' εἰ πηρωθείη τὸ σκέλος, ἁμαρτήσεται τῆς νίκης, καὶ ὅτῳ ἔνευσαν Μοῖραι τὸ ἐν τοξικῇ κράτος, οὗτος, οὐδ' εἰ ἀποβάλοι τὰς ὄψεις, ἐκπεσεῖται τοῦ εὐσκόπου.» τούτοις τὸν ἄρχοντα κολακεύων ἐπιφέρει λέγων «τὰ δὲ τῶν βασιλέων ἔλεγον ἐς τοὺς Ἀκρισίους δήπου ὁρῶν καὶ τοὺς Λαΐους Ἀστυάγην τε τὸν Μῆδον καὶ πολλοὺς ἑτέρους εὖ τίθεσθαι τὰ τοιαῦτα δόξαντας, ὧν οἱ μὲν παῖδας, οἱ δὲ ἐγγόνους ἀποκτείνειν οἰηθέντες ἀφῃρέθησαν ὑπ' αὐτῶν τὸ βασιλεύειν ἀναφύντων ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἐξ ἀφανοῦς ξὺν τῷ πεπρωμένῳ, καὶ εἰ μὲν ἠγάπων κολακευτικήν, εἶπον ἂν καὶ τάδε ἐντεθυμῆσθαι, ὅτε ἀπείληψο μὲν ὑπὸ Βιτελλίου, κατεπίμπρατο δὲ ὁ ναὸς τοῦ ∆ιὸς περὶ τὰς ὀφρῦς τοῦ ἄστεος, ὁ δ' εὖ κείσεσθαι τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ἔφασκεν, εἰ μὴ διαφύγοις αὐτόν-καίτοι μειράκιον ἱκανῶς ἦσθα, καὶ οὔπω οὗτος-ἀλλ' ὅμως, ἐπεὶ Μοίραις ἐδόκει ἕτερα, ὁ μὲν ἀπώλετο αὐταῖς βουλαῖς, σὺ δὲ τὰ ἐκείνου νῦν ἔχεις. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἁρμονίᾳ κολακευτικῇ ἄχθομαι, δοκεῖ γάρ μοι τῶν ἐκρύθμων τε καὶ οὐκ εὐφθόγγων εἶναι, τετμήσθω μοι ἥδε ἡ νευρὰ καὶ μηδὲν ἡγοῦ τῶν σῶν ἐντεθυμῆσθαί με.» διὰ τούτων δὲ ὁμοῦ τὸν ἄνδρα κόλακα καὶ ψεύστην καὶ πάντα μᾶλλον ἢ φιλόσοφον ὁ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας παρίστησι λόγος, τοσαῦτα γὰρ πρότερον εἰπὼν κατὰ τοῦ ∆ομετιανοῦ κολακεύει νῦν ὁ γεννάδας καὶ καθυποκρίνεται ὡς οὐδέν τι κατ' αὐτοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τῶν 406 περὶ Μοιρῶν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀνάγκης ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ κεκινημένων. ἀνάλαβε δῆτα τὴν ἱστορίαν, ὦ συγγραφεῦ, καὶ τῆς μέθης διανήψας τὰ πρότερόν σοι γραφέντα λαμπρᾷ καὶ φιλαλήθει δίελθε τῇ φωνῇ, μηδὲν ὑποστειλάμενος, ὡς ἐν Ἐφέσῳ διατρίβων «ἀφίστη ∆ομετιανοῦ τοὺς ἄνδρας καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἁπάντων ἐρρώννυε σωτηρίας καὶ τὰς μὲν ἐπιστολιμαίους ὁμιλίας οὐκ ἀσφαλεῖς αὐτοῖς ᾤετο, τῶν δὲ ἑταίρων τοὺς σωφρονεστάτους ἄλλοτε ἄλλον ἀπολαμβάνων «διάκονον» ἔλεγε «ποιοῦμαί σε ἀπορρήτου λαμπροῦ, βαδίσαι δέ σε χρὴ ἐς Ῥώμην παρὰ τὸν δεῖνα καὶ τὸν δεῖνα καὶ διαλεχθῆναί οἱ,» καὶ ὡς «διελέγετο μὲν ὑπὲρ Μοιρῶν καὶ ἀνάγκης καὶ τὸν λόγον διῄει, ὅτι μηδὲ οἱ τύραννοι τὰ Μοιρῶν οἷοι βιάζεσθαι,» καὶ ὡς «χαλκῆς εἰκόνος ἱδρυμένης ∆ομετιανοῦ πρὸς τῷ Μέλητι ἐπιστρέψας ἐς αὐτὴν τοὺς παρόντας «ἀνόητε» εἶπεν «ὡς πολὺ διαμαρτάνεις Μοιρῶν καὶ ἀνάγκης· ᾧ γὰρ μετὰ σὲ τυραννεῦσαι πέπρωται, τοῦτον καὶ εἰ ἀποκτείνειας, ἀναβιώσεται.» ὁ δὴ μετὰ τοὺς τοιουσδὶ λόγους κολακεύων τὸν τύραννον καὶ μηδέν τι τούτων ὡς πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰρῆσθαι αὑτῷ κατειρωνευόμενος πῶς οὐ μοχθηρίας ἁπάσης ἂν καὶ ἀνελευθερίας κριθείη, εἰ μὴ ἄρα ψευδηγόρους τινὰς καὶ κατηγόρους τοῦ ἀνδρός, οὐχὶ δὲ ἀληθεῖς συγγραφέας θείη τις τοὺς ταῦτα μνήμῃ παραδεδωκότας; καὶ ποῦ τοῦ Φιλαλήθους «οἱ παιδεύσεως μὲν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἥκοντες, τὸ δ' ἀληθὲς τιμῶντες συγγραφεῖς ∆άμις τε ὁ φιλόσοφος ὁ καὶ συνδιατρίψας τῷ δηλουμένῳ καὶ Φιλόστρατος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος,» ἀφ' ὧν ταῦτα παρατίθεται, οὓς σαφῶς οὕτως ἐναντιολογοῦντας κομπάζοντάς τε ἀληθῶς καὶ τοῖς μαχομένοις παρισταμένους ψεύστας ἐναργῶς καὶ ἀπαι 407 δεύτους καὶ γόητας τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ φέγγος διήλεγξεν; ἐπὶ πᾶσι τὸν Ἀπολλώνιον ἀπαλλαγέντα τοῦ δικαστηρίου ἐν Λεβαδείᾳ ἐλθεῖν ἱστορεῖ βουλόμενον εἰς Τροφωνίου κατελθεῖν μὴ ἐπιτρέπεσθαι πρὸς τῶν