Apollonius the Nazarene                                     [Image] [Image]

                          Apollonius the Nazarene
                                  Part 2:
                 Similarities Between Apollonius and Jesus

                  By: Dr. R. W. Bernard, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.



Let us now consider some of the essential points of similarity between the
biographies of Apollonius and Jesus. Before his birth, the coming of
Apollonius was preceded by an Annunciation, his coming being announced to
his mother by an Archangel. He was born in the same mysterious manner in
the same year when Jesus is supposed to have been born (the year 4 B.C.)
Like the latter, in his childhood he displayed wonderful precocity in
religious matters; then he went through a period of preparation; then came
a period of public and positive activity; then a passion; then a kind of
resurrection; and finally an ascension.

The messengers of Apollo sang at his birth as the angels did at that of
Jesus. He also was exposed to the attacks of enemies, though always
engaged in doing good. He similarly went from place to place carrying out
the work of reform, being accompanied by his favorite disciples, amongst
whom disaffection, discouragement and even treachery made their
appearance. And when the hour of danger was at hand, in spite of the
prudent advice of friends, and the abandonment of his disciples, he went
straight to Rome, where Domitian, the cruel emperor, was seeking to kill
him, just as Jesus went up to Jerusalem and to certain death. And before
this event, he had been a victim of Domitian's no less cruel predecessor,
Nero, as Jesus had been exposed to the machinations of Herod Antipus. Like
Jesus, he is accused of working miracles of mercy by the aid of magic and
unlawful arts, whereas he only succeeded in working them because he was a
friend of the gods and worthy to be esteemed as such. Like Jesus on the
road to Damascus, he fills an avowed enemy with wondering dismay by an
apparition several years after his resurrection and ascension.

Another remarkable resemblance between Apollonius and Jesus was the great
number of cases of evil spirits that were driven out at his bidding. He
speaks to them, as it was said of Jesus, with authority. The young man of
Athens, who was possessed, through whom the devil uttered cries of fear
and rage, and who could not face the look of Apollonius, reminds us of the
Gospel narrative of the demoniac of Gadera. Neither was cured until some
outward visible circumstance had taken place that gave the people reason
to believe that the devil had really gone out. In the one case a herd of
swine rushed down into the lake, and in the other a statue falls,
overthrown by the violence of the evil spirit as it rushes out of the
young man.

There is also mentioned in the biography of Apollonius another case of
possession singularly like the one of the epileptic child in the three
first gospels. In Rome, Apollonius restored a young girl to life under
circumstances which immediately remind us of the return to life of the
daughter of Jairus. It may be further remarked that both stories are so
recorded that a careful critic might ask himself with respect to each
whether the young girl who was brought to life again had really been dead
after all. The lame, the blind and the halt came in crowds to be healed by
the laying on of hands by Iarchus, the chief of the Brahman sages of the
Himalayan heights whom Apollonius visited and under whom he studied and
derived his knowledge and power.

His miraculous appearance to his friends - Damis and Demetrius - who
thought at first that he was a spirit, remind us at once, in the way this
was related, of the resurrection of Jesus after his death.

The following inspiring description of the Christ-like figure of
Apollonius is given by Campbell in his book, "Apollonius of Tyana:" "A
strange distinctive figure, clad in white linen and not in garments
wrought of skins; with feet unsandled and with locks unshorn; austere,
reserved, and of meagre mien; with-eyes cast upon the ground as was his
manner, Apollonius of Tyana drew to him with something of a saint's
attraction all simple folk, and yet won as intimates the Emperors of Rome.

     "Through his love for all life and swift appreciation of the
     beauty of the human form, he drew high to the sufferings of the
     body and became acquainted with the sufferings of the soul. He
     sought to heal, or at least to soothe, some of the distresses,
     physical and spiritual, of poor humanity; and to such a singular
     degree of skillfulness did he attain in the healing arts of his
     day, that even the sacred oracles of Agaea and of Delphi
     pronounced him more than mortal, referred the distempered body
     and the smitten soul to him, for relief, knowing that from his
     very presence proceeded a peculiar virtue, a benign influence an
     almost theurigic power.

     "By years of silence and contemplation, by extensive travel and
     by a continuous spiritual and worldly experience, he deepened to
     no minute measure, an originally, powerful. and intense
     personality, and so it was that at length he became the
     admiration not only of all countries through which he passed,
     but of the whole Roman and Hellenic world. Cities sent envoys
     and embassies to him decreeing him public favors; monarchs
     bestowed special dignities upon him, counting him worthy to be
     their counsellor; incense was burnt before his altars; and after
     his death divine honours were paid to his images, which had been
     erected, with great enthusiasm, in all the temples of the gods.
     Nor did his fame evanesce. All down the ages his name has
     carried in it something of a hurricane; for speculative critics
     of both early and later days have thought to find in the life of
     this exceptional character a parallel to the life of Christ, and
     to ground an argument thereon, against the supernal claims of
     the Son of Man. Hence for centuries even the name of Apollonius
     wag odious to Christians; for it seemed the very Gospel of the
     Son of Man was at stake; and Christian apologists, on their
     part, in self-defense, were not lacking to attack fiercely their
     adversaries' champion, and to denounce him as little better than
     an imposter, a sorcerer and a magician; on this account they
     have generally failed to understand the man. They have lacked,
     at least in their combative approach to him, that sweet
     affection for signal worth, that gracious patience for
     nobleness, which is absolutely essential to comprehend a new or
     startling character or mode of life."

Another writer gives the following description of Apollonius:

     "He had a Zeus-like head, long beard and hair descending to his
     shoulders, bound with a deep fillet. Damis describes Apollonius
     as ever mild, gentle and modest, and in this manner, more like
     an Indian than a Greek, though, when witnessing some special
     enormity, he would burst out indignantly against it. His mood
     was often pensive, and when not speaking he would remain for
     long with eyes cast down, plunged in deep thought. Though always
     stern with himself, he readily made excuses for others. As an
     instance of this, the following may be cited: During Nero's
     reign, when, on his way to Rome, Apollonius was warned that he
     and his followers would be in danger, of thirty-four companions
     who set out with him, only eight remained staunch enough to
     brave the threatened peril; while praising the courage of those
     few who remained with him, he refused to blame as cowards the
     many who had fled."

From Phliostratus's biography, we gather the following facts about the
life and character of Apollonius of Tyana. He was born in the year 4 B.C.
At the age of twelve he was sent to Tarsus in Cilcia, the alleged
birthplace and home of "St. Paul." There he studied every system of
philosophy, and perfected himself in rhetoric and general literature. He
took up residence in the temple of Aescalupius, famed for its marvelous
cures, and was initiated by its priests into their mysteries, after which
he performed cures that astonished not only the people but those masters
of the art of healing. He then finally decided to adopt the philosophy of
Pythagoras, and rigorously observed the trying discipline instituted by
the Samian sage. He abstained from animal food, wine and women -- and
lived upon fruits and herbs, dressed only in white linen garments of the
plainest construction, went barefooted and with uncovered head, and wore
his hair and beard uncut. He was especially distinguished for his beauty,
his genial bearing, his uniform love and kindness, and his imperturbable
equanimity of temper.

In these respects he was the personal embodiment of the imaginary traits
of the Christian Jesus, and was no doubt the original of the pictures of
the so-called Nazarene, now so venerated by the uninformed professors of
the Christian religion. (Almost every picture that in modern times is
recognized as a likeness of Jesus really have their origins in a portrait
of Apollonius of Tyana painted in the reign of Vespasian.)

Determined to devote himself to the pursuit of knowledge and the teaching
of philosophy, he gave away his large patrimony to his poor relatives and
went to Antioch, then a center of learning but little less noted than
Athens or Alexandria. There he began his great mission by teaching
philosophy to a number of disciples and to the people. He then entered the
temple of Apollo Daphne at Antioch and learned the mysteries of its
priests. Later he traveled to India in search of wisdom and visited the
Gymnosophist philosophers of Egypt. He then returned to Greece to restore
the Mysteries and to teach the doctrines of Chrishna and Buddha, which he
learned at the feet of his Himalayan teacher, Iarchus. (These Teachings,
embodying the Buddhist gospels that Apollonius carried westward, became
the origin of the Christian religion).

As a a social and political reformer, he traveled from one end of the
Roman Empire to the other, inciting revolt against the cruel tyrants -
Nero and Domitian, for which he was arrested by both and thrown into jail.
After his arrest by Domitian he was acquitted and "disappeared." After
having completed his labors for humanity which lasted a century, it is
believed he went to India to rejoin his teachers in the Himalayas. When
and where he died is unknown.

Ells gives the following account of the life of Apollonius:

     "He was born in Tyana, A Greek City of Asia Minor, three years
     before the birth of Christ, and he lived about a hundred years,
     until the reign of Nerva. As with Moses, no man knoweth his
     grave unto this day. Devoted to philosophy from his boyhood, he
     studied it after the unequalled method of those days, by
     listening to lectures and to disputations of rival thinkers in
     every market-place and from the steps of every temple. He chose
     as his own the philosophy of Pythagoras, and enthusiastically
     practised its austerities, maintaining absolute silence for five
     years as a mental discipline, avoiding all relations with women,
     giving away his patrimony, and wearing only linen [cotton]
     garments.

     "In the phraseology of today he was a vegetarian and a total
     abstainer. He claimed that by this mode of life his senses were
     made abnormally acute, so that he had a premonition of future
     events and became aware of the minds of men and of distant
     happenings; and he successfully set up that defense when he was
     tried for `sorcery' before the emperor. He prayed to the Sun
     three times a day, offering incense but never sacrificing
     victims. He believed in the immortality of the soul, in
     metempsychosis [reincarnation], and in a supreme diety - the
     Creator of the Universe. Indeed it may be argued that in the
     deities whom he worshipped he saw merely phases and agencies of
     this Supreme Deity, for in referring to the gods collectively he
     is frequently quoted by Philostratus as using indiscriminately
     the words `gods' or `god,' and the Indian sage Iarchus, with his
     evident approval, likens the Universe to a ship of which the
     Creator is the Master and the subordinate `gods' are petty
     officers [cf. the Christian idea of orders of `angels' who
     assist in the smooth running of creation, and the Hindu idea of
     a trinity of `gods' - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - representing
     the creative, preserving and destructive energies that are
     operating continually within the creation, each having their
     correlative functions or energy centers (chakras) within the
     human body - which in itself is but a microcosm or reflection of
     the macrocosmic universe.]

     "All his life long his advice and help were constantly sought by
     cities, temples and rulers everywhere, and were freely given
     without reward. He journeyed over the known world from the
     Atlantic ocean to the Ganges river, and south to the cataracts
     of the Nile, acquiring and imparting wisdom. In middle age, when
     his travels were not half completed, he told his disciples that
     he had already seen more of the earth's surface than any other
     man had ever done. During his long and laborious life he wrought
     many wonders, and many men regarded him as an incarnate
     divinity. The kings of Persia and of India vied with each other
     to do him honor. After his death the Emperor Hadrian built a
     temple and endowed a priesthood for his worship of Tyana. The
     emperor Aurelian vowed to do the like, calling him the most
     godlike, holy and venerable of mankind, endowed with more than
     mortal powers, and declaring: "If I live, I will publish at
     least a summary of his wonderful deeds, not because they need
     anything my words can give, but to make them familiar to all
     lips, as they are marvelous."

     "Another emperor, Alexander Severus, with questionable taste,
     set the image of Apollonius in his private chapel or solarium,
     among his tutelary deities, in company with Orpheus, Abraham and
     Christ (Though this reference has been quoted by many writers,
     it appears very improbable that early Roman emperors, prior to
     Constantine, who was the first to accept Christianity, had
     statues of Abraham or Christ in their chapels. This statement is
     obviously a Christian interpolation. [forgery] The statue of
     Orpheus is the only one we can believe to have existed side by
     side with that of Apollonius. As Eisler has shown, even in the
     Catacombs of the early Christians there was no representation of
     Jesus, while Orpheus is represented as the central object of
     Worship. It is probable that Orpheus was considered as the
     founder of the religion of which Apollonius was the apostle.)

This very history we owe to the reverence paid to his memory by the
empress Julia Domna, the wife of Septimius Severus, who commissioned
Philostratus to write it and supplied him with most of the materials. For
two hundred years after his death, Apollonius was generally acclaimed as
more divine than human, until in the reign of Diocletian a Roman
pro-consul Hierocles attempted to sweep back the rising tide of
Christianity by publishing his "Candid Words to Christians," in which he
drew unfavorable comparison of Christ with Apollonius. The nascent church
easily confuted his attack, but could not forget nor forgive it; and not
content with its victory over its assailant, it stigmatized the long-dead
philosopher as a charlatan inspired and aided by the devil.

The chorus of destruction has been very persistent. As late as the time of
Charles II, when one Charles Blount tried to publish in England a
translation of Philostratus' biography, he complains in his preface that
the clergy would only let him print the first two of its eight books, and
that the Catholic priesthood was especially active in its opposition.
(Eells, C.P., "Life and Times of Apollonius of Tyana.")

Since ancient times, the controversy raged between the followers of
Apollonius and those of Jesus as to who was the more highly moral type.
The partisans of Apollonius argued that he, being a man, offered humanity
a more useful moral example than Jesus, a god, who could only be
worshipped, but not imitated, and in comparison with whom Apollonius was
as virtuous in every respect, and in some ways more so. They pointed out
in particular, that a man who, from his sixteenth year, resolved to live
only on fruits and herbs and to remain forever chaste -- which resolution
he strictly followed throughout his long life of over a century -- was
certainly a higher and more moral type than one who sat and ate among
publicans the viands offered him and who drank wine at wedding feasts.

Already at the beginning of the fourth century A.D., Hierocles wrote a
treatise in which he maintained that Apollonius was a much higher type
than the Jesus of the Gospels. Hot controversies ensued on the subject;
and the Catholic opponents of Apollonius invented the most ridiculous lies
to belittle his character. Thus Arnobius and the fathers of the church,
just after its formation at the beginning of the fourth century,
maliciously attributed the reputed miracles of Apollonius to magic, while
putting up a fictitious imitation of him in the form of the messiah of
their new religion. Even as late as the fifteenth century, we find Pico
della Mirandola, and as late as the sixteenth century, Jean Bodin and
Baronius, still denouncing Apollonius as an evil magician who had a pact
with Satan.

However, even the enemies of Apollonius had to admit that his life was
exemplary, for here was a man who, from a tender age, resolved to abstain
from meat, from wine and from association with women, who let his hair
grow long and did not permit a blade to touch his chin, and who also as a
Pythagorean naturist, went around bare footed or wore sandals made from
bark, not from leather, dressing only in white linen robe and considering
it an impurity to wear clothing made from the wool of sheep.

Spending his time in a temple, his silence was extraordinary, yet his
knowledge of languages was universal. From one end of the Roman Empire to
the other he traveled as a teacher and healer, to whom the sick flocked
wherever he went. He was also a social reformer and revolutionist, who
fearlessly opposed tyrants, inciting uprisings against them, and
organizing his followers into communistic communities.

It thus appears that Apollonius was a much higher moral, as well as
intellectual type than the humble carpenter of Galilee. Such
considerations have led Reville, a Catholic writer, in his book on
Apollonius of Tyana, to admit, "Jesus was only the offering of an obscure
people; his doctrine was but the refinement of a paltry local tradition;
his life, of which little is known the great majority of his
contemporaries, was extremely short. He soon fell victim to the attacks of
two or three priests, a petty king, and a prosecutor, and a few remarkable
progidies alone distinguished him from a crowd of other existences which
had nothing whatever to do with the destinies of humanity.

     "Apollonius, on the contrary, a Greek by birth, had stored his
     vast intellect with the religious doctrines of the whole world,
     from India to Spain; his life extended. over a century. Like a
     luminous meteor he traversed the universe, in constant
     intercourse with kings and the powerful ones of the earth, who
     venerate and fear him, and if he ever meets with opposition, he
     triumphs over it majestically, always stronger than his tyrants,
     never subject to humiliation, never brought into contact with
     public executioners.

Tredwell, in his "Sketch of the Life of Apollonius of Tyana," writes as
follows:

     "That Apollonius was a great and good man can hardly be
     questioned; the tribute paid him by Titus, Vespasian and
     Aurelius is a guarantee. Even among those of the present day
     most willing to detract from his character many are forced to
     admit that a certain pure and true morality pervades the whole
     of his system of teaching. There is a well- established theory
     in it, that virtue and true piety is the only foundation of
     happiness.

     "Apollonius was chaste and temperate; he was actuated by a noble
     desire to know and the still nobler desire to communicate his
     knowledge to mankind. He was ingenious, learned and original in
     his language. No man ever lived who utterly rejected all vulgar
     artifice for producing effect upon men; no majestical pomp of
     words characterised his teachings. And he was ready at all times
     and in all places to impart good instruction; and from all
     testimony of him no man was more emphatically an apostle of
     peace. It is difficult, indeed, to overcome the common-sense
     conclusion that Apollonius, whom Philostratus has placed before
     us, is a real man, a corporeity, and not a spirit; he walks the
     earth, eats, drinks and sleeps like other men, loves and hates
     as experience teaches us is natural for man. He is an observer
     of natural phenomena, compares and speculates, adores nature,
     birds, animals, trees, flowers and is not destitute of humor,
     although of great gravity and dignity. Everywhere in nature and
     art, with the Brahmans of India, he found something to admire."

Towards the end of the third century, just previous to the formation of
the church, the struggle between the Pythagorean supporters of Apollonius
and his opponents, who later organized the Roman Catholic Church at Nicea,
reached its last and bitter stages . At this time there were temples and
shrines all over Asia Minor dedicated to Apollonius and his work, but
there were none to Jesus, for he was unknown since he did not exist.

In the place of the august Apollonius, whose fame was world wide during
the first three centuries, and who was revered in all centers of learning
as the wisest of men, his opponents endeavored to set up an uneducated
youth of only local significance, who was known only to a few illiterate
fishermen in his vicinity, and whose short period of activity (3 years)
and his short life (33 years) precluded his achieving what Apollonius with
his century of incessant activity had accomplished. While Jesus spent his
life in Galilee among the common people, Apollonius traveled from one end
of the world to the other, studying the wisdom of the greatest minds that
could be found -- the Brahmans of the Himalayas, the Gymnosophist
philosophers of Egypt, and Druids of Gaul, etc.

According to Tredwell, Apollonius travelled more extensively than any man
of his age. "That he was a man of no mean account," Tredwell adds, "is
evident from his letters addressed to kings, rulers, philosophers
societies and the first men of his time, still extant, reserved in the
works of Philostratus and Cujacius. He traveled among the Magi and was
everywhere the more honored on account of his modesty and virtues; giving
always wise and prudent counsel, and rarely disputing with anyone. The
prayer which he was accustomed to offer up to the gods is admirable. "O,
ye immortal gods, grant us whatever you shall judge it fit and proper to
bestow, and of which we may not be undeserving."

For many centuries after his passing, a halo of sanctity was thrown around
his head, and he was worshipped as a god in many parts of the world. The
Tyanaeans elevated him to the position of a demigod, and the Roman
emperors approved his apotheosis. But in the course of time, the
deification of Apollonius showed the same fate as that decreed the Roman
emperors; and his chapel became as deserted at that which the Athenians
erected in honor to Socrates.

It was claimed for Apollonius by his followers that he was the son of a
god (Proteus), a claim which he repudiated. Nevertheless it was believed
by people that Apollonius was of divine parentage and that messengers of
Apollo sang at his birth. Ammonianus Marcellinus ranked Apollonius among
the most eminent men, and claimed that he prophesied by supernatural aid
of a genius, as did Socrates and Numa.

The miracles said to have been performed in India by the Hindu savior,
Chrishna, during his mission being almost identical with those attributed
to Apollonius, were all well known and discussed in Alexandria at this
time; and although Apollonius never encouraged the propagation of his
divine nature, yet he never emphatically repudiated it, knowing that but
little respect attached to the person or teachings of any philosophy with
the vulgar multitudes unless founded on evidence of divine inspiration,
the demonstrations of which were in the form of "miracles," and he appears
to have allowed the vulgar populace to believe this. Thus arose the belief
that he was the son of God, and was a second Chrishna, or a Christ.

Out of respect to Apollonius, his native birthplace of Tyana was regarded
as a sacred city and was exempted from the jurisdiction of governors sent
from Rome. Gibbon, in his history of Rome, states that a superstitious
reverence of the countrymen of Apolloniua caused the emperor Claudius
Aurelian (A. D. 273) to treat with lenity the conquered city of Tyana.*
(*That in spite of his eminence as a historian of Rome, Gibbon was
ignorant of the true significance of Apollonius, is indicated by the
following statement of his: "We are at a loss to discover whether
Apollonius was a sage, an impostor or a fanatic." In view of such
ignorance by an outstanding authority on Roman history, we can well
imagine how the general public were uninformed on the subject at the time
that Gibbon wrote, as it still is.)

Vopiscus writes that as the forces of Aurelian were marching against
Tyana, the citizens having shut the gates against him, incensed the
emperor so that he declared that he would not leave a dog alive in the
city; but the spirit of Apollonius appeared to him in his tent, threatened
him into a better mind, and for Apollonius's sake, he spared the
inhabitants. Later he dedicated a temple in his honor, as the emperor
Marcus Aurelius also did. The emperor Hadrian, with reverent pomp,
deposited Apollonius's writings in his splendid palace at Antium, whither
pilgrims flocked daily in crowds to see them.

Apollonius's reputation as a saint was so well established during the
early centuries that even after the advent of Christianity, many Christian
writers, including Cassiodorus, spoke highly in his praise. Lactantius
says that a statue of Apollonius was erected at Ephesus. Statues were
erected to him in the temples and divine honors were paid him by the
Emperors Caracella, Alexander Severus and Aurelain, while magical virtues
were attributed to his name. Newman claims that Apollonius was everywhere
hailed as a god, and when he entered a city made converts as soon as seen.
This was the case in Olympia, where the crowds paid more attention to him
than to the games, almost worshipping him.

At Ephesus, he was worshipped under the title of Hercules, the warder- off
of evil. Reville says that "after his death, the city of Tyana paid him
divine honours; and the universal respect in which he was held by the
whole of the Pagan world testified to the deep impression which the life
of this supernatural being had let indelibly fixed in their minds, an
impression which caused one of his contemporaries to exclaim, "we had a
god living among us."*

     (*Newman, a Catholic apologist, first seeking to discredit
     Apollonius and then admitting his greatness, writes: "Apollonius
     is represented as making converts as soon as seen. It was not
     then his display of marvels, but his Pythagorean dress and
     mysterious deportment, which arrested attention, and made him
     thought superior to other men, because he was different from
     them. Like Lucian's Alexander, he was skilled in medicine,
     professed to be favored by Aesculapius, pretended to
     foreknowledge; was in collusion with the heathen priests, and
     was supported by the Oracles; and being more strict in conduct
     than Paphlagonian, he established a more lasting celebrity.")

After Apollonius's passing, for centuries he received from emperors honors
equal to those which they claimed for themselves, and he was universally
deified and worshipped as a demi-god. Philostratus writes that "the
country people say he was a son of Zeus, but he claims to be the son of
Apollo, as his name indicates. Apollonius has been called the "true friend
of the gods." Pierre Bayle, in "Dictionaire Historique et Critique"
(1696), remarks that Apollonius was worshipped in the beginning of the
fourth century under the name of Hercules, and refers for his authority to
Vopiscus, Eusebius and Marcellinus. Albert Reville says, "The universal
respect in which he was held by the whole pagan world testified to the
deep impression which the life of this supernatural being had indelibly
fixed in their minds."

Philostratus speaks of a temple in Tyana dedicated to his memory and
founded at the imperial expense, "for the emperors had judged him not
unworthy of like honors with themselves." It was from the priests of this
temple, who had gathered as much information as they could about
Apollonius, that Philostratus got much of the material for his biography.

Concerning Apollonius's universal renown during the first century, W.B.
Wallace writes: "His noble countenance, his winning presence, his pure
doctrine, his unsullied life, his ardent advocacy of the immortality of
the soul, as well as his miracles - led men to believe, wherever he went,
that he was more than mortal. He consorted and corresponded with the
mighty ones of the earth. (J.A. Froude writes: According to Philostratus
he was a heathen saviour, who claimed a commission from heaven to teach a
pure and reformed religion, and in attestation of his authority went about
healing the sick, curing the blind, raising the dead men to life, casting
out demons, stilling tempests, and prophesying future events - which came
afterwards to pass.

     "He was born four gears before the Christian era in Tyana, a
     city of Cappadocia. His parents sent him to be educated at
     Tarsus, in Cilicia, a place of considerable wealth and repute,
     and he must have been about the beginning of his studies when
     St. Paul as a little boy was first running about the streets. On
     the death of his father, he divided his property among the poor,
     and after five years retirement he traveled as far as India in
     search of knowledge. Here he discoursed with the learned
     Brahmans, and came home with enlightened ideas. He began his
     career as a teacher in the Roman Empire. He preached his new
     religion and performed miracles to induce people to believe in
     him. He was spiritual advisor of Vespasian. By Domitian he was
     charged with having pretended being a god himself. He was
     arraigned, convicted and was about to suffer, when he vanished
     out of the hands of the Roman police and reappeared at
     Ephesus... Apollonius of Tyana, among many others, was looked
     upon as an emanation of the divine nature. --(J. A. Froude, in
     "Nineteenth Century," Sept. 1879.)

Tigellinius, the brutal favorite of Nero, cowered before him, Vespasian
was encouraged by him to aim at the Imperial diadem. His disciples were
numerous.* (*On this point, Mead, in his "Apollonius of Tyana," writes:
"He attracted to himself many followers and disciples. It would have been
interesting if Philostratus had told us more about these 'Apollonians,' as
they were called, and whether they constituted a distinct school, or
whether they were grouped together in communities on the Pythagorean
model, or whether they were simply independent students attracted to the
most commanding personality of the times in the domain of philosophy.")

Indicating the high reverence in which Apollonius was held in his day,
Justin Martyr, in his work written in the second quarter of the first
century, made the following statement:

     "Question 24: If God is the maker and master of creation, how do
     the consecrated objects of Apollonius have power in the
     (various) orders of creation? For, as we see, they check the
     fury of the waves and the power of the winds and the inroads of
     vermin and attacks of wild beasts."

The followers of Apollonius, who were called Apollonians, continued to
worship him until the fourth century. Many of them wore the same dress as
himself and adopted his Pythagorean vegetarian mode of living.* (*However,
Apollonius never imposed his mode of life on others, even on his personal
disciples, whom he gave utmost freedom. Thus, he tells Damis that he has
no wish to prohibit him from eating flesh and drinking wine, though he
demands the right to refrain himself and of defending his conduct if
called to do so. This is an indication that Damis, who was the source of
Philostratus's information concerning the life and teachings of
Apollonius, was not a member of the inner circle of discipline, and
therefore was not in a position to communicate as much about his master as
he otherwise would have been able to do.

In the Pauline Epistles, which, in their original form, were undoubtedly
written by Apollonius, Damis is referred to as "Demas,"** a companion of
the apostle (Paul, or Pol, representing Apollonius, who also appears in
the epistles as "Apollos," who is said to have preached a similar doctrine
and in a similar manner as Paul.***)

     [** Colossians Chapter 4: Verse 14; 2nd Timothy, Chapter 4:
     Verse 10; Philemon: Verse 24.]

     [*** I Corinthians, Chapter 3: Verses 4 - 6; also Verse 22; I
     Corinthians, Chapter 4: Verse 6; Titus, Chapter 3: Verse 13.]

Admitting that he was not permitted to enter the inner circle of his
teacher and master, Damis refers to his manuscript on the "Life,
Journeyings and sayings of Apollonius of Tyana," which later came into the
possession of Julia Domna, who obtained it from a relative of Damis, and
which constituted the basis of Philostratus's biography, as "the crumbs of
the feast of the gods." Repeated mention is made of their accompanying
Apollonius on his travels, sometimes as many as ten of them at the same
time, but none of them were allowed to address each other until they had
fulfilled the vow of silence. The most distinguished of his followers were
Musonius, who was considered the greatest philosopher of the time after
Apollonius, and who was the special victim of Nero's cruelty, and
Demetrius, `who loved Apollonius' as his master.

These names are well known to history; of names otherwise unknown are the
Egyptian Dioscorides, who was left behind owing to weak health on the long
journey to Ethiopia; Menippus, whom he had freed from an obsession;
Phaedimus and Nilus, who joined him from the Gymnosophists; and of course
Damis, who would have us think that he was always with him from the time
of their first meeting at Ninus.

There is reason to think that the followers of Apollonius were Essenes or
Therapeuts, of which sects he was undoubtedly the leader. According to
Reville, "Apollonius and his followers, like Pythagoras and his disciples,
constituted a regular order of Pagan monks."

Lecky, in his well known book, "History of European Morals," states that
Apollonius "obtained a measure of success second only to that of Christ.*
(*Renan called Apollonius "a sort of Christ of paganism." Reville calls
him a Greek or Pagan Christ, "a universal priest, a philosopher who is so
holy as entitled to divine honors," and "a god in human form". "He
advocated a morality and virtue far in advance of the religious sentiments
of his age." Again he writes: "Apollonius of Tyana, at the close of the
Flavian period, endeavored, with noble purpose, to unite moral training
with religious practice; the oracles, which had long ceased, were

partially restored."*

     (*According to Phillimore, Apollonius founded a church and a
     community, composed of his disciples - who were undoubtedly the
     branch of Essenes known as Nazarenes or Therapeuts. Phillimore
     says, "Apollonius may be said to have founded a 'church;' but
     there was nothing commercial in the institution; he was not
     salaried by his admiring disciples."

It appears that Apollonius was himself an object of worship -- because of
his sanctity, wisdom, beauty, etc. - wherever he went. "His magic powers,
which seem to have been considerable, procured for local piety his
recognition as an object of cultus in his Cappadocian birth-place," writes
Phillimore. There is evidence that Apollonius's "church," whose adherents
were known as "Apolloniei" survived for some centuries after his death,
and constituted the origin of what, after the Council of Nicea, was later
transformed into he Christian Church.)

G.R.S. Mead, a student of early Christian and Gnostic movements, writes
along similar lines as follows: "Apollonius of Tyana was the most famous
philosopher of the Graeco-Roman world of the first century, and devoted
the major part of his long life to the purification of the many cults of
the Empire and to the instruction of the ministers and priests of its
religions. With the exception of Christ no more interesting personage
appears upon the stage of western history in these early years."

Appuleis classes Apollonius with Moses and Zoroaster, and other famous
prophets and magi of antiquity. Arnobius, the teacher of Lactantius, at
the end of the third century, also classes him among the great prophets,
side by side with Zoroaster. But while the previous universal high opinion
of Apollonius was lost after the formation of the Church, the Church
fathers were not all of the same mind concerning him, for on the one hand
we find John Chrysostom bitterly denouncing Apollonius as a deceiver and
evil-doer, Jerome asserts that the philosopher found everywhere something
to learn and something whereby he could become a better man. Also in the
next century, St. Augustine, while ridiculing the attempts that were made
at comparison with Jesus, admits that the character of Apollonius was
exemplary in virtue.

Vopiscus, a writer who lived at the end of the third century, is very
enthusiastic about Apollonius, whom he called "a sage of the most
widespread renown and authority, an ancient philosopher and a true friend
of the gods, indeed, a manifestation of Deity." Vopiscus resolved to write
a life of Apollonius in Latin, so that, he says, "his deeds and words may
be on the tongues of all, for as yet the only accounts are in Greek. For
who among men," he adds, "was more holy, more worthy of reverence, more
venerable and more god-like than he?" He it was who gave life to the dead.
He it was who did and said so many things beyond the power of men.

Vopiscus did not fulfill his intention, but Soterichus, an Egyptian epic
poet of the last decade of the third century, Nichomachus, and Tascius
Victorianus all wrote lives of Apollonius, which were lost after the
formation of the Church, having been destroyed by the Christians.

During the fifth century, we find Volusian, a pro-consul of Africa,
descended from an old Roman family, still worshipping Apollonius of Tyana
as a supernatural being. Lactantius refers to a statue erected to him at
Ephesus. Sidonius Apolinaris, who wrote his biography in the last half of
the fifth century, speaks of him as the favorite of monarchs and the
admiration of the countries he traversed. This same writer sent a copy of
Philostratus's "Life of Apollonius of Tyana" to his friend, Leo, the
chancellor of a Frankish king at Toulouse, with this message:

"Throw aside your endless labors and steal a respite from the burdens and
bustle of the Court, so that you may really study this long-expected
volume as it deserves. When once absorbed in it, you will wander with our
Tyanean over Caucasus and Indus, to Brahmans of India and the naked
philosophers of Nubia. It describes the life of very much such a man as
you are, with due respect to your Catholic faith. Courted by sovereigns,
but never courting them; eager For knowledge; aloof from money-getting;
fasting at feasts; linen-clad among wearers of purple; rebuking luxury;
self-contained; plain-spoken; shock-headed in the midst of perfumed kings,
who themselves were reeking with myrrh and malo-bathrum and polished with
pumice-stone; taking from the flocks nothing to eat or to wear; and
notwithstanding all these peculiarities not distrusted but honored
wherever he went throughout the world, and although royal treasures were
placed at his disposal, accepted from them merely those gifts to his
friends which it suited him better to bestow than to receive. In short, if
we measure and weigh realities, no philosopher's biography equal to this
has ever appeared in the times of our ancestors; so far as I know; and I
am certain that in my times it finds a worthy reader in you."

Other references to Apollonius were derived from a certain Machus, the
unusual color of whose robes won him the name of Porphyry, who wrote a
celebrated treatise against Christianity which was destroyed by the
Emperor, but his life of Pythagoras and his school, written in the last
years of the third century and the first years of the fourth, is still in
existence, as is also a similar work by Iamblichus written at the same
time; and both refer to Apollonius's biography of Pythagoras, the first
thirty sections of which constituted the course of their information.

Tredwell says that there was a vast amount of literature produced during
the Apollonian period, "more probable than was ever produced during a like
period by the like number of persons. All we know about it is, that it
once existed and was destroyed during the subsequent ages. It was
obviously burnt by the Christians."

Apollonius was a man of extensive learning and the author of many books,
all of which have been destroyed by the Christians.* (*Apollonius was the
author of the following books:

     (1) "The Mystic Rites or Concerning Sacrifices." This treatise
     as mentioned by Philostratus, who tells us that it sets down the
     proper method of sacrifice to every god, the proper hours of
     prayer and offering. It was in wide circulation, and
     Philostratus had come across copies of it in the libraries and
     cities, and in the libraries of philosophers. Several fragments
     have been preserved and have been found in the writings of
     Eusebius. Noack tells us that scholarship is convinced of the
     genuineness of this book, which was widely circulated and held
     in the highest respect. It is said that its rules were engraved
     on brazen pillars at Byzantium, which were melted down by the
     Christians.

     (2) Four books entitled "The Oracles or Concerning Divination."
     According to Philostratus, the Full title was "Divination of the
     Stars," and he says that it was based on what Apollonius learned
     in India; but the kind of divination Apollonius wrote about was
     not the ordinary astrology, but something which Philostratus
     considers superior to ordinary human art in such matters. He
     had, however, never heard of anyone possessing a copy of this
     rare book.

     (3) "The Life of Pythagoras." Porphyry refers to this book, and
     Iamblicus quotes a long passage from it.

     (4) "The Will of Apollonius." This was written in the Ionic
     dialect, and contained a summary of his doctrines.

     (5) "A Hymn to Memory." (Eudocia speaks of many other works, all
     of which, including the ones above described, were destroyed by
     the churchmen.) He was familiar with Plato, Pythagoras, Livy and
     Horace, as indicated by his frequent quotations from them; but
     his favorite author was Homer, and his philosophy was the
     dialectic stoicism of Zeno. He was the author of four books on
     Judicial Astrology and a treatise on Sacrifice, referred to by
     Eusebius and Suidas.

The Emperor Hadrian had a book he had written which he kept with his
letters in his palace at Antium. According to Tredwell, it seems probably
that Apollonius was the author of a voluminous literature, much of which
Philostratus must have had before him in a diary of Damis. Marcus Aurelius
(A.D. 130) learned stoic philosophy from Apollonius's writings. "From
Apollonius," said Aurelius, "I have learned freedom of will and
understanding, steadiness of purpose, and to look to nothing else, not
even for a moment, except to reason."

                                  *******
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

WWW design and text editing Copyrighted © 1996-1997 by Jeroen Wierda
Picard UFO Research International