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25 chapters
INTRODUCTORY.
INTRODUCTORY.
To the student of the origins of Christianity there is naturally no period of Western history of greater interest and importance than the first century of our era; and yet how little comparatively is known about it of a really definite and reliable nature. If it be a subject of lasting regret that no non-Christian writer of the first century had sufficient intuition of the future to record even a line of information concerning the birth and growth of what was to be the religion of the Western wo
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THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND COMMUNITIES OF THE FIRST CENTURY.
THE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND COMMUNITIES OF THE FIRST CENTURY.
In the domain of religion it is quite true that the state cults and national institutions throughout the Empire were almost without exception in a parlous state, and it is to be noticed that Apollonius devoted much time and labour to reviving and purifying them. Indeed, their strength had long left the general state-institutions of religion, where all was now perfunctory; but so far from there being no religious life in the land, in proportion as the official cultus and ancestral institutions af
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INDIA AND GREECE.
INDIA AND GREECE.
There is, however, another reason why Apollonius is of importance to us. He was an enthusiastic admirer of the wisdom of India. Here again a subject of wide interest opens up. What influences, if any, had Brāhmanism and Buddhism on Western thought in these early years? It is strongly asserted by some that they had great influence; it is as strongly denied by others that they had any influence at all. It is, therefore, apparent that there is no really indisputable evidence on the subject. Just as
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THE APOLLONIUS OF EARLY OPINION.
THE APOLLONIUS OF EARLY OPINION.
Apollonius of Tyana 2 was the most famous philosopher of the Græco-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 the Christ no more interesting personage appears upon the stage of Western history in these early years. Many and various and ofttimes mutually contradictory are the opinions which have been held about Apolloniu
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TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, AND LITERATURE.
TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, AND LITERATURE.
We will now turn to the texts, translations, and general literature of the subject in more recent times. Apollonius returned to the memory of the world, after the oblivion of the dark ages, with evil auspices. From the very beginning the old Hierocles-Eusebius controversy was revived, and the whole subject was at once taken out of the calm region of philosophy and history and hurled once more into the stormy arena of religious bitterness and prejudice. For long Aldus hesitated to print the text
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THE BIOGRAPHER OF APOLLONIUS.
THE BIOGRAPHER OF APOLLONIUS.
Flavius Philostratus, the writer of the only Life of Apollonius which has come down to us, 54 was a distinguished man of letters who lived in the last quarter of the second and the first half of the third century ( cir. 175-245 a.d. ). He formed one of the circle of famous writers and thinkers gathered round the philosopher-empress, 55 Julia Domna, who was the guiding spirit of the Empire during the reigns of her husband Septimius Severus and her son Caracalla. All three members of the imperial
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EARLY LIFE.
EARLY LIFE.
Apollonius was born 75 at Tyana, a city in the south of Cappadocia, somewhen in the early years of the Christian era. His parents were of ancient family and considerable fortune (i. 4). At an early age he gave signs of a very powerful memory and studious disposition, and was remarkable for his beauty. At the age of fourteen he was sent to Tarsus, a famous centre of learning of the time, to complete his studies. But mere rhetoric and style and the life of the “schools” were little suited to his s
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THE TRAVELS OF APOLLONIUS.
THE TRAVELS OF APOLLONIUS.
And so Apollonius departs from Antioch and journeys on to Ninus, the relic of the once great Nina or Nineveh. There he meets with Damis, who becomes his constant companion and faithful disciple. “Let us go together,” says Damis in words reminding us somewhat of the words of Ruth. “Thou shalt follow God, and I thee!” (i. 19). From this point Philostratus professes to base himself to a great extent on the narrative of Damis, and before going further, it is necessary to try to form some estimate of
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IN THE SHRINES OF THE TEMPLES AND THE RETREATS OF RELIGION.
IN THE SHRINES OF THE TEMPLES AND THE RETREATS OF RELIGION.
Seeing that the nature of Apollonius’ business with the priests of the temples and the devotees of the mystic life was necessarily of a most intimate and secret nature, for in those days it was the invariable custom to draw a sharp line of demarcation between the inner and outer, the initiated and the profane, it is not to be expected that we can learn anything but mere externalities from the Damis-Philostratus narrative; nevertheless, even these outer indications are of interest. The temple of
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THE GYMNOSOPHISTS OF UPPER EGYPT.
THE GYMNOSOPHISTS OF UPPER EGYPT.
We now come to Apollonius’ visit to the “Gymnosophists” in “Ethiopia,” which, though the artistic and literary goal of Apollonius’ journey in Egypt as elaborated by Philostratus, is only a single incident in the real history of the unrecorded life of our mysterious philosopher in that ancient land. Had Philostratus devoted a chapter or two to the nature of the practices, discipline, and doctrines of the innumerable ascetic and mystic communities that honeycombed Egypt and adjacent lands in those
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APOLLONIUS AND THE RULERS OF THE EMPIRE.
APOLLONIUS AND THE RULERS OF THE EMPIRE.
But not only did Apollonius vivify and reconsecrate the old centres of religion for some inscrutable reason, and do what he could to help on the religious life of the time in its multiplex phases, but he took a decided, though indirect, part in influencing the destinies of the Empire through the persons of its supreme rulers. This influence, however, was invariably of a moral and not of a political nature. It was brought to bear by means of philosophical converse and instruction, by word of mout
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APOLLONIUS THE PROPHET AND WONDER-WORKER.
APOLLONIUS THE PROPHET AND WONDER-WORKER.
We will now turn our attention for a brief space to that side of Apollonius’ life which has made him the subject of invincible prejudice. Apollonius was not only a philosopher, in the sense of being a theoretical speculator or of being the follower of an ordered mode of life schooled in the discipline of resignation; he was also a philosopher in the original Pythagorean meaning of the term—a knower of Nature’s secrets, who thus could speak as one having authority. He knew the hidden things of Na
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HIS MODE OF LIFE.
HIS MODE OF LIFE.
We will now present the reader with some general indications of the mode of life of Apollonius, and the manner of his teaching, of which already something has been said under the heading “Early Life.” Our philosopher was an enthusiastic follower of the Pythagorean discipline; nay, Philostratus would have us believe that he made more superhuman efforts to reach wisdom than even the great Samian (i. 2). The outer forms of this discipline as exemplified in Pythagoras are thus summed up by our autho
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HIMSELF AND HIS CIRCLE.
HIMSELF AND HIS CIRCLE.
Apollonius is said to have been very beautiful to look upon (i. 7, 12; iv. 1); 115 but beyond this we have no very definite description of his person. His manner was ever mild and gentle (i. 36; ii. 22) and modest (iv. 31; viii. 15), and in this, says Damis, he was more like an Indian than a Greek (iii. 36); yet occasionally he burst out indignantly against some special enormity (iv. 30). His mood was often pensive (i. 34), and when not speaking he would remain for long plunged in deep thought,
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FROM HIS SAYINGS AND SERMONS.
FROM HIS SAYINGS AND SERMONS.
Apollonius believed in prayer, but how differently from the vulgar. For him the idea that the Gods could be swayed from the path of rigid justice by the entreaties of men, was a blasphemy; that the Gods could be made parties to our selfish hopes and fears was to our philosopher unthinkable. One thing alone he knew, that the Gods were the ministers of right and the rigid dispensers of just desert. The common belief, which has persisted to our own day, that God can be swayed from His purpose, that
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FROM HIS LETTERS.
FROM HIS LETTERS.
Apollonius seems to have written many letters to emperors, kings, philosophers, communities and states, although he was by no means a “voluminous correspondent”; in fact, the style of his short notes is exceedingly concise, and they were composed, as Philostratus says, “after the manner of the Lacedæmonian scytale” 118 (iv. 27 and vii. 35). It is evident that Philostratus had access to letters attributed to Apollonius, for he quotes a number of them, 119 and there seems no reason to doubt their
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THE WRITINGS OF APOLLONIUS.
THE WRITINGS OF APOLLONIUS.
But besides these letters Apollonius also wrote a number of treatises, of which, however, only one or two fragments have been preserved. These treatises are as follows: a. The Mystic Rites or Concerning Sacrifices. 128 This treatise is mentioned by Philostratus (iii. 41; iv. 19), who tells us that it set 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 many temples and cities, a
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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
Jacobs (F.), Observationes in ... Philostrati Vitam Apollonii (Jena; 1804), purely philological, for the correction of the text. Legrand d’Aussy (P. J. B.), Vie d’Apollonius de Tyane (Paris; 1807, 2 vols.). Bekker (G. J.), Specimen Variarum Lectionum ... in Philost. Vitæ App. Librum primum (1808); purely philological. Berwick (E.), The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, translated from the Greek of Philostratus, with Notes and Illustrations (London; 1809). Lancetti (V.), Le Opere dei due Filostrati, I
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THE PISTIS SOPHIA: A Gnostic Gospel.
THE PISTIS SOPHIA: A Gnostic Gospel.
(With Extracts from the Books of the Saviour appended). Originally translated from Greek into Coptic, and now for the first time Englished from Schwartze’s Latin Version of the only known Coptic MS., and checked by Amélineau’s French Version. With an Introduction and Bibliography. 394 pp., large octavo. Cloth, 7s. 6d. net. “The Pistis Sophia has long been recognised as one of the most important Gnostic documents we possess, and Mr Mead deserves the gratitude of students of Church History and of
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Fragments of a Faith Forgotten.
Fragments of a Faith Forgotten.
I. Introduction. —Outlines of the Background of the Gnosis; Literature and Sources of Gnosticism. II. The Gnosis according to its Foes. —Gnostic Fragments recovered from the Polemical Writings of the Church Fathers; the Gnosis in the Uncanonical Acts. III. The Gnosis according to its Friends. —Greek Original Works in Coptic Translation; the Askew, Bruce, and Akhmim Codices. Classified Bibliographies are appended. 630, xxviii. pp., Large Octavo, Cloth. 10s. 6d. net. “Mr Mead has done his work in
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SIMON MAGUS: An Essay.
SIMON MAGUS: An Essay.
The most complete work on the subject. Quarto. Price: 5s. net. Wrappers....
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THE WORLD MYSTERY: Four Essays.
THE WORLD MYSTERY: Four Essays.
Contents: The World-Soul; The Vestures of the Soul; The Web of Destiny; True Self-reliance. Octavo. Price: cloth, 3s. 6d. net....
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THE THEOSOPHY OF THE GREEKS. PLOTINUS.
THE THEOSOPHY OF THE GREEKS. PLOTINUS.
With an exhaustive Bibliography. Octavo. Price: cloth, 1s. net....
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ORPHEUS.
ORPHEUS.
With three Charts and Bibliography. Will serve as an Introduction to Hellenic Theology. Octavo. Price: cloth, 4s. 6d. net....
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THE THEOSOPHY OF THE VEDAS. THE UPANIṢHADS: 2 Volumes.
THE THEOSOPHY OF THE VEDAS. THE UPANIṢHADS: 2 Volumes.
Contains a Translation of the Ĭsha, Kena, Kaṭha, Prashna, Muṇḍaka, and Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣhads, with a General Preamble, Arguments, and Notes by G. R. S. Mead and J. C. Chaṭṭopādhyāya (Roy Choudhuri). Contains a Translation of the Taittirîya, Aitareya, and Shvetāshvatara Upaniṣhads, with Arguments and Notes....
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