Primary source · Greek
Life of Apollonius of Tyana
Philostratus · c. AD 220s
What this text is
The sophistic biography of the Neopythagorean sage — later brandished by Hierocles as a pagan counter-Christ, and answered by Eusebius. The earliest attestation of Apollonius as a figure of religious rivalry.
Public-domain translations
Working translation (from the Greek)
Akin to the wisdom of Pythagoras was that which Apollonius pursued — yet more divinely than Pythagoras did he woo wisdom, and rise above tyrants; and he lived in times neither ancient nor yet modern. (I.2)
Manuscript witnesses
Byzantine minuscule tradition
11th–14th c.The Life survives in medieval Greek copies; no ancient manuscript is extant.
Editio princeps (Aldus Manutius, Venice)
1501–1504First printed Greek text, issued with Eusebius's reply appended — a pairing the tradition never separated.
Provenance
Written for the court of Julia Domna at Rome
Editions & scholarship
Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.
- Philostratus: Apollonius of Tyana (Loeb Classical Library)Christopher P. Jones, 2005–2006Greek text and translation, with the Eusebian reply in the third volume.
- The Life of Apollonius of TyanaF. C. Conybeare, 1912The older Loeb; public-domain English of the whole Life.