INTRODUCTION

...had reached its last and bitterest stage, it occurred to some of the enemies of the new religion to hold up Apollonius—to whom temples and shrines had been erected in various parts of Asia Minor—as a rival to the founder of Christianity. The many miracles attributed to Apollonius, particularly his eminent power over evil spirits or demons, made him, in the minds of Pagans, a formidable rival to Jesus Christ.

A certain Hierocles, who served as a provincial governor under the Emperor Diocletian, wrote a book to demonstrate that Apollonius had been as great a sage, as remarkable a miracle-worker, and as potent an exorcist as Jesus Christ. His work caused great offense to the missionaries of the Christian religion. In response, the Christian historian Eusebius wrote a treatise alleging that Apollonius was a mere charlatan, or, if he were a magician at all, a very inferior one. Eusebius further argued that if Apollonius did achieve any remarkable results, it was due to the evil spirits with whom he was in league. Eusebius is careful, however, to point out that before Hierocles, no anti-Christian writer had thought of putting forward Apollonius as the rival and equal of Jesus of Nazareth. It is possible, of course, that Hierocles took his cue from the Emperor Alexander Severus (A.D. 205–235), who, instead of setting up...