Power, Paideia & Pythagoreanism: Greek Identity, Conceptions of the Relationship Between Philosophers & Monarchs & Political Ideas in Philostratus' Life ... on Ancient History & Archaeology : Vol 13)

The Athenian sophist Philostratus completed a romanticised biography of Apollonius of Tyana in the second or third decade of the third century A.D. One of the most striking aspects of the presentation of this firstcentury Pythagorean sage and miracleworker in the Vita Apollonii (VA) is his role as 'politically active philosopher'. Not only does the protagonist of the VA regularly intervene in situa-tions of conflict in Greek cities and instruct their citi-zens on how they ought to live together, but he also appears in contact with Parthian and Indian kings and Roman emperors. The present study deals with this promi-nent facet of Philostratus' portrait of the Tyanean sage. There are three main issues. The first is the question of the extent to which the Apollonius tradition provided support for the image of the contacts of the protagonist of the VA with cities and monarchs. The second is consideration of how the author dealt with and elaborated these elements in his source material. The third is the question of to what extent the protagonist of the VA may be regarded as a spokesman for the explicit political views of Philostratus. In other words, the aim is to analyse the image of the protagonist of the VA as a 'politically active philosopher' as the result of the interaction between the traditions associated with a sage and miracleworker who was regarded as a representative of Pythagorean wisdom, on the one hand, and the paideia, cultural baggage and mentality of a sophist, on the other. POWER, PAIDEJA & PYTHAGOREANISM 4 Copyright 5 FOREWORD 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 8 INTRODUCTION 12 CHAPTER 1. THE WRITER 16 The Philostrati and their literary production 16 Biographical information 26 Paideia and political power: the mentality of a sophist 40 CHAPTER 2. THE MAIN CHARACTER 63 Introduction: Apollonius as Proteus 63 The Vita Apollonii: a survey of the contents 65 Philostratus' Apollonius 71 The sources of the Vita Apollonii 78 CHAPTER 3. GREEK SELF-AWARENESS IN THE VITA APOLLONII 100 Introduction 100 Greek identity 101 The omnipresence of Greek civilisation 112 Problems of civic life 118 Greek self-awareness and Roman rule 128 CHAPTER 4. PHILOSOPHERS AND RULERS IN THE VITA APOLLONII 139 Introduction 139 Roman emperors in the Vita Apollonii 141 Philosopher and ruler: two complementary roles 173 Apollonius' recommendations 205 The topicality of Apollonius' recommendations 228 CONCLUSIONS 242 ABBREVIATIONS 252 EDITIONS OF ANCIENT AUTHORS 253 BIBLIOGRAPHY 255 INDEX OF SOURCES 266 INDEX OF PERSONS 281