I am aware that the conduct of philosophers under despotism is the truest touchstone of their character, and am in favor of inquiring in what way any one man displays more courage than another. And my argument also considers me to consider the point; for during the reign of Domitian, Apollonius was beset by accusations and writs of information, the several origins, sources and counts of which I shall presently enlarge upon; and as I shall be under the necessity of specifying the language which he used and the role which he assumed, when he left the court after convicting the tyrant rather than being himself convicted, so I must first of all enumerate all the feats of wise men in the presence of tyrants which I have found worthy of commemoration, and contrast them with the conduct of Apollonius. For this I think is the best way of finding out the truth. Zeno then of Elea, who was the father of dialectic, was convicted of an attempt to overthrow the tyranny of Nearchus the Mysian; and being put to the rack he refused to divulge the names of his accomplices, About the conduct of Zeno of Elea then, and about the murder of Cotys there is nothing very remarkable; for as it is easy to enslave Thracians and Getae, so it is an act of folly to liberate them; for indeed they do not appreciate freedom, because, I imagine, they do not esteem slavery to be base. I will not say that Plato somewhat lacked wisdom when he set himself to reform the affairs of Sicily rather than those of Athens, or that he was sold in all fairness when, after deceiving others, he found himself deceived, for I fear to offend my readers. But the despotic sway of Dionysius over Sicily was not solidly based when Phyton of Rhegium made his attempt against him, and in any case he would have been put to death by him, even if the people of that city had not shot their bolts at him; his achievement, then, I think, was by no means And on occasion when a tragic actor visited Ephesus and came forward in the play called the Ino, and when the governor of Asia was one of the audience, a man who was though still young and of very distinguished rank among the consuls, was nevertheless very nervous about such matters, just as the actor finished the speech in which Euripides describes in his iambics how tyrants after long growth of their power are destroyed by little causes, Apollonius leapt up and said: ""But yonder coward understand neither Euripides nor myself!" When moreover the news was brought how notable a purification of the goddess Hestia of the Romans Domitian had carried out, by putting to death three of the Vestal virgins who had broken their vows and incurred the pollution of marriage, when it was their duty to minister in purity to the Athena of Ilion and to he fire which was worshipped in Rome, he exclaimed: "O Sun, would that thou couldst too be purified of the unjust murders with which the whole world is now filled." Nor did he do all this in private, as a coward might, but he proclaimed his sentiments and aspirations amidst the crowd and before all. On another occasion when after the murder of Sabinus, one of his own relations, Domitian was about to marry Julia, who was herself the wife of the murdered man, and Domitian's own niece, being one of the daughters of Titus, Ephesus was about to celebrate the marriage with sacrifice, Apollonius interrupted the rites, by exclaiming: "O thou night of the Danaids of yore, how unique thou wast!" The following then is the history of his acts in Rome. Nerva was regarded as a proper candidateCHAPTER II
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
Buddhism
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Christian Texts
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The Classics
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The Pyramid Texts: The Pyramid Texts: 25. Miscellaneous Texts Chiefly About the Deceased King's Reception and Life in Heaven, Utterances 523-533
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The Pyramid Texts: The Pyramid Texts: 53. Resurrection, Transfiguration, and Life of the King in Heaven, Utterance 676
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Hinduism
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