Apollonius of Tyana and Hellenistic Taxila

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the sage Apollonius, from the city of Tyana in south-eastern Asia Minor, who gained fame for his wisdom and his extensive travels in the first century CE. In the following century Philostratus wrote a fictionalized biography of the sage, but it is nearly impossible to determine where fact ends and fiction begins. According to this biography, Apollonius travelled to the Far East and had discussions with the Brahmans of Taxila. Apollonius outdoes Alexander by travelling as far as Ethiopia and western Spain: even Heracles had only spanned the world from east to west. His ambit is the entire Roman empire. Though presented as a second, “holy” Alexander by Philostratus, Apollonius is also important as a historical “witness” for Hellenistic Taxila. How we judge this importance depends on the assessment of the historicity of Philostratus' account.