Beyond Your Imagination

The third magician of interest in that period of the Roman Empire was Apollonius of Tyana. Between 217 and 238 Flavius Philostratus wrote his Life of Apollonius of Tyana. It was a lengthy novel about magical powers of Apollonius. According to Philostratus, this novel was born out of the memoirs of somebody named Damis, who was a disciple of great magic user Apollonious. He claimed that the memoirs were owned by empress Julia Domna, mother of emperor Caracalla.

In any case Philostratus creation was a literary fake. From the pages of the novel Apollonius emerges as an ascetic traveling teacher. He is usually labeled a new Pythagoras, and he does represent the same combination of philosopher and magus that Pythagoras was. According to Philostratus, Apollonius traveled far and wide, as far as India, teaching ideas reasonably consistent with traditional Pythagorean doctrine. Anyway, this manuscript became a bestseller in Roman empire of Late Antiquity. Apollonius was so popular that talismans allegedly made by Apollonius appeared in several Greek cities of the Eastern Roman Empire, as if they were sent from heaven. Some magical figures and columns dedicated to him were also erected in public places to protect the cities from plagues and evil.