I ran across this old gem put out by Kessinger Publishing in their cool, old yellow paperbacks with a rosicrucian logo. Hand it to Kessinger, they publish actual scans of old books rather than the fly-by-night publishing outfits that put out terribly O.C.R.'ed texts chockfull of errors.

It's a neat old book on Apollonius of Tyana, a religio-philosopher of the first century A.D. in the Roman Empire by theosophist and scholar G. R. S. Mead. The book kind of tells you a bit more about Mead and Blatavaskian Theosophy than it does Apollonius of Tyana. Mead takes great pains to make Apollonius look not like a first century miracle-worker à la Jesus but like a Indian sage à la Theosophy. He thus poo poos all reference to Apollonius as a magic man and makes him a guru of the Hindu/Buddhist type. His supposed travels to India are made much of; Pythagoras and Egypt, much less important. Mead denounces the historical sources for Apollonius: Philostratus through Damis. Instead, he claims to glean what is good from the sources and discards the dross. Everything he keeps makes Apollonius like a Theosophist guru instead of a Roman philosopher who supposedly worked wonders. Mead says several times that with proper work and practice (it is implied that the proper way is Theosophical) anybody could be like Apollonius and do the things he did.

The work is done in a late-1800s/early 1900s antiquarian style, with lots of odd footnotes, obscure references, etc. It bounces back and forth in time, and is not really done in a narrative or chronological manner. It is not the best source on Apollonius, but it is an interesting read and informative. If you know nothing of Apollonius, it is a decent place to start if you can get it cheap. If you like Theosophy, it will be a great addition to your bookshelf. ( )

APOLONIO DE TYANA

El meritísimo autor de esta obra hace en uno de sus capítulos una observación muy justa, que, no por ser fácilmente comprobable, deja de tener todo el valor y la fuerza que la verdad le conceden.
“Ha existido en la antigüedad, ― dice ― una literatura religiosa que siempre ha sido tratada con verdadera simpatía en occidente: esa literatura ha sido la judeo-cristiana. Únicamente ella ha sido comprendida por los hombres por completo, y toda antigüedad que trata de religión de modo distinto que el judío o el cristiano se considera rara, obscura, o extraordinaria y hasta repulsiva. Los dichos y los hechos de los profetas judíos o de Jesús y los apóstoles, se han relatado con reverencia, adornándolos con grandes bellezas de dicción, ilustrándolos con los mejores pensamientos de la edad, mientras que los dichos y los hechos de de otros profetas e instructores han sido para la mayor parte objeto de un criticismo antipático, cuyo punto de vista no puede comprenderse”
.
Este hecho sigue siendo observable en nuestros días, como pudo serlo en aquel gran momento en que el enciclopedismo parecía que iba a concluircon la Iglesia Romana. Así, la última ratio del anticristianismo del siglo XVIII puede compendiarse en estas palabras que sospecho pudo escribir cualquiera de los amigos de Dionisio Diderot, si no es que el mismo Dionisio Diderot las escribiera: “Esto es tan falso como lo otro”.
El piadoso historiador de los orígenes del cristianismo, Mr. Renán, escribió así estas palabras, continuando la comparación establecida por los hombres del siglo XVIII:
“Que los evangelios son en parte legendarios, es una cosa evidente, puesto que en ellos abundan los milagros y lo sobrenatural; pero hay leyenda y leyenda. Nadie pone en duda, por ejemplo, los rasgos principales de la vida de Francisco de Asís, a pesar de hallarse en ello lo sobrenatural muy frecuentemente. Por el contrario, ninguno da crédito a la “Vida de Apoloniode Tyana”. ¿Por qué?. Porque fue escrita mucho tiempo después del héroe y...

INTRODUCCIÓN

Para el que estudia los orígenes del cristianismo no hay naturalmente unperíodo en la historia de occidente de tan gran interés e importancia como el primer siglo de nuestra era, que comparativamente es aún poco conocido en cuanto a su real y verdadera naturaleza. Más, aunque sea objeto de constante sentimiento, el que de ningún modo los escritores no cristianos del primer
siglo tuvieran suficiente intuición de lo futuro para dejar una línea de información respecto del origen y desarrollo que tuvo la religión en el mundo de occidente, igual descuido se observa en lo que toca a su exigua información sobre las condiciones sociales y religiosas de la época. Las leyes y las guerras
del Imperio parece que constituyeron el principal interés de los historiadores del siglo siguiente, y aún en esta parte de la historia política, aunque los actos públicos de los emperadores pueden perfectamente conocerse, en razón de que podemos revisarlos por relatos e inscripciones, cuando seguimos sus motivos y hechos privados nos encontramos no sobre el terreno histórico, sino más
bien en la atmósfera del prejuicio, del escándalo y de la infamia.

Sin embargo, los actos públicos de los emperadores y de sus guardias pueden arrojar alguna
luz sobre el general estado social de la época, aunque no viertan ninguna sobre las condiciones religiosas, salvo las que tuvieron un contrato particular con el dominio político. Así, pues, podemos intentar reconstruir el cuadro de la vida religiosa de la época de las leyes y los edictos del Imperio, esforzándonos en casar alguna idea luminosa de la íntima religión de ese país por medio de la
lectura de los códigos o de las noticias referentes a la formación de las leyes. ...

APOLLONIUS OF TYANA

INTODUCTORY

To the studlent of the origins of Christianity there is naturally no period of Westero history of greater interest and importanee than the first century of our era ; and yet, how little comparaeam reliable nature.I rst wcentury had sufficient intuition of the future IItio even a line of information concerning the and growtl of what was to be the religion of the Mestern world, equally disappointing is little definite information uft meral social aud relioi gious condition time.

The rulers and the wars of the Empir ecem to havye formed the chief interest of the historiographers of the succeeding century, and even in this department of politieal history, though the publio adts of the Lmperors may be fairly and inacriptions, when we come to their private well known, for we (un chelk them by records seta and motives we find ourselves no longer on the ground of history, but for the most part in the atmosphere of prejudice, wandal, and speculation.

The political acts of Emperom and their ofticers,however, can at best throw but a dim side-light on the gencral social conditions of the time, while they shed no light at all on the religious conditions, except so far as these in any particular contacted the domain of politica. As well might we seck to reconstruet a picture of the religious life of tho time from Imperial acts and reacripts, s enden your to slean any idea of the intimate
endeavour to glean anv des of the intamate religion of this country from a perusal of statute books or reports of Parliamentary debates.

The Roman histories socalled, to which we bave so far been accustomed, cannot help us in the reeon truction of a picture of the environment into which, on the one hand, Paul led the new faith in Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome; and in which, on the other, it nlready found itself in the districts bordering on the south-east of the Mediterranenn. It is only by piecing together laboriously isolated seraps of information and fagments of inseriptions, that we become aware of the existeuce of the life of a world of religious associiations and private cults which existed at...

APOLLONIUS OF TYANA

Apollonius of Tyana had the myth and ambiance about him equal to Pythagoras and perhaps even approaching the level the other Jewish sage - Jesus of Nazareth. The reason Apollonius is important is because he is not as much talked about and discussed.

He remained much of a mystery. He never managed to become a "son of God" or get crucified. He is not the subject of countless of movies and musicals and around Christmas time his name is not a household word. Exactly for this reason he is talked about for his message as a philosopher and not trivialized and commercialized to ad naseum. Apollonius remained a mystery man for his abilities and power to transcend much of the material world and to reach God's Consciousness.

Apollonius was of course; attacked later much the same way the author and his theosophical Society was attacked and called a charlatan. Read this book and decide yourself.

SECTION I - Introductory
To the student of the origins of Christianity there is naturally no period in Western history of greater interest and importance than the first century of our era; and yet how little comparatively is known about it of a really definite and reliable nature.

If it be a subject of lasting regret that no non-Christian writer of the first century had sufficient intuition of the future to record even a line of information concerning the birth and growth of what was to be the religion of the Western world, equally disappointing is it to find so little definite information of the general social and religious conditions of the time.

The rulers and the wars of the Empire seem to have formed the chief interest of the historiographers of the succeeding century, and even in this department of political history, though the public acts of the Emperors may be fairly well known, for we can check them by records and inscriptions, when we come to their private acts and motives we find ourselves no longer on the ground of history, but for the most part in the atmosphere of prejudice, scandal, and speculation.

The political acts of Emperors and their officers, however can at best throw but a dim side-light on the general social conditions of the time, while they shed no light at all on the religious conditions, except so far as these in any particular contacted the domain of politics. As well might we seek to reconstruct a picture of the religious life of the time from Imperial acts and rescripts, as endeavour to glean any idea of the intimate religion of this country from a perusal of statute books or reports of Parliamentary debates.

Apollonius of Tyana had the myth and ambiance about him equal to Pythagoras and perhaps even approaching the level the other Jewish sage - Jesus of Nazareth. The reason Apollonius is important is because he is not as much talked about and discussed.

He remained much of a mystery. He never managed to become a "son of God" or get crucified. He is not the subject of countless of movies and musicals and around Christmas time his name is not a household word.

Exactly for this reason he is talked about for his message as a philosopher and not trivialized and commercialized to ad naseum. Apollonius remained a mystery man for his abilities and power to transcend much of the material world and to reach God's Consciousness. Apollonius was of course; attacked later much the same way the author and his theosophical Society was attacked and called a charlatan. Read this book and decide yourself.