"The Buried Classic" from Ancient Greece, and the roots of the Western World .... The Life of Apollonius of Tyana Philostratus {220 AD} The King of Babylon ...
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Spring of 1995

The King of Babylon ...

"This is Apollonius, whom Megabates, my brother, said he saw in Antioch, the admired and respected of serious people; and he depicted him to me at that time just such a man as now comes to us."

And when Apollonius approached and saluted him, the king addressed him in the Greek language and invited him to sacrifice with hi; and it chanced that he was on the point of sacrificing to the Sun as a victim a horse of the true Nisaean breed, which he had adorned with trappings as if for a triumphal procession.

But Apollonius replied:

"Do you, O king, go on with your sacrifice, in your own way, but permit me to sacrifice in mine."

And he took up a handful of frankincense and said:

"O thou Sun, send me as far over the earth as is my pleasure and thine, and may I make the acquaintance of good men, but never hear anything of bad ones, nor they of me."

And with these words he threw the frankincense into the fire, and watched to see how the smoke of it curled upwards, and how it grew turbid, and in how many points it shot up; and in a manner he caught the meaning of the fire, and watched how it appeared of good omen and pure.

Then he said:

"Now, O king, go on with your sacrifice in accordance with your own traditions, for my traditions are such as you see."

And he quitted the scene of sacrifice in order not to be present at the shedding of blood.

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"The Buried Classic" from Ancient Greece, and the roots of the Western World .... The Life of Apollonius of Tyana Philostratus {220 AD} The King of Babylon ...
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Spring of 1995