Introduction
Philostratus' Life of Apollonius: third-century biography of a charismatic teacher and miracle worker from the first century CE, who is often likened to Jesus of Nazareth.
In the Life of Apollonius, the Athenian author Philostratus, a sophist who lived from c.170 to c.247, tells the story of Apollonius of Tyana, a charismatic teacher and miracle worker from the first century CE who belonged to the school of Pythagoras. (A summary can be found here.) It is an apologetic work, in which Philostratus tries to show that Apollonius was a man with divine powers, but not a magician. He also pays attention to Apollonius' behavior as a sophist.
Although the hero is known from several other sources, Philostratus' vie romancée is our most important source. Scholars studying the life of the Tyanaean sage - whose miraculous acts have often been compared to the miracles of Jesus of Nazareth - have tried to establish the sources of Philostratus' books in order to come as close as possible to the historical truth. These attempts are described here.
On the following webpages, you will find the translation by F.C. Conybeare, which was published in 1912 in the Loeb Classical Library.