Philostratus, was the name of several, three (or four), Greek sophists of the Roman imperial period: Sophism was originally a term for the techniques taught by a highly respected group of philosophy and rhetoric teachers in ancient Greece. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ...

1. Philostratus "the Athenian" (c. 170-245)
2. his nephew (?) Philostratus "of Lemnos" (born c. 190)
3. a grandson (?) of (2)

Of these the most famous is Philostratus "the Athenian," author of the Life of Apollonius Tyana, which he dedicated to Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus and mother of Caracalla (see Apollonius of Tyana). He wrote also Lives of the Sophists, Gymnasticus and Epistolae (mainly of an erotic character). Lemnos (mod. ... Julia Domna Julia Domna (about 170-217), like her sister Julia Maesa, was a daughter of Julius Bassianus, priest of the sun god Heliogabalus, the patron god of Emesa in the Roman province of Syria. ... Emperor Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus, (April 11, 146 - February 4, 211) was Roman emperor from April 9, 193 to 211. ... Caracalla Caracalla (April 4, 186–April 8, 217) was emperor of the Roman Empire from AD 211–217. ... Apollonius of Tyana ( 2- 98) was a philosopher and mathematician of Greek origin. ...

Very little is known of his career. Even his name is doubtful. The Lives of the Sophists gives the praenomen Flavius, which, however, is found elsewhere only in Tzetzes. Eunapius and Synesius call him a Lemnian; Photius a Tyrian; his letters refer to him as an Athenian. It is probable that he was born in Lemnos, studied and taught at Athens, and then settled in Rome (where he would naturally be called atheniensis) as a member of the learned circle with which Julia Domna surrounded herself. Eunapius was a Greek sophist and historian of the 4th century. ... Synesius (c. ... Photius (b. ... Tyre (Arabic الصور aṣ-Ṣūr native Phoenician Ṣur, ) is an ancient Phoenician city in Lebanon on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about 23 miles, in a direct line, north of Acre, and 20 south of Sidon. ... Lemnos (mod. ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ...

He was born probably in 172, and is said by the Suda to have been living in the reign of Philip (244 - 249). The fact that the author of Apollonius is also the author of the Lives of the Sophists is confirmed by internal evidence. The latter is dedicated to a consul Antonius Gordianus, perhaps one of the two Gordians who were killed in 238. The work is divided into two parts: the first dealing with the ancient Sophists, e.g. Gorgias, the second with the later school, e.g. Herodes Atticus. Events Last (5th) year of Jianning era and start of Xiping era of the Chinese Han Dynasty. ... Suda (Σουδα or alternatively Suidas) is a massive 10th century Byzantine Greek historical encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world. ... Emperor Philip the Arab 100 Syrian pound note with Philip the Arab Marcus Julius Philippus (about 204 - 249), known in English as Philip the Arab, was Roman emperor from 244 to 249. ... Events Roman Emperor Gordian III dies under unclear circumstances while in war against Shapur I of Persia. ... Events Trajan Decius becomes Roman emperor. ... Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Africanus (around 159 - April 12, 238), known in English as Gordian I, was Roman Emperor during the year of 238. ... Events Carpians invade Moesia, Maximinus Thrax campaigns against them. ... Gorgias (in Greek Γοργἰας, circa 483-375 BC), Greek sophist, philosopher, and rhetorician, was a native of Leontini in Sicily. ... Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, commonly known as Herodes Atticus (c. ...

The Lives are not in the true sense biographical, but rather picturesque impressions of leading representatives of an attitude of mind full of curiosity, alert and versatile, but lacking scientific method, preferring the external excellence of style and manner to the solid achievements of serious writing. The philosopher, as he says, investigates truth; the sophist embellishes it, and takes it for granted. The Gymnasticus contains interesting matter concerning the Olympic games and athletic contests generally. The Letters breathe the spirit of the New Comedy and the Alexandrine poets; portions of Letter 33 are almost literally translated in Ben Jonson's Song to Celia, "Drink to me only with thine eyes." A philosopher is a person devoted to studying and producing results in philosophy. ... The Olympic Games, or Olympics, is an international multi-sport event taking place every two years and alternating between Summer and Winter Games. ... Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ... Benjamin Jonson (June 11, 1572 – August 6, 1637) was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. ...

The Heroicus, formerly attributed to Philostratus the Athenian, is probably the work of Philostratus the Lemnian. It is a popular disquisition on the heroes of the Trojan War in the form of a conversation between a Thracian vine-dresser on the shore of the Hellespont and a Phoenician merchant who derives his knowledge from the hero Protesilaus, Palamedes is exalted at the expense of Odysseus, and Homer's unfairness to him is attacked. It has been suggested that Philostratus is here describing a series of heroic paintings in the palace of Julia Domna. His other work is the Imagines, ostensibly a description of 64 pictures in a Neapolitan gallery. Goethe, Welcker, Brunn, E. Bertrand and Helbig, among others, have held that the descriptions are of actually existing works of art, while Heyne and Friederichs deny this. In any case they are interesting as showing the way in which ancient artists treated mythological and other subjects, and are written with artistic knowledge and in attractive language This work is imitated by the third Philostratus (or by some later sophist) of whose descriptions of pictures 17 remain. The Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor by the armies of the Acheans, following the kidnapping (or elopement) of Helen of Sparta by Paris of Troy. ... Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe spread over southern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, and European Turkey. ... Hellespont (i. ... Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plain of what is now Lebanon and Syria. ... In Greek mythology, Protesilaus was the son of Iphicles and the leader of the Phylaceans. ... In Greek mythology, Palamedes was the son of Nauplius and Clymene. ... It has been suggested that Ulysses Bow be merged into this article or section. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... Location within Italy Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Napule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning New City) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced [gø tÉ™]) (August 28, 1749 – March 22, 1832) was a German writer, humanist, scientist, philosopher, and he conducted his civic services as a cabinet minister of Weimar. ... Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker (1784-1868), German philologist and archaeologist, was born at Grünberg in the grand duchy of Hesse. ... Brno (German: Brünn) is the second_largest city of the Czech Republic, located in the southeast of the country, at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers. ... Odysseus and Euryclea, by Christian G. Heyne Christian Gottlob Heyne (25 September 1729-14 July 1812) was a German classical scholar and archaeologist. ...

There is great difficulty, due to a confused statement of the Suda in disentangling the works and even the personalities of these Philostrati. Reference is there made to Philostratus as the son of Verus, a rhetorician in Nero's time, who wrote tragedies, comedies and treatises. The Suda thus appears to give to Philostratus the Athenian a life of 200 years! We must be content to assume two Lemnian Philostrati, both sophists, living in Rome. Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (December 15, 37–June 9, 68), born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called (50–54) Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1...

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) represents, in many ways, the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

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• Philostratus Updates the preceding article with some ninety year of more recent research.