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34 were then mistaken for the real source of the river, he returned from these extreme limits of the world to civilised lands, and from this period may be dated what we may term the Passion of Apollonius. Domitian, a second Nero, was emperor, exceeding, if that were possible, his prototype, in wickedness. Apollonius began to travel up and down the empire, sowing everywhere the seeds of discontent and rebellion against the crowned monster. Though at a distance, he fosters in Rome itself a conspiracy in favour of the virtuous Nerva, whose imminent elevation to the throne he foresees with certainty. Having been warned of this, Domitian ordered him to be arrested, when the dauntless philosopher, taking the initiative, appears of his own free will in the very heart of Rome, in spite of the entreaties of his disciples and of Damis himself that he should not go up to the city. There he meets again with an old acquaintance, the praetorian prefect Elian, who does all he can to save him from the fury of the imperial tyrant, and who tells him that the main charge he will have to meet is that