Page:Apollonius of Tyana - the pagan Christ of the third century.pdf/40

Rh he has been guilty of cutting up a young child to pieces in the course of some magic incantation—an accusation which was all the more unjust and abominable as Apollonius had always inveighed most loudly against bloody sacrifices. When in prison, the philosopher comforts and exhorts his fellow-prisoners. He appears before the emperor, who is anxious to inquire personally into the opinions of his opponent, and as the conversation assumes a phase not very favourable to the cause of the despot, Domitian makes a sort of Ecce homo of Apollonius, orders that his beard and his hair be shaved, and that he himself be bound in chains and sent to prison in company with the vilest malefactors. Apollonius endures this ignominious treatment most meekly, and taking advantage of a few moments when he is alone with Damis, he shows him that it depends entirely upon himself and his own will whether he shall shake off his chains or remain fettered by them. "And Damis understood then that Apollonius was a god, and by nature more than man." From that time forth he no longer offers