Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/467

Rh r HIEROCLES. there is still extant a commentary on the golden verses of Pythagoras, and who may be the same as the one of Hyllarima. Suidas, it is true, calls him an Alexandrian, but this may be only because he studied philosophy at Alexandria. (Comp. No. 5.) Vossius goes still further, and identifies him with the Hierocles who compared ApoUonius of Tyana with Jesus Christ, in a work to which Eusebius wrote a reply (see No. 4) : it is, however, not im- possible that Hierocles of Hyllarima may be the same as the one alluded to by Apostolius. {Pro- verb, viii. 20, xi. 90.) 4. A Roman proconsul at first of Bithynia, and afterwards at Alexandria, in the time of Diocletian, A. D. 284 — 305. It is said that this emperor was instigated to his persecution of the Christians, in A. D. 302, mainly by Hierocles, who was a man of great philosophical acquirements, and exerted all his powers to suppress the Christians and their religion, and raise the polytheistic notions of the Pagans by attributing to them a profound meaning, which had only been misunderstood and mistaken by the vulgar. (Lactant. Instil. Div. v. 2, de Mort. Per- secut. 16.) With this object in view, lie published a work against the Christians, in which he at- tempted to point out contradictions in the Scrip- tures in the historical as well as in the doctrinal .portions. It bore the title Aojol cpiKaXrideis -n-pos Tovs XpiCTiavovs, and consisted of two books ; the work itself is lost, but we may still form an idea of it from the notice which Lactantius takes of it (Div. Instit I. c), and more especially from the refutation which Eusebius wrote of it. (See above, p. 116.) We there see that Hierocles attacked the character of Jesus Christ and his apostles, and put him on an equality with ApoUonius of Tyana. (Comp. Fabric. Bill. Grace, vol. i. p. 792 ; Cave, Hist. Lit. vol, i. p. 1 31, vol. ii. p. 99 ; Pearson, Pro- legomena to Hierocles, p. xiii. ed. Needham, who, however, confounds our Hierocles with No. 5. ) 5. A New Platonist, who lived at Alexandria about the middle of the fifth century, and enjoyed a very great reputation. He is commonly con- sidered to be the author of a commentary on the golden verses of Pythagoras, which is still extant, and in which the author endeavours to give an intelligible account of the philosophy of Pytha- goras. The verses of Pythagoras form the basis, but the commentator endeavours to give a suc- cinct view of the whole philosophy of Pythagoras, whence his work is of some importance to us, and may serve as a guide in the study of the Pytlj|- gorean philosophy. This commentary was first published in a Latin translation by J. Aurispa, Padua, 1474, 4to., and afterwards at Rome, 1475, 1493, 1495, 4to., and at Basel, 1543, 8vo. The Greek original with a new Latin version was first edited by J. Curterius, Paris, 1583, 12rao. A better edition, incorporating also the fragments of other works of Hierocles, was published by J. Pearson, London, 1654 and 1655, 4to., and with additions and improvements by P. Needham, Cam- bridge, 1709, 8vo. A still better edition of the commentary alone is that by R. Warren, London, 1742, 8vo. Hierocles was further the author of an extensive work entitled Ilepl Tlpovoias koX el/JLapfxevris Ka Tov ecp' t'iimu irpds ttjj/ ^eiav i^yf/xouiau crvvrd^ewSy that is. On Providence, Fate, and the reconciliation of man's free will with the divine government of the world. The whole consisted of Seven books, HIEROCLES. 453 and was dedicated to Olympiodorus ; but the work is now lost, and all that has come down to us con- sists of some extracts from it preserved in Photius (BibLCod. 214, 251). These extracts are also found separately in some MSS., and were published by F. Morelli at Paris, 1593 and 1597, 8vo. They are also contained in Pearson's and Needham 's edi- tions of the Commentary on Pythagoras. From these extracts we see that Hierocles endeavoured to show the agreement between Plato and Aristotle against the doctrines of the Stoics and Epicureans, and to refute those who attempted to deny the Divine Providence. A third work of an ethical nature is known to us from a number of extracts in Stobaeus (see the passages referred to above, under No. 3), on jus- tice, on reverence towards the gods, on the conduct towards parents and relations, towards one's country, on marriage, &c. Tlie maxims they inculcate are of a highly estimable kind. The work to which these extracts belonged probably bore the title Ta (iXo(To(povueva (Suid. s. v. 'E^ttoScJj/ ; Apostol. Prov. ix. 90 ). These extracts are likewise con- tained in Pearson's and Needham's editions of the Commentary. There is another work, which is referred to under the title oiOlKovo/xiKos, but which probably formed only a part of the Td cpiXoaocpov- fieva. Lastly, we have to notice that Theosebius, a dis- ciple of Hierocles, published a commentary on the Gorgias of Plato, which consisted of notes taken down by the disciple in the lectures of Hierocles. (Phot. mi. Cod. 292.) There is extant a work called 'Ao-reia, a collec- tion of ludicrous tales and anecdotes, droll ideas, and silly speeches of school pedants, &c., which was formerly ascribed to Hierocles the New Pla- tonist ; but it is obviously the production of a very insignificant person, who must have lived at a later time than the New Platonist. It was first pub- lished by Marq. Freherus, Ladenburg, 1605, 8vo., and afterwards by J. A. Schier, Leipzig, 1750, 8vo. ; it is also contained in Pearson's and Need- ham's editions of the Commentary on Pythagoras, and in J. de Rhoer's Observatiuncs Pldlologicae^ Groningen, 1768, 8vo. 6. A Greek grammarian, who is known to us only as the author of a work entitled 'XuveKSrfixos, that is, The Travelling Companion, which is intended as a handbook for travellers through the provinces of the Eastern empire. It was probably written at the beginning of the sixth century of our era ; it con- tains a list of 64 eparchiae or provinces of the East- em empire, and of 935 different towns, with brief descriptions, and is therefore of considerable import- ance for the geography of those countries. The first edition in C. a S. Paulo, Geograph. Sacr., Paris, 1641, and Amsterdam, 1704, fol., is incomplete. Better editions are those in E. Schelstraten's A7di- quitas Eccles. Illtistr., Rome, 1697, vol. ii., and in vol. i. of Banduri's Imperium Orient. ; but by far the best edition is that of P. Wesseling, in liis Veterwn liomanorum Itineraria, Amsterdam, 1735, 4to., p. 631, &c. [L. S.] HIEROCLES ('UpoKrjs the author of a treatise on veterinary surgery, of which only some fragments remain, which are to be found in the collection of writers on this subject, first published in Latin by Joannes Ruellius, Paris, 1530, fol., and afterwards in Greek by Simon Grynaeus, Basel, 15-37, 4ta. Nothing is known of the events