Apollonius is said to have been born in the early years of the Christian era in Cappadocia and according to Philostratus he raised the dead, healed the sick and ascended bodily into heaven. He was, as Professor Bowersock explains in his introduction, one of life's committed non-conformists who became a figure of importance in the great struggle of the pagans against the Christians. Later St. Augustine himself rebuked the foolishness of those who ranked Apollonius above Jesus Christ.
