A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

1. Of ATHENS. While Demetrius prevailed at Athens, Sophocles of the Sunian district (Σουνινεύς), got a law passed, ordaining that no philo sopher should teach in Athens, without the express consent of the boule and the people, on pain of death. This had the effect of driving Theophrastus, tus, and all the other philosophers, from Athens. (D. L. 5.38.) Hence Athenaeus erroneonsly neously represents this Iaw as expressly banishing them (xiii. p. 610. f.; compare Pollux, 9.42, where the law is said to have been aimed at the Sophists). This law was opposed by Philon, a friend of Aristotle, and defended by Demochares, the nephew of Demosthenes. (Athen. l.c.) The exertions of Philon were successful, and next year the philosophers returned, Demochares being sentenced to pay a fine of five talents. (Diog. Laert. l.c., where for Φιλλίωνος read Φιλώνος. The date of this transaction is doubtful. Alexis (apud Athen. l.c.) merely mentions Demetrius, without enabling us to judge whether it is Phalereus, reus, B. C. 316, or Poliorcetes, B. C. 307. Clinton leans to the former opinion. F.H. vol. ii. p. 169.) But he gives references to the opinions of others, who think it referable to the time of Demetrius Poliorcetes--to whom may be added Ritter. >His of Ancient Philosophy, vol. iii. p 379. Engl. Transl.) Jonsius (De Script. Hist. Phil.) places it as low as about B. C. 300. It is not improbable that this Philon is the slave of Aristotle, whom, in his will, he ordered to receive his freedom, (D. L. 5.15.)

2. Of BYZANTIUM, a celebrated mechanician, and a contemporary of Ctesibius. As much confusion has arisen regarding the era of these two men, and of Heron the pupil of Ctesibius (see Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iv. pp. 222, 234; Anthlolog. Graec. ed. Jacobs, vol. xiii. p. 899; Montucla, Histoire des Mathencatiqules, vol. i. p. 268), it will be necessary to attend to the correct date. Athenaeus, the mechanician, mentions that Ctesibius dedicated his work to Marcellus. This Marcellus has been supposed to be the illustrious captor of Syracuse, without any evidence. Again, the epigrammatist Hedylus speaks (Athen. 11.497c.) of Ctesibius in connection with a temple to Arsinoe, the wife and sister of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Hence it has been stated that Ctesibius flourished about the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus and Euergetes I B. C. 285-222, and Athenaeus, in that of Archimedes,

3. CARPATHIUS (from Carpathus, an island north-east of Crete), or rather CARPASIUS (from Carpasia, a town in the north of Cyprus).

His birth-place is unknown; but he derived this cognomen from his having been ordained bishop of Carpasia, by Epiphanius, the well-known bishop of Constantia. According to the statement of Joannes and Polybius, bishop of Rhinoscuri, in their life of Epiphanius, Philon, at that time a deacon, was sent, along with some others, by the sister of the emperors Arcadius and Honorius, to bring Epiphanius to Rome, that, through his prayers and the laying on of hands, she might be saved from a dangerous disease under which she was labouring. Pleased with Philon, Epiphanius not only ordained him bishop of Carpasia, but gave him charge of his own diocese during his absence. This was about the beginning of the fifth century (Cave, Hist. Litt. p. 240, ed. Genev.).

4. Of GADARA, and a pupil of Sporus. He extended to 10,000 decimal places the approximation of the proportion of the diameter to the circumference of the circle. (Eutoc. Comment. in Archinncd. de Dim. Cire. in Montucla, vol. i. p. 340.)

5. The GEOGRAPHER, is mentioned by Strabo (ii. p.77) as having written an account of a voyage to Aethiopia. According to a conjecture of Vossius (De Hist. Graec. p. 486, ed. Westermann) this is the same with the Philon quoted by Antigonus Carystius (Hist. Mirab. 100.160).

6. HERACLEIOTES. Porphyry refers to a work of his, Περὶ θαυμασιῶν. (Stob. >Eclog. Physic. p. 130, ed. 1609.) He is probably the same with the Philon, the first book of whose work is quoted as an authority by Suidas (s.v. Παλαίφατος). This work is there entitled, Περὶ παραδόξου ἱστορία. Some absurdities are quoted by Aelian, from a similar work written by a Philon (H. A. 12.37). We have no means of determining his age, but as he states that Palaephatus was a favourite of Aristotle, he must have lived subsequently to that philosopher. (Snidas. l.c.) To him has been conjecturally referred the work, De Septem Orbis Mliraeulis, described under PHILON OF BYZANTIUM. [No. 2.] (Fabric. Bibl. Graee. vol. iv. p. 233.)

7. HERENNIUS BYBLIUS. Suidas (s. v. Φίλων) styles this Philon only Herennius. According to him he was a grammarian, and, if the text be correct, filled the office of consul. But, if Suidas actually made this statement, it must, as is remarked by Kuster (ad locum), have been through oversight. He was born about the time of Nero, and lived to a good old age, having written of the reign of Hadrian. This is all that we know of his life, except on his own authority, as given by Suidas, that he was in his 78th year in the consulship of Herennius Severus, from whose patronage he doubtless received his surname. This consulship, Suidas states, occurred in the 220th Olympiad, the last year of which was A. D. 104. Now, granting that this is the year meant, it has been deemed highly mprobabie that he should have lived to chronicle the reign of Hadrian, who succeeded A. D. 117, when, according to this computation, Philon must have been 91 years old, especially as Hadrian reigned 21 years. The consulship of Herennius Severus unfortunately cannot aid us, for there is no consul of that name about this period ; there is a Catili is Severus, A. D. 120, and Haeniins Severus, A. D. 141, and Herennius must have been a consul suffectus. Sealiger, Tillemont, and Clinton, have proposed various emenldations on the text of Suidas, Clinton conjecturally assigning his birth to A. D. 47, and consequently his 78th year to A. D. 124. (Fasti Rom. pp. 31, 111). After all, the text of Suidas may be correct enough. He expressly says that the life of Philon was very long protracted, παρέτεινεν εἰς μακρόν ; and regarding Hadrian all he says is, he wrote περὶ τῆς βασιλείας, not that he wrote a history of his reign.

8. METAPONTINUS, a musician and poet. (Steph. Byz. s.v. Μεταπόντιον).

9. MONK. An ascetic treatise, bearing the name of Philon Monachus, whom Cave (H. L. p. 176, Diss.) deems to be much later than the other ecclesiastical writers of the same name, is preserved in the library of Vienna (Cod. Tleol. 325, No. 15). It is entitled, Contra Pulehritudinem Feminarum.

10. The PYTHAGOREAN. Clemens Alexandrinus (Strom. i. p. 305), and Sozomenes (1.12), mention Philon ὁ Πυθαγόρειος. It is probable from their language that they both mean by the person so designated PHLON JUDAEUS. Jonsius (ibid. 3.100.4, p. 17) is strongly of opinion that Philon the elder, and this Philon mentioned by Clemens, are the same. Fabricius, who once held this opinion, was led to change his views (Fabric. Bibl. vol. i. p. 862), and tacitly assumes (vol. iv. p. 738) that Sozomenes indicated Philon Judaeus by this epithet.

11. RHETORICIAN and PHILOSOPHER. Cave, Giacomellus, and Ernesti, are of opinion that this is no other than Philon Carpasius. His era agrees with this, for the philosopher is quoted by Athanasius Sinaita, who flourished about A. D. 561. We need not be startled at the term philosopher as applied to an ecclesiastic. This was not uncommon. Michael Psellus was termed the prince of philosophers, and Nicetas was surnamed, in the same way as Philon, ῥήτωρ καὶ φιλοσόφος. Besides, Polybius, in the life of Epiphanius alluded to above, expressly calls Philon of Carpasia κληρικόν ἀπὸ ῥητόρων, which Tillemont and others erroneously understand to mean a man who has changed from the profession of the law to that of the church. Cave shows that the ῥήτωρ held an office in the church itself, somewhat analogous to our professorship of ecclesiastical history. Our only knowledge of Philon, under this name, whether it be Philon Carpasius or not, is from an inedited work of Anastasius Sinaita, preserved in the library of Vienna and the Bodleian. Glycas (Annal. p. 282, &c.), it is true, quotes as if from Philon, but he has only borrowed verbatim and without acknowledgment. from Anastasius. The work of Anastasius referred to, is entitled by Cave, Demonstratio Historica de Magna et Angelica summi Sacerdotis Dignitate. Philon's work, therein quoted, is styled a Church history, but, if we may judge from the only specimen of it we have, we need hardly regret its loss. It consists of a tale regarding a monk, that being excommunicated by his bishop, and having afterwards suffered martyrdom, he was brought in his coffin to the church, but could not rest till the bishop, warned in a dream, had formally absolved him. (Cave, Hist. Litt. p. 176, ed. Genevae, 1720; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vii. p. 420.)

12. SENIOR. Josephus (Apion. 1.23), when enumerating the heathen writers who had treated of Jewish history, mentions together Demetrius Phalereus, Philon, and Eupolemon. Philon he calls the elder (ὁ πρεσβύτερος), probably to distinguish him from Philon Judaeus, and he cannot mean Herennius Philon, who lived after his time. Clemens Alexandrinus (Stromat. i. p. 146) also couples together the names of Philon the elder and Demetrius, stating that their lists of Jewish kings differed. Hence Vossius thinks that both authors refer to the same person. (De Hist. Grae. p. 486, ed. Westermann.) And in this Jonsius agrees with him, while he notices the error of Josephus, in giving Demetrius the surname of Phalerens. (De Script. Hist. Phil. 3.4. p. 17.) As Huetius (Demonstrat. Evangel. p. 62) was of opinion that the apocryphal Book of Wisdom was written by this Philon, he was necessitated to consider him as an Hellenistic Jew, who, unskilled in the original Hebrew, had it translated, and then expanded it, in language peculiar to his class. (Ibid. pp. 62, 246, &c.) Fabricius thinks that the Philon mentioned by Josephus, may have been a Gentile, and that a Philon different from either Philon Judaeus, or senior, was the author of the Book of Wisdom. Eusebius (Praep. Evangel. 9.20, 24) quotes fifteen obscure hexameters from Philon, without giving hint of who he is, and merely citing them as from Alexander Polyhistor. These evidently form part of a history of the Jews in verse, and were written either by a Jew, in the character of a heathen, as Fabricius hints is possible, or by a heathen acquainted with the Jewish Scriptures. This is, in all probability, the author, and the work referred to by Josephus and Clemens Alexandrinus. Of course the author must have lived before the time of Alexander Polyhistor, who came to Rome, B. C. 83. It is doubtful whether he is the same writer with the geographer of the same name, mentioned above.

13. Of TARSUS, a deacon. He was a companion of Ignatius of Antioch, and accompanied the martyr from the East to Rome, A. D. 107. He is twice mentioned in the epistles of Ignatius (ad Philadelph. 100.11, ad Smyrnaeos, 100.13). He is supposed to have written, along with Rheus Agathopus, the Martyrium Ignatii, for which see IGNATIUS, in this work, Vol. II. p. 566b. (Comp. Cave, Hist Litt. p. 28. ed. Genevae 1720

14. Of THEBES. is quoted by Plutarch as an au thority in his Life of Alexander (c.46). He is probably the same Philon, who is mentioned as an authority for the Indian Antissa by Stephanus Byzantinus (s. v. Ἄντισσα).

15. THYANENSIS, a geometrician of profound abilities, if we may judge from the subject of his writings, which regarded the most transcendental parts of ancient geometry, the consideration of curve lines. In particular, he investigated the lines formed by the intersection of a plane with certain curved surfaces. These lines are called by Pappus πλεκτοίδες (Coll. Mlath. iv. post prop. 40). The nature of the surfaces or the lines is unknown; but Pappus informs us that their investigation excited the admiration of many geometricians; among others, of Menelaus of Alexandria. As Menelaus was in Rome A. D. 98, Philon must have preceded him. (Montuela, vol. i. p. 316.)