Rome, a Plague, and Three Magi
Aug. 11th, 2023 12:02 pmI've seen a little legend referenced in a number of places concerning Rome, a Plague, and the three magi tasked with ending it. I managed to track down the reference: it comes from Anastasius Sinaita, Quæstiones et Responsiones:
When Rome was suffering from a plague, the emperor Domitian summoned three magi to the city and asked for their help. Apuleius [of Madaura, Platonist and author of the Golden Ass,] told the emperor that he could put an end to the plague in a third of the city within fifteen days. Apollonius [of Tyana, Pythagorean and wandering miracle worker,] claimed that he could perform the same feat in another third of the city within only ten days. But Julianus [the Theurgist, author of the Chaldean Oracles], objecting that the plague would destroy the city before fifteen days could pass, put an end to it immediately in the remaining third of the city. Domitian then asked Julianus to free the other two-thirds of Rome from the plague, and he quickly did so.
It is, of course, a very doubtful story, as it is clearly hagiographic and the lifetimes of the four people in question don't align.