The Great Initiates

 Apollonius of Tyana (c. 1 – 98 A.D.) is a Neopythagorean philosopher. By destructed sources at the beginning of the III century the sophist Flavius Philostratus composed the biography called “Life of Apollonius of Tyana in 8 books written at the request of empress Julia Domna. According to the life history written by Philostratus Apollonius was born into a respected and wealthy family in Cappadocian town of Tyana.