The Apology of Aristides the Philosopher.

 I.  I, O King, by the grace of God came into this world and when I had considered the heaven and the earth and the seas, and had surveyed the sun and

 II.  Since, then, we have addressed you concerning God, so far as our discourse can bear upon him, let us now come to the race of men, that we may kno

 III.  Let us begin, then, with the Barbarians, and go on to the rest of the nations one after another, that we may see which of them hold the truth as

 IV.  Let us turn now, O King, to the elements in themselves, that we may make clear in regard to them, that they are not gods, but a created thing, li

 V.  In the same way, again, those erred who believed the waters to be gods.  For the waters were created for the use of man, and are put under his rul

 VI.  So also they erred who believed that the sun is a god.  For we see that it is moved by the compulsion of another, and revolves and makes its jour

 VII.  And those who believed of the men of the past, that some of them were gods, they too were much mistaken.  For as you yourself allow, O King, man

 VIII.  Let us turn further to the Greeks also, that we may know what opinion they hold as to the true God.  The Greeks, then, because they are more su

 IX.  Let us proceed further to their account of their gods that we may carefully demonstrate all that is said above.  First of all, the Greeks bring f

 X.  Again they bring forward as another god Hephaistos.  And they say of him, that he is lame, and a cap is set on his head, and he holds in his hands

 XI.  And after him they bring forward another god and call him Apollon.  And they say that he is jealous and inconstant, and at times he holds the bow

 XII.  The Egyptians, moreover, because they are more base and stupid than every people that is on the earth, have themselves erred more than all.  For

 XIII.  But it is a marvel, O King, with regard to the Greeks, who surpass all other peoples in their manner of life and reasoning, how they have gone

 XIV.  Let us come now, O King, to the history of the Jews also, and see what opinion they have as to God.  The Jews then say that God is one, the Crea

 XV.  But the Christians, O King, while they went about and made search, have found the truth and as we learned from their writings, they have come ne

 XVI.  Such, O King, is the commandment of the law of the Christians, and such is their manner of life.  As men who know God, they ask from Him petitio

 XVII.  Thus far, O King, I have spoken for concerning that which remains, as is said above, there are found in their other writings things which are

The Apology of Aristides the Philosopher.

Translated from the Syriac.

Aristedes.

Here follows the defence which Aristides the philosopher made before Hadrian the King on behalf of reverence for God.

…All-powerful Cæsar Titus Hadrianus Antoninus, venerable and merciful, from Marcianus Aristides, an Athenian philosopher.1    The superscription seems to be duplicate in the Syriac.  It is absent from the Greek as we have it; the Armenian has “To the Emperor Cæsar Hadrian from Aristides.”  Various explanations are offered.  (a) Both emperors, as colleagues, may be meant.  In support of this the Syriac adjectives for “venerable and merciful” are marked plural; the phrase “Your majesty” occurring later has a plural suffix; and two Imperatives, “Take and read,” are plural.  On the other hand “O King” occurs constantly in the singular; and the emperors were colleagues only for a few months in the year a.d. 138.   (b)  The longer heading is the true one—the shorter being due perhaps to a scribe who had a collection of works to copy.  In that case the word “Hadrian” has been selected from the full title of Antonine, and the two adjectives “venerable and merciful” are proper names, Augustus Pius.  (Harris.)   (c)  The shorter heading has the support of Eusebius and the Armenian version; and the translator into Syriac may have amplified.   (***) Almighty is separated from the word for “God” by a pause, and is not an attribute which a Christian would care to apply to a Roman emperor.  παντοκράτωρ may have been confounded with αὐ τοκράτωρ.  Raabe supplies *** giving the sense “qui imperium (postatem) habet,” as an epithet of Cæsar.  If *** ="Renewed, or dedicated again to…Antoninus Pius,” could be read, both headings might be retained.

The Apology of Aristides. Fragments.