Alexander of Abonoteichus (Ancient Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ ἈβωνοτειχίτηςAléxandros ho Abōnoteichítēs), also called Alexander the Paphlagonian (c. 105 – c. 170 CE), was a Greek mystic and oracle, and the founder of the Glycon cult that briefly achieved wide popularity in the Roman world. The contemporary writer Lucian reports that he was an utter fraud – the god Glycon was supposedly made up of a live snake with an artificial head. The vivid narrative of his career given by Lucian might be taken as fictitious but for the corroboration of certain coins of the emperors Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius[1] and of a statue of Alexander, said by Athenagoras to have stood in the forum of Parium.[2][3] There is further evidence from inscriptions.[4]
Lucian describes him as having swindled many people and engaged, through his followers, in various forms of thuggery.[5] The strength of Lucian's venom against Alexander is attributed to Alexander's hate of the Epicureans. Lucian admired the works of Epicurus, a eulogy of which concludes the piece, and whether or not Alexander was the master of fraud and deceit as portrayed by Lucian, he may not have been too different from other oracles of the age, when a great deal of dishonest exploitation occurred in some shrines.[6]
^Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, Doctrma Nummorum veterum, ii. pp. 383, 384
^One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alexander the Paphlagonian". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 567. This cites:
Lucian, Άλεξάνδρος ἢ ψευδόμαντις
Samuel Dill, Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius (1904)
F. Gregorovius, The Emperor Hadrian, trans. by M. E. Robinson (1898).
^Athenagoras, Apology, c. 26
^See Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae, nos 4079-80
^"Alexander the False Prophet," translated with annotation by A. M. Harmon, Loeb Classical Library, 1936. [1]
^Nuttall Costa, Charles Desmond, Lucian: Selected Dialogues, p. 129, Oxford University Press (2005), 0-199-25867-8
and 21 Related for: Alexander of Abonoteichus information
AlexanderofAbonoteichus (Ancient Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Ἀβωνοτειχίτης Aléxandros ho Abōnoteichítēs), also called Alexander the Paphlagonian (c. 105 – c...
Marcus Aurelius Alexander Numenius, 2nd-century Greek rhetorician Alexander Peloplaton, 2nd-century Greek rhetorician AlexanderofAbonoteichus (c. 105–170)...
Passing of Peregrinus and the fraudulent oracle AlexanderofAbonoteichus in his treatise Alexander the False Prophet. Lucian's treatise On the Syrian...
Hellenized descendants of the Celtic Galatians. Lucian of Samosata recorded in circa AD 180 that the prophet AlexanderofAbonoteichus was able to find Celtic-speaking...
philosophy. Alexander ofAbonoteichus (c. 105 – c. 170 AD), also called Alexander the Paphlagonian, or the false prophet Alexander Saint Philaretos (8th...
Aurelia Sabina, Marcus Aurelius' last surviving child (d. 217) AlexanderofAbonoteichus, Greek mystic (b. AD 105) An Shigao, Chinese Buddhist missionary...
to its association with the divine. AlexanderofAbonoteichus may have exhibited glossolalia during his episodes of prophetic ecstasy. Neoplatonist philosopher...
book Alexander which is either a polemic or a witty satire aimed at AlexanderofAbonoteichus, depending on the point of view. The description of 20,000...
(approximate date). Change of Patriarch of Constantinople from Patriarch Plutarch to Patriarch Sedecion. AlexanderofAbonoteichus, Greek mystic and oracle...
on his character. Severianus had fallen under the influence ofAlexanderofAbonoteichus, a self-proclaimed prophet who carried a snake named Glycon around...
Famous exponents of theios aner were the famed Pythagoras, Empedocles, Apollonius of Tyana, Peregrinus Proteus and AlexanderofAbonoteichus, among others...
Alexander of Abonoteichus (c. 105 – c. 170 CE) who led the Glycon cult then widely popular in the Roman Empire. He described Alexander's alleged miracles...
much experience in military matters. Convinced by the prophet AlexanderofAbonoteichus that he could defeat the Parthians easily and win glory for himself...
Lucian of Samosata was a sharp critic of Neo-Pythagoreanism. After 180 AD he wrote a pamphlet wherein he attacked AlexanderofAbonoteichus, a student of one...
Pang Tong, Chinese adviser of warlord Liu Bei (d. 214) Sima Yi, Chinese general and regent (d. 251) 170 AlexanderofAbonoteichus, Greek mystic (b. AD 105)...
Glycon, who was the centre of a cult founded by a prophet known as AlexanderofAbonoteichus, and according to Alexander's critic Lucian, the god itself...
A list of works by Lucian (c. AD 125 – after AD 180), who wrote in Ancient Greek. The order of the works is that of the Oxford Classical Texts edition...
Rutilianus, the governor of Asia who is famous as a follower of the self-described prophet AlexanderofAbonoteichus thanks to the works of Lucian. In Cappadocia...
proconsular governor of Asia, the apex of a successful Senatorial career, which Ronald Syme dates to the term 160/161. AlexanderofAbonoteichus had established...
memorable as the birthplace of the infamous fortuneteller Alexander Abonoteichites, founder of the cult of Glycon, of whom Lucian left an amusing account...
residence at Abonoteichus. The opportune discovery of these tablets caused this story to spread quickly to all Bithynia and Pontus, and to Abonoteichus sooner...
Global Information