Listed 6 sub titles with search on: Biographies for destination: "CHALKIS Ancient city SYRIA".
Herodes, king of Chalcis, was son of Aristobulus, the ill-fated son of the Asmonean Mariamne, and brother of Herod Agrippa I. (Joseph. Ant. xviii. 5.4.) He obtained the kingdom of Chalcis from Claudius at the request of his brother Agrippa (A. D. 41): he was at the same time honoured by the emperor with the praetorian dinity; and after the death of Agrippa (A. D. 44), Claudius bestowed upon him the general superintendence of the temple and sacred treasury at Jerusalem, together with the right of appointing the high-priests. Of the latter privilege he availed himself, first to remove Cantheras, and appoint Joseph, the son of Camus, and again, subsequently to displace Joseph, and bestow that high dignity upon Ananias, the son of Nebedeus. These are all the events that are recorded of his reign, which lasted less than eight years, as he died in A. D. 48, when his petty kingdom was bestowed by Claudius upon his nephew, Herod Agrippa II. (Joseph. Ant. xix. 5.1, xx. 1. 3, 5.2, B. J. ii. 11.5, 6; Dion Cass. lx. 8.) He was twice married, first to Mariamne, daughter of Olympias, the daughter of Herod the Great, by whom he had a son, Aristobulus; secondly, to the accomplished Berenice, daughter of his brother Agrippa, who bore him two sons, Berenicianus and Hyrcanus. (Joseph. Ant. xviii. 5.4, xx. 5.2.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Iamblichus (Iamblichos). A NeoPlatonic philosopher, a native of Chalcis in CoeleSyria. He died about A.D. 330. He was a pupil of Porphyry and a follower of Plotinus; but pushing their teachings to the point of absurdity, became a mere charlatan and impostor, seeking the reputation of a magician and wonder-worker. His writings include (i.) a life of Pythagoras (Peri tou Puthagorikou Biou) in ten books, of which four parts are extant, edited by Nauck (1884); (ii.) a work on mathematics (Peri Koines Mathematikes Epistemes), edited by Fries (1790); (iii.) two treatises on mystical arithmetic (Peri Nikomachou Arithmetikes Eisagoges and Ta Theologoumena tes Arithmetikes), the latter edited by Ast (1817); (iv.) a treatise on the Egyptian mysteries (Peri Musterion), and intending to prove their divine origin, edited by Parthey (1857); and (v.) a sort of introduction to the study of Plato (Protreptikoi Logoi eis Philosophian), edited by Kiessling (1813). The treatise on the mysteries and those on arithmetic are possibly not the work of Iamblichus.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Iamblichus, a celebrated Neo-Platonic philosopher, was born at Chalcis in Coele-Syria,
and was perhaps a descendant of the poet Iamblichus. He was a pupil of Anatolius
and Porphyrius. Respecting his life we know very little beyond the fact that he
resided in Syria till his death, making every year an excursion to the hot springs
of Gadara. He died in the reign of Constantine the Great, and probably before
A. D. 333 (Suidas, s.v. Iamblichos; Eunapius, Iamblich). He had studied with great
zeal the philosophy of Plato and Pythagoras, and was also acquainted with the
theology and philosophy of the Chaldaeans and Egyptians. The admiration which
he enjoyed among his contemporaries was so great that they declared him to be
equal to Plato himself, and that the difference of time was the only one existing
between them (Julian, Orat. iv., Epist. 40). We cannot join in this admiration,
for although he pretended to be a follower of Plato, his Platonism was so much
mixed up with notions and doctrines derived from the East, and with those of other
Greek philosophers, especially Pythagoras, that it may justly be termed a syncretic
philosophy. By means of this philosophy, which was further combined with a great
deal of the superstition of the time, he endeavoured to oppose and check the progress
of Christianity. He did not acquiesce in the doctrines of the earlier New Platonists,
Porphyrius and Plotinus, who regarded the perception and comprehension of the
Deity, by means of ecstasies, as the object of all philosophy; but his opinion
was that man could be brought into direct communion with the Deity through the
medium of theurgic rites and ceremonies, whence he attached particular importance
to mysteries, initiations, and the like.
Iamblichus was the author of a considerable number of works, of which
a few only have come down to us. The most important among them are:
1. Peri Puthagorou haireseos, on the philosophy of Pythagoras. It was intended
as a preparation for the study of Plato, and consisted originally of ten books,
of which five only are extant. The first of them, entitled Peri tou Puthagorikou
Biou, contains a detailed account of the life of Pythagoras and his school, but
is an uncritical compilation from earlier works; as howeverthese works are lost,
thecompilation of Iamblichus is not without its peculiar value to us. This life
of Pythagoras was first edited by J. Arcerius Theodoretus in Greek and Latin,
Franeker, 1598. The most recent and best editions are those of L. Kuster (Amsterdam,
1707) and Th. Kiessling (Leipzig, 1815). The second book, entitled Protreptikoi
logoi eis philosophian, forms a sort of introduction to the study of Plato, and
is, like the former, for the most part compiled from the works of earlier writers,
and almost without any plan or system. The last chapter contains an explanation
of 39 Pythagorean symbols. The first edition is that of Arcerius Theodoretus,
and the best that of Th. Kiessling, Leipzig, 1813. The third book is entitled
Peri koines mathematikes episteus, and contains many fragments of the works of
early Pythagoreans, especially Philolaus and Archytas. It exists in MS. in various
libraries, but for a long time only fragments were published, until at length
Villoisonin his Anecdota Graeca (vol. ii.) printed the whole of it, after which
it was edited separately by J. G. Fries, Copenhagen, 1790. The fourth book, entitled
Peri tes Nikomachou arithmetikes eisagoges, was first edited by Sam. Tennulius,
Deventer and Arnheim, 1668. The fifth and sixth books, which treated on physics
and ethics, are lost; but the seventh, entitled TΓ Deologoumena tes arithmetikes,
is still extant, and has been published by Ch. Wechel (Paris, 1543) and Fr. Ast
(Leipzig, 1817). With regard to the other books of this work, we know that the
eighth contained an introduction to music, the ninth an introduction to geometry,
and the tenth the spheric theory of Pythagoras.
2. Peri musterion, in one book. An Egyptian priest of the name of Abammon is there
introduced as replying to a letter of Porphyrius. He endeavours to refute various
doubts respecting the truth and purity of the Egyptian religion and worship, and
to prove the divine origin of the Egyptian and Chaldaean theology, as well as
that men, through theurgic rites, may commune with the Deity. Many critics have
endeavoured to show that this work is not a production of Iamblichus, while Tennemann
and others have vindicated its authenticity; and there are apparently no good
reasons why the authorship should be denied to Iamblichus. The work has been edited
by Ficinus (Venice, 1483, with a Lat. translation), N. Scutellius (Rome, 1556),
and Th. Gale (Oxford, 1678, with a Lat. translation).
Besides these works, we have mention of one. Peri psuches, of which
a fragment is preserved in Stobaeus (Flor. tit. 25, 6), Epistles, several of which
are quoted by Stobaeus, on the gods and other works, among which we may notice
a great one, Peri tes teleiotates Chalkidaikes philosophias of which some fragments
are preserved by Damascius in his work, Peri archon. Iamblichus further wrote
commentaries on some of Plato's dialogues, viz., on the Parmenides, Timaeus and
Phaedon, and also on the Analytica of Aristotle.
(Comp. Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. viii.; G. E. Hebenstreit, Dissertatio de Iamblicho,
philos. Syr. Lipsiae, 1764)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Jan 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Dexippus (Dexippos), a commentator on Plato and Aristotle, was a disciple of the Neo-Platonic
philosopher Iamblichus, and lived in the middle of the fourth century of the Christian
era. We still possess a commentary of Dexippus on the Categories of Aristotle,
in the form of a dialogue, which, however, is printed only in a Latin translation.
It appeared at Paris, 1549, under the title of "Quaestionum in Categorias libri
tres, interprete J. Bernardo Feliciano", and again at Venice, 1546, after the
work of Porphyry In Praedicam. The Greek title in the Madrid Codex is, Dexippou
philosophou Platonikou ton eis tas Arostotelous Kategorias Aporion te kai Luseon
kephalaia m.
In this work the author explains to one Seleucus the Aristotelian
Categories, and endeavors at the same time to refute the objections of Plotinus.
(Plotin. Ennead. vi. 1, 2, 3; comp. Simplic. ad Arist. Categ. fol. 1, a.; Tzetzes,
Chiliad. ix. Hist. 274).
Specimens of the Greek text are to be found in Iriarte, Cod. Bibl.
Matrit. Catalog., and from these we learn that there are other dialogues of Dexippus
on similar subjects still extant in manuscript.
Iamblichus (Iamblichos), a Syrian who lived in the time of the emperor Trajan. He was educated at Babylon, and did not become acquainted with the Greek language till a late period of his life. After having lived at Babylon for a number of years, he was taken prisoner and sold as a slave to a Syrian, who, however, appears to have set him free again. He is said to have acquired such a perfect knowledge of Greek, that he even distinguished himself as a rhetorician (Suidas, s.c. Iamblichos; Schol. ad Phot. Bibl. Cod. 94). He was the author of a love story in Greek, which, if not the earliest, was at least one of the first productions of this kind in Greek literature. It bore the title Babulonika, and contained the story of two lovers, Sinonis and Rhodanes. According to Suidas, it consisted of 39 books; but Photius (Bibl. Cod. 94), who gives a tolerably full epitome of the work, mentions only 17 (Comp. Phot. Bibl. Cod. 166; Suid. s. vv. garmos, phasma). A perfect copy of the work in MS. existed down to the year 1671, when it was destroyed by fire. A few fragments of the original work are still extant, and a new one of some length has recently been discovered by A. Mai (Nov. Collect. Script. Vet. vol. ii.). The epitome of Photius and the fragments are collected in Chardon de la Rochette's Melanges de Critique et de Philologie, and in Passow's Corpus Erotic. vol. i.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Jan 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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