In the region of Paphlagonia (bordering the Black Sea in north-central Anatolia), a family of some means and influence was reported to have experienced a bizarre saga of incidents involving the disappearance of a young student, an accusation of murder, and a destabilizing intervention by a famous cult prophet. It was the 2nd century, around the time of the Roman emperors Antoninus Pius (r. 138-161) and Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180), when a son from the Paphlagonian family traveled to study abroad in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Unfortunately, by that time, the main Library of Alexandria compound had been devastated by fire during Julius Caesar’s intervention in the power struggle between Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII in the winter months of 48-47 BCE. Yet, there was still a great collection of intact texts at Alexandria’s Serapeum temple for the Paphlagonian student to peruse in the 2nd century. While in Egypt, the young man was eager for travel and adventure, with him going so far as reportedly boarding a ship that was bound for India. He may have even neglected to tell any of his associates that he was leaving Egypt! Whatever the case, it was around that time—while he was sailing beyond the reach of the Roman Empire—that the student’s family, friends, and attendants lost track of his whereabouts.
Back in Paphlagonia, the disappearance of the student caused his family great distress and panic. As the young man’s absence continued, anxiety and fear transitioned to anger and accusations. Meanwhile, after the youth did not return to Alexandria from his trip in accordance with the estimated travel schedule, the student’s attendants and servants evidently returned to Paphlagonia masterless. This elevated suspicion that the student had been murdered, abandoned, or otherwise neglected by his attendants. When questioned, the servants admitted they believed foul play was involved in the student’s disappearance. Yet, the attendants presumed that the student had likely perished in the Nile or beyond due to banditry, shipwreck, disease, or other perils faced by young and inexperienced travelers.
While the family struggled between desperation, fear, and hope, they decided to seek direction from oracles and prophecies. As Paphlagonians, they had easy access to the local cult of Glycon, a serpent figure with human hair that was supposedly a reincarnation of the healer-god Asclepius. Glycon’s cult was founded by Alexander of Abonoteichus during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius (r. 138-161), and it gained power, influence, and political reach during the era of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180), who gave the cult imperial recognition and renamed the city of Abonoteichus as Ionopolis. Along with the emperors, Alexander was close with multiple Roman governors, such as Servianus (of Cappadocia) and Rutilianus (of Moesia and Asia), the latter of which became a devoted son-in-law of Alexander of Abonoteichus. Suffice it to say, business was booming for Alexander. Positioned as the head priest and interpreter of this Glycon-Asclepius entity, the cult leader’s religious activities consisted of teachings, ceremonial rites, and a prophecy-for-pay operation where submitted questions (accompanied by a payment) would be answered by varyingly cryptic replies attributed to Glycon. It was this cult of Glycon that the family from Paphlagonia turned to when they wanted prophetic input about the disappearance of the student.
Alexander agreed to consult Glycon on behalf of the family and, as the story goes, the snake-entity’s response was to encourage the family to press charges against the servants who had lost track of the student. Heeding the prophetic advice, the family petitioned the nearby Roman governor of Galatia (just south of Paphlagonia) to take up the case. Their pleas were accepted, and the suspected servants were subsequently arrested for culpability in the student’s vanishing. Details of the trial were not recorded, but fate proved cruel for the servants. Authorities found them guilty in regard to the young man’s disappearance and supposed death. After the conclusion of the trial, the servants were summarily executed.
Unfortunately, the tragic story is not over. After all, this article involves a traveler who prevailed over a prophecy of his death. Consequently, after the cult of Glycon weighed in, and after the suspected servants were arrested, judged, and executed by Roman authorities, the region was understandably shocked when the long-missing student one day reappeared in Paphlagonia, proving that the servants had been innocent. This bizarre saga was biasedly recorded by the orator, teacher, and literary figure, Lucian of Samosata (c. 120-180+), who wrote:
“’Look here, Alexander, you induced some Paphlagonian or other to bring his servants on a capital charge before some governor of Galatia, accusing them of having murdered his son, who was studying in Alexandria. But the lad is alive and has returned large as life, after the servants have been executed, handed over by you to wild beasts.’ The facts were that the lad had sailed up into Egypt as far as Clysma, where there was a boat putting out to sea, and he was persuaded to join it and go to India. So, since he didn’t turn up when expected, those poor servants of his assumed that the lad had either perished when sailing on the Nile or been killed by robbers (there were many around at the time), and they returned to report his disappearance. Then came the oracle and their sentence—followed by the appearance of the young man with the story of his travels” (Lucian, Alexander or the False Prophet, chapter 44).
As hinted by Lucian’s title of Alexander or the False Prophet, he was not a supporter of Alexander of Abonoteichus or the cult of Glycon. Quite the opposite, Lucian believed that Alexander was a charlatan and that the supposed prophetic responses of Glycon were useless nonsense. There is also the issue of genre and occupation, for Lucian was known for comedy and satire, not history. It is for that reason that this article makes abundant use of words and phrases such as “tale,” “reportedly,” and “as the story goes,” for it can be difficult to differentiate fact, embellished truth, and fantasy in Lucian’s satirical writings. On the other hand, Lucian often referenced real people and actual events in his texts, and much of what he wrote about in regard to these historical subjects can be considered relatively reliable. Simply put, his satirical and imaginative tales usually contained grains of truth, albeit embellished and shaped for his comedic or satirical purposes. Whatever the case, his account should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Picture Attribution: (Left: Illustration labeled “De la Mosaique de Palestrine,” reportedly a sketch of a Roman mosaic depicting Egyptian life [c. 100 BC], found at Palestrina, Italy, [Public Domain] via NYPL. Right: Romanian stamp featuring Glycon, dated 1974, [Public Domain] via Picryl).
Sources:
- Lucian, Selected Dialogues, translated by C. D. N. Costa. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World Classics), 2005, 2006, 2009.
- The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion, edited by Simon Price and Emily Kearns. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
- https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095401554
