Hierocles

• a celebrated orator of Alabanda, an older contemporary of Cicero, Cic. Brut. 95, 325; id. de Or. 2, 23, 95; id. Or. 69, 231.

(Ἱεροκλῆς), historical.

1. The father of Hieron II., king of Syracuse. [Hieron II.]

2. A Carian leader of mercenaries, which formed part of the garrison in the forts of Athens, under Demetrius Poliorcetes. He discovered to his commanding officer, Heracleides, some overtures which had been made to him by the Athenians to induce him to betray into their hands the fortress of the Museum, and thus caused the complete destruction of the Athenian force that attempted to surprise it. (Polyaen. 5.17.1.) He is probably the same whom we find at a subsequent period (as early as B. C. 278), holding the command of the Peiraeeus and Munychia for Antigonus Gonatas. His relations within the philosopher Arcesilaus appear to indicate that he was a man of cultivated mind. (D. L. 2.127, 4.39; Droysen, Hellenism. vol. ii. pp. 84, 206.)

3. A native of Agrigentum, who, after the defeat of Antiochus III. at Thermopylae (B. C. 191), surrendered the island of Zacynthus, with the command of which he had been entrusted by Amynander, to the Achaeans. (Liv. 36.32.)

4. A Carian slave, afterwards a charioteer, in which capacity he attracted the attention of the emperor Elagabalus : he quickly rose to a high place in the favour of that prince, and became one of the chief ministers of his infamous debaucheries, by which means he obtained so firm a hold over him, that he continued to the last to be the chief dispenser of the favours and patronage of the emperor. He was put to death by the soldiery in a sedition, shortly before the death of Elagabalus himself, A. D. 222. (D. C. 79.15, 19 ; Lamprid. Elagab. 6, 15.) [E.H.B]

(Ἱεροκλῆς), literary.

1. A Greek rhetorician of Alabanda in Caria, who, like his brother Menecles, was distinguished by that kind of oratory which was designated by the name of the Asiatic, in contrast with Attic oratory. His brother was the teacher of the famous Molo of Rhodes, the teacher of Cicero, so that Hierocles must have lived about B. C. 100. We do not hear that he wrote any rhetorical works, but his orations appear to have been extant in the time of Cicero. (Brut. 95, Orat. 69, de Orat. 2.23; Strab. xiv. p.661.)

2. The author of a work entitled Φιλίστορες, or the friends of history, which is referred to several times, and seems to have chiefly contained marvellous stories about men and animals. (Steph. Byz. s. vv. Βραχμᾶνες, Ταρκυνία; Tzetz. Chil. 7.146, 716, &c.) The time at which he lived is uncertain, though he belongs, in all probability, to a later date than Hierocles of Alabanda.

3. Of Hyllarima in Caria, is mentioned by Stephanus Byzantius (s. v. Ὑλλάριμα), and from an athlete turned philosopher. Whether he is the same as the Stoic who is spoken of by Gellius (9.5), cannot be decided. Vossius (de Hist. Graec. p. 453, &c., ed. Westermann) conjectures that he is the same as Hierocles the author of a work entitled Oeconomicus, from which some extracts are preserved in Stobaeus (Flor. 84.20, 23, 85.21, 79.53, 39.34-36, 67.21-24), and that he also was the author of a work on justice (Stob. 8.19). though the name is there perhaps a mistake for Hierax. (Comp. 5.60, 9.56-59, 10.77, 78, 93.39.) There is also a Hierocles, of whom there is still extant a commentary on the golden verses of Pythagoras, and who may be the same as the one of Hyllarima. Suidas, it is true, calls him an Alexandrian, but this may be only because he studied philosophy at Alexandria. (Comp. No. 5.) Vossius goes still further, and identifies him with the Hierocles who compared Apollonius of Tyana with Jesus Christ, in a work to which Eusebius wrote a reply (see No. 4) : it is, however, not impossible that Hierocles of Hyllarima may be the same as the one alluded to by Apostolius. (Proverb. 8.20, 11.90.)

4. A Roman proconsul at first of Bithynia, and afterwards at Alexandria, in the time of Diocletian, A. D. 284-305. Works

It is said that this emperor was instigated to his persecution of the Christians, in A. D. 302, mainly by Hierocles, who was a man of great philosophical acquirements, and exerted all his powers to suppress the Christians and their religion, and raise the polytheistic notions of the Pagans by attributing to them a profound meaning, which had only been misunderstood and mistaken by the vulgar. (Lactant. Instit. Div. 5.2, de Mort. Persecut. 16.) Work against the Christians (Λόγοι φιλαλήθεις πρὸς τοὺς Χριστιανούς)

With this object in view, he published a work against the Christians, in which he attempted to point out contradictions in the Scriptures in the historical as well as in the doctrinal portions. It bore the title Λόγοι φιλαλήθεις πρὸς τοὺς Χριστιανούς, and consisted of two books the work itself is lost, but we may still form an idea of it from the notice which Lactantius takes of it (Div. Instit. l.c.), and more especially from the refutation which Eusebius wrote of it. (See above, p. 116.) We there see that Hierocles attacked the character of Jesus Christ and his apostles, and put him on an equality with Apollonius of Tyana. Further Information

Comp. Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. i. p. 792; Cave, Hist. Lit. vol. i. p. 131, vol. ii. p. 99; Pearson, Prolegomena to Hierocles, p. xiii. ed. Needham, who, however, confounds our Hierocles with No. 5.

5. A New Platonist, who lived at Alexandria about the middle of the fifth century, and enjoyed a very great reputation. Works Commentary on the Golden Verses of Pythagoras

Hierocles is commonly considered to be the author of a commentary on the golden verses of Pythagoras, which is still extant, and in which the author endeavours to give an intelligible account of the philosophy of Pythagoras. The verses of Pythagoras form the basis, but the commentator endeavours to give a succinct view of the whole philosophy of Pythagoras, whence his work is of some importance to us, and may serve as a guide in the study of the Pythagorean philosophy. Editions Latin Edition

This commentary was first published in a Latin translation by J. Aurispa, Padua, 1474, 4to., and afterwards at Rome, 1475, 1493, 1495, 4to., and at Basel, 1543, 8vo. Greek Editions

The Greek original with a new Latin version was first edited by J. Curterius, Paris, 1583, 12mo. A better edition, incorporating also the fragments of other works of Hierocles, was published by J. Pearson, London, 1654 and 1655, 4to., and with additions and improvements by P. Needham, Cambridge, 1709, 8vo. A still better edition of the commentary alone is that by R. Warren, London, 1742, 8vo. On Providence, Fate, and the reconciliation of man's free will with the divine government of the world.

Hierocles was further the author of an extensive work entitled Περὶ προνόας καὶ εἱμαρμένης καὶ τοῦ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν πρὸς τὴν Δείαν ἡγεμονίαν συντάξεως, that is, On Providence, Fate, and the reconciliation of man's free will with the divine government of the world. The whole consisted of seven books, and was dedicated to Olympiodorus; but the work is now lost, and all that has come down to us consists of some extracts from it preserved in Photius (Bibl. Cod. 214, 251). Editions

These extracts are also found separately in some MSS., and were published by F. Morelli at Paris, 1593 and 1597, 8vo. They are also contained in Pearson's and Needham's editions of the Commentary on Pythagoras. From these extracts we see that Hierocles endeavored to show the agreement between Plato and Aristotle against the doctrines of the Stoics and Epicureans, and to refute those who attempted to deny the Divine Providence. A Third Work of an Ethical Nature

A third work of an ethical nature is known to us from a number of extracts in Stobaeus (see the passages referred to above, under No. 3), on justice, on reverence towards the gods, on the conduct towards parents and relations, towards one's country, on marriage, &c. The maxims they inculcate are of a highly estimable kind. The work to which these extracts belonged probably bore the title Τὰ φιλοσοφούμενα (Suid. s. v. Ἐμποδών; Apostol. Prov. 9.90). Edition

These extracts are likewise contained in Pearson's and Needham's editions of the Commentary. Οἰκονομικός

There is another work, which is referred to under the title of Οἰκονομικός, but which probably formed only a part of the Τὰ φιλοσοφούμενα Notes on the Gorgias of Plato

Lastly, we have to notice that Theosebius, a disciple of Hierocles, published a commentary on the Gorgias of Plato, which consisted of notes taken down by the disciple in the lectures of Hierocles. (Phot. Bibl. Cod. 292.) Ἀστεῖα

There is extant a work called Ἀστεῖα, a collection of ludicrous tales and anecdotes, droll ideas, and silly speeches of school pedants, &c., which was formerly ascribed to Hierocles the New Platonist ; but it is obviously the production of a very insignificant person, who must have lived at a later time than the New Platonist. Editions

It was first published by Marq. Freherus, Ladenburg, 1605, 8vo., and afterwards by J. A. Schier, Leipzig, 1750, 8vo.; it is also contained in Pearson's and Needham's editions of the Commentary on Pythagoras, and in J. de Rhoer's Observationes Philologicae, Groningen, 1768, 8vo.

6. A Greek grammarian. Works Συνέκδημος (Travelling Companion)

Hierocles is known to us only as the author of a work entitled Συνέκδημος, that is, The Travelling Companion, which is intended as a handbook for travellers through the provinces of the Eastern empire. It was probably written at the beginning of the sixth century of our era; it contains a list of 64 eparchiae or provinces of the Eastern empire, and of 935 different towns, with brief descriptions, and is therefore of considerable importance for the geography of those countries. Editions

The first edition in C. a S. Paulo, Geograph. Sacr., Paris, 1641, and Amsterdam, 1704, fol., is incomplete. Better editions are those in E. Schelstraten's Antiquitas Eccles. Illustr., Rome, 1697, vol. ii., and in vol. i. of Banduri's Imperium Orient.; but by far the best edition is that of P. Wesseling, in his Veterum Romanorum Itineraeria, Amsterdam, 1735, 4to., p. 631, &c. [L.S]

(Ἱεροκλῆς).

An author on veterinary surgery. Nothing is known of the events of his life, except that he is supposed to have been a lawyer by profession, and not a veterinary surgeon, and to have lived in the tenth century after Christ, as he dedicated his work to Cassianus Bassus. He is perhaps the same writer who is quoted in the Geoponica. Works Treatise on Veterinary Surgery

He was the author of a treatise on veterinary surgery, of which only some fragments remain. Editions

The fragments are to be found in the collection of writers on this subject, first published in Latin by Joannes Ruellius, Paris, 1530, fol., and afterwards in Greek by Simon Grynaeus, Basel, 1537, 4to. Further Information

An analysis of his opinions, so far as they can be gathered from the fragments that remain, is given by Haller in his Biblioth. Medic. Pract. vol. i. p. 290; see also Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. vi. p. 497, ed. vet. [W.A.G]

(Ἱεροκλῆς). (1) A rhetorician of Alabanda, in Caria, who lived in the beginning of the first century before the Christian era. He excelled in what Cicero termed the Asiatic style of eloquence (Cic. De Orat. ii. 23.)

(2) A lawyer, who wrote a work on veterinary medicine, addressed to Cassianus Bassus, of which three chapters are preserved in the sixteenth book of the “Geoponica.” (See Geoponici.)

(3) Styled “the grammarian,” for distinction's sake from the philosopher of the same name, a Greek writer supposed to have been contemporary with Justinian, but of whom one thing at least is certain—that he was anterior to the tenth century. He composed, under the title of Συνέκδημος (“Travelling Companion”), a description of the sixty-four provinces that formed the Byzantine Empire and of the cities situated in them. Ed. by Parthey (Berlin, 1866).

(4) A New Platonist, who flourished at Alexandria about the middle of the fifth century A.D. He has left a commentary on the Golden Verses of Pythagoras and a treatise on Providence, Destiny, and Free-will. The aim of Hierocles is to show the agreement which exists in respect of these doctrines between Plato and Aristotle and to refute the systems of Epicurus and the Stoics. We have only extracts from this latter work made by Photius and an abridgment by an unknown hand. Stobaeus has preserved for us fragments of a work of Hierocles on the worship of the gods and of several other productions of his. There exists also, under the name of Hierocles, a collection of amusing anecdotes (Ἀστεῖα, Facetiae), giving an account of the ridiculous actions and sayings of book-learned men and pedants (σχολαστικοί). Among them are to be found the originals of several professedly modern jokes, and they furnish a model for the innumerable German witticisms at the expense of the typical Herr Professor. The best edition of the commentary on the Golden Verses and of the fragments, etc., is that of Warren (London, 1742).

(5) A prefect of Bithynia, and afterwards of Alexandria, who is said by Lactantius to have been the principal adviser of the persecution of the Christians in the reign of Diocletian (Lactant. Inst. Div. v. 2; De Morte Persec. 17). He also wrote two works against Christianity, entitled Λόγοι Φιλαλήθεις πρὸς τοὺς Χριστιανούς (“Truth-loving words to the Christians”), in which, according to Lactantius, he endeavoured to show that the Scriptures overthrow themselves by the contradictions with which they abound. He also reviled Paul, Peter, and the other disciples, as propagators of falsehood. He endeavoured to destroy the effect of the Saviour's miracles, though he did not deny the truth of them. He also aimed to show that like things, or even greater, had been done by Apollonius of Tyana. See the chapter on Apollonius of Tyana in Dyer's Gods in Greece, pp. 257-266 (London, 1891), and Professor Gildersleeve's essay.

• the later tyrant of Syracuse: Paus. 6.12.2