FT276


Alexander of Abonoteichus may not be one of the most famous figures of the second century AD… in fact, with a mouthful of a name like that it’s surprising anyone remembers him at all. But a Roman emperor threw lions into the Danube on the advice of Alexander’s talking snake, so he obviously made, well, a bit of a splash…

Alexander was born at the beginning of the second century and lived until the 170s. According to his own publicity, he was the prophet of a new god, Glycon, a purveyor of oracles and a healer; to his opponents, he was a charlatan and a conman.