Paul of Samosata we may note that Porphyry of Tyre gained this name, by which he is always
known, from a word-play by Longinus (whose mother came from Emesa)^66
on his original name, ‘‘Malchus.’’^67 Earlier, as Porphyry himself explains, his
friends had been accustomed to nickname him simply ‘‘Basileus.’’^68 It is clear
at least that Porphyry and his friends knew that in his native tongue (patrios
dialektos) MLK meant ‘‘King.’’ Whether he had a real knowledge of Phoe-
nician (or Aramaic), and whether his studies of the Old Testament involved
any knowledge of Hebrew, remains obscure.^69
Further north on the Phoenician coastline, from the cities around Aradus
and up to Gabala, we may note the presence of Semitic lettering on coins of
the Hellenistic period,^70 the bilingual inscription of a man from Aradus who
died at Demetrias in Thessaly about ..,^71 and also a bilingual inscrip-
tion (IGLS) from Aradus itself, dating to /..But thereafter there
is a gap of centuries before we learn from Socrates that Severianus, bishop of
Gabala in the early fifth century, though supposedly educated, spoke Greek
with difficulty and in a definite Syrian accent.^72
The best confirmation, however, of the possibility that Philon of Byblos
might have known Phoenician or Aramaic comes from a remarkable source,
a scholion found in one of the manuscripts of Photius’ account of Iambli-
chus, the Greek novelist of the second century..The information is repre-
sented as coming from Iamblichus himself and has certainly every appearance
of being circumstantial. According to the passage, Iamblichus recorded that
he was a Syrian on both his mother’s and his father’s side—‘‘not one of the
Greeks inhabiting Syria, but one of the natives, speaking their language and
living by their customs.’’ He acquired his knowledge of Babylonian lore from
and beloved Cos of Meropes tended his old age. If you are Syrian, Salam! If you are Phoe-
nician, Naidios! If you are Greek, Chaire! And say the same yourself !’’ (Loeb translation).
. Suda .
. Eunapius,Vit. Soph..
. Porph.,Vit. Plot. : ‘‘ ‘Basileus’ is my [Porphyry’s] name; I am called Malkos in my
native tongue, for this name also my father used to call me. And ‘Basileus,’ the translation
of Malkos, if anyone wishes to change it into Greek.’’ Cf.Vit. Plot. , .
. Cf. J. Bidez,Vie de Porphyre(), –. I have not, however, found any serious dis-
cussion of this question. See F. Millar, ‘‘Porphyry: Ethnicity, Language and Alien Wisdom,’’
in J. Barnes and M. T. Griffin, eds.,Philosophia TogataII:Plato and Aristotle at Rome(),
– ( chapter of the present volume).
. H. Seyrig, ‘‘Monnaies hellénistiques,’’Rev. Num. (): , esp. –, –.
. O. Masson, ‘‘Recherches sur les Phéniciens dans le monde héllenistique,’’BCH
(): .
. Socrates,Hist. Eccles.,,.