The pre-history of the Magi

This chapter delves into the details of the Story of Aphroditianos as it has had a significant and long-lasting impact on the Byzantine concept of the Magi. It comprises long and complex disputes between the Jews and the Christians, which were arbitrated by Aphroditianos. However, in the Byzantine Greek-speaking tradition, the most influential version of the pre-history of the Magi was represented by the so-called Story of Aphroditianos, which was a part of the extensive treatise the De gestis in Perside. Defining the doctrinal or ideological typology of the De gestis in general and of the Story of Aphroditianos specifically, Heyden has elaborated numerous arguments describing its core idea as being an apologetic portrayal of paganism aiming to achieve a sort of a Hellenic-Christian synthesis. As it seems, the authors of the original version of the De gestis, especially of Aphroditianos's account, employed quasi-Mithraic allusions to form a generalised image of pre-Christian native wisdom and piety.