On his return to Greece by way of Africa and Sicily (where he spent some
time and visited AEtna), he passed the winter (? of 67 A.D.) at Eleusis,
living in the temple, and in the spring of the following year sailed for
Alexandria, spending some time on the way at Rhodes. The city of
philosophy and eclecticism _par excellence_ received him with open arms
as an old friend. But to reform the public cults of Egypt was a far more
difficult task than any he had previously attempted. His presence in the
temple (? the temple of Serapis) commanded universal respect, everything
about him and every word he uttered seemed to breathe an atmosphere of
wisdom and of "something divine." The high priest of the temple looked
on in proud disdain. "Who is wise enough," he mockingly asked, "to
reform the religion of the Egyptians?"--only to be met with the
confident retort of Apollonius: "Any sage who comes from the Indians."
Here as elsewhere Apollonius set his face against blood-sacrifice, and
tried to substitute instead, as he had attempted elsewhere, the offering
of frankincense modelled in the form of the victim (v. 25). Many abuses
he tried to reform in the manners of the Alexandrians, but upon none was
he more severe than on their wild excitement over horse-racing, which
frequently led to bloodshed (v. 26).