Massimo di Efeso e i Lithica orfici

According to the Suda, Maximus of Ephesus, a theurgist and the teacher of the emperor Julian, should be identified with the author of a short astrological poem, the Περὶ καταρχῶν, while, according to Thomas Tyrwhitt, the execution of the same figure is described in the prologue of the Orphic Lithica. The attribution of the Περὶ καταρχῶν and the Orphic Lithica to the milieu of the Apostate seems to be confirmed by comparison of the language, style and content of the two poems, which highlights several similarities between the two texts, and by the identification of themes and interests - the importance of medicine, familiarity with theurgy and magic, centrality of Helios and Selene - that are reminiscent of the thought of the emperor Julian and his circle.