It may be asked whether we have in any of our three sources the actual words of Aristides. These few differences from the Syriac are all explained by the fact that the Apology had to be adapted to the circumstances of an Indian court in a later age. In short, the actual words of Aristides may be restored with tolerable certainty-a task which has been already accomplished by a German scholar, Lic. In any case we have the substance of the Apology of Aristides with almost verbal precision. The only ground for questioning this statement is the second superscription given in the Syriac version, which implies that the Apology was presented to Antoninus Pius, a.d. 188-161.
Some topics are conspicuous by their absence.
Christianity, in his view, is worthy of a philosophic emperor because it is eminently reasonable, and gives an impulse and power to live a good life. Although the details about the elements and the heathen gods are discussed with tedious minuteness, still his closing section describing the lives of the early Christians should always be good reading. The translation of the Syriac given here is independently made from the Syriac text, edited by Professor Harris 3 . Full advantage has been taken of his notes and apparatus criticus, but no use has been made of his translation. The Greek translation is made from the text edited by Professor Robinson.