 Can we ascertain Ammonius’ attitude to theurgy and ‘Egyptian’ or ‘Hellenic’ rites? Beyond the commentaries we have three quasi-historical sources for Ammonius: Damascius’ Life of Isidore and Zacharias’ Life of Severus and Ammonius. In narrating the early life of Severus (Bishop of Antioch 512–518, though he was a pagan during his student days at Alexandria in the 480’s), Zacharias recounts the story of Paralius, a student in Horapollo’s school undecided between paganism and Christianity (see Watts 2005). In 486 after taunting the philosopher Asclepiodotus for his claim to have got his hitherto infertile wife pregnant by Egyptian magic, Paralius was set upon and beaten by the Hellenic students of the school on a Friday, when the Christians were largely absent. This incident resulted in complaints to Entrechius the Prefect and to the Bishop, Peter Mongus, leading to the ransacking of the sanctuary of Isis at Menouthis and the burning of many hieratic cult objects. The professors of the school accused in this incident were Horapollon himself, along with the ‘philosophers’ Asclepiodotus, Heraïscus, Ammonius, and Isidore. Nothing further is said about Heraïscus or Ammonius; Zacharias had already ridiculed Asclepiodotus, who subsequently repaired to Aphrodisias, and he remarks that Isidore was later revealed as a magician and troublemaker. Thus, Zacharias associates Ammonius with colleagues whom he generally labels philosophers and adherents of the Egyptian mysteries, but gives us no particulars about him. In his Life of Severus, Zacharias focused on the conflicts between Alexandrian pagans and Christians, showing the winning and salvific force of Christianity. In the Ammonius he portrayed the superiority of Christian doctrine, especially that the world was created, and the dialectical victories of a Christian student over the more philosophically experienced pagans Ammonius and Gesios. Therefore, that book avoids the cultic conflict altogether and tells us nothing about Ammonius relating to theurgic belief or ritual. 