As to his date, there are some certainties but no exactitude. The Bishop of Tricca must have lived before Socrates wrote his Historia Ecclesiastica which covered the period 306-439. There is no external evidence on the time of the writer of the romance, but from the general conclusions about the dating of the Greek Romances, he probably wrote not later than the end of the third century. His native city Emesa was the birthplace of two Roman Emperors, Heliogabalus (218-222) and Alexander Severus (222-235). About the middle of the century Emesa was conquered by Zenobia of Palmyra, but was freed by Aurelian in 272. Heliodorus may have written in its most flourishing period, 220-240. It is generally agreed that Heliodorus is later than Chariton who could not have written after 150 and earlier than Achilles Tatius who wrote about the beginning of the fourth century.
Rattenbury thinks that a possible reconstruction of Heliodorus’ life is this. He was born in Emesa in Phoenician Syria. His family was connected with the cult of the Sun. In his youth, perhaps between 220 and 240, he wrote a romance in which the influence of the cult of Helios appears, also the neo-Pythagoreanism of Apollonius of Tyana. It is not impossible that finally he was converted to Christianity, became bishop of Tricca and in that office introduced in his diocese celibacy for the clergy.[106] Calderini has shown with discrimination and perspicacity that the special characteristic of the Aethiopica is the interest in philosophy which distinguishes it and its author from Chariton, the writer of historical romance, and from Achilles Tatius, the writer of romance tinged with science.[107] A study of the Aethiopica itself will show how deeply infused the novel is with this religious philosophical coloring.
Before outlining the narrative, I will give as usual a list of the principal characters. These are:
Theagenes, the young Greek hero
Chariclea, the young heroine, supposed to be a Greek
Hydaspes, king of Ethiopia
Persinna, queen of Ethiopia
Calasiris, of Memphis, priest of Isis and his sons:
Thyamis, in exile, a pirate captain
Petosiris, priest of Isis