Who were the Apologists?
They seem to have not entire communities behind them, so much they seem mere philosophers.
Is possible that they were simply "interpreting philosophically" the visible phenomenon of various Christian sects, therefore leaving no trace after them?
They listened the news about a Jesus in Judea, and simply they did interpret the "fact" in a very "objective" manner:
The Logos of God, the saviour of souls and of bodies, became man in Judea and fulfilled all righteousness.
(Acts of Apollonius)
No need of doing further research. Only a dispassionate comment "to explain" the new historicist enthusiasm.
The Apologists as mere reporters of euhemerization in act
The Apologists as mere reporters of euhemerization in act
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.