Plotinus c.205-270AD
Greek philosopher and founder of Neoplatonism

Born probably in Lycopolis, Egypt, of Roman parents, his intellectual background was Greek. He studied in Alexandria (under Ammonius), and in Persia (Iran), and settled in Rome (AD244) where he became a popular lecturer, advocating asceticism and the contemplative life, though he seemed to live in some style himself. At the age of 60 he made an unsuccessful attempt to found a 'Platonopolis', a Platonic 'Republic' in Campania, a venture which was halted by the Emperor Gallienus. His 54 works, produced between 253 and 270, were edited posthumously by his pupil Porphyry, who arranged them into six groups of nine books, or Enneads. They established the foundations of Neoplatonism as a philosophical system, combining the doctrines of Plato with those of Pythagoras, Aristotle and the Stoics. He greatly influenced early Christian theology, and Neoplatonism was the dominant philosophy in Europe for a thousand years, establishing a link between ancient and medieval thought.

Bibliography: John M Rist, Plotinus: The Road to Reality (1967)