1. PLOTINUS, the philosopher our contemporary, seemed ashamed of being in the body.

1. Πλωτῖνος ὁ καθ΄ ἡμᾶς γεγονὼς φιλόσοφος ἐῴκει μὲν αἰσχυνομένῳ ὅτι ἐν σώματι εἴη.

So deeply rooted was this feeling that he could never be induced to tell of his ancestry, his parentage, or his birthplace.

Ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς τοιαύτης διαθέσεως οὔτε περὶ τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ διηγεῖσθαι ἠνείχετο οὔτε περὶ τῶν γονέων οὔτε περὶ τῆς πατρίδος.

He showed, too, an unconquerable reluctance to sit to a painter of a sculptor, and when Amelius persisted in urging him to allow of a portrait being made he asked him, ‘Is it not enough to carry about this image in which nature has enclosed us? Do you really think I must also consent to leave, as a desired spectacle to posterity, an image of the image?’

Ζωγράφου δὲ ἀνασχέσθαι ἢ πλάστου τοσοῦτον ἀπηξίου ὥστε καὶ λέγειν πρὸς Ἀμέλιον δεόμενον εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι ἐπιτρέψαι· οὐ γὰρ ἀρκεῖ φέρειν ὃ ἡ φύσις εἴδωλον ἡμῖν περιτέθεικεν͵ ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰδώλου εἴδωλον συγχωρεῖν αὐτὸν ἀξιοῦν πολυ χρονιώτερον καταλιπεῖν ὡς δή τι τῶν ἀξιοθεάτων ἔργων;

In view of this determined refusal Amelius brought his friend Carterius, the best artist of the day, to the Conferences, which were open to every comer, and saw to it that by long observation of the philosopher he caught his most striking personal traits. From the impressions thus stored in mind the artist drew a first sketch; Amelius made various suggestions towards bringing our the resemblance, and in this way, without the knowledge of Plotinus, the genius of Carterius gave us a lifelike portrait.

Ὅθεν ἀπαγορεύοντος καὶ καθεδεῖσθαι ἕνεκα τούτου ἀρ νουμένου ἔχων φίλον ὁ Ἀμέλιος Καρτέριον τὸν ἄριστον τῶν τότε γεγονότων ζωγράφων εἰσιέναι καὶ ἀπαντᾶν εἰς τὰς συνουσίας ποιήσαςἐξῆν γὰρ τῷ βουλομένῳ φοιτᾶν εἰς τὰς συνουσίαςτὰς ἐκ τοῦ ὁρᾶν φαντασίας πληκτικωτέρας λαμβάνειν διὰ τῆς ἐπὶ πλέον προσοχῆς συνείθισεν. Ἔπειτα γράφοντος ἐκ τοῦ τῇ μνήμῃ ἐναποκειμένου ἰνδάλματος τὸ εἴκασμα καὶ συνδιορθοῦντος εἰς ὁμοιότητα τὸ ἴχνος τοῦ Ἀμελίου εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι ἡ εὐφυία τοῦ Καρτερίου παρέσχεν ἀγνοοῦντος τοῦ Πλωτίνου ὁμοιοτάτην.

2. PLOTINUS was often distressed by an intestinal complaint, but declined clysters, pronouncing the use of such remedies unbecoming in an elderly man: in the same way he refused such medicaments as contain any substance taken from wild beasts or reptiles: all the more, he remarked, since he could not approve of eating the flesh of animals reared for the table.

2 Κωλικῇ δὲ νόσῳ πολλάκις καταπονούμενος οὔτε κλυστῆρος ἠνέσχετο͵ οὐκ εἶναι πρὸς τοῦ πρεσβύτου λέγων ὑπομένειν τὰς τοιαύτας θεραπείας͵ οὔτε τὰς θηριακὰς ἀντιδότους λαβεῖν ὑπέμεινε͵ μηδὲ τῶν ἡμέρων ζῴων τὰς ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τροφὰς προσίεσθαι λέγων.

He abstained from the use of the bath, contenting himself with a daily massage at home: when the terrible epidemic carried off his masseurs he renounced all such treatment: in a short while he contracted malign diphtheria.

Λουτροῦ δὲ ἀπεχόμενος καὶ τρίψεσι καθ΄ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν χρώμενος ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας͵ ἐπειδὴ τοῦ λοιμοῦ ἐπιβρίσαντος συνέβη τοὺς τρίβοντας αὐτὸν ἀποθανεῖν͵ ἀμελήσας τῆς τοιαύτης θεραπείας κατ΄ ὀλίγον τὴν τοῦ κυνάγχου ἀγριότητα κατα σκευαζομένην ἔσχε.

During the time I was about him there was no sign of any such malady, but after I sailed for Sicily the condition grew acute: his intimate, Eustochius, who was with him till his death, told me, on my return to Rome, that he became hoarse, so that his voice quite lost its clear and sonorous note, his sight grew dim and ulcers formed on his hands and feet.

Κἀμοῦ μὲν παρόντος οὐδέν πω τοιοῦτον ὑπεφαίνετο· ἀποπλεύσαντος δὲ εἰς τοσοῦτον ἠγριώθη τὸ πάθος͵ ὡς ἔλεγεν ἐπανελθόντι Εὐστόχιος ὁ ἑταῖρος ὁ καὶ παραμείνας αὐτῷ ἄχρι θανάτου͵ ὡς καὶ τῆς φωνῆς περιαιρε θῆναι τὸ τορὸν καὶ εὔηχον βραγχῶντος αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ὄψιν συγχυθῆναι καὶ τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἑλκωθῆναι·

As he still insisted on addressing everyone by word of mouth, his condition prompted his friends to withdraw from his society: he therefore left Rome for Campania, retiring to a property which had belonged to Zethos, an old friend of his at this time dead. His wants were provided in part out of Zethos’ estate, and for the rest were furnished form Minturnae, where Castricius’ property lay.

ὅθεν ἐκτρεπομένων αὐτοῦ τὰς συναντήσεις τῶν φίλων διὰ τὸ ἀπὸ στόματος πάντας προσαγορεύειν ἔθος ἔχειν͵ τῆς μὲν πόλεως ἀπαλλάττεται͵ εἰς δὲ τὴν Καμπανίαν ἐλθὼν εἰς Ζήθου χωρίον ἑταίρου παλαιοῦ αὐτῷ γεγονότος καὶ τεθνηκότος κατάγεται. Τὰ δ΄ ἀναγκαῖα αὐτῷ ἔκ τε τῶν τοῦ Ζήθου ἐτελεῖτο καὶ ἐκ Μητουρνῶν ἐκομίζετο ἐκ τῶν Καστρικίου· ἐν Μητούρναις γὰρ ὁ Καστρίκιος τὰς κτήσεις εἶχε.

Of Plotinus’ last moments Eustochius has given me an account. He himself was staying at Puteoli and was late in arriving: when he at last came, Plotinus said: ‘I have been a long time waiting for you; I am striving to give back the Divine in myself to the Divine in the All.’ As he spoke a snake crept under the bed on which he lay and slipped away into a hole in the wall: at the same moment Plotinus died.

Μέλλων δὲ τελευτᾶν͵ ὡς ὁ Εὐστόχιος ἡμῖν διηγεῖτο͵ ἐπειδὴ ἐν Ποτιόλοις κατοικῶν ὁ Εὐστόχιος βραδέως πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀφίκετο͵ εἰπὼν ὅτι σὲ ἔτι περιμένω καὶ φήσας πειρᾶσθαι τὸν ἐν ὑμῖν θεὸν ἀνάγειν πρὸς τὸ ἐν τῷ παντὶ θεῖον͵ δράκοντος ὑπὸ τὴν κλίνην διελθόντος ἐν ᾗ κατέκειτο καὶ εἰς ὀπὴν ἐν τῷ τοίχῳ ὑπάρχουσαν ὑποδεδυκότος ἀφῆκε τὸ πνεῦμα ἔτη γεγονώς͵

This was at the end of the second year of the reign of Claudius (A.D. 270), and, as Eustochius tells me, Plotinus was then sixty-six, I myself was at Lilybaeum at the time, Amelius at Apamea in Syria, Castricius at Rome; only Eustochius was by his side.

ὡς ὁ Εὐστόχιος ἔλεγεν͵ ἕξ τε καὶ ἑξήκοντα͵ τοῦ δευτέρου ἔτους τῆς Κλαυδίου βασιλείας πληρουμένου. Τελευτῶντι δὲ αὐτῷ ἐγὼ μὲν ὁ Πορφύριος ἐτύγχανον ἐν Λιλυβαίῳ διατρίβων͵ Ἀμέλιος δὲ ἐν Ἀπαμείᾳ τῆς Συρίας͵ Καστρίκιος δὲ ἐν τῇ Ρώμῃ· μόνος δὲ παρῆν ὁ Εὐστόχιος.

Counting sixty-six years back from the second year of Claudius, we can fix Plotinus’ birth at the thirteenth year of Severus (A.D. 204-5); but he never disclosed the month or day. This was because he did not desire any birthday sacrifice or feast; yet he himself sacrificed on the traditional birthdays of Plato and of Socrates, afterwards giving a banquet at which every member of the circle who was able was expected to deliver an address.

Ἀναψηφίζουσι δὲ ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ δευτέρου ἔτους τῆς Κλαυδίου βασιλείας εἰς τοὐπίσω ἔτη ἕξ τε καὶ ἑξήκοντα ὁ χρόνος αὐτῷ τῆς γενέσεως εἰς τὸ τρισκαιδέκατον ἔτος τῆς Σεβήρου βασιλείας πίπτει. Οὔτε δὲ τὸν μῆνα δεδήλωκέ τινι καθ΄ ὃν γεγέννηται͵ οὔτε τὴν γενέθλιον ἡμέραν͵ ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ θύειν ἢ ἑστιᾶν τινα τοῖς αὐτοῦ γενεθλίοις ἠξίου͵ καίπερ ἐν τοῖς Πλάτωνος καὶ Σωκράτους παραδεδομένοις γενεθλίοις θύων τε καὶ ἑστιῶν τοὺς ἑταί ρους͵ ὅτε καὶ λόγον ἔδει τῶν ἑταίρων τοὺς δυνατοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν συνελθόντων ἀναγνῶναι.

3. DESPITE his general reluctance to talk of his own life, some few details he did often relate to us in the course of conversation.

3 Ἃ μέντοι ἡμῖν αὐτὸς ἀφ΄ ἑαυτοῦ ἐν ταῖς ὁμιλίαις πολλάκις διηγεῖτο͵ ἦν τοιαῦτα.

Thus he told how, at the age of eight, when he was already going to school, he still clung about his nurse and loved to bare her breasts and take suck: one day he was told he was a ‘perverted imp’, and so was shamed out of the trick.

 Προσφοιτᾶν μὲν γὰρ τῇ τροφῷ καίπερ εἰς γραμματοδιδασκάλου ἀπιόντα ἄχρις ὀγ δόου ἔτους ἀπὸ γενέσεως ὄντα καὶ τοὺς μαζοὺς γυμνοῦντα θηλάζειν προθυμεῖσθαι· ἀκούσαντα δέ ποτε ὅτι ἀτηρόν ἐστι παιδίον͵ ἀποσχέσθαι αἰδεσθέντα.

- Ammonius

At twenty-seven he was caught by the passion for philosophy: he was directed to the most highly reputed professors to be found at Alexandria; but he used to come from their lectures saddened and discouraged. A friend to whom he opened his heart divined his temperamental craving and suggested Ammonius, whom he had not yet tried. Plotinus went, heard a lecture, and exclaimed to his comrade: ‘This was the man I was looking for.’

 Εἰκοστὸν δὲ καὶ ὄγδοον ἔτος αὐτὸν ἄγοντα ὁρμῆσαι ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίαν καὶ τοῖς τότε κατὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν εὐδοκιμοῦσι συσταθέντα κατιέναι ἐκ τῆς ἀκροάσεως αὐτῶν κατηφῆ καὶ λύπης πλήρη͵ ὡς καί τινι τῶν φίλων διηγεῖσθαι ἃ πάσχοι· τὸν δὲ συνέντα αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ βούλημα ἀπενέγκαι πρὸς Ἀμμώνιον͵ οὗ μηδέπω πεπείρατο. Τὸν δὲ εἰσελθόντα καὶ ἀκούσαντα φάναι πρὸς τὸν ἑταῖρον· τοῦτον ἐζήτουν.

It happened that the Emperor Gordian was at that time preparing his campaign against Persia; Plotinus joined the army and went on the expedition. He was then thirty-eight, for he had passed eleven entire years under Ammonius. When Gordian was killed in Mesopotamia, it was only with great difficulty that Plotinus came off safe to Antioch.

  Γορδιανοῦ δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπὶ τοὺς Πέρσας παριέναι μέλλοντος δοὺς ἑαυτὸν τῷ στρατο πέδῳ συνεισῄει ἔτος ἤδη τριακοστὸν ἄγων καὶ ἔννατον.
 Ἕνδεκα γὰρ ὅλων ἐτῶν παραμένων τῷ Ἀμμωνίῳ συνεσχό λασε.
 Τοῦ δὲ Γορδιανοῦ περὶ τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν ἀναιρε θέντος μόλις φεύγων εἰς τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν διεσώθη.

 on Ammonius

At forty, in the reign of the Emperor Philip, he settled in Rome.

 Καὶ Φιλίππου τὴν βασιλείαν κρατήσαντος τεσσαράκοντα γεγονὼς ἔτη εἰς τὴν Ρώμην ἄνεισιν.

Erennius, Origen, and Plotinus had made a compact not to disclose any of the doctrines which Ammonius had revealed to them. Plotinus kept faith, and in all his intercourse with his associates divulged nothing of Ammonius’ system. But the compact was broken, first by Erennius and then by Origen following suit: Origen, it is true, put in writing nothing but the treatise On the Spirit-Beings, and in Gallienus’ reign that entitled The King the Sole Creator. Plotinus himself remained a long time without writing, but he began to base his Conferences on what he had gathered from his studies under Ammonius. In this way, writing nothing but constantly conferring with a certain group of associates, he passed ten years.

Ἐρεννίῳ δὲ καὶ Ὠριγένει καὶ Πλωτίνῳ συνθηκῶν γεγονυιῶν μηδὲν ἐκκαλύπτειν τῶν Ἀμ μωνίου δογμάτων ἃ δὴ ἐν ταῖς ἀκροάσεσιν αὐτοῖς ἀνεκεκά θαρτο͵ ἔμενε καὶ ὁ Πλωτῖνος συνὼν μέν τισι τῶν προσιόν των͵ τηρῶν δὲ ἀνέκπυστα τὰ παρὰ τοῦ Ἀμμωνίου δόγματα.
 Ἐρεννίου δὲ πρώτου τὰς συνθήκας παραβάντος͵ Ὠριγένης μὲν ἠκολούθει τῷ φθάσαντι Ἐρεννίῳ.
 Ἔγραψε δὲ οὐδὲν πλὴν τὸ Περὶ τῶν δαιμόνων σύγγραμμα καὶ ἐπὶ Γαλιή νου Ὅτι μόνος ποιητὴς ὁ βασιλεύς.
 Πλωτῖνος δὲ ἄχρι μὲν πολλοῦ γράφων οὐδὲν διετέλεσεν͵ ἐκ δὲ τῆς Ἀμμωνίου συνουσίας ποιούμενος τὰς διατριβάς· καὶ οὕτως ὅλων ἐτῶν δέκα διετέλεσε͵ συνὼν μέν τισι͵ γράφων δὲ οὐδέν.

He used to encourage his hearers to put questions, a liberty which, as Amelius told me, led to a great deal of wandering and futile talk.

 ῏Ην δὲ ἡ διατριβή͵ ὡς ἂν αὐτοῦ ζητεῖν προτρεπομένου τοὺς συνόντας͵ ἀταξίας πλήρης καὶ πολλῆς φλυαρίας͵ ὡς Ἀμέλιος ἡμῖν διηγεῖτο.

Amelius had entered the circle in the third year of Philip’s reign, the third, too, of Plotinus’ residence in Rome, and remained about him until the first year of Claudius, twenty-four years in all. He had come to Plotinus after an efficient training under Lysimachus: in laborious diligence he surpassed all his contemporaries; for example, he transcribed and arranged nearly all the works of Numenius, and was not far from having most of them off by heart. He also took notes of the Conferences and wrote them out in something like a hundred treatises which he has since presented to Hostilianus Hesychius of Apamea, his adopted son.

 Προσῆλθε δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ Ἀμέλιος τρίτον ἔτος ἄγοντι ἐν τῇ Ρώμῃ κατὰ τὸ τρίτον ἔτος τῆς Φιλίππου βασιλείας καὶ ἄχρι τοῦ πρώτου ἔτους τῆς Κλαυδίου βασιλείας παραμείνας ἔτη ὅλα συγγέγονεν εἴκοσι καὶ τέσσαρα͵ ἕξιν μὲν ἔχων ὅτε προσῆλθεν ἀπὸ τῆς Λυσιμάχου συνουσίας͵ φιλοπονίᾳ δὲ ὑπερβαλλόμενος τῶν καθ΄ αὑτὸν πάντων διὰ τὸ καὶ σχεδὸν πάντα τὰ Νουμηνίου καὶ γράψαι καὶ συναγαγεῖν καὶ σχεδὸν τὰ πλεῖστα ἐκμαθεῖν· σχόλια δὲ ἐκ τῶν συνουσιῶν ποιούμενος ἑκατόν που βιβλία συνέταξε τῶν σχολίων͵ ἃ Οὐστιλλιανῷ Ἡσυχίῳ τῷ Ἀπαμεῖ͵ ὃν υἱὸν ἔθετο͵ κεχάρισται.

(3) Plotinus begins to write

 treatises

4. I MYSELF arrived from Greece in the tenth year of Gallienus’ reign, accompanied by Antonius of Rhodes, and found Amelius an eighteen-years’ associate of Plotinus, but still lacking the courage to write anything except for the notebooks, which had not reached their century. Plotinus, in this tenth year of Gallienus, was about fifty-nine: when I first met him I was thirty.

4 Τῷ δεκάτῳ δὲ ἔτει τῆς Γαλιήνου βασιλείας ἐγὼ Πορφύριος ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος μετὰ Ἀντωνίου τοῦ Ροδίου γεγονὼς καταλαμβάνω μὲν τὸν Ἀμέλιον ὀκτωκαιδέκατον ἔτος ἔχοντα τῆς πρὸς Πλωτῖνον συνουσίας͵ μηδὲν δέ πω γράφειν τολμήσαντα πλὴν τῶν σχολίων ἃ οὐδέπω εἰς ἑκατὸν τὸ πλῆθος αὐτῷ συνῆκτο. ῏Ην δὲ ὁ Πλωτῖνος τῷ δεκάτῳ ἔτει τῆς Γαλιήνου βασιλείας ἀμφὶ τὰ πεντήκοντα ἔτη καὶ ἐννέα. Ἐγὼ δὲ Πορφύριος τὸ πρῶτον αὐτῷ συγ γέγονα αὐτὸς ὢν τότε ἐτῶν τριάκοντα.

From the first year of Gallienus Plotinus had begun to write upon such subjects as had arisen at the Conferences: when I first came to know him in this tenth year of the reign he had composed twenty-one treatises.

 Ἀπὸ μέντοι τοῦ πρώτου ἔτους τῆς Γαλιήνου ἀρχῆς προτραπεὶς ὁ Πλωτῖνος γράφειν τὰς ἐμπιπτούσας ὑποθέσεις͵ τὸ δέκατον ἔτος τῆς Γαλιήνου ἀρχῆς͵ ὅτε τὸ πρῶτον αὐτῷ ἐγὼ ὁ Πορφύριος ἐγνωρίσθην͵ γράψας εὑρίσκεται εἴκοσι καὶ ἓν βιβλίον ἃ καὶ κατείληφα ἐκδεδομένα ὀλίγοις.

They were, as I was able to establish, by no means given about freely. In fact the distribution was still grudging and secret; those that obtained them had passed the strictest scrutiny.

 Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν πω ῥᾳδία ἡ ἔκδοσις οὐδὲ εὐσυνειδήτως ἐγίγνετο οὐδ΄ ἁπλῶς κἀκ τοῦ ῥᾴστου͵ ἀλλὰ μετὰ πάσης κρίσεως τῶν λαμβανόντων.

 

Plotinus had given no titles to these treatises; everybody headed them for himself: I cite them here under the titles which finally prevailed, quoting the first words of each to facilitate identification.

῏Ην δὲ καὶ τὰ γεγραμμένα ταῦτα ἃ διὰ τὸ μὴ αὐτὸν ἐπιγράφειν ἄλλος ἄλλο ἑκάστῳ τοὐπίγραμμα ἐτίθει. Αἱ δ΄ οὖν κρατή σασαι ἐπιγραφαί εἰσιν αἵδε· θήσω δὲ καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς τῶν βιβλίων͵ εἰς τὸ εὐεπίγνωστον εἶναι ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρχῶν ἕκαστον τῶν δηλουμένων βιβλίων·

[...] Thus we have twenty-four treatises composed during the six years of my association with him and dealing, as the titles indicate, with such problems as happened to arise at the Conferences; add the twenty-one composed before my arrival, and we have accounted for forty-five treatises.

 [...] Ταῦτα τὰ εἴκοσι καὶ τέτταρα ὄντα ὅσα ἐν τῷ ἑξαέτει χρόνῳ τῆς παρουσίας ἐμοῦ Πορφυρίου ἔγραψεν͵ ἐκ προσ καίρων προβλημάτων τὰς ὑποθέσεις λαβόντα͵ ὡς ἐκ τῶν κεφαλαίων ἑκάστου τῶν βιβλίων ἐδηλώσαμεν͵ μετὰ τῶν πρὸ τῆς ἐπιδημίας ἡμῶν εἴκοσι καὶ ἑνὸς τὰ πάντα γίνεται τεσσαρακονταπέντε.

6. THE following five more Plotinus wrote and sent to me while I was living in Sicily, where I had gone about the fifteenth year of Gallienus [...]

6 Ἐν δὲ τῇ Σικελίᾳ διατρίβοντός μουἐκεῖ γὰρ ἀνεχώρησα περὶ τὸ πεντεκαιδέκατον ἔτος τῆς βασιλείας Γαλιήνου͵ ὁ Πλωτῖνος γράψας πέντε βιβλία ἀποστέλλει μοι ταῦτα· [...]

Adding these nine to the forty-five of the first and second sets we have a total of fifty-four treatises.

 Ταῦτα μετὰ τεσσαρακονταπέντε τῶν πρώτων καὶ δευτέ ρων γραφέντων γίνεται τέτταρα καὶ πεντήκοντα.

According to the time of writing--early manhood, vigorous prime, worn-out constitution--so the tractates vary in power. The first twenty-one pieces manifest a slighter capacity, the talent being not yet matured to the fulness of nervous strength.

 Ὥσπερ δὲ ἐγράφη͵ τὰ μὲν κατὰ πρώτην ἡλικίαν͵ τὰ δὲ ἀκμάζον τος͵ τὰ δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ σώματος καταπονουμένου͵ οὕτω καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως ἔχει τὰ βιβλία. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτα εἴκοσι καὶ ἓν ἐλαφροτέρας ἐστὶ δυνάμεως καὶ οὐδέπω πρὸς εὐτονίαν ἀρκοῦν μέγεθος ἐχούσης͵

The twenty-four produced in the mid-period display the utmost reach of the powers, and except for the short treatises among them, attain the highest perfection. The last nine were written when the mental strength was already waning, and of these the last four show less vigour even than the five preceding.

 τὰ δὲ τῆς μέσης ἐκδόσεως τυχόντα τὸ ἀκμαῖον τῆς δυνάμεως ἐμφαίνει καί ἐστι τὰ κδ πλὴν τῶν βραχέων τελεώτατα͵ τὰ μέντοι τελευταῖα ἐννέα ὑφειμένης ἤδη τῆς δυνάμεως γέγραπται καὶ μᾶλλόν γε τὰ τελευταῖα τέσσαρα ἢ τὰ πρὸ τούτων πέντε.

7. PLOTINUS had a large following. Notable among the more zealous students, really devoted to philosophy, was Amelius of Tuscany, whose family name was Gentilianus. Amelius preferred to call himself Amerius, changing L for R, because, as he explained, it suited him better to be named from Amereia, Unification, then from Ameleia, Indifference.

7 Ἔσχε δὲ ἀκροατὰς μὲν πλείους͵ ζηλωτὰς δὲ καὶ διὰ φιλοσοφίαν συνόντας Ἀμέλιόν τε ἀπὸ τῆς Τουσκίας͵ οὗ τὸ ὄνομα ἦν Γεντιλιανὸς τὸ κύριον͵ αὐτὸς δὲ διὰ τοῦ ρ Ἀμέριον αὐτὸν καλεῖν ἠξίου ἀπὸ τῆς ἀμερείας ἢ τῆς ἀμελείας πρέπειν αὐτῷ καλεῖσθαι λέγων.

This was another example of a politician venerating the philosopher. There were also among Plotinus’ hearers not a few members of the Senate, amongst whom Marcellus Orontius and Sabinillus showed the greatest assiduity in philosophical studies.

 Καὶ οὗτος οὖν ἐσέβετο Πλωτῖνον τὸν πολιτικὸν ᾑρημένος βίον. Ἠκροῶντο δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς συγκλήτου οὐκ ὀλίγοι ὧν ἔργον ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ μάλιστα ἐποίουν Μάρκελλος Ὀρρόντιος καὶ Σαβινῖλλος.

Another Senator, Rogatianus, advanced to such detachment from political ambitions that he gave up all his property, dismissed all his slaves, renounced every dignity, and, on the point of taking up his praetorship, the lictors already at the door, refused to come out or to have anything to do with the office. He even abandoned his own house, spending his time here and there at this friends’ and acquaintances’, sleeping and eating with them and taking, at that, only one meal every other day. He had been a victim of gout, carried in a chair, but this new regime of abstinence and abnegation restored his health: he had been unable to stretch out his hands; he came to use them as freely as men living by manual labour. Plotinus took a great liking to Rogatianus and frequently praised him very highly, holding him up as a model to those aiming at the philosophical life.

 ῏Ην δὲ καὶ Ρογατιανὸς ἐκ τῆς συγκλήτου͵ ὃς εἰς τοσοῦτον ἀπο στροφῆς τοῦ βίου τούτου προκεχωρήκει ὡς πάσης μὲν κτήσεως ἀποστῆναι͵ πάντα δὲ οἰκέτην ἀποπέμψασθαι͵ ἀποστῆναι δὲ καὶ τοῦ ἀξιώματος· καὶ πραίτωρ προιέναι μέλλων παρόντων τῶν ὑπηρετῶν μήτε προελθεῖν μήτε φροντίσαι τῆς λειτουργίας͵ ἀλλὰ μηδὲ οἰκίαν ἑαυτοῦ ἑλέσθαι κατοικεῖν͵ ἀλλὰ πρός τινας τῶν φίλων καὶ συνήθων φοιτῶντα ἐκεῖ τε δειπνεῖν κἀκεῖ καθεύδειν͵ σιτεῖσθαι δὲ παρὰ μίαν· ἀφ΄ ἧς δὴ ἀποστάσεως καὶ ἀφροντιστίας τοῦ βίου ποδαγρῶντα μὲν οὕτως͵ ὡς καὶ δίφρῳ βαστάζεσθαι͵ ἀναρρωσθῆναι͵ τὰς χεῖρας δὲ ἐκτεῖναι μὴ οἷόν τε ὄντα χρῆσθαι ταύταις πολὺ μᾶλλον εὐμαρῶς ἢ οἱ τὰς τέχνας διὰ τῶν χειρῶν μετιόντες.
 Τοῦτον ἀπεδέχετο ὁ Πλωτῖνος καὶ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα ἐπαινῶν διετέλει εἰς ἀγαθὸν παράδειγμα τοῖς φιλοσοφοῦσι προβαλλόμενος.

Then there was Serapion, an Alexandrian, who began life as a professional orator and later took to the study of philosophy, but was never able to conquer the vices of avarice and usury.

 Συνῆν δὲ καὶ Σεραπίων Ἀλεξανδρεὺς ῥητορικὸς μὲν τὰ πρῶτα͵ μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ φιλοσόφοις συνὼν λόγοις͵ τοῦ δὲ περὶ χρήματα καὶ τὸ δανείζειν μὴ δυνηθεὶς ἀποστῆναι ἐλαττώματος.

I myself, Porphyry of Tyre, was one of Plotinus’ very closest friends, and it was to me he entrusted the task of revising his writings.

 Ἔσχε δὲ καὶ ἐμὲ Πορφύριον Τύριον ὄντα ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα ἑταῖρον͵ ὃν καὶ διορθοῦν αὐτοῦ τὰ συγγράμματα ἠξίου.

8. SUCH revision was necessary: Plotinus could not bear to go back on his work even for one re-reading; and indeed the condition of his sight would scarcely allow it: his handwriting was slovenly; he misjoined his words; he cared nothing about spelling; his one concern was for the idea: in these habits, to our general surprise, he remained unchanged to the very end.

8 Γράψας γὰρ ἐκεῖνος δὶς τὸ γραφὲν μεταλαβεῖν οὐδέ ποτ΄ ἂν ἠνέσχετο͵ ἀλλ΄ οὐδὲ ἅπαξ γοῦν ἀναγνῶναι καὶ διελθεῖν διὰ τὸ τὴν ὅρασιν μὴ ὑπηρετεῖσθαι αὐτῷ πρὸς τὴν ἀνάγνωσιν.
 Ἔγραφε δὲ οὔτε εἰς κάλλος ἀποτυπούμενος τὰ γράμματα οὔτε εὐσήμως τὰς συλλαβὰς διαιρῶν οὔτε τῆς ὀρθογραφίας φροντίζων͵ ἀλλὰ μόνον τοῦ νοῦ ἐχόμενος καί͵ ὃ πάντες ἐθαυμάζομεν͵ ἐκεῖνο ποιῶν ἄχρι τελευτῆς διετέλεσε.

He used to work out his design mentally from first to last: when he came to set down his ideas, he wrote out at one jet all he had stored in mind as though he were copying from a book.

 Συντελέσας γὰρ παρ΄ ἑαυτῷ ἀπ΄ ἀρχῆς ἄχρι τέλους τὸ σκέμμα͵ ἔπειτα εἰς γραφὴν παραδιδοὺς ἃ ἐσκέπτετο͵ συνεῖρεν οὕτω γράφων ἃ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ διέθηκεν͵ ὡς ἀπὸ βιβλίου δοκεῖν μεταβάλλειν τὰ γραφόμενα·

Interrupted, perhaps, by someone entering on business, he never lost hold of his plan; he was able to meet all the demands of the conversation and still keep his own train of thought clearly before him; when he was fee again, he never looked over what he had previously written--his sight, it has been mentioned, did not allow of such re-reading--but he linked on what was to follow as if no distraction had occurred.

ἐπεὶ καὶ διαλεγόμενος πρός τινα καὶ συνείρων τὰς ὁμιλίας πρὸς τῷ σκέμματι ἦν͵ ὡς ἅμα τε ἀποπληροῦν τὸ ἀναγκαῖον τῆς ὁμιλίας καὶ τῶν ἐν σκέψει προκειμένων ἀδιάκοπον τηρεῖν τὴν διάνοιαν· ἀποστάντος γοῦν τοῦ προσδιαλεγομένου οὐδ΄ ἐπαναλαβὼν τὰ γεγραμμένα͵ διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐπαρκεῖν αὐτῷ πρὸς ἀνάληψιν͵ ὡς εἰρήκαμεν͵ τὴν ὅρασιν͵ τὰ ἑξῆς ἂν ἐπι συνῆψεν͵ ὡς μηδένα διαστήσας χρόνον μεταξὺ ὅτε τὴν ὁμιλίαν ἐποιεῖτο.

Thus he was able to live at once within himself and for others; he never relaxed from his interior attention unless in sleep; and even his sleep was kept light by an abstemiousness that often prevented him taking as much as a piece of bread, and by this unbroken concentration upon his own highest nature.

 Συνῆν οὖν καὶ ἑαυτῷ ἅμα καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις͵ καὶ τήν γε πρὸς ἑαυτὸν προσοχὴν οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἐχάλασεν͵ ἢ μόνον ἐν τοῖς ὕπνοις͵ ὃν ἂν ἀπέκρουεν ἥ τε τῆς τροφῆς ὀλιγότηςοὐδὲ γὰρ ἄρτου πολλάκις ἂν ἥψατοκαὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸν νοῦν αὐτοῦ διαρκὴς ἐπιστροφή.

9. SEVERAL women were greatly attached to him, amongst them Gemina, in whose house he lived, and her daughter, called Gemina, too, after the mother, and Amphiclea, the wife Ariston, son Iamblichus; all three devoted themselves assiduously to philosophy.

9 Ἔσχε δὲ καὶ γυναῖκας σφόδρα φιλοσοφίᾳ προσκειμένας͵ Γεμίναν τε͵ ἧς καὶ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ κατῴκει͵ καὶ τὴν ταύτης θυγατέρα Γεμίναν͵ ὁμοίως τῇ μητρὶ καλουμένην͵ Ἀμφί κλειάν τε τὴν Ἀρίστωνος τοῦ Ἰαμβλίχου υἱοῦ γεγονυῖαν γυναῖκα͵ [σφόδρα φιλοσοφίᾳ προσκειμένας].

Not a few men and women of position, on the approach of death, had left their boys and girls, with all their property, in his care, feeling that with Plotinus for guardian the children would be in holy hands. His house therefore was filled with lads lasses, amongst them Potamon, in whose education he took such interest as often to hear the boy recite verses of his own composition.

 Πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῖκες ἀποθνῄσκειν μέλλοντες τῶν εὐγενεσ τάτων φέροντες τὰ ἑαυτῶν τέκνα͵ ἄρρενάς τε ὁμοῦ καὶ θηλείας͵ ἐκείνῳ παρεδίδοσαν μετὰ τῆς ἄλλης οὐσίας ὡς ἱερῷ τινι καὶ θείῳ φύλακι.  Διὸ καὶ ἐπεπλήρωτο αὐτῷ ἡ οἰκία παίδων καὶ παρθένων. Ἐν τούτοις δὲ ἦν καὶ  Ποτάμων͵ οὗ τῆς παιδεύσεως φροντίζων πολλάκις ἓν καὶ μεταποιοῦντος ἠκροάσατο.  

He always found time for those that came to submit returns of the children’s property, and he looked closely to the accuracy of the accounts: ‘Until the young people take to philosophy,’ he used to say, ‘their fortunes and revenues must be kept intact for them.’ And yet all this labour and thought over the worldly interests of so many people never interrupted, during waking hours, his intention towards the Supreme.

Ἠνείχετο δὲ καὶ τοὺς λογισμούς͵ ἀναφερόντων τῶν [ἐν] ἐκείνοις παραμενόντων͵καὶ τῆς ἀκριβείας ἐπεμελεῖτο λέγων͵ ἕως ἂν μὴ φιλοσοφῶσιν͵ ἔχειν αὐτοὺς δεῖν τὰς κτήσεις καὶ τὰς προσόδους ἀνεπάφους τε καὶ σῳζομένας.
 Καὶ ὅμως τοσούτοις ἐπαρκῶν τὰς εἰς τὸν βίον φροντίδας τε καὶ ἐπιμελείας τὴν πρὸς τὸν νοῦν τάσιν οὐδέποτ΄ ἂν ἐγρηγορότως ἐχάλασεν.

He was gentle, and always at the call of those having the slightest acquaintance with him. After spending twenty-six years in Rome, acting, too, as arbiter in many differences, he had never made an enemy of any citizen.

 ῏Ην δὲ καὶ πρᾶος καὶ πᾶσιν ἐκκείμενος τοῖς ὁπωσοῦν πρὸς αὐτὸν συνήθειαν ἐσχηκόσι.
 Διὸ εἴκοσι καὶ ἓξ ἐτῶν ὅλων ἐν τῇ Ρώμῃ δια τρίψας καὶ πλείστοις διαιτήσας τὰς πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀμφισ βητήσεις οὐδένα τῶν πολιτικῶν ἐχθρόν ποτε ἔσχε.

10. AMONG those making profession of Philosophy at Rome was one Olympius, an Alexandrian, who had been for a little while a pupil of Ammonius.

10 Τῶν δὲ φιλοσοφεῖν προσποιουμένων Ὀλύμπιος Ἀλεξανδρεύς͵ Ἀμμωνίου ἐπ΄ ὀλίγον μαθητὴς γενόμενος͵

This man’s jealous envy showed itself in continual insolence, and finally he grew so bitter that he even ventured sorcery, seeking to crush Plotinus by star-spells. But he found his experiments recoiling upon himself, and he confessed to his associates that Plotinus possessed ‘a mighty soul, so powerful, as to be able to hurl every assault back upon those that sought his ruin’. Plotinus had felt the operation and declared that at that moment Olympius’ ‘limbs were convulsed and his body shrivelling like a money-bag pulled tight’. Olympius, perceiving on several attempts that he was endangering himself rather than Plotinus, desisted.

καταφρονητικῶς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔσχε διὰ φιλοπρωτίαν· ὃς καὶ οὕτως αὐτῷ ἐπέθετο͵ ὥστε καὶ ἀστροβολῆσαι αὐτὸν μαγεύσας ἐπεχείρησεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς ἑαυτὸν στρεφομένην ᾔσθετο τὴν ἐπιχείρησιν͵ ἔλεγε πρὸς τοὺς συνήθεις μεγάλην εἶναι τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς τοῦ Πλωτίνου δύναμιν͵ ὡς ἀπο κρούειν δύνασθαι τὰς εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐπιφορὰς εἰς τοὺς κακοῦν αὐτὸν ἐπιχειροῦντας.
 Πλωτῖνος μέντοι τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου ἐγχει ροῦντος ἀντελαμβάνετο λέγων αὐτῷ τὸ σῶμα τότε ὡς τὰ σύσπαστα βαλάντια ἕλκεσθαι τῶν μελῶν αὐτῷ πρὸς ἄλληλα συνθλιβομένων.
 Κινδυνεύσας δὲ ὁ Ὀλύμπιος πολ λάκις αὐτός τι παθεῖν ἢ δρᾶσαι τὸν Πλωτῖνον ἐπαύσατο.

In fact Plotinus possessed by birth something more than is accorded to other men. An Egyptian priest who had arrived in Rome and, through some friend, had been presented to the philosopher, became desirous of displaying his powers to him, and he offered to evoke a visible manifestation of Plotinus’ presiding spirit. Plotinus readily consented and the evocation was made in the Temple of Isis, the only place, they say, which the Egyptian could find pure in Rome.

῏Ην γὰρ καὶ κατὰ γένεσιν πλέον τι ἔχων παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ὁ Πλωτῖνος. Αἰγύπτιος γάρ τις ἱερεὺς ἀνελθὼν εἰς τὴν Ρώμην καὶ διά τινος φίλου αὐτῷ γνωρισθεὶς θέλων τε τῆς ἑαυτοῦ σοφίας ἀπόδειξιν δοῦναι ἠξίωσε τὸν Πλωτῖνον ἐπὶ θέαν ἀφικέσθαι τοῦ συνόντος αὐτῷ οἰκείου δαίμονος καλου μένου.
 Τοῦ δὲ ἑτοίμως ὑπακούσαντος γίνεται μὲν ἐν τῷ Ἰσίῳ ἡ κλῆσις· μόνον γὰρ ἐκεῖνον τὸν τόπον καθαρὸν φῆσαι εὑρεῖν ἐν τῇ Ρώμῃ τὸν Αἰγύπτιον.

At the summons a Divinity appeared, not a being of the spirit-ranks, and the Egyptian exclaimed: ‘You are singularly graced; the guiding-spirit within you is not of the lower degree but a God.’ It was not possible, however, to interrogate or even to contemplate this God any further, for the priest’s assistant, who had been holding the birds to prevent them flying away, strangled them, whether through jealousy or in terror. Thus Plotinus had for indwelling spirit a Being of the more divine degree, and he kept his own divine spirit unceasingly intent upon that inner presence. It was this preoccupation that led him to write his treatise upon Our Tutelary Spirit, an essay in the explanation of the differences among spirit-guides.

 Κληθέντα δὲ εἰς αὐτοψίαν τὸν δαίμονα θεὸν ἐλθεῖν καὶ μὴ τοῦ δαιμόνων εἶναι γένους· ὅθεν τὸν Αἰγύπτιον εἰπεῖν· μακάριος εἶ θεὸν ἔχων τὸν δαίμονα καὶ οὐ τοῦ ὑφειμένου γένους τὸν συνόντα.
 Μήτε δὲ ἐρέσθαι τι ἐκγενέσθαι μήτε ἐπιπλέον ἰδεῖν παρόντα τοῦ συνθεωροῦντος φίλου τὰς ὄρνεις͵ ἃς κατεῖχε φυλακῆς ἕνεκα͵ πνίξαντος εἴτε διὰ φθόνον εἴτε καὶ διὰ φόβον τινά.  Τῶν οὖν θειοτέρων δαιμόνων ἔχων τὸν συνόντα καὶ αὐτὸς διετέλει ἀνάγων αὐτοῦ τὸ θεῖον ὄμμα πρὸς ἐκεῖνον.  Ἔστι γοῦν αὐτῷ ἀπὸ τῆς τοιαύτης αἰτίας καὶ βιβλίον γραφὲν Περὶ τοῦ εἰληχότος ἡμᾶς δαίμονος͵ ὅπου πειρᾶται αἰτίας φέρειν περὶ τῆς διαφορᾶς τῶν συνόν των.

Amelius was scrupulous in observing the day of the New-Moon and other holy-days, and once asked Plotinus to join in some such celebration: Plotinus refused: ‘It is for those Beings to come to me, not for me to go to them.’

 Φιλοθύτου δὲ γεγονότος τοῦ Ἀμελίου καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ κατὰ νουμηνίαν καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς ἐκπεριιόντος καί ποτε ἀξιοῦντος τὸν Πλωτῖνον σὺν αὐτῷ παραλαβεῖν ἔφη· ἐκείνους δεῖ πρὸς ἐμὲ ἔρχεσθαι͵ οὐκ ἐμὲ πρὸς ἐκείνους.

What was in his mind in so lofty an utterance we could not explain to ourselves and we dared not ask him.

 Τοῦτο δὲ ἐκ ποίας διανοίας οὕτως ἐμεγαληγόρησεν͵ οὔτ΄ αὐτοὶ συνεῖναι δεδυνήμεθα οὔτ΄ αὐτὸν ἐρέσθαι ἐτολμήσαμεν.

11. HE had a remarkable penetration into character.

11 Περιῆν δὲ αὐτῷ τοσαύτη περιουσία ἠθῶν κατα νοήσεως͵

Once a valuable necklace was stolen from Chione, who was living in honourable widowhood with her children in the same house as Plotinus: the servants were called before him: he scrutinized them all, then indicated one: ‘This man is the thief.’ The man was whipped but for some time persisted in denial: finally, however, he confessed, and restored the necklace.

ὡς κλοπῆς ποτε γεγονυίας πολυτελοῦς περιδε ραίου Χιόνης͵ ἥτις αὐτῷ συνῴκει μετὰ τῶν τέκνων σεμνῶς τὴν χηρείαν διεξάγουσα͵ καὶ ὑπ΄ ὄψιν τοῦ Πλωτίνου τῶν οἰκετῶν συνηγμένων ἐμβλέψας ἅπασιν· οὗτος͵ ἔφη͵ ἐστὶν ὁ κεκλοφώς͵ δείξας ἕνα τινά.
 Μαστιζόμενος δὲ ἐκεῖνος καὶ ἐπιπλεῖον ἀρνούμενος τὰ πρῶτα ὕστερον ὡμολόγησε καὶ φέρων τὸ κλαπὲν ἀπέδωκε.

Plotinus foretold also the future of each of the children in the household: for instance, when questioned as to Polemon’s character and destiny he said: ‘He will be amorous and short-lived’: and so it proved.

 Προεῖπε δ΄ ἂν καὶ τῶν συνόντων παίδων περὶ ἑκάστου οἷος ἀποβήσεται· ὡς καὶ περὶ τοῦ Πολέμωνος οἷος ἔσται͵ ὅτι ἐρωτικὸς ἔσται καὶ ὀλιγοχρόνιος͵ ὅπερ καὶ ἀπέβη.

I myself at one period had formed the intention of ending my life; Plotinus discerned my purpose; he came unexpectedly to my house where I had secluded myself, told me that my decision sprang not from reason but from mere melancholy and advised me to leave Rome. I obeyed and left for Sicily, which I chose because I heard that one Probus, a man of scholarly repute, was living there not far from Lilybaeum. Thus I was induced to abandon my first intention but was prevented from being with Plotinus between that time and his death.

 Καί ποτε ἐμοῦ Πορφυρίου ᾔσθετο ἐξάγειν ἐμαυτὸν διανοουμένου τοῦ βίου· καὶ ἐξαίφνης ἐπιστάς μοι ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ διατρίβοντι καὶ εἰπὼν μὴ εἶναι ταύτην τὴν προθυμίαν ἐκ νοερᾶς καταστάσεως͵ ἀλλ΄ ἐκ μελαγχολικῆς τινος νόσου͵ ἀποδημῆσαι ἐκέλευσε.
 Πεισθεὶς δὲ αὐτῷ ἐγὼ εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν ἀφικόμην Πρόβον τινὰ ἀκούων ἐλλόγιμον ἄνδρα περὶ τὸ Λιλύβαιον διατρίβειν· καὶ αὐτός τε τῆς τοιαύτης προθυμίας ἀπεσχόμην τοῦ τε παρεῖναι ἄχρι θανάτου τῷ Πλωτίνῳ ἐνεποδίσθην.

12. THE Emperor Gallienus and his wife Salonina greatly honoured and venerated Plotinus, who thought to turn their friendly feeling to some good purpose. In Campania there had once stood, according to tradition, a City of Philosophers, a ruin now; Plotinus asked the Emperor to rebuild this city and to make over the surrounding district to the new-founded state; the population was to live under Plato’s laws: the city was to be called Platonopolis; and Plotinus undertook to settle down there with his associates. He would have had his way without more ado but that opposition at court, prompted by jealousy, spite, or some such paltry motive, put an end to the plan.

12 Ἐτίμησαν δὲ τὸν Πλωτῖνον μάλιστα καὶ ἐσέφθησαν Γαλιῆνός τε ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ καὶ ἡ τούτου γυνὴ Σαλωνίνα.
 Ὁ δὲ τῇ φιλίᾳ τῇ τούτων καταχρώμενος φιλοσόφων τινὰ πόλιν κατὰ τὴν Καμπανίαν γεγενῆσθαι λεγομένην͵ ἄλλως δὲ κατηριπωμένην͵ ἠξίου ἀνεγείρειν καὶ τὴν πέριξ χώραν χαρίσασθαι οἰκισθείσῃ τῇ πόλει͵ νόμοις δὲ χρῆσθαι τοὺς κατοικεῖν μέλλοντας τοῖς Πλάτωνος καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν αὐτῇ Πλατωνόπολιν θέσθαι͵ ἐκεῖ τε αὐτὸς μετὰ τῶν ἑταίρων ἀναχωρήσειν ὑπισχνεῖτο.
 Καὶ ἐγένετ΄ ἂν τὸ βού λημα ἐκ τοῦ ῥᾴστου τῷ φιλοσόφῳ͵ εἰ μή τινες τῶν συν όντων τῷ βασιλεῖ φθονοῦντες ἢ νεμεσῶντες ἢ δι΄ ἄλλην μοχθηρὰν αἰτίαν ἐνεπόδισαν.

14. IN style Plotinus is concise, dense with thought, terse, more lavish of ideas than of words, most often expressing himself with a fervid inspiration. He followed his own path rather than that of tradition, but in his writings both the Stoic and Peripatetic doctrines are sunk; Aristotle’s Metaphysics, especially, is condensed in them, all but entire.

14 Ἐν δὲ τῷ γράφειν σύντομος γέγονε καὶ πολύνους βραχύς τε καὶ νοήμασι πλεονάζων ἢ λέξεσι͵ τὰ πολλὰ ἐνθουσιῶν καὶ ἐκπαθῶς φράζων  καὶ τὸ συμπαθείας ἢ παραδόσεως.
 Ἐμμέμικται δ΄ ἐν τοῖς συγγράμμασι καὶ τὰ Στωικὰ λανθάνοντα δόγματα καὶ τὰ Περιπατητικά· κα ταπεπύκνωται δὲ καὶ ἡ Μετὰ τὰ φυσικὰ τοῦ Ἀριστο τέλους πραγματεία.

He had a thorough theoretical knowledge of Geometry, Mechanics, Optics, and Music, though it was not in his temperament to go practically into these subjects.

Ἔλαθε δὲ αὐτὸν οὔτε γεωμετρικόν τι λεγόμενον θεώρημα οὔτ΄ ἀριθμητικόν͵ οὐ μηχανικόν͵ οὐκ ὀπτικόν͵ οὐ μουσικόν· αὐτὸς δὲ ταῦτα ἐξεργάζεσθαι οὐ παρεσκεύαστο.

At the Conferences he used to have treatises by various authors read aloud--among the Platonists it might be Severus of Cronius, Numenius, Gaius, or Atticus; and among the Peripatetics Aspasius, Alexander, Adrastus, or some such writer, at the call of the moment. But it was far from his way to follow any of these authors blindly; he took a personal, original view, applying Ammonius’ method to the investigation of every problem.

 Ἐν δὲ ταῖς συνουσίαις ἀνεγινώσκετο μὲν αὐτῷ τὰ ὑπομνήματα͵ εἴτε Σεβήρου εἴη͵ εἴτε Κρονίου ἢ Νουμηνίου ἢ Γαίου ἢ Ἀττικοῦ͵ κἀν τοῖς Περιπατητικοῖς τά τε Ἀσπασίου καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἀδράστου τε καὶ τῶν ἐμπεσόντων.
 Ἐλέγετο δὲ ἐκ τούτων οὐδὲν καθάπαξ͵ ἀλλ΄ ἴδιος ἦν καὶ ἐξηλλαγμένος ἐν τῇ θεωρίᾳ καὶ τὸν Ἀμμω νίου φέρων νοῦν ἐν ταῖς ἐξετάσεσιν.

 

He was quick to absorb; a few words sufficed him to make clear the significance of some profound theory and so to pass on. After hearing Longinus’ work On Causes and his Antiquary, he remarked: ‘Longinus is a man of letters, but in no sense a philosopher.’

Ἐπληροῦτο δὲ ταχέως καὶ δι΄ ὀλίγων δοὺς νοῦν βαθέος θεωρήματος ἀνίστατο.
 Ἀναγνωσθέντος δὲ αὐτῷ τοῦ τε Περὶ ἀρχῶν Λογγίνου καὶ τοῦ Φιλαρχαίου͵ φιλόλογος μέν͵ ἔφη͵ ὁ Λογγῖνος͵ φιλόσοφος δὲ οὐδαμῶς.

One day Origen came to the conference-room; Plotinus blushed deeply and was on the point of bringing his lecture to an end; when Origen begged him to continue, he said: ‘The zest dies down when the speaker feels that his hearers have nothing to learn from him.’

 Ὠριγένους δὲ ἀπαντήσαντός ποτε εἰς τὴν συνουσίαν πληρωθεὶς ἐρυθή ματος ἀνίστασθαι μὲν ἐβούλετο͵ λέγειν δὲ ὑπὸ Ὠριγένους ἀξιούμενος ἔφη ἀνίλλεσθαι τὰς προθυμίας͵ ὅταν ἴδῃ ὁ λέγων͵ ὅτι πρὸς εἰδότας ἐρεῖ ἃ αὐτὸς λέγειν μέλλει· καὶ οὕτως ὀλίγα διαλεχθεὶς ἐξανέστη.

15. ONCE on Plato’s feast I read a poem, ‘The Sacred Marriage’; my piece abounded in mystic doctrine conveyed in veiled words and was couched in terms of enthusiasm; someone exclaimed: ‘Porphyry has gone mad’; Plotinus said to me so that all might hear: ‘You have shown yourself at once poet, philosopher and hierophant.’

15 Ἐμοῦ δὲ ἐν Πλατωνείοις ποίημα ἀναγνόντος Τὸν ἱερὸν γάμον͵ καί τινος διὰ τὸ μυστικῶς πολλὰ μετ΄ ἐνθου σιασμοῦ ἐπικεκρυμμένως εἰρῆσθαι εἰπόντος μαίνεσθαι τὸν Πορφύριον͵ ἐκεῖνος εἰς ἐπήκοον ἔφη πάντων· ἔδειξας ὁμοῦ καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν καὶ τὸν φιλόσοφον καὶ τὸν ἱερο φάντην.

The orator Diophanes one day read a justification of the Alcibiades of Plato’s Banquet and maintained that the pupil, for the sake of advancement in virtue, should submit to the teacher without reserve, even to the extent of carnal commerce: Plotinus started up several times to leave the room but forced himself to remain; on the breaking up of the company he directed me to write a refutation. Diophanes refused to lend me his address and I had to depend on my recollection of his argument; but my refutation, delivered before the same audience, delighted Plotinus so much that during the very reading he repeatedly quoted: ‘So strike and be a light to men.’

 Ὅτε δὲ ὁ ῥήτωρ Διοφάνης ἀνέγνω ὑπὲρ Ἀλκι βιάδου τοῦ ἐν τῷ Συμποσίῳ τοῦ Πλάτωνος ἀπολογίαν δογματίζων χρῆναι ἀρετῆς ἕνεκα μαθήσεως εἰς συνουσίαν αὑτὸν παρέχειν ἐρῶντι ἀφροδισίου μίξεως τῷ καθηγεμόνι͵ ἤιξε μὲν πολλάκις ἀναστὰς ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς συνόδου͵ ἐπισχὼν δ΄ ἑαυτὸν μετὰ τὴν διάλυσιν τοῦ ἀκουστηρίου ἐμοὶ Πορφυρίῳ ἀντιγράψαι προσέταξε.
 Μὴ θέλοντος δὲ τοῦ Διοφάνους τὸ βιβλίον δοῦναι διὰ τῆς μνήμης ἀναληφθέντων τῶν ἐπιχειρημάτων ἀντιγράψας ἐγὼ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀκροατῶν συνηγμένων ἀναγνοὺς τοσοῦτον τὸν Πλωτῖνον ηὔφρανα͵ ὡς κἀν ταῖς συνουσίαις συνεχῶς ἐπιλέγειν· Βάλλ΄ οὕτως͵ αἴ κέν τι φόως ἄνδρεσσι γένηαι.

When Eubulus, the Platonic Successor, wrote from Athens, sending treatises on some questions in Platonism. Plotinus had the writings put into my hands with instructions to examine them and report to him upon them.

 Γράφοντος δὲ Εὐβούλου Ἀθήνηθεν τοῦ Πλατωνικοῦ διαδόχου καὶ πέμποντος συγγράμματα ὑπέρ τινων Πλατω νικῶν ζητημάτων ἐμοὶ Πορφυρίῳ ταῦτα δίδοσθαι ἐποίει καὶ σκοπεῖν καὶ ἀναφέρειν αὐτῷ τὰ γεγραμμένα ἠξίου.

He paid some attention to the principles of Astronomy though he did not study the subject very deeply on the mathematical side. He went more searchingly into Horoscopy; when once he was convinced that its results were not to be trusted he had no hesitation in attacking the system frequently both at the Conferences and in his writings.

 Προσ εῖχε δὲ τοῖς μὲν περὶ τῶν ἀστέρων κανόσιν οὐ πάνυ τι μαθηματικῶς͵ τοῖς δὲ τῶν γενεθλιαλόγων ἀποτελεσμα τικοῖς ἀκριβέστερον.
 Καὶ φωράσας τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὸ ἀνεχέγγυον ἐλέγχειν πολλαχοῦ κατ΄ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς συγγράμμασιν οὐκ ὤκνησε.

16. MANY Christians of this period--amongst them sectaries who had abandoned the old philosophy, men of the schools of Adelphius and Aquilinus--had possessed themselves of works by Alexander of Libya, by Philocomus, by Demostratus, and bby Lydus, and exhibited also Revelations bearing the names of Zoroaster, Zostrianus, Nicotheus, Allogenes, Mesus, and others of that order. Thus they fooled many, themselves fooled first; Plato, according to them, had failed to penetrate into the depth of Intellectual Being.

16 Γεγόνασι δὲ κατ΄ αὐτὸν τῶν Χριστιανῶν πολλοὶ μὲν καὶ ἄλλοι͵ αἱρετικοὶ δὲ ἐκ τῆς παλαιᾶς φιλοσοφίας ἀνηγμένοι οἱ περὶ Ἀδέλφιον καὶ Ἀκυλῖνον οἳ τὰ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Λίβυος καὶ Φιλοκώμου καὶ Δημοστράτου καὶ Λυδοῦ συγ γράμματα πλεῖστα κεκτημένοι ἀποκαλύψεις τε προφέρον τες Ζωροάστρου καὶ Ζωστριανοῦ καὶ Νικοθέου καὶ Ἀλλογε νοῦς καὶ Μέσσου καὶ ἄλλων τοιούτων πολλοὺς ἐξηπάτων καὶ αὐτοὶ ἠπατημένοι͵ ὡς δὴ τοῦ Πλάτωνος εἰς τὸ βάθος τῆς νοητῆς οὐσίας οὐ πελάσαντος.

Plotinus fequently attacked their position at the Conferences and finally wrote the treatise which I have headed Against the Gnostics: he left to us of the circle the task of examining what he himself passed over. Amelius proceeded as far as a fortieth treatise in refutation of the book of Zostrianus: I myself have shown on many counts that the Zoroastrian volume is spurious and modern, concocted by the sectaries in order to pretend that the doctrines they had embraced were those of the ancient sage.

 Ὅθεν αὐτὸς μὲν πολλοὺς ἐλέγχους ποιούμενος ἐν ταῖς συνουσίαις͵ γράψας δὲ καὶ βιβλίον ὅπερ Πρὸς τοὺς Γνωστικούς ἐπεγράψαμεν͵ ἡμῖν τὰ λοιπὰ κρίνειν καταλέλοιπεν.  Ἀμέλιος δὲ ἄχρι τεσ σαράκοντα βιβλίων προκεχώρηκε πρὸς τὸ Ζωστριανοῦ βιβλίον ἀντιγράφων.  Πορφύριος δὲ ἐγὼ πρὸς τὸ Ζωροά στρου συχνοὺς πεποίημαι ἐλέγχους͵ ὅλως νόθον τε καὶ νέον τὸ βιβλίον παραδεικνὺς πεπλασμένον τε ὑπὸ τῶν τὴν αἵρεσιν συστησαμένων εἰς δόξαν τοῦ εἶναι τοῦ παλαιοῦ Ζωροάστρου τὰ δόγματα͵ ἃ αὐτοὶ εἵλοντο πρεσβεύειν.

22. [...] Apollo was consulted by Amelius, who desired to learn where Plotinus’ soul had gone. And Apollo, who uttered of Socrates that great praise, ‘Of all men, Socrates the wisest’--you shall hear what a full and lofty oracle Apollo rendered upon Plotinus. [...]

Ὁ γὰρ δὴ Ἀπόλλων ἐρομένου τοῦ Ἀμελίου͵ ποῦ ἡ Πλωτίνου ψυχὴ κεχώρηκεν͵ ὁ τοσοῦτον εἰπὼν περὶ Σωκράτους· Ἀνδρῶν ἁπάντων Σωκράτης σοφώτατος͵ ἐπάκουσον͵ ὅσα καὶ οἷα περὶ Πλωτίνου ἐθέσπισεν· [...]

23. GOOD and kindly, singularly gentle and engaging: thus the oracle presents him, and so in fact we found him. Sleeplessly alert--Apollo tells--pure of soul, ever striving towards the divine which he loved with all his being, he laboured strenuously to free himself and rise above the bitter waves of this blood-drenched life: and this is why to Plotinus--God-like and lifting himself often, by the ways of meditation and by the methods Plato teaches in the Banquet, to the first and all-transcendent God--that God appeared, the God who has neither shape nor form but sits enthroned above the Intellectual-Principle and all the Intellectual-Sphere.

23 Ἐν δὴ τούτοις εἴρηται μὲν ὅτι ἀγανὸς γέγονε καὶ ἤπιος καὶ πρᾶός γε μάλιστα καὶ μείλιχος͵ ἅπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς οὕτως ἔχοντι συνῄδειμεν· εἴρηται δ΄ ὅτι ἄγρυπνος καὶ καθαρὰν τὴν ψυχὴν ἔχων καὶ ἀεὶ σπεύδων πρὸς τὸ θεῖον͵ οὗ διὰ πάσης τῆς ψυχῆς ἤρα͵ ὅτι τε πάντ΄ ἐποίει ἀπαλ λαγῆναι͵ πικρὸν κῦμ΄ ἐξυπαλύξαι τοῦ αἱμοβότου τῇδε βίου.  Οὕτως δὲ μάλιστα τούτῳ τῷ δαιμονίῳ φωτὶ πολλάκις ἐνάγοντι ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸν πρῶτον καὶ ἐπέκεινα θεὸν ταῖς ἐννοίαις καὶ κατὰ τὰς ἐν τῷ Συμποσίῳ ὑφηγημένας ὁδοὺς τῷ Πλάτωνι ἐφάνη ἐκεῖνος ὁ θεὸς ὁ μήτε μορφὴν μήτε τινὰ ἰδέαν ἔχων͵ ὑπὲρ δὲ νοῦν καὶ πᾶν τὸ νοη τὸν ἱδρυμένος.  

‘There was shown to Plotinus the immediate goal [skopos ] ever near’: for the final goal [telos] , the one end [skopos ], of his life was to become One [with God], to approach to the God over all: and four times, during the period I passed with him, he achieved this [goal], by no mere latent fitness but by the ineffable Act.

 Ἐφάνη γοῦν τῷ Πλωτίνῳ σκοπὸς ἐγγύθι ναίων. Τέλος γὰρ αὐτῷ καὶ σκοπὸς ἦν τὸ ἑνωθῆναι καὶ πελάσαι τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ.  Ἔτυχε δὲ τετράκις που͵ ὅτε αὐτῷ συνήμην͵ τοῦ σκοποῦ τούτου ἐνεργείᾳ ἀρρήτῳ [καὶ οὐ δυνάμει].

We are told that often when he was leaving the way, the Gods set him on the true path again, pouring down before him a dense shaft of light; here we are to understand that in his writing he was overlooked and guided by the divine powers.

 Καὶ ὅτι λοξῶς φερόμενον πολλάκις οἱ θεοὶ κατ εύθυναν θαμινὴν φαέων ἀκτῖνα πορόντες͵ ὡς ἐπισκέψει τῇ παρ΄ ἐκείνων καὶ ἐπιβλέψει γραφῆναι τὰ γραφέντα͵ εἴρηται.

[...] Thus far the Oracle recounts what Plotinus accomplished and to what heights he attained while still in the body: emancipated from the body, we are told how he entered the celestial circle where all is friendship, tender delight, happiness, and loving union with God, where Minos and Rhadamanthus and Aeacus, the sons of God, are enthroned as judges of souls--not, however, to hold him to judgement but as welcoming him to their consort to which are bidden spirits pleasing to the Gods--Plato, Pythagoras, and all the people of the Choir of Immortal Love, there where the blessed spirits have their birth-home and live in days filled full of ‘joyous festival’ and made happy by the Gods.

 Μετὰ δὲ τὸ λυθῆναι ἐκ τοῦ σώματος ἐλθεῖν μὲν αὐτόν φησιν εἰς τὴν δαιμονίαν ὁμήγυριν͵ πολιτεύεσθαι δ΄ ἐκεῖ φιλότητα͵ ἵμερον͵ εὐφροσύνην͵ ἔρωτα ἐξημμένον τοῦ θεοῦ͵ τετάχθαι δὲ καὶ τοὺς λεγομένους δικαστὰς τῶν ψυχῶν͵ παῖδας τοῦ θεοῦ͵ Μίνω καὶ Ραδάμανθυν καὶ Αἰακόν͵ πρὸς οὓς οὐ δικασθησόμενον οἴχεσθαι͵ συνεσόμενον δὲ τούτοις͵ οἷς καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ὅσοι ἄριστοι.
 Σύνεισι δὲ τοιοῦτοι Πλάτων͵ Πυθαγόρας ὁπόσοι τε ἄλλοι χορὸν στήριξαν ἔρωτος ἀθανάτου· ἐκεῖ δὲ τὴν γένεσιν τοὺς ὀλβίστους δαίμονας ἔχειν βίον τε μετιέναι τὸν ἐν θαλείαις καὶ εὐφροσύναις καταπε πυκνωμένον καὶ τοῦτον διατελεῖν καὶ ὑπὸ θεῶν μακα ριζόμενον.