ABSTRACT
The last great school of Greek philosophy was Neoplatonism, and its most famous representative was Plotinus, born in Lykopolis, Egypt, in a.d. 204. In his late twenties, Plotinus began to study in Alexandria with Ammonius Saccas, a shadowy figure who was also the teacher of the theologian Origen. After eleven years with Ammonius, Plotinus joined an expedition to Persia to learn Persian and Indian wisdom. The trek proved unsuccessful and Plotinus moved to Rome. There he established a school of philosophy and a friendship with the emperor Gallenius. At one point, he sought permission to found a city based on Plato’s Republic, but the plan came to naught. He stayed in Rome, teaching and writing, until the death of the emperor in a.d. 268. He then moved to the home of a friend where he died in a.d. 270, apparently from leprosy.
