Introduction* χία
pestilence raged ‘ at Rome, and the
servants who were accustomed to rub him*
fell victims to the disease; from neglecting
remedies of this kind, he gradually became
a prey to the pestilence. So great was the
violence of this distemper, and its effects
so dreadful on Plotinus, as Eustochius in¬
formed Porphyry who was then absent,
that through a very great hoarseness, all
the clear and sonorous vigour of his musical
voice was lost ; and what was still worse,
his eyes were darkened, and his hands and
feet were covered with ulcers. Hence, be¬
coming incapable of receiving the saluta-
* This pestilence was in the time of the Emperor Gallienus, and raged so vehemently, according to Trebellius Pollio, that five thousand men perished through the same disease in one day. This happened in the year of Christ 262, and of Gallienus 9, 10 ; and not long after Porphyry applied him¬ self to Plotinus.
XiV INTRODUCTION
tions of his friends, he left the city, and
went to Campania, to the estate of one
Zethus, an ancient departed friend. Neces¬
saries were here administered to him from
the hereditary possessions of Zethus, and
were likewise brought from Minturnus,
from the fields of Castricius. 1 But when
this divine man drew near to his dissolu¬
tion, that period which is no less the dread
of the vulgar than the transport of the
philosopher, and which to Plotinus must
have been the moment of extatic rapture,
Eustochius, who dwelt at Puteolus, was not
very hasty in his approaches ; doubtless
not imagining that Plotinus was on the
point of making his triumphant exit from
a corporeal life. However, when he came
1 This is the Firmus Castricius to whom Porphyry in- scribes his treatise On Abstinence from Animal food.
into the presence of this departing hero,
he was just in time to receive his dying
words, and to preserve the sacred sentence
to posterity. As yet (says he) I have ex·*
x pected you , and now 1 endeavour · that my
divine part may return to that divine nature
which flourishes throughout the universe .
Such were the last words of this mighty
man, which like those contained in his
writings, are great and uncommon, admir¬
able and sublime. He died at the conclu¬
sion of the second year of the reign of M·
Aurelius Flavius Claudius ; and was at the
time of his death in the sixty-sixth year of
his age, according to the information given
to Porphyry by Eustochius. Porphyry
afterwards informs us, in perfect agreement
with the genius of Plotinus, that he would
never tell to any one, the month, or day
Nvi
in which he was born ; because he by no means thought it proper that his nativity
should be celebrated with sacrifices and
banquets. Indeed we cannot suppose that
he who had such a vehement contempt for
a corporeal life» would be anxious that his
entrance into mortality should be solem¬
nized with festivity ; but rather, considering
himself with Empedocles, as
Heaven's exile straying from the orb of light.
he would be disposed to lament his capti»
vity, and mourn the degradation of his
nature. However, he was not averse to
celebrate the nativities of Socrates and
Plato ; for he assisted at the sacred rites,
ahd invited his friends to a philosophic
banquet, where it was required that every
introduction;
guest should recite a written oration, adapt¬
ed to the occasion of their amicable associa¬
tion.
The few particulars which this great man
condescended to relate of himself in familiar
discourse, are the following : when he was
eight years of age, and was even under the
tuition of a literary preceptor, he used
to frequent his nurse, and uncover her
breasts, through an avidity of sucking her
milk. And this custom he continued, till
being accused of troublesomeness, and
covered with shame through the reproof,
he abandoned this extraordinary custom.
This story, however trifling it may appear,
indicates in my opinion, the native inno¬
cence, and genuine simplicity of manners
which so eminently marked the character
Xv111
of Plotinus. When he was in the twenty-
eighth year of his age, being vehemently
inflamed with the love of philosophy, he
wras recommended to the most excellent
masters of Alexandria; but he left their
schools with sorrow and disappointment.
By a fortunate event however, he told a
certain friend, who was well acquainted
with the disposition of his mind, the cause
of his affliction, and he brought him to the
celebrated Ammonias, whose school Ploti¬
nus had probably overlooked, among the
great multitude with which that illustrious
city abounded. But when he entered the
school of Ammonias, and heard him philo¬
sophize, he exclaimed in transport to his
friend, this is the man I have been seeking.
Prom that day he gave himself up to Am¬
monias with sedulous attention for eleven
Introduction. Xix
5Tears ; and made such rapid advances in
his philosophy, that he determined to study
also the philosophy of the Persians, and
the wisdom particularly cultivated by the
Indian sages. For this purpose, when the
Emperor Gordian marched into Persia, in
order to war upon that nation, Plotinus
joined himself to the army, being at that
time in the nine and thirtieth }^ear of his
age. But after Gordian was destroyed
about Mesopotamia, Plotinus fled to
Antioch, where he received a fortunate
shelter from the dangers and devastations
of war ; and in the reign of the Emperor
Philip came to Rome, in the fortieth year
of his age.
It was a long time before Plotinus com» mitted his thoughts to writing; and gave
the world a copy of his inimitable mind.
That light which was shortly to illuminate
mankind, as yet shone with solitary splen¬
dor, or at best beamed only on a beloved
few. It was now, however, destined to
emerge from its sanctuary, and to display
its radiance with unbounded diffusion.
But a disciple like Porphyry, was requisite
to the full perfection of its appearance.
Amelius was indeed laborious, but he was
at the same time verbose. He neither
appears to have possessed the inquisitive
spirit, nor the elegant genius of Porphyry ;
and his commentaries were too voluminous
to be exquisitely good. Porphyry gives a
singular specimen of his endurance of labor,
when he informs us that he committed to
writing almost all the dogmas of Numenius,
find retained a very considerable part of
them in his memory. lie was not however,
though an excellent philosopher, calculated
to urge Plotinus to write, or to assist him
in writing; hut this important task was
reserved for Porphyry, who, in the words of
Eunapius, “ like a Mercurial chain let down
for the benefit of mortals, by the assistance
of universal erudition, explained every
thing with clearness and precision/' Ploti¬
nus, indeed, began to write in the first year
of the Emperor Galienus ; and he con¬
tinued to note such questions as occurred
to him, for the ten following years, in the
last of which he became acquainted with
Porphyry, who was at that time in the
thirtieth year of his age. He had then
composed one-and-twenty books, which
were in the hands but of a few : for the
edition was difficult to be procured, and
Plot . c
was not universally known. Besides, Ploti¬
nus was neither hasty nor rash in his publi¬
cations ; but he gave those only to the
light, which had been approved by a
mature and deliberate judgment. The one-
and-twenty books we have just mentioned,
after various inscriptions, at length obtain*·
ed the following titles.
On the Beautiful. Ennead I. lib. 6.
On the Immortality of the Soul. IV. 7®
On Fate. III. 1.
On the Essence of the Soul. IV. I,
On Intellect, Ideas, and Being. V.
On the Descent of the Soul into Bodies. IV. 8.
IIow things posterior to the First, proceed from the First, and on the One. V. 4.
Whether all Souls are one 1 IV. 9.
On the Good , or the One. VI. 9.
On the three Hypostases that rank as the Principles of Things, V. 1.
On the Generation and Order of Things posterior to the First. V.
On the two Matters [i. e. the Intelligible and the Sensible}. II. 4.
Various Considerations. III. 9.
On the Circular Motion of the Heavens. II. 2.
On the Daemon allotted to us» III. 4.
On the reasonable Exit from the present Life. I. 9®
On Quality. II. 6.
Whether there are Ideas of Particulars. V. 7®
On the Virtues. Ϊ, 2.
On Dialectic. I. 3.
How the Soul is said to be a medium between an impart¬ ible and partible Essence. IV. 2.
These one-and-twenty books were finish¬
ed when Porphyry first became acquainted
with Plotinus ; and when this great man was
fifty-nine years old. During the six years
in which Porphyry was his companion as
well as disciple, many questions of a very
abstruse nature were discussed in their
philosophical conversations, which, at the
joint request of Porphyry and Amelius^
Plotinus committed to writing, and produ¬
ced from their investigation, two elaborate
and admirable books, On true being, demon¬
strating that it is every where one and the
same whole. Ennead vi. lib. 4, 5. And
afterwards he wrote two others, one of
which shows, That the nature which is
beyond being is not intellective , and what
that is which is primarily , and also that which
is secondarily intellective. Ennead v. 6. But
the other is, On that which is in capacity ,
and that which is in energy. Ennead ii.
5. He likewise wrote the following; books :
On the impassivity of Incorporeal Natures. 1 Ennead
III. 6.
1 It is strange that Fabricius should think this treatise ought to be entitled, ττ epi της ατταΟείας των σωμάτων , On the Impassivity of Bodies. For the man of intellect who reads it, must immediately see that such a title would be ridiculous.
On the Soul, two Rooks. IV. 3. 4.
On the Soul, a third Rook, or On the manner in which we
see. IV. 5.
On Contemplation. III. 8.
On Intelligible Reautv. V. 8.
That Intelligibles are not external to Intellect ; and con¬ cerning Intellect and the Good. V. 5.
Against the Gnostics. II. 9·
On Numbers. VI. 6.
Why things seen at a distance appear to be small. II. 8.
Whether Felicity consists in an extension of Time. I. 5.
On total Mixture. II. 7·
How the multitude of Ideas subsists, and concerning the
Good, VI. 7-
On the Voluntary. VI. 8.
On the World. II. 1.
On Sense and Memory. IV. 6 .
On the Genera of Reings, three Rooks. VI. 1. 2. 3«
On Eternity and Time. III. 7»
But while Porphyry resided in Sicily,
and about the fifteenth year of the Emperor
Galienus, Plotinus composed the five
following Books, which he sent to Porphyry
for his revision.
On Felicity. Ennead I. 4®
On Providence, two Books. III. 2. 3.
On Gnostic Hypostases, and that which is beyond thena. IV. 3.
' On Love. III. 5.
These books were transmitted to Por¬
phyry in the first year of the Emperor
Claudius1 reign. And about the beginning
of the second year, and a little before his
death, he sent him the following, and the
last :
On what things are Evil, and whence Evils originate. Ennead I. lib. 8.
Whether the Stars effect any thing. H. 3.
What Man is, and what Animal is? I. 1.
On the first Good, and other Goods. I. f.
The whole amount therefore, of the books
written by Plotinus, connecting the preced¬
ing with those just enumerated, is fifty-four,
which Porphyry has divided into six
enneads, assigning, agreeably to the mean¬
ing of the word, nine books to every
entiead. But they bear evident marks,
says Porphyry, of the different periods, at
which they were composed. For the first
one-and-twenty, which were written in the
former part of his life, if compared with
the next in order, seem to possess an infe¬
rior power, and to be deficient in strength.
But those composed in the middle of his
life, exhibit the vigour of power, and the
acme of perfection. And such with a few
exceptions are the four-and-twenty we have
already enumerated. The last nine how¬
ever, which were composed in the decline
of life, bear the marks of remitted energy,
and drooping vigour. And this the four
Xxv1u
last exhibit more evidently than the preced¬ ing five.
Plotinus had many auditors, and likewise
a multitude of zealous partizans, and philo¬
sophic familiars. Among the latter of
these, Amelins the Tuscan, and Paulinus
the Scythopolitan, a physician, held a dis¬
tinguished rank. To which may be added
Eustochius of Alexandria, a physician,
who enjoyed the familiarity of Plotinus to
the last, was present at his death, and
giving himself entirely to the doctrines of
Plotinus, assumed the habit of a genuine
philosopher. Besides these Zothicus, a
critic and poet, was conversant with Ploti¬
nus, who amended the works of Anti-
machus, and rendered the Atlantic history
very poetically in verse ; but after this
he became blind, and died a short time
prior to Plotinus. Zethus, too, was very
familiar with our philosopher, who derived
his orioin from Arabia, and married the
wife of one Theodosius, the familiar of
Ammonius. This Zethus was deeply
skilled in medicine, and very much be¬
loved by Plotinus, who endeavoured to
dissuade him from engaging; in the adminis-