[This page was originally called 'Middle Neoplatonism'; 'Mid Neoplatonism' seems easier to distinguish from 'Middle Platonism', but I am still looking for a better alternative.]
As I explain in my page on Early Neoplatonism, there is a significant gap of Neoplatonic primary texts after Iamblichus (who died in the early 4th century CE). Whether this is because his successors were less prolific writers or for some other reason is hard to say; at least they do not seem to have produced many written commentaries on Plato and Aristotle, as Porphyry and Iamblichus had, or the silence of the later Neoplatonists, for whom commentaries had become the primary form of philosophical writing, would be most puzzling.
As I explain in my page on Early Neoplatonism, there is a significant gap of Neoplatonic primary texts after Iamblichus (who died in the early 4th century CE). Whether this is because his successors were less prolific writers or for some other reason is hard to say; at least they do not seem to have produced many written commentaries on Plato and Aristotle, as Porphyry and Iamblichus had, or the silence of the later Neoplatonists, for whom commentaries had become the primary form of philosophical writing, would be most puzzling.
The first focal point of Mid Neoplatonism is the school of Iamblichus' student Aedesius of Cappadocia, who had settled in Pergamum (on the western coast of Asia Minor). He taught Chrysanthius, Eusebius, Maximus, and Priscus, all of whom were known to the emperor Julian, who studied with the elderly Aedesius himself, then briefly with Eusebius, and finally with Maximus. It is unfortunate that we know almost nothing about the teaching of all these professional philosophers, although the writings of Julian and Sallust (presumably a fellow student at Pergamum) are some consolation.
After the end of Aedesius' school, only Chrysanthius is known to have continued teaching (in his hometown of Sardis), but his successors in philosophy, Epigonus of Lacedaemon and Beronicianus of Sardis, are no more than names to us. If they composed original works, it may be that they never became known to the Late Neoplatonists, whose libraries were the bottleneck, so to speak, for the transmission of Greek philosophical texts. Chrysanthius' student Eunapius, whose Lives of Philosophers and Sophists is one of the most important historical sources on Neoplatonism, did not produce any philosophical works himself.
Rivals to Chrysanthius', perhaps already to Aedesius' successorship, and bitter rivals too if Eunapius' contemptuous is any indication, were the descendants of Eustathius of Cappadocia (Aedesius' kinsman) and the great Sosipatra. The only exception to Eunapius' scorn, and the only one whose name he did not condemn to oblivion, is their son Antoninus, who went first to Alexandria in Egypt, and then to nearby Canobus, where he was a priest and a teacher of philosophy.
While it is tempting to connect the famous Hypatia of Alexandria with Antoninus, there is no evidence to support this. It is equally speculative, however, to assert that she learned philosophy in a formal school of philosophy led by her father, Theon of Alexandria, who "may have kept Iamblichean influence out of his curriculum with a certain mount of pride" (Watts, City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria). Watts also says that "Socrates Scholasticus suggests that [Hypatia] did not see Iamblichus as an intellectual ancestor", when Socrates' Church History simply makes her the head of "the school of Plato derived from Plotinus". But this really means nothing more than, to translate into modern terminology, that she was a Neoplatonist. Compare the Suda's article on Sopater of Apamea, for example, which calls him the successor of Plotinus after Porphyry and Iamblichus! Yet the evidence of the writings of her student Synesius of Cyrene (her own philosophical writings, if she composed any, are lost) do give the impression of a Porphyrian rather than Iamblichean outlook. The question is whether she would have needed a formal teacher in philosophy to learn this, or whether the education her father gave her and the access to the widely available works of Plotinus and Porphyry would have been sufficient. This is how I tend to interpret Damascius: "she was not content with the mathematical education that her father gave her, but occupied herself with some distinction in the other branches of philosophy." (Philosophical History, fragment 43A, transl. Athanassiadi). Of course Damascius may be speculating here.
(As an aside, it is worth noting that Synesius' writings survive because he was made a Christian bishop, not because they were read by the later pagan Neoplatonists.)
Not only the case of the Christian bishop Augustine of Hippo, who taught himself Neoplatonic philosophy from Latin translations of Plotinus and Porphyry (now lost) made by Gaius Marius Victorinus, but also that of Macrobius, a pagan Latin writer who used their works in the original Greek, show that it was quite possible to become a non-Iamblichean Neoplatonist from texts, and not only because one was part of a "doctrinally conservative" philosophical lineage. In fact, it seems that Plotinus and Porphyry were spread as texts more than through teaching, in distinction to those of the Iamblichean school, which were more closely tied to personal networks, and also more closely identified with paganism.
Finally, there is the figure of Themistius, orator and philosopher, at least a generation older than Hypatia. Like his father Eugenius, who is known only through a eulogy written by Themistius, he expounded on Plato and Aristotle, but he was more interested in the latter. His paraphrases of Aristotelian works show some points of Neoplatonic influence, but it seems more prudent to treat him as an heir to Middle Platonism and Roman Aristotelianism who was in close contact with his Neoplatonist contemporaries. This fits with his own words in oration 23, where he favorably describes Hierius of Sicyon, a student of the "man of Chalcis" (=Iamblichus), who preferred the Lyceum and the Academy (the schools of Aristotle and Plato, respectively) over the "new song".
This Hierius had lost one of his students, Maximus of Ephesus, to the school of Pergamum, but another former student, Celsus, came to Constantinople to study with Themistius in 359. At the same time, Hierius was convinced by Themistius to move his entire school to Constantinople. Themistius tells us that a philosopher from Sicyon (=probably Hierius) had consulted the oracle of Delphi about who was the wisest philosopher. He received the reply that it was Themistius. Iamblichus of Apamea (aka Iamblichus the Younger), nephew of Sopater and probable grandchild of Iamblichus of Chalcis, also studied with Themistius. Since his own father Himerius had not been a philosopher, and Iamblichus and Sopater died before his birth, it cannot be regarded as certain that the younger Iamblichus was a Neoplatonist. Instead, he could have been a Latter Middle Platonist/Aristotelian, like Themistius and his circle.
This Hierius had lost one of his students, Maximus of Ephesus, to the school of Pergamum, but another former student, Celsus, came to Constantinople to study with Themistius in 359. At the same time, Hierius was convinced by Themistius to move his entire school to Constantinople. Themistius tells us that a philosopher from Sicyon (=probably Hierius) had consulted the oracle of Delphi about who was the wisest philosopher. He received the reply that it was Themistius. Iamblichus of Apamea (aka Iamblichus the Younger), nephew of Sopater and probable grandchild of Iamblichus of Chalcis, also studied with Themistius. Since his own father Himerius had not been a philosopher, and Iamblichus and Sopater died before his birth, it cannot be regarded as certain that the younger Iamblichus was a Neoplatonist. Instead, he could have been a Latter Middle Platonist/Aristotelian, like Themistius and his circle.
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Chrysanthius of Sardis
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Eusebius of Myndus (Caria)
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His authorship of excerpts on ethics attributed simply to "Eusebius" in the Anthology of John Stobaeus is probable, but not certain. They were collected in the now-outdated Fragmenta Philosophorum Graecorum, vol. 3, by Mullach; I hope to slowly make a complete translation of these excerpts on here. (I don't believe they've ever been translated.)
Translation
Stobaeus II.1.25 & II.9.6
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His authorship of excerpts on ethics attributed simply to "Eusebius" in the Anthology of John Stobaeus is probable, but not certain. They were collected in the now-outdated Fragmenta Philosophorum Graecorum, vol. 3, by Mullach; I hope to slowly make a complete translation of these excerpts on here. (I don't believe they've ever been translated.)
Translation
Stobaeus II.1.25 & II.9.6
(...)
Maximus of Ephesus
Previously a student of Hierius. (...)
While he is often taken as an anti-rationalist in opposition to Eusebius, the proponent of logic, Maximus is in fact not known to have written on anything but logic himself. Themistius wrote a treatise on syllogisms in response to his teaching on seyllogisms (see below), Julian mentions six books on logic, and his commentary on Aristotle's Categories was still read by the last generation of Neoplatonists: it is briefly cited by Simplicius. Julian's Letters 26, 190 und 191 and Libanius' Letter 694 are addressed to Maximus.
Previously a student of Hierius. (...)
While he is often taken as an anti-rationalist in opposition to Eusebius, the proponent of logic, Maximus is in fact not known to have written on anything but logic himself. Themistius wrote a treatise on syllogisms in response to his teaching on seyllogisms (see below), Julian mentions six books on logic, and his commentary on Aristotle's Categories was still read by the last generation of Neoplatonists: it is briefly cited by Simplicius. Julian's Letters 26, 190 und 191 and Libanius' Letter 694 are addressed to Maximus.
Priscus the Thesprotian or Molossian
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Julian praised a book on logic by Priscus in a letter addressed to him. (...)
Julian
Julian praised a book on logic by Priscus in a letter addressed to him. (...)
Julian
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Of the letters ascribed to Julian, some are inauthentic. One category are the letters of Pseudo-Julian the student of Iamblichus (see ❧ Early Neoplatonism); others have different origins.
Posts
Of the letters ascribed to Julian, some are inauthentic. One category are the letters of Pseudo-Julian the student of Iamblichus (see ❧ Early Neoplatonism); others have different origins.
Posts
(The Orations Written as Caesar)
(Letter to the Athenians)
(Letter to Themistius)
(Orations on the Cynics)
(Hymn to the Mother of the Gods)
(Hymn to Helios the King)
(The Satires)
(Fragments from Against the Galilaeans)
(Fragment from a Letter to a Priest)
(Authentic Letters)
(Dubious & Spurious Letters)
(Short Fragments & Epigrams)
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Posts
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Bibliography
(Letter to the Athenians)
(Letter to Themistius)
(Orations on the Cynics)
(Hymn to the Mother of the Gods)
(Hymn to Helios the King)
(The Satires)
(Fragments from Against the Galilaeans)
(Fragment from a Letter to a Priest)
(Authentic Letters)
(Dubious & Spurious Letters)
(Short Fragments & Epigrams)
Bibliography - primary
J. Bidez et al., L'empereur Julien. Oeuvres complètes, 2 vols. in 4 half-vols., 1932-1964
⸻Edition of all works and fragments.
E. Masaracchia, Giuliano imperatore contra Galilaeos, 1990
E. Masaracchia, Giuliano imperatore contra Galilaeos, 1990
⸻Edition and Italian translation of the fragments from Against the Galilaeans.
B. K. Weis, Julian. Briefe, 1973
B. K. Weis, Julian. Briefe, 1973
⸻Greek text and German translation of the authentic letters.
Simon Swain, Themistius, Julian, and Greek Political Theory under Rome: Texts, Translations, and Studies of Four Key Works, 2013
⸻Includes a lightly revised edition and translation of the Letter to Themistius.
Bibliography - secondary
Susanna Elm, "The Letter Collection of the Emperor Julian", in: Late Antique Letter Collections: A Critical Introduction and Reference Guide, 2016
⸻A wonderful discussion of the formation and edition of the letter corpus.
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Sallust
⸻Includes a lightly revised edition and translation of the Letter to Themistius.
Bibliography - secondary
Susanna Elm, "The Letter Collection of the Emperor Julian", in: Late Antique Letter Collections: A Critical Introduction and Reference Guide, 2016
⸻A wonderful discussion of the formation and edition of the letter corpus.
(...)
Sallust
Posts
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Bibliography
Arthur Darby Nock, Sallustius concerning the gods and the universe. Edited with prolegomena and translation, 1926
⸻Edition and translation. The title is not original, but an (appropriate) later invention.
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THE SCHOOL OF SARDIS
The students of Chrysanthius of Sardis (see above).
The students of Chrysanthius of Sardis (see above).
Epigonus of Lacedaemon
& Beronicianus of Sardis
Two philosophers admired by Eunapius, but otherwise unknown to us.
Two philosophers admired by Eunapius, but otherwise unknown to us.
Eunapius of Sardis
Author of a work on the Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists and a lost history.
Posts
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Posts
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Bibliography
R. C. Blockley, The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire, vol. 2, 1983, 1-150
⸻Edition and translation of the fragments of the History (which originally spanned from 270 to 404, later extended to 414).
W. C. Wright, Philostratus and Eunapius: The Lives of the Sophists, 1921 (reprint 1998)
⸻Greek text and translation of the Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists, with Eunapius' literary model, Philostratus' Lives of the Sophists.
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THE DESCENDANTS OF SOSIPATRA AND EUSTATHIUS
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THE SCHOOL OF HYPATIA
Hypatia of Alexandria
(...)
Synesius of Cyrene
Synesius of Cyrene
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Posts
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Bibliography
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Posts
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Bibliography
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❧
LATIN MID NEOPLATONISTS
Gaius Marius Victorinus
Macrobius
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Posts
How Identifications Constitue Difference: Macrobius on the Goddess Maia
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Bibliography - secondary
Robert A. Kaster, Studies on the Text of Macrobius’s ‘Saturnalia’, 2010
Posts
How Identifications Constitue Difference: Macrobius on the Goddess Maia
(...)
Bibliography - primary
Robert A. Kaster, Macrobius: Saturnalia, 3 volumes, 2011
⸻Text and translation of Macrobius' magnum opus; what we have is only part (about half?) of the original, yet still a very long work.
William Harris Stahl, Macrobius: Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, 1952 (second printing, with revisions, 1966)
⸻Translation. The Dream of Scipio is a passage from Cicero's On the State (De re publica), large portions of which are lost. The Dream only survived because of its inclusion in the commentary.
Paolo De Paolis, Macrobii Theodosii De Verborum Graeci et Latini Differentiis vel Societatibus Excerpta, 1990
⸻Edition of the remaining excerpts of On the Differences and Commonalities of the Greek and Latin Verb.
Bibliography - secondary
Robert A. Kaster, Studies on the Text of Macrobius’s ‘Saturnalia’, 2010
❧
THE CIRCLE OF THEMISTIUS
Hierius of Sicyon
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Themistius
Bibliography - physics, metaphysics and logic
(...) Although several orations and at least seven paraphrases of works by Aristotle are lost, a significant number of works by Themistius still exist.
In addition to the works listed below, uncollected fragments and testimonia exist of the Paraphrase of the Posterior Analytics (partially collected, see Bibliography), of the Categories, the Topics, On Sense-Perception, the Poetics, De generatione et corruptione, and one of Aristotle's Ethics. A good overview of these remains is given by Schamp, Todd & Watt, "Thémistios", in: Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques, p. 877-880. Ibid. p. 883 mention a few words surviving from a letter of the philosopher to the famous orator Libanius. Pseudo-al-Kindī’s On How to Dispel Sorrow made use of a lost work of Themistius, I don't know (whether it's known) to what extent. Finally, there are unsourced fragments in Arabic and Hebrew - I am not aware of any comprehensive list of them.
The fragment Pros Basilea/To the Emperor was wrongly attributed to Themistius by its first editors, E. Amato & I. Ramelli, "L’inedito Πρὸς βασιλέα di Temistio", in: Byzantinische Zeitschrift 99 (2006), p. 1–67. For the arguments against this attribution - which I consider conclusive -, see L. Van Hoof & P. Van Nuffelen, "Pseudo-Themistius, Pros Basilea: A False Attribution", in: Byzantion 81 (2011), p. 412-423.
Posts: "Themistius on Aristotle"
(etc.)
Posts: "Themistius' orations"
(etc.)
General posts
(Themistius' Letter to Julian)
(On Pseudo(?)-Themistius, oration 12)
(On Pseudo-Themistius' Pros Basilea)
(About Pseudo-al-Kindī’s On how to Dispel Sorrow)
Sh. Rosenberg & Ch. Manekin, "Themistius on Modal Logic. Excerpts from a commentary on the prior analytics attributed to Themistius", in: Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 11 (1988), p. 83–103
⸻Translation, not of all the fragments of Themistius' lost paraphrase commentary on Aristotle's Prior Analytics, but of all those in Hebrew.
Max Wallies, Themistii analyticorum posteriorum paraphrasis, 1900⸻Translation, not of all the fragments of Themistius' lost paraphrase commentary on Aristotle's Prior Analytics, but of all those in Hebrew.
⸻Greek edition of the untranslated paraphrase commentary on Aristotle's Posterior Analytics.
⸻French translation of the Treatise in Response to Maxim on the Reduction of the Second and Third Figures of the Syllogism to the First One, which survives in Arabic translation. The Maximus of the title is Maximus of Ephesus (see above).
Robert B. Todd, Themistius on Aristotle Physics 1-3, 2011Robert B. Todd, Themistius on Aristotle's Physics 4, 2003
Robert B. Todd, Themistius on Aristotle Physics 5-8, 2008
⸻Translation in three volumes of the paraphrase commentary on Aristotle's Physics.
Samuel Landauer, Themistii in libros Aristotelis de caelo paraphrasis hebraice et latine, 1902
⸻Hebrew text, with Latin translation, of the paraphrase commentary on Aristle's On the Heavens (lost in Greek).
Robert B. Todd, Themistius on Aristotle On the Soul, 1996
⸻Translation of the paraphrase commentary on Aristotle's De anima.
Samuel Landauer, Themistii in Aristotelis metaphysicorum librum Λ paraphrasis hebraice et latine, 1903
⸻Hebrew text, with Latin translation, of the paraphrase commentary on Aristle's Metaphysics, book lambda (lost in Greek)
Rémi Brague, Thémistius: Paraphrase de la Métaphysique d’Aristote (livre Lambda), 1999
⸻French translation of the commentary on the Metaphysics, from the Hebrew text edited by Landauer and from the (unedited?) Arabic (from which the Hebrew is translated).
Bibliography - politics/oratory
H. Leppin & W. Portmann, Themistios: Staatsreden, 1998
⸻German translation of Orations 1-11 and 13-19, the Political Speeches. For no. 12, generally thought to be a Renaissance forgery, see R. Goulding, "Who Wrote the Twelfth Oration of Themistius?", in: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 63 (2000), p. 1-23.
R. Penella, The Private Orations of Themistius, 2000
⸻French translation of the commentary on the Metaphysics, from the Hebrew text edited by Landauer and from the (unedited?) Arabic (from which the Hebrew is translated).
Bibliography - politics/oratory
H. Schenkl, G. Downey & A. F. Norman, Themistii orationes quae supersunt, vol. 3, 1974
⸻Following an edition of the Greek orations in two volumes, this third volume contains fragments (in multiple languages). I have not seen it, so it may contain something beyond what I have accounted for on this page. At any rate I assume it includes the fragments of Themistius' original work On Soul, which have never been translated, preserved in Stobaeus Anthology (III.13.68; IV.22.89, 50.59, 52.45, 52.48)
P. Heather & D. Moncur, Politics, Philosophy, and Empire in the Fourth Century. Select Orations of Themistius, 2001
⸻Translations of Orations 1, 3, 5, 6, 14-17, and 34. Also includes a translation of the Demegoria Constantii (see next entry).⸻Following an edition of the Greek orations in two volumes, this third volume contains fragments (in multiple languages). I have not seen it, so it may contain something beyond what I have accounted for on this page. At any rate I assume it includes the fragments of Themistius' original work On Soul, which have never been translated, preserved in Stobaeus Anthology (III.13.68; IV.22.89, 50.59, 52.45, 52.48)
Simon Swain, Themistius, Julian, and Greek Political Theory under Rome: Texts, Translations, and Studies of Four Key Works, 2013
⸻Includes a translation of Themistius's Letter to Julian, which survives only in Arabic.P. Heather & D. Moncur, Politics, Philosophy, and Empire in the Fourth Century. Select Orations of Themistius, 2001
H. Leppin & W. Portmann, Themistios: Staatsreden, 1998
⸻German translation of Orations 1-11 and 13-19, the Political Speeches. For no. 12, generally thought to be a Renaissance forgery, see R. Goulding, "Who Wrote the Twelfth Oration of Themistius?", in: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 63 (2000), p. 1-23.
R. Penella, The Private Orations of Themistius, 2000
⸻Translations of Orations 20-34, the Private Speeches; and, as appendices, of Oration 17, a fragment on "The Knowledge of Knowledges" (aka [Peri Phronêseos]), and the Demegoria Constantii (a document in which emperor Constantius made Themistius a member of the Senate of Constantinople).
J. Gildemeister & F. Bücheler: "Themistios Περὶ ἀρετῆς", in: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 27 (1872), p. 438–462.
⸻German translation of a speech On Virtue which survives only in Syriac.
⸻German translation of a speech On Virtue which survives only in Syriac.
Celsus
A student first of Hierius, then of Themistius. (...)
A student first of Hierius, then of Themistius. (...)
(?) Iamblichus the Younger
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