| Title | The Last Days of the Academy at Athens |
| Type | Book Section |
| Language | English |
| Date | 1969 |
| Published in | Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, Vol. 195 |
| Pages | 7-29 |
| Categories | no categories |
| Author(s) | Cameron, Alan |
| Editor(s) | Kenney, Edward J. , Dawe, Roger D. |
| Translator(s) |
| Even those who know nothing else o f Justinian know that he closed the Academy at Athens in a . d . 529—the very year that St Benedict had founded the monastery o f Monte Cassino.1 For those who like schematic boundaries between the ancient and medieval worlds, between the pagan past and the Christian future, here is a truly symbolic date.The romantic sequel is hardly less familiar:2 the seven out-of-work Platonists who left Athens for Persia, which under its new King Chosroes they had heard closely resembled the ideal state their master had written of. On their arrival, alas, they discovered that Chosroes, while amiable enough and genuinely interested in philo sophy, was far from being the philosopher-king they had dreamed of. And his subjects were no less corrupt than the Romans. The disillusioned philosophers confessed their disappointment to the king, who not only graciously consented to their immediate return, but even went so far as to make Justinian write into the peace treaty they were just then concluding (September 532) a safe conduct home for all seven and a guarantee that they would be allowed to live out their lives in Roman territory in peace as pagans.This much is well known. But some details are unclear, others unexplored. Several misconceptions prevail. A number of relevant texts have never been properly exploited, some not even considered. What was Justinian’s motive? Did he give the last push to a tottering edifice, or destroy a thriving intellectual centre? Indeed, did he actually succeed in destroying anything at all? What did the philosophers do on their return? [Introduction, p. 7] |
| Online Resources | https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/2HtMFQkF0nDlTKI |
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| Title | The Last Days of the Academy at Athens |
| Type | Book Section |
| Language | English |
| Date | 1969 |
| Published in | Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, Vol. 195 |
| Pages | 7-29 |
| Categories | no categories |
| Author(s) | Cameron, Alan |
| Editor(s) | Kenney, Edward J. , Dawe, Roger D. |
| Translator(s) |
Even those who know nothing else o f Justinian know that he closed the Academy at Athens in a . d . 529—the very year that St Benedict had founded the monastery o f Monte Cassino.1 For those who like schematic boundaries between the ancient and medieval worlds, between the pagan past and the Christian future, here is a truly symbolic date.The romantic sequel is hardly less familiar:2 the seven out-of-work Platonists who left Athens for Persia, which under its new King Chosroes they had heard closely resembled the ideal state their master had written of. On their arrival, alas, they discovered that Chosroes, while amiable enough and genuinely interested in philo sophy, was far from being the philosopher-king they had dreamed of. And his subjects were no less corrupt than the Romans. The disillusioned philosophers confessed their disappointment to the king, who not only graciously consented to their immediate return, but even went so far as to make Justinian write into the peace treaty they were just then concluding (September 532) a safe conduct home for all seven and a guarantee that they would be allowed to live out their lives in Roman territory in peace as pagans.This much is well known. But some details are unclear, others unexplored. Several misconceptions prevail. A number of relevant texts have never been properly exploited, some not even considered. What was Justinian’s motive? Did he give the last push to a tottering edifice, or destroy a thriving intellectual centre? Indeed, did he actually succeed in destroying anything at all? What did the philosophers do on their return? [Introduction, p. 7] |
| Online Resources | https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/2HtMFQkF0nDlTKI |
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