The Last Days of the Academy at Athens, 1969
By: Cameron, Alan , Kenney, Edward J. (Ed.), Dawe, Roger D. (Ed.)
Title The Last Days of the Academy at Athens
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1969
Published in Proceedings of the Cambridge philological society
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]

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  • PAGE 1 OF 1
The Last Days of the Academy at Athens, 1969
By: Cameron, Alan , Kenney, Edward J. (Ed.), Dawe, Roger D. (Ed.)
Title The Last Days of the Academy at Athens
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1969
Published in Proceedings of the Cambridge philological society
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]

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