Harran, the Sabians and the Late Platonist 'Movers', 2005
By: Lane Fox, Robin, Smith, Andrew (Ed.)
Title Harran, the Sabians and the Late Platonist 'Movers'
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2005
Published in The philosopher and society in late antiquity. Essays in honour of Peter Brown
Pages 231-244
Categories no categories
Author(s) Lane Fox, Robin
Editor(s) Smith, Andrew
Translator(s)
Since 1986, in a series of wide-ranging studies, M. Tardieu has argued that the ‘Seven philosophers who went East when the Athens Academy closed settled down at Harran (Carrhae) in northern Syria. The town was a famous bastion of pagan cult (we can usefully contrast its neighbour, perhaps its rival, the stridently Christian Edessa: Green 1992, 44-94; Segal 1970). Furthermore, he believes, a (neo)Platonic seat of philosophical teaching persisted in Harran into the ninth/tenth centuries ad, being sustained in the wake of the émigrés’ presence. Its participants presented themselves as the ‘Sabians’, the enigmatic group who had been favourably mentioned in the Koran. They then led the renewed prominence of Platonist philosophy in the Abbasid era which is visible to us in the ninth-tenth centuries. This theory of a long Platonist ‘survival’ has not exactly endeared itself to experts in early Islamic philosophy (e.g. Gutas 1994, 4943; Endress 1991, 133-7; Lameer 1997), but it has been enthusiastically received by one or two writers on late antiquity: P. Chuvin (1990), I. Hadot (1996, who was first attracted by support for her studies of Simplicius, his text and Manichaeism) and P. Athanassiadi (1993, 29) who made it the final flourish of a long article on late pagan philosophy: ‘it was thanks to the stepping-stone of Harran and to Damascius’ inspired decisiveness [in settling in Harran] that Neoplatonic theology reached Baghdad by a clearly definable - if not direct — route from Athens’. I wish to restate why it did nothing of the sort. [introduction, p. 231]

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Movers and Shakers, 2005
By: Lane Fox, Robin, Smith, Andrew (Ed.)
Title Movers and Shakers
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2005
Published in The philosopher and society in late antiquity. Essays in honour of Peter Brown
Pages 19-50
Categories no categories
Author(s) Lane Fox, Robin
Editor(s) Smith, Andrew
Translator(s)
In late antiquity, as in all other periods, philosophy had the power to change a person’s choice of life and scale of values. The ‘shakers’ of my title are people who passed on this sort of impact to others. Philosophy, including Platonist philosophy, also addressed the intellectual’s relation to contemporary society. If that society was incurably misguided, then the philosopher might have no option except to leave it. In late antiquity, some took this option, and they are my ‘movers’. Both the ‘shakers’ and the ‘movers’ need to be understood in terms of the philosophy they professed, but a sufficient understanding of their actions does not require a deep analysis of their deepest thoughts. They are within a historian’s grasp, and so I will discuss individuals, their texts and contexts without a close reading of particular arguments. [Introduction, p. 19]

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  • PAGE 1 OF 1
Harran, the Sabians and the Late Platonist 'Movers', 2005
By: Lane Fox, Robin, Smith, Andrew (Ed.)
Title Harran, the Sabians and the Late Platonist 'Movers'
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2005
Published in The philosopher and society in late antiquity. Essays in honour of Peter Brown
Pages 231-244
Categories no categories
Author(s) Lane Fox, Robin
Editor(s) Smith, Andrew
Translator(s)
Since 1986, in a series of wide-ranging studies, M. Tardieu has argued that the ‘Seven  philosophers who went East when the Athens Academy closed settled down at Harran (Carrhae) in northern Syria. The town was a famous bastion of pagan cult (we can usefully contrast its neighbour, perhaps its rival,  the stridently Christian  Edessa:  Green  1992,  44-94;  Segal  1970). Furthermore,  he  believes,  a (neo)Platonic seat of philosophical  teaching persisted in Harran into the ninth/tenth centuries ad, being sustained in the wake of the émigrés’ presence. Its participants presented themselves as 
the ‘Sabians’, the enigmatic group who had been favourably mentioned in the Koran. They then led the renewed prominence of Platonist philosophy in  the Abbasid  era  which  is visible  to  us  in  the  ninth-tenth  centuries. This  theory of a long Platonist  ‘survival’  has  not exactly endeared itself to  experts  in  early Islamic philosophy  (e.g.  Gutas  1994,  4943;  Endress 1991,  133-7; Lameer  1997), but it has been enthusiastically received by one or two writers on late antiquity: P.  Chuvin (1990), I. Hadot (1996, who was first attracted by support for her studies of Simplicius, his text and Manichaeism) and P. Athanassiadi (1993, 29) who made it the final flourish of a long article on late pagan philosophy: ‘it was thanks to the stepping-stone  of Harran  and  to  Damascius’  inspired  decisiveness  [in settling in Harran] that Neoplatonic theology reached Baghdad by a clearly definable -  if not direct — route from Athens’. I wish to restate why it did nothing of the sort. [introduction, p. 231]

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Movers and Shakers, 2005
By: Lane Fox, Robin, Smith, Andrew (Ed.)
Title Movers and Shakers
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2005
Published in The philosopher and society in late antiquity. Essays in honour of Peter Brown
Pages 19-50
Categories no categories
Author(s) Lane Fox, Robin
Editor(s) Smith, Andrew
Translator(s)
In  late  antiquity,  as  in  all  other  periods,  philosophy had  the  power  to 
change  a person’s  choice  of life  and  scale  of values.  The  ‘shakers’  of my 
title are people who  passed on  this sort of impact to others.  Philosophy, 
including  Platonist  philosophy,  also  addressed  the  intellectual’s  relation 
to  contemporary  society.  If that  society  was  incurably  misguided,  then 
the philosopher might have no option except to leave it. In late antiquity, 
some took this option, and they are my ‘movers’. Both the ‘shakers’ and the 
‘movers’ need to be understood in terms of the philosophy they professed, 
but  a sufficient  understanding  of their  actions  does  not  require  a deep 
analysis of their deepest thoughts. They are within a historian’s grasp, and 
so I will discuss individuals, their texts and contexts without a close reading 
of particular arguments. [Introduction, p. 19]

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  • PAGE 1 OF 1