| Ammonius Saccas |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT AMMONIUS SACCAS | |
| ancient roman christianity | |
| 240s deaths | |
| neoplatonists | |
| roman era philosophers | |
| people with craters of the moon named after them | |
| anti-gnosticism | |
| roman-era greeks | |
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Of humble origin, he appears to have earned a livelihood as a Porter at the docks of Alexandria; hence his nickname of "Sack-bearer" (''Sakkas,'' for ''sakkoforos''). The details of his life are unknown. After long study and meditation, Ammonius opened a school of philosophy in Alexandria, where his principal pupils were Herennius , the two Origen s, Cassius Longinus and Plotinus . As he designedly wrote nothing, and, with the aid of his pupils, kept his views secret after the manner of the Pythagoreans , his philosophy must be inferred mainly from the writings of Plotinus. As Eduard Zeller points out, however, there is reason to think that his doctrines were closer to those of the earlier Platonists than to those of Plotinus. Hierocles , writing in the 5th Century , states that Ammonius' fundamental doctrine was an eclecticism, derived from a critical study of Plato and Aristotle . His admirers credited him with having reconciled the quarrels of the two great schools. His death is variously given between AD 240 and 245 , at a great age. The details of the life of the philosopher Ammonius Saccas are so unclear that he has frequently been confused with a Christian philosopher of the Same Name . SEE ALSO |
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