Power, Platonists, and Urban Change
Author | : Dallas J. DeForest |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 154 |
Release | : 2007 |
Genre | : City and town life |
ISBN | : |
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Abstract: This thesis analyzes the operation of the Neoplatonic school of late antique Athens, paying particular attention to the role of the school's scholarchs in this process. After an introduction that outlines the scholarship to date, the thesis explores the nature of urban change in late antique Athens, especially during the fifth century. Chapters three and four discuss individual scholarchs, their policies, successes and failures on the academic front, as well as the extent and nature of their political activities. Chapter five gives a brief conclusion of the findings. The major purpose of this thesis is to understand how the methods used by the school's scholarchs during its Ca. 130 year existence allowed the school to become the preeminent institution for instruction in Platonic philosophy in late antiquity, and how local and empire-wide urban changes affected this process.