Plato's Timaeus and the Latin Tradition

Explores Cicero, Apuleius, Calcidius, and Augustine as interpreters of Plato's Timaeus in the context of the Roman philosophical tradition.

Christina Hoenig (Author)

9781108402392, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 April 2023

349 pages, 37 tables
21.6 x 14 x 1.9 cm, 0.434 kg

'… this work is well written, well structured, and very clear. It contributes a great deal on history of infulence of platonism among Latin philosophers.' Luc Brisson, History of Science

This book focuses on the development of Platonic philosophy at the hands of Roman writers between the first century BCE and the early fifth century CE. It discusses the interpretation of Plato's Timaeus by Cicero, Apuleius, Calcidius, and Augustine, and examines how these authors created new contexts and settings for the intellectual heritage they received and thereby contributed to the construction of the complex and multifaceted genre of Roman Platonism. It takes advantage of the authors' treatment of Plato's Timaeus as a continuous point of reference to illustrate the individuality and originality of each writer in his engagement with this Greek philosophical text; each chooses a specific vocabulary, methodology, and literary setting for his appropriation of Timaean doctrine. The authors' contributions to the dialogue's history of transmission are shown to have enriched and prolonged the enduring significance of Plato's cosmology.

1. The setting. Plato's Timaeus
2. Cicero
3. Apuleius
4. Calcidius
5. Augustine
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA], History of Western philosophy [HPC], Philosophy [HP], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]