296 



GREEK PHILOSOPHY. 



Hypatia. One of the Alexandrian philosophers was Hypatia, the celebrated 



daughter of the able mathematician Theon. Her acquirements, both 

 in literature and in science, were so remarkable as to qualify her in an 

 eminent degree to become a public preceptress in the Plotinian School. 

 In this capacity she undertook to reconcile Plato and Aristotle with an 

 eloquence which flowed from a highly-cultivated genius, and which 

 was regulated by a sober judgment. While the gracefulness of her 

 address and lustre of her personal attractions were unobscured by 

 vanity, the purity of her character continued untainted by suspicion. 

 Among the crowd who enjoyed her acquaintance, and admired her 

 talents and virtues, was Orestes, the Praefect of Alexandria, who had 

 opposed the measures and incurred the enmity of Cyril, who rilled the 

 A.D. 415. patriarchal chair in that city. Orestes, insulted by a body of seditious 

 monks, had put one of their leaders to death, and Cyril had buried 

 him in the church, and caused his name to be registered among the 

 martyrs. The partisans of the bishop extended their resentment to 

 the unfortunate Hypatia. As she was one day returning home from 

 the schools, an infuriated mob seized her, drew her from her chair, 

 and dragged her to the church called Ca?sarea, where, after having 

 stripped off her garments, they killed her, and, with monstrous bar- 

 barity, consigned her mangled limbs to the flames. Cyril, violent and 

 haughty, was reproached, perhaps not without foundation, as having 

 connived in this atrocious murder. 1 



Many learned men, though not professed philosophers, em- 

 braced the new Platonic doctrines. Among the most noted was 



Macrobius. Macrobius, 2 who lived in the reign of Honorius and Theodosius II., 

 and wrote, among other books, ' A Commentary on Scipio's Dream, 

 as described by Cicero,' and ' Saturnalia,' or conversations between the 

 most eminent men of Rome; a curious work, full of critical and 

 antiquarian lore, but written without much spirit or accuracy. 



Themistius. Themistius may also be added, an orator, whose honest eloquence, 

 which shines with a stronger glare on the darkened theatre of degene- 

 rate literature, procured for him the successive favours of Constantius, 

 Julian, Valens, Gratian, and Theodosius. 3 



The historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, 4 also speaks with much 



1 Her life was written by the Abbe' Goujet, in torn. v. of the Memoires de Littera- 

 ture, by Desmolets. See also Enfield's Hist, of Phil. vol. ii. 



2 The best edition of Macrobius is that of Leyden (1676, in 8vo), with the Vari- 

 orum notes. There is also a good edition published in London (1694, in 8vo). 



3 The best edition of Themistius is that of Harduin, fol. Paris, 1684. See par- 

 ticularly the extracts from his Harangues or Panegyrics in Thomas, Essai sur les 

 Eloges, c. xxi. 



4 The style of Ammianus is harsh, inflated, and obscure. But it should be re- 

 membered that it is the style, not only of a soldier, but of a Greek, who wrote in 

 Latin, at a period when most historical works were destitute of elegance. He thus 

 concludes his history : Haec ut miles quondam et Graecus, a principatu Caesaris 

 Nervaa exorsus adusque Valentis interitum, pro virium explicavi mensura, opus 

 veritatem professum nunquam (ut arbitror) sciens silentio ausus corrumpere vel 

 mendacio. Scribant reliqua potiores estate, doctrinis florentes. Quos id (si libuerit) 



Ammianus 

 Marcellinus. 



