Platonic Academy

Platonic Academy

The Academy was started by Plato around 387 BC in Athens. It was a special place where people could learn many different subjects, like biology, geography, astronomy, mathematics, and history. One famous student was Aristotle, who spent twenty years studying there.

The Academy lasted for many years and was later a center for a philosophy called Neoplatonism. It finally closed in the year 529 AD after being shut down by a ruler named Justinian I.

Today, the Academy is known as the first institution for higher learning in the western world. It was an important place where ideas about politics, science, and many other topics were discussed.

Site

The area now called Akademia was once a special place outside the walls of old Athens. It had a sacred grove of olive trees for Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Before it was a school, the place was named Hekademia and later Akademia.

This spot was important to many people and gods. It was used for special ceremonies and night races. Even invaders respected this sacred place. Today, you can visit it in the modern area of Akadimia Platonos in Athens.

Plato's Academy

Plato started what became known as his Academy around 387 BC in Athens. It began with informal meetings on his property and at a nearby gym. People like Theaetetus of Sunium and Archytas joined these gatherings. The Academy did not charge fees and did not have formal lessons during Plato's time.

Students and teachers studied together, exploring questions posed by Plato and others. While there were talks, discussions were a common way of learning. The Academy likely focused on mathematics and philosophy, though exact details are unclear. Some believe it was a place for training future leaders, but it is hard to know for sure how much it focused on practical politics.

Later history of the Academy

Diogenes Laërtius described the Academy in three parts: the Old, the Middle, and the New. Plato started the Old Academy. Arcesilaus led the Middle Academy, and Lacydes led the New Academy. Sextus Empiricus mentioned five groups of Plato's followers. He said Plato started the first Academy, Arcesilaus the second, and Carneades the third. Philo and Charmadas were linked to the fourth, and Antiochus to the fifth. Cicero saw only two Academies, the Old and the New, starting with Arcesilaus.

Plato's first students who led the Academy were Speusippus, Xenocrates, Polemo, and Crates. Other important members included Aristotle.

Around 266 BC, Arcesilaus became the leader and focused on questioning knowledge. He was followed by Lacydes of Cyrene, then Evander and Telecles together, and later Hegesinus.

The New Academy started with Carneades in 155 BC. This group also questioned absolute truth. Carneades was succeeded by Clitomachus and Philo of Larissa. Around 90 BC, Philo's student Antiochus of Ascalon taught a different version of Plato's ideas, beginning what is called Middle Platonism.

The Destruction of the Academy

When a big war called the First Mithridatic War began in 88 BC, a teacher named Philo of Larissa left Athens and went to live in Rome. In 86 BC, a leader named Lucius Cornelius Sulla attacked Athens and caused damage. During this attack, he destroyed parts of the Academy, including its green spaces. After this, the Academy could not be rebuilt or opened again.

Later, around 84 BC, another teacher named Antiochus came back to Athens from Alexandria and started teaching again, but not at the Academy. The Roman writer Cicero visited the old Academy site one day and found it quiet and empty.

Neoplatonic Academy

Further information: Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism

After the original Academy, teachers kept sharing ideas from Plato in Athens during the Roman era. Around the year 410, a new Academy was started by teachers called Neoplatonists. When a teacher named Proclus came to Athens in the 430s, he found two other teachers, Plutarch of Athens and Syrianus, already teaching there. These teachers called themselves successors of Plato, even though they were not directly connected to the original Academy.

The Neoplatonic Academy worked from a large house. Its leaders included Plutarch, Syrianus, Proclus, and others. The school grew strongest under Proclus, who died in 485. Later, the emperor Justinian closed the school in the year 529. The last leader was Damascius. Some of the teachers then went to live under the rule of a king in Ctesiphon, taking important books with them.