AMMONIUS SACCAS (C. 175-242 CE), AN ALEXANDRIAN PHILOSOPHER of possible Egyptian background, is the teacher of Plotinus and is conventionally regarded as the founder of the movement later called Neoplatonism. Ancient testimony (especially Hierocles) indicates that a central concern was the reconciliation of Plato and Aristotle.
His known or probable pupils include Plotinus, Herennius, Longinus, and (with continuing scholarly debate) one or both of the figures named Origen. The designation “analogeticists,” explained as those who interpreted all sacred legends, myths and mysteries by a principle of analogy and correspondence is not an ancient self-description as noted in Hyponoia, Analogeticism and Eclecticism in Classical Greek Philosophy, and derives from Alexander Wilder, but is a modern term I use to define their practice.
Alexandria was a major center of Gnostic schools and of varied spiritual philosophies, but these movements are not simply derivatives of Ammonius’ circle; and their relations are complex and often independent. Hypatia belongs to the Alexandrian mathematical and philosophical tradition of the late fourth-early fifth century, and Proclus was the leading figure of the Athenian school in the fifth century. Both stand within the broader Neoplatonic continuum rather than as terminal representatives of a single “Eclectic School.”
On theurgy, the early circle around Plotinus emphasized contemplative philosophical ascent. Ritual theurgy was systematically defended and integrated by Iamblichus in the generation after Plotinus in his De Mysteriis (Response to Porphyry’s Letter to Anebo), which argues for the necessity of theurgic rites alongside philosophy. The school shift to theurgy reflected internal development and debate within later Neoplatonism.
The influential Alexandrian teacher, Ammonius, who sought harmony between Plato and Aristotle left no writings, taught Plotinus, and stands at the origin of the Neoplatonic tradition that later incorporated theurgy under Iamblichus.
