Plotinus' vast metaphysics inspired many devoted followers. He convinced Emperor Gallienus to build a second city near Rome, based on Plato's Republic, that was to be called Platonopolis, but the project was never completed. Plotinus' greatest work, posthumously edited by his student Porphyry into six books of nine sections (Enneads) each, is a vast metaphysical vision inspired by Parmenides, Pythagoras, and most of all Plato. Plotinus argues against the materialistic atomism of the Stoics, Epicureans, and Skeptics, whose materialistic philosophy he regarded as impotent for dealing with the growing superstitions of the time.
|