Abstract
The article analyzes the life and work of the Νeoplatonic philosopher Agapius, who lived in the second half of the fi fth to the beginning of the sixth century and who foundered his own school of philosophy in Constantinople. Agapius was the last student of the famous Neoplatonist Proclus Diadochus. His biography and scientifi c activities are reconstructed based on the reports of Damascius according to the “Suda”, as well as the writings of the early Byzantine antiquarian author of the fi rst half of the sixth century, John Lydian, who was the only accurately known student of Agapius. At the same time, Ioan Lydus himself later began to teach at the Constantinople school. Apart from Lydus, Agapius may have had another pupil, the poet Christodorus of Coptos. Agapius himself was distinguished by an extraordinary encyclopedism, being a physician and philosopher, as well as engaged in grammar, rhetoric and philological studies. He was a follower of paganism, becoming a victim of anti-pagan repressions in Alexandria at the end of the fi fth century, which forced him to move to Constantinople. Agapius came from Alexandria and joined to the Alexandrian intellectual circles. In Constantinople, Agapius founded his own school, probably reproducing the traditions of the iatrosophistic schools of Alexandria, which, according to Damascius, was prosperous. Education at the school was paid and very expensive. The school of Agapius in Constantinople became an important link in the continuum of Antiquity in the early Byzantine era. Agapius’ excellent erudition and competence in all fi elds of knowledge, both natural and medical, as well as in philosophy, grammar and rhetoric, allowed his school to become very popular in Constantinople.
Keywords
Agapius, Late Antique Neoplatonism, early Byzantine Empire, Damascius, John Lydus.
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