Page "Plotinus" Paragraph 5

At the age of forty, during the reign of Philip the Arab, he came to Rome, where he stayed for most of the remainder of his life.

There he attracted a number of students.

His innermost circle included Porphyry, Amelius Gentilianus of Tuscany, the Senator Castricius Firmus, and Eustochius of Alexandria, a doctor who devoted himself to learning from Plotinus and attending to him until his death.

Other students included: Zethos, an Arab by ancestry who died before Plotinus, leaving him a legacy and some land ; Zoticus, a critic and poet ; Paulinus, a doctor of Scythopolis ; and Serapion from Alexandria.

He had students amongst the Roman Senate beside Castricius, such as Marcellus Orontius, Sabinillus, and Rogantianus.

Women were also numbered amongst his students, including Gemina, in whose house he lived during his residence in Rome, and her daughter, also Gemina ; and Amphiclea, the wife of Ariston the son of Iamblichus.

Finally, Plotinus was a correspondent of the philosopher Cassius Longinus.