Amelius (; grc-gre, Ἀμέλιος), whose family name was Gentilianus, was a

Neoplatonist Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some id ...

philosopher and writer of the second half of the 3rd century.

Biography

Amelius was a native of

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

.Porphyry, ''Vit. Plotin.'' 7 Originally a student of the works of

Numenius of Apamea Numenius of Apamea ( grc-gre, Νουμήνιος ὁ ἐξ Ἀπαμείας, ''Noumēnios ho ex Apameias''; la, Numenius Apamensis) was a Greek philosopher, who lived in Apamea in Syria and Rome, and flourished during the latter half of the 2 ...

, he began attending the lectures of

Plotinus Plotinus (; grc-gre, Πλωτῖνος, ''Plōtînos''; – 270 CE) was a philosopher in the Hellenistic tradition, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neoplatonism. His teacher wa ...

in the third year after Plotinus came to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and stayed with him for more than twenty years, until 269, when he retired to

Apamea Apamea or Apameia ( grc, Απάμεια) is the name of several Hellenistic cities in western Asia, after Apama, the Sogdian wife of Seleucus I Nicator, several of which are also former bishoprics and Catholic titular see. Places called Apamea in ...

in Syria, the native place of Numenius. He is erroneously called Apameos by the Suda. Amelius was not his original name; he seems to have chosen it to express his contempt for worldly things, as the word means negligence in Greek. Porphyry stated of Amelius in the ''Life of Plotinus'', "Amelius preferred to call himself Amerius, changing L for R, because, as he explained, it suited him better to be named from Amereia, Unification, than from Ameleia, Indifference." Amelius read and wrote voraciously, memorized practically all the teachings of Numenius, and, according to Porphyry, wrote over 100 volumes of sayings and commentaries. Plotinus considered Amelius one of his sharpest disciples. It was Amelius who convinced Porphyry of the truth of the doctrines of Plotinus, and joined with him in the successful effort to induce Plotinus to commit his doctrines to writings. His principal work was a treatise in forty books arguing against the claim that Numenius should be considered the original author of the doctrines of Plotinus. Amelius is also cited by

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

and others as having quoted with approval the definition of the

Logos ''Logos'' (, ; grc, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive reasoning. Ari ...

in the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

Johann Albert Fabricius Johann Albert Fabricius (11 November 1668 – 30 April 1736) was a German classical scholar and bibliographer. Biography Fabricius was born at Leipzig, son of Werner Fabricius, director of music in the church of St. Paul at Leipzig, who was the ...

, ''Bibliotheca Graeca'' iii. p. 160

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amelius 3rd-century Romans 3rd-century philosophers Neoplatonists Roman-era philosophers 3rd-century births Year of death unknown Pagan anti-Gnosticism 3rd-century writers