AMMONIUS SACCAS. – Philosopher who lived in Alexandria between 175 and 242 AD; he is the founder of Neoplatonism. In his youth he earned his bread as a sack-carrier, whence the name “Saccas.” Born of Christian parents, he soon turned to the pursuit of pure philosophy and abandoned the religion of his fathers; the statement of Eusebius that A. remained a Christian is due to a case of mistaken identity. The tone of his school is indicated by the epithet “God-inspired,” by which he was known.
Since he left no writings, the most reliable guide for his teaching is Porphyry, in the Vita Plotini. A. drew upon a sound eclecticism to reconcile earlier doctrines, especially those of Plato and Aristotle. Nemesius asserts that A. taught the immateriality of the soul; Hierocles speaks of his way of conceiving the union of soul and body; probably to him may be traced the Neoplatonic theories of the One and of emanation. One must not, however, suppose that the entire Neoplatonic doctrine owes its paternity to A., as though Plotinus were merely its popularizer. He had many disciples, among them Plotinus and Herennius; and since the antagonism between Christianity and Neoplatonism did not appear at once, some Christians also attended his lectures.