IAMBLICHUS (Greek: Iamblichos). - Neoplatonic philosopher, b. at Chalcis in Coele-Syria, d. under Constantine the Great around 330. Of his life there is scant information, mixed with fantastic legends, in Eunapius (Vitae Philos. ac Soph.). He was a disciple of the Peripatetic Anatolius and then of Porphyry.

His principal work is a vast compendium of Pythagorean doctrines in 10 books, cited by Syrianus with the title: Συναγωγὴ τῶν Πυθαγορείων δογμάτων, of which 5 books with particular titles survive (v. bibl.). Important for the history of Neoplatonic religious syncretism is the book De mysteriis, whose authenticity was contested without serious grounds, but which today is again generally attributed to I.

With I. Neoplatonism becomes increasingly religious and mystical, though without renouncing its rationalistic pretension. Above the One-Good of Plotinus I. places the absolutely ineffable Principle (ἡ πάντη ἄρρητος ἀρχή); but below the One-Good the triadic hypotheses multiply in an artificial, symmetrical order. I.'s influence in the school was great: his philosophy, which sought to reconcile traditional polytheism with speculative principles, was followed with enthusiasm by the emperor Julian the Apostate in his attempt at pagan restoration.

Bibliography8 works

BIBL.: Works of I.: De vita Pythagorica, ed. A. Westermann, Paris 1862 (added to the Cobetiana edition of Diogenes Laertius) and A. Nauck, St. Petersburg 1884; Protrepticae o Adhortatio ad philosophiam (in which precious fragments of Aristotle's Protrepticus are preserved), ed. E. Pistelli, Leipzig 1888; De communi mathematica scientia, ed. N. Festa, ibid. 1891; In Nicomachii arithmeticum introductionem, ed. E. Pistelli, ibid. 1894; Theologonema arithmeticae (doubtful), ed. V. De Falco, ibid. 1922; De mysteriis, Greek-Latin, ed. G. Parther, Berlin 1857. Among the lost works, important is the Chaldean Theology in 28 books (cited by Damascius, De primis principiis, ed. Car. Aem. Ruelle, Paris 1880, p. 86); a treatise On the Soul, of which copious fragments survive in Stobaeus, ed. C. Wachsmuth; a treatise On the Gods, source of Macrobius (Sat., I, 17-23) and of Sallustius, the Neoplatonic philosopher, in De diis et mundo (F. W. A. Mullach, Frag. philos. Graec., III, pp. 30-50). For I.'s metaphysical and theological doctrines v. the testimonies especially in Proclus and Damascius.

Studies: E. Vacherot, Histoire critique de l'Ecole d'Alexandrie, II, Paris 1846, pp. 126-44; E. Zeller, Die Philosophie der Griechen: Die nacharistotelische Philosophie, Zweite Hälfte, 4th ed. Leipzig 1903, pp. 735-82; G. Mau and W. Kroll, s. v. in Pauly-Wissowa, coll. 645-51; Überweg, I, 12th ed., Berlin 1926, pp. 612-17 (bibl.); Th. Whittaker, The Neo-Platonists, 2nd ed., Cambridge 1928, pp. 121-36, 225-28; G. Verbeke, L'évolution de la doctrine du Pneuma du Stoicisme à St Augustin, Paris-Louvain 1945, pp. 374-84.

Pietro Marrucchi

@incollection{ec6_giamblico_iamblios_iamblichus, author = {Pietro Marrucchi}, title = {Giamblico (ἸΆΜΒΛΙΟΣ, iamblichus)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {342}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/giamblico-iamblios-iamblichus} }

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Iamblichus

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