CHAPTER XXX PlotinusPLOTINUS ( A.D. 204-270), the founder of Neoplatonism, is the last of the great philosophers of
antiquity. His life is almost coextensive with one of the most disastrous periods in Roman history.
Shortly before his birth, the army had become conscious of its power, and had adopted the
practice of choosing emperors in return for monetary rewards, and assassinating them afterwards
to give occasion for a renewed sale of the Empire. These preoccupations unfitted the soldiers for
the defence of the frontier, and permitted vigorous incursions of Germans from the north and
Persians from the East. War and pestilence diminished the population of the Empire by about a
third, while increased taxation and diminished resources caused financial ruin in even those
provinces to which no hostile forces penetrated. The cities, which had been the bearers of culture,
were especially hard hit; substantial citizens, in large numbers, fled to escape the tax-collector. It
was not till after the death of Plotinus that order was re-established and the Empire temporarily
saved by the vigorous measures of Diocletian and Constantine.
Of all this there is no mention in the works of Plotinus. He turned aside from the spectacle of ruin
and misery in the actual world, to contemplate an eternal world of goodness and beauty. In this he
was in harmony with all the most serious men of his age. To all of them, Christians and pagans
alike, the world of practical affairs seemed to offer no hope, and only the Other World seemed
worthy of allegiance. To the Christian, the Other World was the Kingdom of Heaven, to be
enjoyed after death; to the Platonist, it was the eternal world of ideas, the real world as opposed to
that of illusory appearance. Christian theologians combined these points of view, and embodied
much of the philosophy of Plotinus. Dean Inge, in his invaluable book on Plotinus, rightly
emphasises what Christianity owes to him. "Platon-