Founding Platonopolis: The Platonic Politeia in Eusebius, Porphyry, and Iamblichus

This essay begins with an examination of two Neoplatonic biographies, Porphyry's Life of Pythagoras and Iamblichus' On the Pythagorean Life. In contrast to the traditional picture of Neoplatonic disinterest in classical political philosophy, engagement with classical Platonic political philosophy actually forms an important component of these texts. The author then turns to an examination of Eusebius' Praeparatio Evangelica to argue that Eusebius' extensive comparisons of Moses' legislation with Plato's Laws in Book 12 of the PE should be evaluated in the context of contemporary Neoplatonic political thought. Finally, the essay offers some concluding comments on the timbre such discussions of political philosophy, both Neoplatonic and Eusebian, would have had in the context of the Roman Empire of the early fourth century.