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In the 3rd Century, a new interpretation of Platonist philosophy started spreading around the Roman Empire, becoming the new dominant school of thought. Marius Victorinus, an influential Neoplatonist philosopher, was a North African living in Rome.
Origins of Neoplatonism
The great Greek philosopher Plato believed that the world we live in is but the shadow of the real world: the world of forms, eternal and unchangeable, of which the material objects, and even the intellectual concepts and moral values we know, are but imperfect, ever-changing copies. The human soul comes from this ideal world, but it is trapped in the material body and craves to be freed of it through philosophy.
Neoplatonism is a development of Platonic philosophy that teaches how the soul can elevate itself over the material world and recover its original state. It is a form of mysticism, with practical exercises to return to the invisible spiritual world.
The founder of Neoplatonism was Plotinus, born around 204 in Lycopolis (Assiut), Egypt. He exposes his thought in his Enneads. Plotinus believed that the source and the end of all things is the One, the first principle, infinitely simple and unknowable. The human soul emanates from the One and contains all the knowledge of the universe in an unified form; but this knowledge is no longer accessible since the soul is imprisoned in the body. The material world is but an imperfect copy of this knowledge.
Plotinus’ thought was spread and developed by his disciple Porphyry of Tyre.
Life of Marius Victorinus
Gaius Marius Victorinus was born around 290, in Roman Africa, probably Thagaste (Souk Ahras), thus his nickname Victorinus Afer. As a young man, he started teaching rhetoric. His reputation was so great that he received an offer for a teaching job in Rome, the Imperial capital, where he had a brilliant career. In 354, a statue of him was erected on Trajan’s Forum, in Rome.
In Rome, he discovered Neoplatonic philosophy through the books of Plotinus and Porphyry; he was probably too young to have known Porphyry, who died around 305. He was so fascinated by this thought that he translated Plotinus’ and Porphyry’s books from Greek into Latin.
Marius Victorinus’ lifetime was characterized by deep changes in the Roman Empire, with Christianity, still a persecuted minority religion at the time of his birth, gradually becoming the new dominant religion in the Empire. Marius Victorinus himself converted to Christianity as an old man, around 355. His conversion played a crucial role in the latter conversion of his African compatriot, future bishop Augustine of Hippo. According to Augustine, he privately considered himself a Christian long before his baptism, but was hesitant to make his conversion official to avoid antagonizing the Pagan aristocracy he was working for.
In 362, the new Emperor Julian, trying to reestablish Paganism in his Empire, forbid Christians from teaching rhetoric. Marius Victorinus closed his school and devoted the last years of his life to writing. He died in 364.
Context: the Christianization of the Roman Empire
Emperor Constantine (306-337) converted to Christianity in 312, becoming the first Christian Roman Emperor. Around 10% of the Empire’s population is estimated to have been Christian at the time of his conversion.
Constantine’s and his sons’ administration favored Christianity. It is estimated that the new faith became the majority religion in the Empire around 350.
Julian, Constantine’s nephew, tried unsuccessfully to reestablish Paganism during his short reign (361-363). After him, all his successors were Christian. In 380, Emperor Theodosius proclaimed Christianity as the Empire’s official religion.
Works of Marius Victorinus
In addition to his translations of Plotinus and Porphyry, Marius Victorinus translated and commented works of Plato and Aristotle. He also wrote books of grammar and rhetoric, as well as a commentary of Cicero.
After his conversion, he worked at harmonizing Christianity and Neoplatonic metaphysics, especially in his book On the generation of the divine Verb. He also wrote commentaries of biblical books.
The synthesis between Christianity and Neoplatonism initiated by Marius Victorinus was continued by Augustine of Hippo. To them, Christian salvation is the end goal of the Neoplatonic mystical quest. Augustine’s impact was so strong that all medieval Christian theology was influenced by Neoplatonic thought.
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