There were other distinctive interpretations of Plato in the ancient world, notably those of the Old Academy and Middle Platonism, but the Neoplatonism inaugurated by Plotinus is the only one that has continued to exert a living influence on later generations of thinkers.
However universal its appeal, Plotinus's thought is certainly a reflection of the transitional age in which he lived. The third century was the period in which classical Greco-Roman civilization—though not destined to die for some time yet—finally lost any chance of rehabilitating itself. Plotinus's life falls entirely within the so-called Time of Troubles, which lasted from the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus in A. D. 180 to the accession of Diocletian in A.D. 284, a period of great social turmoil within the Roman Empire and military pressure from without. The average emperor during Plotinus's lifetime could look forward to less than three years on the throne, a reign that often ended in assassination. The empire was in the throes of a long economic decline, and measures that were adopted to control the situation only hastened the collapse of the cities, whose vitality had rendered such a distinctive contribution to classical culture.
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