Cassius Dionysius Longinus
Encyclopedia
Cassius Longinus was an Hellenistic
rhetorician and philosophical
critic. He was perhaps a native of Emesa in Syria
. He studied at Alexandria
under Ammonius Saccas
and Origen the Pagan
, and taught for thirty years in Athens
, one of his pupils being Porphyry
. Longinus did not embrace the Neoplatonism
then being developed by Plotinus
, but continued as a Platonist
of the old type and his reputation as a literary critic was immense. During a visit to the east, he became a teacher, and subsequently chief counsellor to Zenobia
, queen of Palmyra
. It was by his advice that she endeavoured to regain her independence from Rome. Emperor Aurelian
, however, crushed the revolt, and Longinus was executed.
name Cassius
is unknown; it can only be conjectured that he was the client to some Cassius Longinus, or that his ancestors had received the Roman franchise through the influence of some Cassius Longinus
. He was born about 213, and was killed in 273, at the age of sixty. The suggestion that his original name was Dionysius arose only because the 1st century rhetorical treatise On the Sublime
was ascribed to a "Dionysius or Longinus" in the medieval period.
His native place is uncertain; some say that Longinus was born at Palmyra
, and others call him a Syrian or a native of Emesa. The belief that he was of Syrian origin is only an inference from the fact that his mother was a Syrian woman, and from an obscure passage in the Historia Augusta, from which it may be inferred that he could speak the Syriac language. He may have been born at Athens
, for the Suda
states that Fronto of Emesa
, the uncle of Longinus, taught rhetoric at Athens, and on his death in Athens left behind him Longinus, the son of his sister Frontonis.
It would seem that Fronto took special care of the education of his nephew, and on his death-bed he made him his heir. In the preface to his work On Ends, which is preserved in Porphyry
's Life of Plotinus, Longinus himself relates that from his early age he made many journeys with his parents, that he visited many countries and became acquainted with all those who at the time enjoyed a great reputation as philosophers, among whom the most illustrious were Ammonius Saccas
, Origen the Pagan
, Plotinus
, and Amelius
. Of the first two Longinus was a pupil for a long time, but Longinus did not embrace the Neoplatonism then being developed by Ammonius and Plotinus, rather he continued as a Platonist of the old type.
Longinus in his study of philosophy made himself thoroughly familiar with Plato's works; and that he himself was a genuine Platonist is evident from the fragments still extant, as well as from the commentaries he wrote on several of Plato's dialogues. The few fragments of his commentaries which have come down to us show that he was free from the allegorical notions by which his contemporaries claimed to have discovered the wisdom of the ancients. His commentaries not only explained the subject-matter discussed by Plato, but also his style and diction. In opposition to Plotinus, Longinus upheld the doctrine that the Platonic ideas
existed outside the divine Nous
. Plotinus, after reading his treatise On First Principles, remarked that Longinus might be a scholar, but that he was no philosopher.
After Longinus had learnt all he could from Ammonius at Alexandria
and the other philosophers whom he met in his travels, he returned to Athens. He there devoted himself with so much zeal to the instruction of his many pupils that he scarcely had any time left for writing. The most distinguished of his pupils was Porphyry
. At Athens, Longinus seems to have lectured on philosophy and criticism, as well as on rhetoric and grammar, and the extent of his knowledge was so great, that Eunapius
calls him "a living library" and "a walking museum;". The power for which Longinus was most celebrated was his critical skill, which was indeed so great that the expression "to judge like Longinus" became synonymous with "to judge correctly".
After having spent much of his life at Athens composing the best of his works, he went to the East, either to see his friends at Emesa or to settle some family affairs. It seems to have been on that occasion that he became known to queen Zenobia
of Palmyra
, who, being a woman of great talent, and fond of the arts and literature, made him her teacher of Greek literature. As Longinus had no extensive library at his command at Palmyra, he was obliged almost entirely to abandon his literary pursuits. He soon discovered another use for his talents, for when king Odaenathus
died Queen Zenobia undertook the government of the empire. She availed herself of the advice of Longinus; it was he who advised and encouraged her to shake off Roman rule and become an independent sovereign. As a result, Zenobia wrote a spirited letter to the Roman emperor Aurelian
. In 273, when Aurelian took and destroyed Palmyra, Longinus had to pay with his life for the advice which he had given to Zenobia. Longinus must have been especially pained by this catastrophe, as the queen asserted her own innocence after having fallen into the hands of the Romans, and threw all the blame upon her advisers, particularly Longinus. He bore his execution with a firmness and cheerfulness worthy of Socrates
.
In his private life Longinus seems to have been amiable; for although his pupil Porphyry left him, declaring that he would seek a better philosophy in the school of Plotinus, Longinus did not show him any ill-will, but continued to treat him as a friend, and invited him to come to Palmyra. He had an ardent love of liberty, and a great frankness both in expressing his own opinions and exposing the faults and errors of others.
s, Longinus composed a great number of works, which appear to have been held in the highest estimation, all of which have perished. It was once thought that the extant rhetorical treatise On the Sublime
was written by him, but it is now thought to have been written by an unknown 1st century writer. Among the works listed by the Suda
there are Homeric Questions; Whether Homer is a Philosopher; Homeric Problems and Solutions; and two publications on Attic diction. The most important of his philological works, - Philological Discourses - consisting of at least 21 books, is omitted. A considerable fragment of his On the Chief End is preserved by Porphyry. Under his name there are also extant Prolegomena to the Handbook of Hephaestion on metre, and the fragment of a treatise on rhetoric, inserted in the middle of a similar treatise by Apsines
. It gives brief practical hints on invention, arrangement, style, memory and other things useful to the student.
Hellenistic period
The Hellenistic period or Hellenistic era describes the time which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. It was so named by the historian J. G. Droysen. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia...
rhetorician and philosophical
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
critic. He was perhaps a native of Emesa in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. He studied at Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
under Ammonius Saccas
Ammonius Saccas
Ammonius Saccas was a Greek philosopher from Alexandria who was often referred to as one of the founders of Neoplatonism. He is mainly known as the teacher of Plotinus, whom he taught for eleven years from 232 to 243. He was undoubtably the biggest influence on Plotinus in his development of...
and Origen the Pagan
Origen the Pagan
Origen the Pagan was a Platonist philosopher who lived in Alexandria. He was a student of Ammonius Saccas and a contemporary of Plotinus in Ammonius's philosophy school in Alexandria...
, and taught for thirty years in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, one of his pupils being Porphyry
Porphyry (philosopher)
Porphyry of Tyre , Porphyrios, AD 234–c. 305) was a Neoplatonic philosopher who was born in Tyre. He edited and published the Enneads, the only collection of the work of his teacher Plotinus. He also wrote many works himself on a wide variety of topics...
. Longinus did not embrace the Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism , is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas...
then being developed by Plotinus
Plotinus
Plotinus was a major philosopher of the ancient world. In his system of theory there are the three principles: the One, the Intellect, and the Soul. His teacher was Ammonius Saccas and he is of the Platonic tradition...
, but continued as a Platonist
Platonism
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato or the name of other philosophical systems considered closely derived from it. In a narrower sense the term might indicate the doctrine of Platonic realism...
of the old type and his reputation as a literary critic was immense. During a visit to the east, he became a teacher, and subsequently chief counsellor to Zenobia
Zenobia
Zenobia was a 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Roman Syria. She led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. The second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus, Zenobia became queen of the Palmyrene Empire following Odaenathus' death in 267...
, queen of Palmyra
Palmyrene Empire
The Palmyrene Empire was a splinter empire, that broke off of the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. It encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor....
. It was by his advice that she endeavoured to regain her independence from Rome. Emperor Aurelian
Aurelian
Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
, however, crushed the revolt, and Longinus was executed.
Life
The origin of his gentileRoman naming conventions
By the Republican era and throughout the Imperial era, a name in ancient Rome for a male citizen consisted of three parts : praenomen , nomen and cognomen...
name Cassius
Cassius (gens)
The gens Cassia was a Roman family of great antiquity. The gens was originally patrician, but all of the members who appear in later times were plebeians. The first of the Cassii to obtain the consulship was Spurius Cassius Viscellinus, in 502 BC. He was the proposer of the first agrarian law,...
is unknown; it can only be conjectured that he was the client to some Cassius Longinus, or that his ancestors had received the Roman franchise through the influence of some Cassius Longinus
Cassius Longinus
Cassius Longinus may refer to:*Cassius Longinus , a Greek rhetorician and philosopher*Cassius Longinus Cassius Longinus may refer to:*Cassius Longinus (philosopher) (c. 213–273), a Greek rhetorician and philosopher*Cassius Longinus (suffect consul) Cassius Longinus may refer to:*Cassius...
. He was born about 213, and was killed in 273, at the age of sixty. The suggestion that his original name was Dionysius arose only because the 1st century rhetorical treatise On the Sublime
Longinus (literature)
Longinus is the conventional name of the author of the treatise, On the Sublime , a work which focuses on the effect of good writing. Longinus, sometimes referred to as Pseudo-Longinus because his real name is unknown, was a Greek teacher of rhetoric or a literary critic who may have lived in the...
was ascribed to a "Dionysius or Longinus" in the medieval period.
His native place is uncertain; some say that Longinus was born at Palmyra
Palmyra
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...
, and others call him a Syrian or a native of Emesa. The belief that he was of Syrian origin is only an inference from the fact that his mother was a Syrian woman, and from an obscure passage in the Historia Augusta, from which it may be inferred that he could speak the Syriac language. He may have been born at Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, for the Suda
Suda
The Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...
states that Fronto of Emesa
Fronto of Emesa
Fronto of Emesa is a famous rhetorician and uncle on Cassius Longinus. He lived under the emperor Severus in Rome. Fronto taught rhetoric in Athens where he was a rival teacher to the first Philostratus and to Apsines of Gadara. He died in Athens, aged about 60....
, the uncle of Longinus, taught rhetoric at Athens, and on his death in Athens left behind him Longinus, the son of his sister Frontonis.
It would seem that Fronto took special care of the education of his nephew, and on his death-bed he made him his heir. In the preface to his work On Ends, which is preserved in Porphyry
Porphyry (philosopher)
Porphyry of Tyre , Porphyrios, AD 234–c. 305) was a Neoplatonic philosopher who was born in Tyre. He edited and published the Enneads, the only collection of the work of his teacher Plotinus. He also wrote many works himself on a wide variety of topics...
's Life of Plotinus, Longinus himself relates that from his early age he made many journeys with his parents, that he visited many countries and became acquainted with all those who at the time enjoyed a great reputation as philosophers, among whom the most illustrious were Ammonius Saccas
Ammonius Saccas
Ammonius Saccas was a Greek philosopher from Alexandria who was often referred to as one of the founders of Neoplatonism. He is mainly known as the teacher of Plotinus, whom he taught for eleven years from 232 to 243. He was undoubtably the biggest influence on Plotinus in his development of...
, Origen the Pagan
Origen the Pagan
Origen the Pagan was a Platonist philosopher who lived in Alexandria. He was a student of Ammonius Saccas and a contemporary of Plotinus in Ammonius's philosophy school in Alexandria...
, Plotinus
Plotinus
Plotinus was a major philosopher of the ancient world. In his system of theory there are the three principles: the One, the Intellect, and the Soul. His teacher was Ammonius Saccas and he is of the Platonic tradition...
, and Amelius
Amelius
Amelius , whose family name was Gentilianus, was a Neoplatonist philosopher and writer of the second half of the 3rd century. He was a native of Tuscany...
. Of the first two Longinus was a pupil for a long time, but Longinus did not embrace the Neoplatonism then being developed by Ammonius and Plotinus, rather he continued as a Platonist of the old type.
Longinus in his study of philosophy made himself thoroughly familiar with Plato's works; and that he himself was a genuine Platonist is evident from the fragments still extant, as well as from the commentaries he wrote on several of Plato's dialogues. The few fragments of his commentaries which have come down to us show that he was free from the allegorical notions by which his contemporaries claimed to have discovered the wisdom of the ancients. His commentaries not only explained the subject-matter discussed by Plato, but also his style and diction. In opposition to Plotinus, Longinus upheld the doctrine that the Platonic ideas
Theory of Forms
Plato's theory of Forms or theory of Ideas asserts that non-material abstract forms , and not the material world of change known to us through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality. When used in this sense, the word form is often capitalized...
existed outside the divine Nous
Nous
Nous , also called intellect or intelligence, is a philosophical term for the faculty of the human mind which is described in classical philosophy as necessary for understanding what is true or real, very close in meaning to intuition...
. Plotinus, after reading his treatise On First Principles, remarked that Longinus might be a scholar, but that he was no philosopher.
After Longinus had learnt all he could from Ammonius at Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
and the other philosophers whom he met in his travels, he returned to Athens. He there devoted himself with so much zeal to the instruction of his many pupils that he scarcely had any time left for writing. The most distinguished of his pupils was Porphyry
Porphyry (philosopher)
Porphyry of Tyre , Porphyrios, AD 234–c. 305) was a Neoplatonic philosopher who was born in Tyre. He edited and published the Enneads, the only collection of the work of his teacher Plotinus. He also wrote many works himself on a wide variety of topics...
. At Athens, Longinus seems to have lectured on philosophy and criticism, as well as on rhetoric and grammar, and the extent of his knowledge was so great, that Eunapius
Eunapius
Eunapius was a Greek sophist and historian of the 4th century. His principal surviving work is the Lives of the Sophists, a collection of the biographies of twenty-three philosophers and sophists.-Life:He was born at Sardis, AD 347...
calls him "a living library" and "a walking museum;". The power for which Longinus was most celebrated was his critical skill, which was indeed so great that the expression "to judge like Longinus" became synonymous with "to judge correctly".
After having spent much of his life at Athens composing the best of his works, he went to the East, either to see his friends at Emesa or to settle some family affairs. It seems to have been on that occasion that he became known to queen Zenobia
Zenobia
Zenobia was a 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Roman Syria. She led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. The second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus, Zenobia became queen of the Palmyrene Empire following Odaenathus' death in 267...
of Palmyra
Palmyrene Empire
The Palmyrene Empire was a splinter empire, that broke off of the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. It encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor....
, who, being a woman of great talent, and fond of the arts and literature, made him her teacher of Greek literature. As Longinus had no extensive library at his command at Palmyra, he was obliged almost entirely to abandon his literary pursuits. He soon discovered another use for his talents, for when king Odaenathus
Odaenathus
Lucius Septimius Odaenathus, Odenathus or Odenatus , the Latinized form of the Syriac Odainath, was a ruler of Palmyra, Syria and later of the short lived Palmyrene Empire, in the second half of the 3rd century, who succeeded in recovering the Roman East from the Persians and restoring it to the...
died Queen Zenobia undertook the government of the empire. She availed herself of the advice of Longinus; it was he who advised and encouraged her to shake off Roman rule and become an independent sovereign. As a result, Zenobia wrote a spirited letter to the Roman emperor Aurelian
Aurelian
Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
. In 273, when Aurelian took and destroyed Palmyra, Longinus had to pay with his life for the advice which he had given to Zenobia. Longinus must have been especially pained by this catastrophe, as the queen asserted her own innocence after having fallen into the hands of the Romans, and threw all the blame upon her advisers, particularly Longinus. He bore his execution with a firmness and cheerfulness worthy of Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
.
In his private life Longinus seems to have been amiable; for although his pupil Porphyry left him, declaring that he would seek a better philosophy in the school of Plotinus, Longinus did not show him any ill-will, but continued to treat him as a friend, and invited him to come to Palmyra. He had an ardent love of liberty, and a great frankness both in expressing his own opinions and exposing the faults and errors of others.
Writings
Notwithstanding his many avocationAvocation
An avocation is an activity that one engages in as a hobby outside one's main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside of their workplaces were their true passions in life...
s, Longinus composed a great number of works, which appear to have been held in the highest estimation, all of which have perished. It was once thought that the extant rhetorical treatise On the Sublime
Longinus (literature)
Longinus is the conventional name of the author of the treatise, On the Sublime , a work which focuses on the effect of good writing. Longinus, sometimes referred to as Pseudo-Longinus because his real name is unknown, was a Greek teacher of rhetoric or a literary critic who may have lived in the...
was written by him, but it is now thought to have been written by an unknown 1st century writer. Among the works listed by the Suda
Suda
The Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...
there are Homeric Questions; Whether Homer is a Philosopher; Homeric Problems and Solutions; and two publications on Attic diction. The most important of his philological works, - Philological Discourses - consisting of at least 21 books, is omitted. A considerable fragment of his On the Chief End is preserved by Porphyry. Under his name there are also extant Prolegomena to the Handbook of Hephaestion on metre, and the fragment of a treatise on rhetoric, inserted in the middle of a similar treatise by Apsines
Apsines
Apsines of Gadara was a Greek rhetorician. He studied at Smyrna and taught at Athens, gaining such a reputation that he was raised to the consulship by the emperor Maximinus...
. It gives brief practical hints on invention, arrangement, style, memory and other things useful to the student.