Marinus (Ancient Greek:Μαρῖνος ὁ Νεαπολίτης; born c. 440 AD) was aByzantineNeoplatonistphilosopher, mathematician andrhetorician[1] born inFlavia Neapolis (modern Nablus),Palaestina Secunda. He was a student ofProclus in Athens. His surviving works are an introduction toEuclid'sData; aLife of Proclus, and two astronomical texts.
Most of what we know of his life comes from an epitome of a work byDamascius conserved in the ByzantineSuda encyclopedia.[2]
He was, according to his pupil Damascius, born aSamaritan.[3][a] Whether this information is correct is disputed, but it is quite possible. Damascius also adds that he had converted fromSamaritanism.[4]
He came toAthens at a time when, with the exception ofProclus, there was a great dearth of eminent men in theNeoplatonist school. He was appointed as successor (diadochos) to Proclus, sometime before the latter's death, during the period of the teacher's infirmity. Proclus dedicated to Marinus his commentary onPlato'sMyth of Er.[5]
Proclus himself, it is reported, worried that Marinus himself was of delicate constitution.[6] During this period, the professors of the oldGreek religion suffered persecution at the hands of the Christians and Marinus was compelled to seek refuge atEpidaurus, where he died, at a date unknown.[7]
Only a remnant of his output survives.[8] His chief surviving work was a biography of Proclus, since it is the main source of information on Proclus' life. This was written in a combination of prose and epichexameters, of which only the former survives.[7]
The publication of the biography is fixed by internal evidence to the year of Proclus's death; for he mentions aneclipse which will happen when the first year after that event is completed. It was first published with the works ofMarcus Aurelius in 1559; it was republished separately byFabricius at Hamburg in 1700, and re-edited in 1814 byBoissonade with emendations and notes.[9] He is also the author of a commentary (or introduction) on theData ofEuclid, and a commentary onTheon'sLittle Commentary.[10] There is also a surviving astronomical text which discusses theMilky Way.[10]
His lost works includedcommentaries on Aristotle, onTheon of Alexandria and on some of the dialogues ofPlato. He is said to have destroyed his commentary on Plato'sPhilebus on the advice of a pupil he was tutoring,Isidorus.[11] According to a version of the story written by Damascius, when Marinus showed his student, to whom he taughtAristotelianism,[12] this commentary, which he had just completed, Isidorus prevailed on him to destroy it, arguing that since the 'divine' Proclus had himself written a definitive commentary which was the final word on the topic.[13] Current scholarship suspects that this advice arose from fears that Marinus' commentary would, despite his best efforts, betray traces of material that might undermine the reigningNeoplatonicparadigm.[13]
