Un lettore antico della Repubblica: Numenio di Apamea

Among Plato’s dialogues, the Timaeus was the most authoritative for Middle Platonists. But the three principles doctrine, which charaterizes imperial Platonism, cannot be stated on the basis of this dialogue alone. In my paper I show that Numenius was influenced by the Republic as well: in the metaphor of the sun he found the Good as first principle and an indication of a second principle which is further subdivided into a Intellect thinking the ideas and into a demiurge ordering the universe. But such an influence raises also difficulties insofar as the causal role of the first principle is concerned.