{{Short description|Educative center founded by Plato}}
{{about|the academy founded by Plato|the 15th century school in Florence|Platonic Academy (Florence)|the Raphael painting|The School of Athens}}
{{Platonism}}
The '''Academy''' ({{langx|grc|Ἀκαδημία|Akadēmia}}) was founded by [[Plato]] in ca. 387 BC in [[Classical Athens|Athens]]. [[Aristotle]] studied there for twenty years (367 BC – 347 BC) before founding his own school, the [[Lyceum (Classical)|Lyceum]]. The academy persisted throughout the [[Hellenistic period]] as a [[Academic skepticism|skeptical]] school, until coming to an end after the death of [[Philo of Larissa]] in 83 BC. Although philosophers continued to teach Plato's philosophy in Athens during the [[Roman era]], it was not until AD 410 that a revived Academy was re-established as a center for [[Neoplatonism]], persisting until 529 AD when it was closed down by [[Justinian I]].
The academy is regarded as the first institution of higher education in the West, where subjects as diverse as [[biology]], [[geography]], [[astronomy]], [[mathematics]], [[history]], and many more were taught and investigated.[{{Cite journal |last=Baltes |first=Matthias |date=1993 |title=Plato's School, the Academy |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23041030 |journal=Hermathena |issue=155 |pages=5–26 |jstor=23041030 |issn=0018-0750}}][{{Cite book |last1=Neils |first1=Jenifer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CzkQEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Athens |last2=Rogers |first2=Dylan Kelby |date=2021 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-108-48455-8 |series= |location=Cambridge (GB) |pages=3, 298}}] It has been regarded as perhaps the earliest structured academy for [[political science]] in antiquity.[{{Cite journal|title=Plato's Academy: The First Organized School of Political Science in Antiquity|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1405811|journal=The Review of Politics|date=1967|issn=0034-6705|pages=25–40|volume=29|issue=1|first=Anton-Hermann|last=Chroust}}]
==Site==
[[File:Athens - Ancient road to Academy 1.jpg|thumb|left|Ancient road to the academy.]]
[[Image:AtheneOudheid.JPG|thumb|right|260px|Map of [[Ancient Athens]]. The academy is north of Athens.]]
Before the ''Akademia'' was a school, and even before [[Cimon]] enclosed its precincts with a wall,[[[Plutarch]] ''Life of Cimon'' xiii:7] it
contained a sacred grove of olive trees dedicated to [[Athena]], the goddess of [[wisdom]], outside the city walls of ancient [[Athens]].[[[Thucydides]] ii:34] The archaic name for the site was ''Hekademia'' (Ἑκαδήμεια), which by classical times evolved into ''Akademia'' and was explained, at least as early as the beginning of the 6th century BC, by linking it to an Athenian [[Greek hero cult|hero]], a legendary "[[Akademos]]".
The site of the academy was sacred to [[Athena]] and other immortals; it had sheltered her religious cult since the [[Bronze Age]], a cult that was perhaps also associated with the [[Greek hero cult|hero-gods]] the [[Dioscuri]] (Castor and Polydeuces), for the hero Akademos associated with the site was credited with revealing to the Divine Twins where [[Theseus]] had hidden [[Helen of Troy|Helen]]. Out of respect for its long tradition and the association with the Dioscuri, the [[Sparta]]ns would not ravage these original "groves of Academe" when they invaded Attica,[Plutarch, ''Life of Theseus'' xxxii] a piety not shared by the Roman [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla|Sulla]], who axed the sacred olive trees of Athena in 86 BC to build [[siege engine]]s.
Among the religious observances that took place at the Akademeia was a torchlit night race from altars within the city to Prometheus' altar in the Akademeia. [[Funeral games (antiquity)|Funeral games]] also took place in the area as well as a Dionysiac procession from Athens to the Hekademeia and then back to the polis.[Paus. i 29.2, 30.2; Plut. Vit. Sol. i 7] The road to Akademeia was lined with the gravestones of Athenians.
The site of the academy[A Beginner's History of Philosophy, Volume 1. By Herbert Ernest Cushma. Pg [http://books.google.com/books?id=33QBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA219 219]] is located near [[Colonus (Attica)|Colonus]], approximately, 1.5 km north of Athens' [[Kerameikos|Dipylon gates]].[Mazarakis Ainian, A. - Alexandridou A,. [https://www.academia.edu/1133686/Mazarakis_Ainian_A._-_Alexandridou_A._The_Sacred_House_of_the_Academy_Revisited "The Sacred House of the Academy Revisited"].] The site was rediscovered in the 20th century, in modern [[Akadimia Platonos]] neighbourhood; considerable excavation has been accomplished and visiting the site is free.[[https://www.thisisathens.org/antiquities/platos-academy This is Athens], official visitors’ guide to the City of Athens.]
==Plato's Academy==
What was later to be known as Plato's school probably originated around the time Plato acquired inherited property at the age of thirty, with informal gatherings which included [[Theaetetus (mathematician)|Theaetetus of Sunium]], [[Archytas]] of Tarentum, [[Leodamas of Thasos]], and Neoclides.[pp. 5–6, D. Nails, "The Life of Plato of Athens", in H. Benson (ed.), ''A Companion to Plato'', Blackwell Publishing 2006.] According to Debra Nails, [[Speusippus]] "joined the group in about 390." She claims, "It is not until [[Eudoxus of Cnidus|Eudoxus of Cnidos]] arrives in the mid-380s that [[Eudemus of Rhodes|Eudemus]] recognizes a formal Academy." There is no historical record of the exact time the school was officially founded, but modern scholars generally agree that the time was the mid-380s, probably sometime after 387, when Plato is thought to have returned from his first visit to Italy and Sicily.[pp. 19–20, [[W. K. C. Guthrie]], ''A History of Greek Philosophy'', vol. 4, Cambridge University Press 1975; p. 1, R. Dancy, "Academy", in D. Zeyl (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy'', Greenwood Press 1997. I. Mueller gives a much broader time frame – "...some time between the early 380s and the middle 360s..." – perhaps reflecting our real lack of evidence about the specific date (p. 170, "Mathematical Method & Philosophical Truth", in R. Kraut (ed.), ''The Cambridge Companion to Plato'', Cambridge University Press 1992).] Originally, the location of the meetings was Plato's property as often as it was the nearby Academy gymnasium; this remained so throughout the fourth century.[[[David Sedley|D. Sedley]], "Academy", in the ''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', 3rd ed.; p. 4][[[Jonathan Barnes|J. Barnes]], "Life and Work", in ''The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle'', Cambridge University Press 1995][p. 31, J. Barnes, ''Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction'', Oxford University Press 2000.] it did not, during at least Plato's time, charge fees for membership.[p. 170, Mueller, "Mathematical Method & Philosophical Truth"; p. 249, D. Nails, ''The People of Plato'', Hackett 2002.] Therefore, there was probably not at that time a "school" in the sense of a clear distinction between teachers and students, or even a formal curriculum.[pp. 170–171, Mueller, "Mathematical Method & Philosophical Truth"; p. 248, Nails, ''The People of Plato''.] There was, however, a distinction between senior and junior members.[Barnes, "Academy".] Two women are known to have studied with Plato at the academy, [[Axiothea of Phlius]] and [[Lasthenia of Mantinea]].[{{cite book|url=https://www.hackettpublishing.com/philosophy/women-in-the-academy|title=Women in the Academy : Dialogues on Themes from Plato's Republic|author=C. D. C. Reeve|date=2001|access-date=23 June 2026}}]
As far as is known, during Plato's time, the school did not have any particular doctrine to teach; rather, Plato (and probably other associates of his) posed problems to be studied and solved by the others.[p. 2, Dancy, "Academy".] There is evidence of lectures given, most notably Plato's lecture "On the Good"; but probably the use of [[dialectic]] was more common.[p. 2, Dancy, "Academy"; p. 21, Guthrie, ''A History of Greek Philosophy'', vol. 4; p. 34–36, Barnes, ''Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction''.] According to an unverifiable story, dating some 700 years after the founding of the school, above the entrance to the academy was inscribed the phrase “Let no one untrained in geometry enter.” (Ἀγεωμέτρητος μηδεὶς εἰσίτω.)[Quoted in [[Elias (Greek scholar)|Elias]]’ commentary on [[Aristotle]]’s ''Categories'': ''Eliae in Porphyrii Isagogen et Aristotelis categorias commentaria'', CAG XVIII.1, Berlin 1900, p. 118.13–19.]
Many have imagined that the Academic curriculum would have closely resembled the one canvassed in Plato's ''Republic''.[p. 22, Guthrie, ''A History of Greek Philosophy'', vol. 4.] Others, however, have argued that such a picture ignores the obvious peculiar arrangements of the ideal society envisioned in that dialogue.[pp. 170–71, Mueller, "Mathematical Method & Philosophical Truth".] The subjects of study almost certainly included mathematics as well as the philosophical topics with which the Platonic dialogues deal, but there is little reliable evidence.[{{cite book|author=M. Schofield|quotation=Plato|editor=E. Craig|title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy|publisher=Routledge|access-date=13 September 2015|url=http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/A088|page=32|chapter=Barnes, ''Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction''}}] There is some evidence for what today would be considered strictly scientific research: [[Simplicius of Cilicia|Simplicius]] reports that Plato had instructed the other members to discover the simplest explanation of the observable, irregular motion of heavenly bodies: “by hypothesizing what uniform and ordered motions is it possible to save the appearances relating to planetary motions”[Simplicius, ''Commentary on Aristotle's "On the Heavens"'' 488.7–24, quoted on p. 174, Mueller, "Mathematical Method & Philosophical Truth".] (according to Simplicius, Plato's colleague Eudoxus was the first to have worked on this problem).
Plato's Academy is often said to have been a school for would-be politicians in the ancient world, and to have had many illustrious alumni.[p. 23, Guthrie, ''A History of Greek Philosophy'', vol. 4; G. Field, "Academy", in the ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 2nd ed.] In a recent survey of the evidence, Malcolm Schofield, however, has argued that it is difficult to know to what extent the academy was interested in practical (i.e., non-theoretical) politics since much of our evidence "reflects ancient polemic for or against Plato."[p. 293, "Plato & Practical Politics", in Schofield & C. Rowe (eds.), ''Greek & Roman Political Thought'', Cambridge University Press 2000.]
==Later history of the Academy==
[[Image:Sanzio 01.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''[[The School of Athens]]'' by [[Raphael]] (1509–1510), fresco at the [[Apostolic Palace]], [[Vatican City]].]]
[[Diogenes Laërtius]] divided the history of the academy into three: the Old, the Middle, and the New. At the head of the Old he put Plato, at the head of the Middle Academy, [[Arcesilaus]], and of the New, [[Lacydes of Cyrene|Lacydes]]. [[Sextus Empiricus]] enumerated five divisions of the followers of Plato. He made Plato founder of the first Academy; Arcesilaus of the second; [[Carneades]] of the third; [[Philo of Larissa|Philo]] and [[Charmadas]] of the fourth; [[Antiochus of Ascalon|Antiochus]] of the fifth. [[Cicero]] recognised only two Academies, the Old and New, and made the latter commence with Arcesilaus.[Charles Anthon, (1855), ''A Classical Dictionary'', page 6]
===Old Academy===
{{redirect|Old Academy|the building in Munich|Old Academy (Munich)}}
Plato's immediate successors as "[[scholarch]]" of the academy were [[Speusippus]] (347–339 BC), [[Xenocrates]] (339–314 BC), [[Polemon (scholarch)|Polemo]] (314–269 BC), and [[Crates of Athens|Crates]] (c. 269–266 BC). Other notable members of the academy include [[Aristotle]], [[Heraclides Ponticus|Heraclides]], [[Eudoxus of Cnidus|Eudoxus]], [[Philip of Opus]], and [[Crantor]].
===Middle Academy===
Around 266 BC [[Arcesilaus]] became scholarch. Under Arcesilaus (c. 266–241 BC), the academy strongly emphasized [[Academic skepticism]]. Arcesilaus was followed by [[Lacydes of Cyrene]] (241–215 BC), [[Evander (philosopher)|Evander]] and [[Telecles]] (jointly) (205 – c. 165 BC), and [[Hegesinus of Pergamon|Hegesinus]] (c. 160 BC).
===New Academy===
The New or Third Academy begins with [[Carneades]], in 155 BC, the fourth scholarch in succession from Arcesilaus. It was still largely skeptical, denying the possibility of knowing an absolute truth. Carneades was followed by [[Clitomachus (philosopher)|Clitomachus]] (129 – c. 110 BC) and [[Philo of Larissa]] ("the last undisputed head of the Academy," c. 110–84 BC).[''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 3rd ed. (1996), s.v. "Philon of Larissa."][See the table in [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521250285 The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy] (Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 53–54.] According to [[Jonathan Barnes]], "It seems likely that Philo was the last Platonist geographically connected to the Academy."[{{cite book|quotation="Academy"|editor=E. Craig|title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy|publisher=Routledge |date=1998|access-date=14 September 2008|url=http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/A001}}]
Around 90 BC, Philo's student [[Antiochus of Ascalon]] began teaching his own rival version of Platonism rejecting Skepticism and advocating [[Stoicism]], which began a new phase known as [[Middle Platonism]].
==The Destruction of the Academy==
[[Image:Athens Plato Academy Archaeological Site 2.jpg|thumb|The archaeological site of [[Plato]]'s academy.]]
When the [[First Mithridatic War]] began in 88 BC, Philo of Larissa left Athens, and took refuge in [[Rome]], where he seems to have remained until his death.[Giovanni Reale, John R. Catan, 1990, ''A History of Ancient Philosophy: The schools of the Imperial Age'', page 207. SUNY Press] In 86 BC, [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]] laid siege to Athens, and conquered the city, causing much destruction. It was during the siege that he laid waste to the academy, for "he laid hands upon the sacred groves, and ravaged the Academy, which was the most wooded of the city's suburbs, as well as the [[Lyceum (Classical)|Lyceum]]."[Plutarch, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Sulla*.html ''Sulla'' 12]; cf. Appian, ''Roman History'' [http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_mithridatic_06.html xii, 5.30]]
The destruction of the academy seems to have been so severe as to make the reconstruction and re-opening of the academy impossible.[Giovanni Reale, John R. Catan, 1990, ''A History of Ancient Philosophy: The schools of the Imperial Age'', page 208. SUNY Press] When Antiochus returned to Athens from [[Alexandria]], c. 84 BC, he resumed his teaching but not in the academy. [[Cicero]], who studied under him in 79/8 BC, refers to Antiochus teaching in a gymnasium called ''Ptolemy''. Cicero describes a visit to the site of the academy one afternoon, which was "quiet and deserted at that hour of the day"[Cicero, ''De Finibus'', book 5]
==Neoplatonic Academy==
{{further|Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism}}
Philosophers continued to teach [[Middle Platonism|Platonism]] in [[Athens during the Roman era]], but it was not until the early 5th century (c. 410) that a revived Academy was established by some leading [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonists]].[Alan Cameron, "The last days of the Academy at Athens," in ''Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society'' vol 195 (n.s. 15), 1969, pp 7–29.] The origins of Neoplatonist teaching in Athens are uncertain, but when [[Proclus]] arrived in Athens in the early 430s, he found [[Plutarch of Athens]] and his colleague [[Syrianus]] teaching in an academy there. The Neoplatonists in Athens called themselves "successors" (''diadochoi'', but of Plato) and presented themselves as an uninterrupted tradition reaching back to Plato, but there cannot have actually been any geographical, institutional, economic or personal continuity with the original Academy.[[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2000/2000-04-19.html Gerald Bechtle, Bryn Mawr Classical Review of Rainer Thiel, ''Simplikios und das Ende der neuplatonischen Schule in Athen''. Stuttgart, 1999] (in English).] The school seems to have been a private foundation, conducted in a large house which Proclus eventually inherited from Plutarch and Syrianus.[''The Cambridge Ancient History'', (1970), Volume XIV, page 837. Cambridge University Press.] The heads of the Neoplatonic Academy were [[Plutarch of Athens]], [[Syrianus]], [[Proclus]], [[Marinus of Neapolis|Marinus]], [[Isidore of Alexandria|Isidore]], and finally [[Damascius]]. The Neoplatonic Academy reached its apex under Proclus (died 485).
[[Image:Meister von San Vitale in Ravenna 004.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Emperor [[Justinian]] I. In 529 A.D. the academy was placed under state control by order of Justinian, effectively strangling this training-school for [[Hellenistic philosophy|Hellenism]].]]
The last Greek philosophers of the revived Academy in the 6th century were drawn from various parts of the [[Hellenistic]] cultural world and suggest the broad [[syncretism]] of the common culture (see ''[[koine]]''): Five of the seven Academy philosophers mentioned by [[Agathias]] were [[Syriac people|Syriac]] in their cultural origin: [[Hermias (philosopher)|Hermias]] and [[Diogenes]] (both from Phoenicia), [[Isidorus of Gaza]], [[Damascius]] of Syria, [[Iamblichus]] of [[Coele-Syria]] and perhaps even [[Simplicius of Cilicia]].[Richard Sorabji, (2005), ''The Philosophy of the Commentators, 200–600 AD: Psychology (with Ethics and Religion)'', page 11. Cornell University Press] After his exile, Simplicius (and perhaps some others), may have travelled to [[Harran]], near [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]]. From there, the students of an academy-in-exile could have survived into the 9th century, long enough to facilitate the Arabic revival of the Neoplatonist commentary tradition in [[Baghdad]].