Tre morti esemplari alla fine del mondo antico: Plotino, Giuliano, Agostino

The present article focuses on three exemplary deaths in Late Antiquity: Plotinus (see Porphyry, Vita Plotini, 2); the Emperor Julian (see Ammianus Marcellinus, XXV, 3, 22-23); Augustine (see Possidius, Vita Augustini, 28 and 31). It is argued that the three reports point to different philosophical and cultural backgrounds. Plotinus’ and Julian’s deaths mirror Socrates’ example recorded in Plato’s Phaedo. Their analogies notwithstanding, some interesting differences emerge. Plotinus is a sage who has attained a complete knowledge of reality through the conjunction of his embodied mind with his higher and purely intellectual self. Julian dies as philosopher-king who is fully aware that his earthly performance has commended his soul to the heavenly sphere of the stars. Augustine dies as a Christian Saint who is tragically aware of his infirmity vis-à-vis God.