[39] Marinus, the author of the ensuing life, was the disciple of Proclus; and his successor in the Athenian school. His philosophical writings were not very numerous, and have not been preserved. A commentary ascribed to him, on Euclid’s data, is still extant; but his most celebrated work, appears to have been, the present life of his master. It is indeed in the original elegant and concise; and may be considered as a very happy specimen of philosophical biography. Every liberal mind must be charmed and elevated with the grandeur and sublimity of character, with which Proclus is presented to our view. If compared with modern philosophical heroes, he appears to be a being of a superior order; and we look back with regret on the glorious period, so well calculated for the growth of the philosophical genius, and the encouragement of exalted merit. We find in his life, no traces of the common frailties of depraved humanity; no instances of meanness, or instability of conduct: but he is uniformly magnificent, and constantly good. I am well aware that this account of him will be considered by many as highly exaggerated; as the result of weak enthusiasm, blind superstition, or gross deception: but this will never be the persuasion of those, who know by experience what elevation of mind and purity of life the Platonic philosophy is capable of procuring; and who truly understand the divine truths contained in his works. And the testimony of the multitude, who measure the merit of other men’s characters by the baseness of their own, is surely not to be regarded. I only add, that our Philosopher flourished 412 years after Christ, according to the accurate chronology of Fabricius; and I would recommend those who desire a variety of critical information concerning Proclus, to the Prolegomena prefixed by that most learned man to his excellent Greek and Latin edition of this work, printed at London in 1703. [40] Plato in Phædro. Meminit et Plutarch. VIII. Sympos. Suidas in μήτοι. Fabricius. [41] For a full account of the distribution of the virtues according to the Platonists, consult the sentences of Porphyry, and the Prolegomena of Fabricius to this work. [42] See the sixth book of his Republic, and the Epinomis. [43] We are informed by Fabricius, that the Platonic Olympiodorus in his MS. Commentary on the Alcibiades of Plato, divides the orders of the Gods, into ὑπερκόσμιοι, or super-mundane, which are separate from all connection with body; and into ἐγκόσμιοι, or mundane. And that of these, some are οὐράνιοι, or celestial, others αἰθέριοι, or, or etherial, or πύριοι, fiery, others ἀέριοι, or aerial, others ἔνυδροι, or watry, others χθόνιοι, or earthly; and others ὑποταρτάριοι, or subterranean. But among the terrestrial, some are κλιματάρχαι, or governors of climates, others πολιοῦχοι, or rulers over cities, and others lastly κατοικίδιοι, or governors of houses.