Iamblĭchus
（
Ἰάμβλιχος).
1.
A Syrian who lived in the time of the emperor Trajan. He wrote in Greek a romance called
Βαβυλωνικά on the loves of Rhodané and Sinonis,
which is now lost, though an epitome of it is given by Photius. (See
Novels and Romances.)
2.
A NeoPlatonic philosopher, a native of Chalcis in CoeleSyria. He died about A.D. 330. He
was a pupil of Porphyry and a follower of Plotinus; but pushing their teachings to the point
of absurdity, became a mere charlatan and impostor, seeking the reputation of a magician and
wonder-worker. His writings include (i.) a life of Pythagoras (
Περὶ
τοῦ Πυθαγορικοῦ Βίου) in ten books, of which four parts are extant, edited by
Nauck
(1884); (ii.) a work on mathematics (
Περὶ Κοινῆς
Μαθηματικῆς Ἐπιστήμης), edited by Friès
(1790);
(iii.) two treatises on mystical arithmetic (
Περὶ Νικομάχου
Ἀριθμητικῆς Εἰσαγωγῆς and
Τὰ Θεολογούμενα τῆς
Ἀριθμητικῆς), the latter edited by Ast
(1817); (iv.) a treatise on
the Egyptian mysteries (
Περὶ Μυστηρίων), and intending to
prove their divine origin, edited by Parthey
(1857); and (v.) a sort of
introduction to the study of Plato (
Προτρεπτικοὶ Λόγοι εἰς
Φιλοσοφίαν), edited by Kiessling
(1813). The treatise on the
mysteries and those on arithmetic are possibly not the work of Iamblichus. On the
De
Mysteriis, see Harles,
Das Buch von d. ägypt. Myst.
(Munich, 1858). It has been rendered into English by Thomas Taylor with the life of
Pythagoras
(2d ed. Chiswick, 1821). The best account of Iamblichus will be found
in Zeller,
Philosophie der Griechen, iii. 2, pp. 613 foll. in the second
edition; and in Vacherot,
Histoire Critique de l'École
d'Alexandrie, ii. pp. 57 foll.
(Paris, 1851).
