529 CE: The End of the Athenian Schools?

The year 529 CE is often called the end of ancient philosophy. That year, according to the chronicler John Malalas, the emperor Justinian issued an order forbidding the teaching of philosophy in Athens, which ended the Platonic school led by Damascius. A few years later, Damascius and six colleagues traveled to the court of the Persian king Khosrow I, hoping for a better reception; disappointed, they returned under a treaty of 532 that reportedly guaranteed their safety. Historians debate how decisive 529 really was.

Philosophy continued in Alexandria, where Christian and pagan scholars such as John Philoponus and Olympiodorus taught Aristotle well into the 6th century. Many Neoplatonist ideas had already been absorbed into Christian theology. The episode shows how changing religious and political authority affected institutions of learning, but it also warns against treating one date as a clean end to an intellectual tradition.