The Enneads

It is said that he attended a primary teacher original: "grammatodidaskalou" until... in the [time] from birth; when he was already in his eighth year, he still desired to nurse at his nurse's breast. But having heard once that he was a most strange child, he stopped and felt ashamed. When he was in his twenty-eighth year The transcription reads "eighty-eighth" (oktō de kai ogdoēkostou), likely a scribal error for "twenty-eighth" (eikostou kai ogdoou) given the timeline of his life., he turned toward philosophy and wished to meet those who were highly regarded in Alexandria at that time. He came away from their lectures original: "akroaseōs" dejected and full of sorrow, such that he recounted what he was suffering to one of his friends. This friend, understanding the desire of his soul, brought him to Ammonius, whom he had not yet tried. Having entered and heard him, he said to his companion: "This is the man I was seeking."

From that day forward, he stayed constantly with Ammonius and acquired such a disposition original: "hexin," referring to a permanent habit of mind or character in philosophy that he attempted to grasp both the philosophy practiced among the Persians and that which is successful among the Indians. When the Emperor Gordian Gordian III, who reigned 238–244 AD was about to set out against the Persians, Plotinus joined the army and went with them; he was then in his thirtieth year Historians generally calculate he was thirty-nine at this time; the Greek "triakoston" may be another numerical error in this manuscript.. He had spent eleven whole years studying with Ammonius. After Gordian was killed in Mesopotamia, Plotinus barely escaped with his life and reached Antioch.

When Philip Philip the Arab, who succeeded Gordian took control of the empire, being forty years old, he went to Rome. An agreement original: "synthēkai" had been made between Erennius, Origen, and Plotinus not to disclose any of the doctrines original: "dogmatōn" of Ammonius, which had been clarified for them during the lectures. Plotinus also remained with those who came to him, keeping the doctrines of Ammonius unrevealed original: "anekpysta". But since Erennius was the first to break the agreement, as we have said, Origen followed the one who had preceded him. He [Origen] wrote nothing except for the treatise on spiritual beings original: "daimonōn"; and during the time of Gallienus, [a work addressed to the Emperor]. For a long time, Plotinus wrote nothing at all, but based his discussions original: "diatribas" on the teachings from his time with Ammonius. And in this way, he continued for ten whole years, associating with certain people.