The Catalogue of the Writings

Principle. Of the treatises, many were present during those times, as many as he himself wrote concerning the periods of his presence. He took his subjects from the problems raised during the seminars original: "sunousias," referring to the informal, collaborative teaching sessions of Plotinus's school, as we have shown in the headings of the books we arranged. After the time of our arrival, the total number of works became fifty-four. Among these books, some were written while he lived in Rome, for he spent his days there until about the fifteenth year of the reign of Gallienus Gallienus was Roman Emperor from 253 to 268 AD; the fifteenth year refers to roughly 267–268 AD.

Plotinus had written twenty-one books which were all in his possession. Concerning:

Happiness, whose beginning is: "Does living [itself] constitute happiness?" original: "to de zen eudaimonein" On Providence I, whose beginning is: "That which comes from the spontaneous..." On Providence II, whose beginning is: "What, then, is the opinion concerning these things?" On the knowing hypostases hypostasesIn Neoplatonism, this refers to the fundamental levels of reality: the One, the Intellect, and the Soul. [derived] from this [subject], whose beginning is: "Does the Intellect seem to have made itself to be?" On Love, whose beginning is: "Concerning what kind is each of the two?"

These, then, were the first works [written] at the beginning of the fifteenth year of the reign, when no small portion was genuine,

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prior to these. What are Evils?, whose beginning is: "Those who seek whence evils come." On Nature and the Rest, whose beginning is: "Upon every movement..." What is the Living Being?, whose beginning is: "Pleasures and pains." On Happiness, whose beginning is: "Whether there might be someone who is to us..." These, along with the first twenty-four that were written, bring the total to fifty-four.

As these were all written, some were produced during his early years, others when he was at his peak, and others while his body was suffering from illness. Thus, the relationship of his mental powers to the books is evident. For the first twenty were produced by a power that was most light, not yet possessing the full maturity that came through his peak. Those produced in the middle period, however, reveal the highest point of his power. This group consists of twenty-four books. The final books—for the last nine were written when his power was already diminishing—

—were specifically these last ones, as he was already approaching his end. But because of his illness, he...