Plato systematized: doing philosophy in the Imperial Schools

The paper is an examination of an anonymous Latin text, which has been tentatively attributed by his editor Justin A. Stover to Apuleius. This text contains the summaries of several Plato’s dialogues, but its proper function seems to be the selection of the main doctrines that constitute his philosophical system. Clearly it is a typical school product and its content refers to Middle Platonism. But it also presents some interesting and distinctive features. Particular noteworthy are the heavy presence of Stoic terms and doctrines and the emphasis on Plato’s political philosophy. These can be paralleled with what we read in Apuleius’ De Platone et eius dogmate. And yet there are also some important differences which complicate the hypothesis of an Apuleian authorship