Saccas

Saccas, also spelled Sakkas, was an ancient Platonist philosopher known primarily from late antique sources. He is most noted for being the teacher of Plotinus, the founder of Neoplatonism, in the city of Alexandria, around the late 2nd to early 3rd century CE. Very little direct information survives about his life, and no writings are confidently attributed to him.

Biographical details about Saccas are scarce. The principal account comes from Porphyry, who wrote the Life of Plotinus, and later Neoplatonists who reference Saccas as an elder Platonist who educated Plotinus before he studied in Rome. Because didactic texts from Saccas do not survive, his precise philosophical views and doctrinal positions are not securely known. Consequently, scholarly assessments of Saccas' thought are largely inferred from the later development of Plotinus and the general tenor of Alexandrian Platonism rather than from his own authenticated writings.

Scholarly opinion on Saccas is divided. Some view him as a prominent representative of late-Platonic thought who provided Plotinus with a firm Platonic foundation, while others treat him as a relatively obscure figure whose significance rests mainly on his connection to Plotinus. In any case, Saccas is typically regarded as part of the lineage that contributed to the development of Neoplatonism, rather than as a clearly defined philosophical system in his own right.

See also: Neoplatonism, Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus.