Themistius

Themistius (Ancient Greek: Θεμίστιος; 317 – c. 388 AD), nicknamed Euphrades (Εὐφραδής, "eloquent"), was a Roman statesman, rhetorician, and philosopher. He flourished in the reigns of Constantius II, Julian, Jovian, Valens, Gratian and Theodosius I, and he enjoyed the favour of all those emperors, notwithstanding their many differences and the fact that he himself was not a Christian. He was admitted to the senate by Constantius in 355, and he was prefect of Constantinople in 384 on the nomination of Theodosius. Of his many works, thirty-three orations of his have come down to us, as well as various commentaries and epitomes of the works of Aristotle. He was born in Paphlagonia and taught at the Colchian Academy in Phasis. His father, Eugenius, was a philosopher from whom he received training. Themistius devoted himself chiefly to Aristotle, but also studied Pythagoreanism and Platonism. After spending his youth in Asia Minor and Syria, he met Constantius II in 347. He later moved to Constantinople, where he taught philosophy for twenty years. He was inducted into the Senate of Constantinople in 355. Despite being a pagan, he retained the favor of Julian, who called him the "worthy senator of the whole world" and the "first philosopher of his age." He served as prefect of Constantinople in 384 and was entrusted with the tutorship of Theodosius I's son, Arcadius, from 387-388. Themistius died around 388 AD. He was friends with prominent figures of his time, including Libanius and Gregory of Nazianzus.