Porphyrius

, a Platonic philosopher of Tyre. He studied eloquence at Athens under Long in us, and afterwards retired to Rome, where he perfected himself under Plot in us. Porphyry was a man of universal information, and, according to the testimony of the ancients, he excelled his contemporaries in the knowledge of history, mathematics, music, and philosophy. He expre ed his sentiments with elegance and with dignity, and while other philosophers studied obscurity in their language, his style was remarkable for its simplicity and grace. He applied himself to the study of magic, which he called a theourgic or divine operation. The books that he wrote were numerous, and some of his smaller treatises are still extant. His most celebrated work, which is now lost, was against the religion of Christ, and in this theological contest he appeared so formidable, that most of the fathers of the church have been employed in confuting his arguments, and developing the falsehood of his a ertions. He has been universally called the greatest enemy which the christian religion had, and, indeed, his doctrines were so pernicious, that a copy of his book was publicly burnt by order of Theodosius, A.D. 388. Porphyry resided for some time in Sicily, and died at the advanced age of 71, A.D. 304. The best edition of his life of Pythagoras is that of Kuster, 4to, Amsterdam, 1707, that of his treatise, De Abstinent iâ , is De Rhoer, Utrecht, 8vo, 1767, and that De Antro Nympharum , in 8vo, Utrecht, 1765.――A Latin poet in the reign of Const an tine the Great.