Wednesday, July 9, 2014

333 | The Year of the Consulship of Dalmatius and Zenophilus | Pythagorean Philosophy In Rome

The year 333 AD is known as the year of the Consulship of Dalmatius and Zenophilus,  Pythagorean Philosopher Xenophilus (also spelled Zenophilus) lived in Athens in the year 333 AD and is said to be the last Pythagorean philosopher to live in Rome.  He was a consul of the Republic of Rome, the highest office in the land under the emperor.  The year 333 AD in Roman Numerals is quite awesome; it is as follows:
From Wikipedia, let us read an excerpt about Xenophilus.
Xenophilus (Greek: Ξενόφιλος; 4th century BC) of Chalcidice,[2] was a Pythagorean philosopher and musician, who lived in the first half of the 4th century BC.[3] Aulus Gellius relates that Xenophilus was the intimate friend and teacher of Aristoxenus, and implies that Xenophilus taught him Pythagorean doctrine.[4] He was said to have belonged to the last generation of Pythagoreans, and he is the only Pythagorean known to have lived in Athens in the 4th century BC.[5] We learn from Diogenes Laërtius that Aristoxenus wrote that when Xenophilus was once asked by someone how he could best educate his son, Xenophilus replied, "By making him the citizen of a well-governed state."[6] According to Pseudo-Lucian, Aristoxenus is supposed to have said that Xenophilus lived 105 years.[7] Xenophilus enjoyed considerable fame in the Renaissance, apparently because of Pliny's claim that he lived 105 years without ever being sick.[8]

The names above are quite revealing.
  • Zenophilus = 8+5+5+6+7+8+9+3+3+1 = 55
  • Chalcidice = 3+8+1+3+3+9+4+9+3+5 = 48
  • Aulus = 1+3+3+3+1 = 11
  • Gellius = 7+5+3+3+9+3+1 = 31
  • Aulus Gellus = 11+31 = 42 
  • Aristoxenus = 1+9+9+1+2+6+6+5+5+3+1 = 48
  • Diogenes = 4+9+6+7+5+5+5+1 = 42
  • Laertius = 3+1+5+9+2+9+3+1 = 33
  • Pseudo = 7+1+5+3+4+6 = 26
  • Lucian = 3+3+3+9+1+5 = 24
  • Renais = 9+5+5+1+9+1 = 30
  • Pliny = 7+3+9+5+7 = 31
How about that name Aulus Gellius?  Talk about the meaning of life, it surely must be having a name as smooth as that.  Old Aulus.  What I'm left wondering is how much of our alphabet is due to these Pythagoreans, if not for all of it.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, the alphabet is 26 letters, and when you sum the numbers 1 through 26, you get the total of 333, like the Year of the Consulship of Dalmatius and Zenophilus.

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