Abstract

In accordance with the main lines followed by contemporary research, the aim of the present contribution is to provide an outline of the historiography on late-antique didactics, on the text of the "Prolegomena" to Plato's philosophy, and on its anonymous author. The "Prolegomena", which is to say the introduction to Plato and his dialogues that was in use in the Neoplatonist school of Alexandria in the mid-6th cent. AD, allow us better understand the structure and arrangement of the contents of Neoplatonist didactics. By examining some of the main aspects related to the teaching imparted in 5th and 6th-century philosophical schools, the paper studies the role that Plato and his dialogues played in late-antique 'universities'. For this purpose, the paper sets out from some considerations on the history of education in order to then focus on the core theoretical features of the "Prolegomena". Its ultimate aim is to demonstrate the centrality of Plato's teaching and grasp the reasons for it through an introductory text that approaches the introduction as the literary topos par excellence.