Six Books of Proclus, the Platonic Successor, on the Theology of Plato

The most ambitious attempt to systematize Plato's divine philosophy, written by the last great head of the ancient Academy. Proclus (412-485 CE) constructs an intricate metaphysical system tracing the emanation of all reality from the One, through intelligibles and souls, down to the material world. This six-book treatise, supplemented by Thomas Taylor's seventh book filling a lacuna in the original, represents the culmination of Neoplatonic thought: a grand synthesis of Plato's dialogues, Pythagorean mysticism, and ancient religious mystery. Proclus argues that Plato's theology surpasses all others because it alone traces the complete chain of being from the highest unity to the lowest multiplicity. For anyone seeking to understand how the Renaissance recovered ancient wisdom, how medieval thinkers synthesized faith and reason, or simply what it means to think rigorously about the nature of the divine, this work remains indispensable. It is not an introduction but a summit.