You may judge of the high opinion of Plotinos held by Longinus, from a
part of a letter he addressed to me. I was in Sicily; he wished me to
visit him in Phoenicia, and desired me to bring him a copy of the works
of that philosopher. This is what he wrote to me about the matter:
"Please send me the works; or rather, bring them with you; for I shall
never cease begging you to travel in this one of all other countries,
were it only because of our ancient friendship, and of the sweetness of
the air, which would so well suit your ruined health;[16] for you must
not expect to find any new knowledge here when you visit us. Whatever
your expectations may be, do not expect to find anything new here,
nor even the ancient works (of myself, Longinus?) that you say are
lost. There is such a scarcity of copyists here, that since I have been
here I have hardly been able to get what I lacked of Plotinos here, by
inducing my copyist to abandon his usual occupations to devote himself
exclusively to this work. Now that I have those works of Plotinos you
sent me, I think I have them all; but these that I have are imperfect,
being full of errors. I had supposed that our friend Amelius had
corrected the errors of the copyist; but his occupations have been too
pressing to allow of his attending to this. However passionately I
desire to examine what Plotinos has written about the soul, and about
existence, I do not know what use to make of his writings; these are
precisely those of his works that have been most mis-written by the
copyists. That is why I wish you would send them to me transcribed
exactly; I would compare the copies and return them promptly. I repeat
that I beg you not to send them, but to bring them yourself with the
other works of Plotinos, which might have escaped Amelius. All those he
brought here I have had transcribed exactly; for why should I not most
zealously seek works so precious? I have often told you, both when we
were together, and apart, and when you were at Tyre, that Plotinos's
works contained reasonings of which I did not approve, but that I
liked and admired his method of writing; his concise and forceful
style, and the genuinely philosophical arrangement of his discussions.
I am persuaded that those who seek the truth must place the works of
Plotinos among the most learned."