English Dictionary

In the catalogue of those endued with sovereign power it had for its votaries Dion the Syracusian, Julianos the Roman, and Khosroes, the Persian emperor; among the leaders of armies it had Chabrias and Phokion, those brave generals of the Athenians; among mathematicians, those leading stars of science, Eudoxos, Arkhimedes, and Euklides; among biographers, the inimitable Plutarchos; among physicians, the admirable Galenos; among rhetoricians, those unrivalled orators, Demosthenes and Cicero; among critics, that prince of philologists, Longinos; and among poets, the most learned and majestic Virgilius?[…]In the next place, it is necessary to speak concerning the qualifications requisite in a legitimate student of the philosophy of Platon, previous to which I shall just notice the absurdity of supposing that a mere knowledge of the Greek tongue, however great that knowledge may be, is alone sufficient to the understanding the sublime doctrines of Platon; for a man might as well think he can understand Arkhimedes without a knowledge of the elements of geometry, merely because he can read him in the original.