Numenius of Apamea on the Orontes is a thinker whom we know only from the reports of later witnesses who were anything but dispassionate historians of philosophy. The Christians who transcribe his difficult prose are seeking pagan affidavits to Biblical miracles, the temporal creation of the universe and the Trinitarian character of God. To Platonists of the third century, he is a reputable allegorist and a forerunner of Plotinus, though by no means the only source of his philosophy. For Proclus in the fifth century, he is one of the earliest exegetes of Plato whose opinions deserve a hearing, though they are seldom to be followed. Even his dates must be deduced from subsequent notices. He is quoted by the Christian apologist Clement of Alexandria, who was born about 160 and as his pupil Harpocration taught in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, his acme may be assigned to the middle of the second century.
