Amelius

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Amelius, whose family name was Gentilianus, was a Neoplatonist philosopher and writer of the second half of the 3rd century; he was a pupil of Numenius and secretary of Plotinus. A native of Apamea according to Suda but also noted as being a Tuscan according to Porphyry. Amelius was not his original name; he seems to have chosen it to express his contempt for worldly things, as the word ἀμέλεια (ameleia) means negligence in Greek. He read and wrote voraciously, memorized practically all the teachings of Numenius of Apamea, and, according to Porphyry, wrote over 100 volumes of sayings and commentaries. Plotinus considered Amelius one of his sharpest disciples. Porphyry stated of Amelius in the Life of Plotinus, "Amelius preferred to call himself Amerius, changing L for R, because, as he explained, it suited him better to be named from Amereia, Unification, than from Ameleia, Indifference."