>>18079091
The intellectual fall of Byzantium occurred before the fall of its sovereignty.

>The last Greek philosophers of the revived Academy in the 6th century were drawn from various parts of the Hellenistic cultural world and suggest the broad syncretism of the common culture (see koine): Five of the seven Academy philosophers mentioned by Agathias were Syriac in their cultural origin: Hermias and Diogenes (both from Phoenicia), Isidorus of Gaza, Damascius of Syria, Iamblichus of Coele-Syria and perhaps even Simplicius of Cilicia. The emperor Justinian closed the school in 529 A.D.. The last Scholarch of the Academy was Damascius (d. 540). According to the sole witness, the historian Agathias, its remaining members looked for protection under the rule of Sassanid king Khosrau I in his capital at Ctesiphon, carrying with them precious scrolls of literature and philosophy, and to a lesser degree of science. After a peace treaty between the Persian and the Byzantine empire in 532, their personal security (an early document in the history of freedom of religion) was guaranteed

>It has been speculated that the Academy did not altogether disappear. After his exile, Simplicius (and perhaps some others), may have travelled to Harran, near Edessa. From there, the students of an Academy-in-exile could have survived into the 9th century, long enough to facilitate the Arabic revival of the Neoplatonist commentary tradition in Baghdad

>One of the earliest academies established in the east was the 7th century Academy of Gundishapur in Sassanid Persia

Least we have 2023 to remember fondly but back to the basement of shame we go.

>>536242794
>it even has the ropes you have to place to jump and climb