 Since most of Syrianus’ work is lost, it is not easy precisely to gauge the reach and depth of his influence, but it is safe to assume that it was considerable. Syrianus had two important pupils who determined the philosophical culture in Alexandria and Athens respectively. One of these was Hermias of Alexandria, the father of Ammonius, a most influential later commentator on Aristotle. Hermias did not stay in Athens but returned to Alexandria to teach philosophy there, passing away prematurely in his forties. By him we possess a transcript of lectures (scholia) on Plato’s Phaedrus, and it is generally supposed that the work draws on the lectures of Syrianus which Hermias attended, although Hermias nowhere mentions Syrianus by name (a not uncommon practice). As already stated above, the other pupil of Syrianus was the eminent Proclus, a student of Syrianus’ at roughly the same time as Hermias. In contrast to the latter, Proclus frequently acknowledges Syrianus in his writing. Proclus possessed an unusually powerful ability to synthesize and systematize Platonism, and it seems reasonable to suppose that many a doctrine he subscribed to he had learned from Syrianus.