 Iamblichus’ interest in mathematics is part of a larger trend that includes authors such as Theon of Smyrna and Calcidius, but excludes Plotinus and, to a lesser extent, Porphyry. For Iamblichus, mathematics is both a scientific discipline and concerns a realm of being, intermediate between the intelligible and the sensible: the latter view is influenced by Aristotelian ontology as well as by the Platonic analogy of the Line (Republic, 509d–511e), but with the Pythagorean proviso that mathematical entities “exist in themselves” and that each number possesses a distinct essence.