  Plotinus was born in Lycopolis, Egypt in 204 or 205 C.E.  When he was 28, a growing interest in philosophy led him to the feet of one Ammonius Saccas in Alexandria.  After ten or eleven years with this obscure though evidently dominating figure, Plotinus was moved to study Persian and Indian philosophy.  In order to do so, he attached himself to the military expedition of Emperor Gordian III to Persia in 243.  The expedition was aborted when Gordian was assassinated by his troops.  Plotinus thereupon seems to have abandoned his plans, making his way to Rome in 245.  There he remained until his death in 270 or 271.