The Life of Proclus or O n Happiness, written by the Neoplatonic philosopher Marinus, is a remarkable text from the late 5th century AD. It combines traditional biographical, hagiographical and philosophical themes with contemporary discourses of late antiquity. The philosopher Proclus, for many years head of the Neoplatonists in Athens, is portrayed as a leading figure and pagan saint in an increasingly Christianized society. Using his Proclus figure, Marinus illustrates the virtues and ideals of the Neoplatonic philosophers and describes Neoplatonic ethics and the concept of happiness. In the introduction as well as in the seven essays of this volume, the authors examine the literary, philosophical, astronomical, historical and socio-historical themes in this text which is also translated here into German for the first time.