Editing Plato (section)

=== Later years: Syracuse and the Academy ===
====First trip to Syracuse====
When Plato was about 40 years old, he visited Syracuse. Many Ancient sources, including the collection of ''[[Epistles (Plato)|Letters]]'' attributed to Plato, tell how he became entangled with the politics of the city of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]]. Plato initially visited Syracuse while it was under the rule of [[Dionysius I of Syracuse|Dionysius]], in roughly 385 BC.{{sfn|Riginos|1976|p=73}} During this first trip Dionysius's brother-in-law, [[Dion of Syracuse]], became one of Plato's disciples, but the tyrant himself turned against Plato.{{sfn|Waterfield|2023}}

====Foundation of the Academy====
[[File:MANNapoli_124545_plato's_academy_mosaic.jpg|thumb|[[Plato's Academy mosaic]] in the villa of T. Siminius Stephanus in [[Pompeii]], around 100 BC to 100 CE]]
{{main|Platonic Academy}}
After his return from Syracuse, Plato founded his philosophical school, the Academy, near the sacred olive grove of [[Hecademus]], in roughly 383 BC.{{sfn|Nails|2002|p=248}} At first, the property consisted of only a house with a garden, and during his lifetime, the work of the Academy itself likely took part an open area for study of philosophy and mathematics.{{sfn|Nails|2002|p=248}} From 383 BC until about 366 BC, Plato primarily spent his time at the Academy, writing the majority of the dialogues during this time.{{sfn|Nails|2002|p=7}} Much like Socrates and his students had been parodied in [[Aristophanes]]' plays [[The Clouds]] and [[The Birds (play)|The Birds]], the students at the Academy seem to have been the target of their contemporaries in [[Middle Comedy]].{{sfn|Nails|2002|p=248}} A fragment from a lost play of [[Epicrates of Ambracia|Epicrates]] depicts two students of the Academy engaged in a fierce debate over the [[genus]] of a [[pumpkin]], in a parody of the Platonic conception of [[diairesis]].{{sfn|Nails|2002|p=248}} [[Aristotle of Stagira]], who would go on to become a philosopher as famous as Plato in his own right,{{sfn|Dillon|2003|pp=1–3}} arrived in 367 BC, shortly before Plato departed again for Syracuse.{{sfn|Nails|2006|p=7}}

====Second and third trip to Syracuse====
After Dionysius I's death in 367 BC, Plato returned to Syracuse, likely early in 366 BC, at the request of Dion, in order to tutor [[Dionysius II of Syracuse|Dionysius II]] and guide him to become a [[philosopher king]]. Dionysius II seemed to accept Plato's teachings, but he became suspicious of Dion, his uncle. Dionysius expelled Dion, and Plato, after trying repeatedly to reconcile the two, gave up and returned to Athens.{{sfn|Nails|2002|p=248}} 

Plato returned to Syracuse a third time in 361 BC, likely staying over the winter until 360 BC.{{sfn|Nails|2002|p=248}} Dionysius kept Plato against his will, forcing Plato to appeal to his friend [[Archytas]] to intercede, at which point he returned to Athens.{{sfn|Nails|2002|p=248}} Dion would return to overthrow Dionysius and ruled Syracuse for a short time in 357 BC up until 354 BC,{{sfn|Nails|2002|p=248}} when he was usurped by [[Calippus of Syracuse|Calippus]], an Athenian who Plato insists, in the Seventh Letter, had no connection with the Academy.{{sfn|Nails|2006|p=10}}

==== Final years and death ====
After 360 BC, Plato returned to Athens, where he spent the remainder of his life.{{sfn|Waterfield|2023}}

At this point, he wrote or revised some of his final works, possibly including the ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'', ''[[Critias]]'', ''[[Sophist (dialogue)|Sophist]]'', ''[[Statesman (dialogue)|Statesman]]'', ''[[Philebus]]'', and his longest work, the ''[[Laws (dialogue)|Laws]]'', all of which exhibit similarity of language, philosophical themes, and style that indicate they were intentionally published together to present a unified viewpoint.{{sfn|Waterfield|2023|p=87}} At the time of his death, however, the ''[[Laws (dialogue)|Laws]]'' was still unfinished; this work was edited by a student at the Academy, [[Philip of Opus]], who is also generally believed to have written the ''[[Epinomis]]'', an appendix to the ''Laws''.{{sfn|Nails|2006|p=11}} 

In 348/347 BC, Plato died and was buried in his garden in the [[Platonic Academy|Academy]] in Athens.{{sfn| Nails| 2002| p=249}} At the time of his death, Plato seems to have been self-sufficient, but not wealthy.{{sfn| Nails| 2002| pp=249-250}} A will preserved by one of the ancient biographers of Plato, which discusses his estate, does not mention the Academy, which suggests that he left a separate provision for it or possibly established an endowment.{{sfn|Nails|2002|p=249-250}} He was succeeded as the head of the Academy by [[Speusippus]], his nephew.{{sfn|Nails|2006|p=11}}