Philosopher, student and renowned interpreter of Plotinus, and defender of traditional Roman religion, Porphyry was born about 232 and died just after the advent of the fourth century. None of his works survive complete, but his attacks on Christianity were among his most influential legacies. Berchman (philosophy and religious studies, Dowling College) begins with a series of studies that situates this text in its religious, philosophical, and cultural contexts. Then he presents a translation of the fragments and testimonia that refer to the lost work, arranged chronologically according to author. His translations are literal rather than literary, he warns, and unlike previous scholars he has no aspiration to reconstruct the original text, but merely to provide as much information as possible about it-- from its fragments, surviving fragments of his other works, and commentaries on it by Church Fathers and others. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)