Dionysius, Daniel and numerical orders · Lexicon

From the book

Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I

Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordThe numerical adjectives refer to three, nine, seven and twelve as ways of distinguishing orders.
In the Platonic TheologyAfter arguing that separated intellectual species exceed corporeal species, Ficino invokes Dionysius as a witness and quotes Daniel’s multitude of ministers.
In this editionIn the Latin, supremos enim et medios angelos ternario et novenario dividunt groups highest and middle angels with the two numbers.
A place to readDionysius and Daniel support abundance; numerical orders are compared across the named authorities

Meaning

The numerical adjectives refer to three, nine, seven and twelve as ways of distinguishing orders. Ordo is a rank or arrangement, not automatically an individual angel. Milia milium is the phrase quoted for an immense company of attendants.

Use in the book

After arguing that separated intellectual species exceed corporeal species, Ficino invokes Dionysius as a witness and quotes Daniel’s multitude of ministers. He connects the likeness of creation to its creator with an abundance of separate minds, which he regards as most like that creator. He then places Christian numerical orders beside classifications attributed to Iamblichus and Proclus. The juxtaposition supports his concordant presentation of theology and Platonism. The statement that the latter philosophers came “after Dionysius” is Ficino’s historical ordering within the passage; it is not independently established here. Nor should the different numbers be summed as though the text supplied an unambiguous census of individual angels. The following unit reports that some correlate angelic orders with orders of souls and bodies, and postpones more detail.

Places to read

I.5.27Dionysius and Daniel support abundance; numerical orders are compared across the named authorities
I.5.28An alternative correspondence with souls and bodies is reported and deferred

Translation in this edition

In the Latin, supremos enim et medios angelos ternario et novenario dividunt groups highest and middle angels with the two numbers. The English distributes them as highest by three and middle by nine. The supplied apparatus expressly identifies this as its distributive rendering; it is an interpretation of the compressed coordination and should not be mistaken for more explicit Latin syntax. No independent historical identification of the Dionysian author is supplied by the source unit.

Dionysius Areopagita / Daniel

Dionysius Areopagita / Daniel. Printed forms: Danielis; Dionysius Areopagita.

The named theological witnesses in the angelic-number passage. Ficino cites Dionysius for intellectual abundance and Daniel for ministering multitudes; his claims are preserved as attributions. References: I.5.27. See Dionysius, Daniel and numerical orders.

Iamblichus / Proclus

Iamblichus / Proclus. Printed forms: Iamblichus; Proclusque.

The Platonists named beside the numerical angelic orders. Ficino places them after Dionysius within his presentation; this ordering is his assertion, not independently verified chronology here. References: I.5.27. See Dionysius, Daniel and numerical orders.

ternarius / novenarius / septenarius / duodenarius

ternarius / novenarius / septenarius / duodenarius. Printed forms: duodenario; duodenarium; novenarioque; septenario; ternario.

Numerical classifications by three, nine, seven and twelve. These distinguish orders rather than supply an unambiguous sum of individual angels; the paired highest/middle syntax is rendered distributively by the edition. References: I.5.27. See Dionysius, Daniel and numerical orders.