Plato ( BC)

Plato was born in Athens, to a very rich and powerful family. Many of his relatives were involved with Athenian politics, though Plato himself was not. As a child, Plato received a very good education. His original name was Aristocles, after his grandfather, but he got the nickname Plato from his wrestling coach, due to his broad ("platys" in Greek) and strong figure When Plato was a young man, he went to listen to Socrates speak, and learned a lot about how to think, and what sort of questions to think about. When Socrates was killed in 399 BC, Plato was very upset. He began to write down some of the discussions he had heard Socrates have. Practically everything we know about Socrates comes from what Plato wrote down.

After Socrates was put to death Plato lost his belief in Athenian society and left his homeland to travel all around the world. He travelled in Italy and Africa where he met new people and civilizations and learned lots from them. When Plato returned to Athens, at the age of forty, he created a school on a plot of land that belonged to a man named Academus, which is why the school was called Academy. The Academy of Plato is one of the earliest universities in the world and young Athenians would learn philosophy, mathematics, music, art astronomy and other subjects there.