A rare female scholar of the Roman Empire, Hypatia lived and died as a secular voice

Born in the Eastern Roman Empire in the 4th century CE, Hypatia of Alexandria was a widely respected female public intellectual, which was a rarity in ancient Roman society. As a teacher and philosopher, she led Alexandria’s Platonic school, embracing Neoplatonism – a belief system that saw the harmonies of mathematics as a window into the divine. And, as an advisor to powerful local leaders, she was a moderate secular voice amid Roman Christianisation. However, as illustrated in this TED-Ed animation, it was this role that would ultimately lead to her gruesome murder at the hands of religious zealots. A concise chronicle of Hypatia’s life and times, the short also makes for an intriguing window into the political, religious and philosophical forces that shaped Alexandria during this tumultuous era.