| Summary: | The aim of this paper is to study some possible relations between Philo and Numenius. It is obvious that there are some analogies between the two authors who are both Platonists and have a common tradition. Many of their topics and ideas appear also in other Platonists, but there are some themes which seem to echo in a somehow direct way. One relevant point is given by the activity of the First and of the Second God in Numenius, in relation with the different divine aspects in Philo. My hypothesis is that for Numenius the Second God is in charge with the direction and the conservation of the cosmos, once that the souls have been sown by the First God. In a similar way for Philo, God who is arrhetos, agnostos, akataleptos, is the principle of existence of the world, while the powers are providentials and rule it. As ὤν, God is αἰτία, origin, while the δημιουργός is λόγος σπερματικός. These terms show up also in Numenius for whom the First God speirei, while the Second one futeuei and metafuteuei. In Philo, God is one and assembles all these functions. We have an interaction and also a distinction between sowing and cultivation which secures conservation and continuity. We can find echoes of these philonic notions in Numenius fr. 13 where, in my view, the activity of the Second God is a continuation of that of the First one.
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