Order
The Pythagorean Brotherhood
The ancient secret brotherhood that bound mathematics, music and the transmigration of the soul into one way of life.
Order · Founded 530 BCE · Croton, Magna Graecia (southern Italy) · Dissolved
Founded by Pythagoras
What it was
Pythagoras founded his community at Croton around 530 BCE as a disciplined religious-philosophical brotherhood, with vows of secrecy, shared property and strict rule of life. It taught that number is the hidden order of the cosmos and that the soul is immortal and reincarnates — ideas that shaped Plato and the whole Western contemplative tradition before the order was scattered by persecution.
Its place in the lineage
The archetype of the Western secret society, and the first to make the inner discipline of the mind a path to cosmic knowledge.
Founders & leaders
Connected orders
Explore further
The circle · 2 in the Atlas
Each star is a teacher; colour marks how they were tied to the order. Tap a star to open them.
