Foundations of geometry different sets of axioms for Euclidean geometry, any of these can replace the Euclidean parallel postulate. The following partial list indicates some of these theorems that are of historical interest. Absolute geometry is a geometry based on an axiom system consisting of all the axioms giving Euclidean geometry except for the parallel postulate or any of its alternatives. The term was introduced by János Bolyai in 1832. It is sometimes referred to as neutral geometry, as it is neutral with respect to the parallel postulate. In Euclid's "Elements", the first 28 propositions and Proposition I.31 avoid using the parallel postulate,
Pappus of Alexandria the time (but see below) at which he himself wrote. If no other date information were available, all that could be known would be that he was later than Ptolemy (died c. 168 AD), whom he quotes, and earlier than Proclus (born ), who quotes him. The "Suda" states that Pappus was of the same age as Theon of Alexandria, who active in the reign of Emperor Theodosius I (372–395). A different date is given by a marginal note to a late 10th-century manuscript (a copy of a chronological table by the same Theon), which states, next to an entry