Adrianus of Tyre ( Ancient Greek: , c. 113 – 193 AD), also written as Hadrian and Hadrianos, was a sophist of ancient Athens who flourished under the emperors Marcus Aurelius and

Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...

. Adrianus was the pupil of

Herodes Atticus Herodes Atticus ( grc-gre, Ἡρώδης; AD 101–177) was an Athenian rhetorician, as well as a Roman senator. A great philanthropic magnate, he and his wife Appia Annia Regilla, for whose murder he was potentially responsible, commissioned ...

, and obtained the chair of philosophy at Athens during the lifetime of his master. His advancement does not seem to have impaired their mutual regard; Herodes declared that the unfinished speeches of his scholar were "the fragments of a colossus," and Adrianus showed his gratitude by a funeral oration which he pronounced over the ashes of his master. Among a people who rivalled one another in their zeal to do him honor, Adrianus did not show much of the discretion of a philosopher. His first lecture commenced with the modest encomium on himself, , while in the magnificence of his dress and equipage he affected the style of the hierophant of philosophy. A story may be seen in Philostratus of Adrianus' trial and acquittal for the murder of a begging sophist who had insulted him: Adrianus had retorted by styling such insults , but his pupils were not content with weapons of ridicule. The visit of Marcus Aurelius to Athens made him acquainted with Adrianus, whom he invited to Rome and honored with his friendship: the emperor even condescended to set the thesis of a declamation for him. After the death of Aurelius he became the private secretary of

. His death took place at Rome in the eightieth year of his age, not later than 192 AD, if it were true that Commodus (who was assassinated at the end of this year) sent him a letter on his death-bed, which he is represented as kissing with devout earnestness in his last moments.

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

''s.v.'' The ''

'' lists Adrianus' works as ''Declamations'', ''Metamorphoses'' (7 books), ''On Types of Style'' (5 books), ''On Distinctive Features in the Issues'' (3 books), letters,

epideictic The epideictic oratory, also called ceremonial oratory, or praise-and-blame rhetoric, is one of the three branches, or "species" (eidē), of rhetoric as outlined in Aristotle's ''Rhetoric'', to be used to praise or blame during ceremonies. Origi ...

speeches, ''Phalaris'', and ''Consolation to Celer''. Of these works only three declamations are extant.

Footnotes

Other sources

* Philostratus, ''Lives of the Sophists'' * S. Rothe, ''Kommentar zu ausgewahlten Sophistenviten des Philostratos'' (Heidelberg 1988) 87–126. {{DEFAULTSORT:Adrianus Ancient Greek writers 2nd-century Greek people 2nd-century writers 113 births 193 deaths Roman-era Athenian philosophers Roman-era Athenian rhetoricians Roman-era philosophers in Rome Roman-era Sophists People from Tyre, Lebanon