Sulpicius Cornelianus was a
Roman rhetorician. He lived in the reign of the
Roman Emperors
Marcus Aurelius and
Lucius Verus
Lucius Aurelius Verus (15 December 130 – January/February 169) was Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 169, alongside his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty. Verus' succession together with ...
. This puts him in the late 2nd century AD (Aurelius and Verus reigned from 161 to 180). Cornelianus acted as secretary (''
ab epistulis'' Graecis) to Marcus Aurelius.
The grammarian
Phrynichus Arabius speaks of Cornelianus with high praise; Phrynichus dedicated his ''Ecloga'' to him, and describes him as worthy of the age of the great
orator Demosthenes.
Fronto is our source for the fact that Cornelianus was named Sulpicius.
It has been argued that Cornelianus is the author of a surviving treatise in
Greek entitled ''Philetaerus'' (), which had previously been attributed to the great 2nd century grammarian
Herodian.
[S. Argyle 1989, "A new Greek grammarian", ''Classical Quarterly'' 39.2: 524-35.] Herodian, too, was on good terms with Marcus Aurelius.
References
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Ancient Roman rhetoricians
2nd-century Romans