Adrianus of Tyre (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

: , c. 113 – 193 AD), also written as Hadrian and Hadrianos, was a

sophist A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...

of ancient

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

who flourished under the emperors

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...

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, commission ...

, and obtained the chair of philosophy at

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 Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

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 A hierophant ( grc, ἱεροφάντης) is a person who brings religious congregants into the presence of that which is deemed ''holy''. As such, a hierophant is an interpreter of sacred mysteries and arcane principles. The word comes from a ...

of philosophy. A story may be seen in

Philostratus Philostratus or Lucius Flavius Philostratus (; grc-gre, Φιλόστρατος ; c. 170 – 247/250 AD), called "the Athenian", was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period. His father was a minor sophist of the same name. He was born probab ...

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

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 , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

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 Souida ...

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

Footnotes

Other sources

, ''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