The correspondence of Fronto--a much admired orator and rhetorician who was befriended by the emperor Antoninus Pius and teacher of his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus--offers an invaluable picture of aristocratic life and literary culture in the 2nd century. His letters reveal Fronto's strong stylistic views and dislike of Stoicism as well as his family joys and sorrows. They portray the successes and trials of a prominent figure in the palace, literary salons, the Senate, and lawcourts, and they give a fascinating record of the relationship between the foremost teacher of...

The correspondence of Fronto--a much admired orator and rhetorician who was befriended by the emperor Antoninus Pius and teacher of his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus--offers an invaluable picture of aristocratic life and literary culture in the 2nd century. His letters reveal Fronto's strong stylistic views and dislike of Stoicism as well as his family joys and sorrows. They portray the successes and trials of a prominent figure in the palace, literary salons, the Senate, and lawcourts, and they give a fascinating record of the relationship between the foremost teacher of...