Herodes Atticus

Herodes Atticus (Marathon, 101 – Rome, 177) was a Greek rhetorician who served the Roman Empire and a leading figure of the Second Sophistic, the movement that in the second century put Greek oratory at the heart of imperial culture. His wealth and political position gave him unusual weight, and he is remembered as much for his speeches and teaching as for his public generosity.

He was born into a very rich Athenian family that claimed descent from Miltiades and Cimon and already held Roman citizenship. Little is known of his youth, but he studied in Athens with teachers such as Favorinus of Arles and learned Latin during a stay in Rome. He gained a reputation as an orator and teacher while still young. Under Hadrian he began a political career that took him into the Senate and into several offices, including the consulship in 143, and he taught rhetoric to the future emperor Marcus Aurelius.

His public life was shaped by patronage. He funded stadiums, odeons, aqueducts and fountains in Athens, Olympia, Delphi, Corinth and elsewhere. His relations with Athens were strained, because the way he handled his father's bequest left many citizens with less than had been promised, which earned him lasting resentment. After the death of his wife Regilla, whose murder was later blamed on him, he paid for buildings in her memory.

His thinking belongs to the Greek ideal of paideia, an education that joined eloquence and wisdom. His teacher Taurus complained that students neglected Plato in their eagerness to shine, and Herodes treated oratory as a form of culture and civic distinction, both in practice and in teaching. Much of his written work has been lost, which makes his thought hard to assess directly.

His legacy lies mainly in the image of imperial Athens and in the example of a scholar who combined wealth, teaching and influence. He died in Rome in 177, and the Athenians gave him an honoured burial in the stadium he had rebuilt.