Quintus Asconius Pedianus (9 BC – AD 76) was a Roman rhetorician from

Patavium Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. There is no evidence that Asconius engaged in a public career, but his familiarity with the politics and geography of contemporary Rome suggests that he may have written much of his works in the city. He was likely born into an equestrian family; his familiarity with senatorial procedure also suggests membership in the Roman Senate. During the reigns of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

and

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

he compiled historical commentaries on

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

's speeches for his two sons, employing various sources: the ''

Acta Diurna ''Acta Diurna'' (Latin for ''Daily Acts'', sometimes translated as ''Daily Public Records'' or as ''Daily Gazette'') were daily Ancient Rome, Roman official notices, a sort of daily gazette. They were carved on stone or metal and presented in messa ...

'', shorthand reports or skeletons (''commentarii'') of Cicero's unpublished speeches, Tiro's life of Cicero, and speeches, letters and histories written during or shortly after Cicero's times, by such authors as

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

, Atticus, Antias, Tuditanus and Fenestella (a contemporary of

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

whom he often criticizes). Only five commentaries survive, relating to ''in Pisonem'', ''pro Scauro'', '' pro Milone'', ''pro Cornelio de maiestate'', and '' in toga candida''. The commentary on ''pro Scauro'' can be approximately dated, since Pedianus speaks of Longus Caecina (died AD 57) as still living, and implies that Claudius (died AD 54) is deceased. These valuable notes, written in good Latin, relate chiefly to historical and antiquarian matters. A grammatical commentary on Cicero's ''Verrines'' was transmitted alongside Asconius' main commentaries but has been shown to be a 5th century work. Other works attributed to Asconius include a ''Vita Sallustii'' (biography of

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (, ; –35 BC), was a historian and politician of the Roman Republic from a plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became a partisan of Julius ...

) referenced in Pliny's Naturalis Historiae, ''contra Vergilii obtrectatores'' (a defence of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

against his detractors), and a treatise on health and long life, perhaps a symposium in imitation of

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

. The works on Sallust and Virgil were found by Poggio in a manuscript at St Gallen in 1416. This manuscript is lost, but three transcripts were made by Poggio, Zomini (Sozomenus) of Pistoia and Bartolommeo da Montepulciano. That of Poggio is now at

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

(''Matritensis'' X. 81), and that of Zomini is in the Forteguerri library at Pistoia (No. 37). A copy of Bartolommeo's transcript exists in Florence (Laur. 5). The later manuscripts are derived from Poggio's copy.

Editions

* Kiessling and Scholl (1875) * Albert Curtis Clark (Oxford, 1907), contains a previously unpublished collation of Poggio's manuscript.
Asconius online on Attalus.org

References

; Citations ; Sources * *

Editions

References

Further reading