Sulpicius Cornelianus ( 170) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

rhetorician Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse (trivium) along with grammar and logic/dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or write ...

. He lived in the reign of the Roman Emperors

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

and

Lucius Verus Lucius Aurelius Verus (; 15 December 130 – 23 January 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 Ma ...

. This puts him in the late 2nd century AD (Aurelius and Verus reigned from 161 to 180). Cornelianus acted as secretary (''

ab epistulis AB, Ab, or ab may refer to: Arts and media * ''American Bandstand'', a music-performance television show * '' Analecta Bollandiana'', an academic journal * Ancienne Belgique, a concert hall in Brussels, Belgium Business Business terminology * ...

'' Graecis) to Marcus Aurelius. The grammarian

Phrynichus Arabius Phrynichus Arabius (; , lit. 'Phrynichus “the Arab”') or Phrynichus of Bithynia () was a grammarian of the Greek language who flourished in 2nd century Bithynia, writing works on proper Attic usage. His name is also transliterated as Phrynich ...

speaks of Cornelianus with high praise; Phrynichus dedicated his ''Ecloga'' to him, and describes him as worthy of the age of the great

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14 ...

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; ; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and cu ...

. 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 Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

entitled ''Philetaerus'' (), which had previously been attributed to the great 2nd century grammarian

Herodian Herodian or Herodianus () of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus'' (τῆς με ...

.S. Argyle 1989, "A new Greek grammarian", ''Classical Quarterly'' 39.2: 524-35. Herodian, too, was on good terms with Marcus Aurelius.

References

{{SmithDGRBM Ancient Roman rhetoricians 2nd-century Romans