Curiatius Maternus () appears in the '' Dialogus de oratoribus'' (Dialogue on orators) of

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

. He was an author of tragedies in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, having composed a ''Domitius'', a ''Medea'', and a ''Cato'' by AD 74 or 75. He may be identified with the

sophist A sophist () was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics and mathematics. They taught ''arete'', "virtue" or "excellen ...

Maternus who was put to death by

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

for speaking against tyrants in a practice speech, or with either Marcus Cornelius Nigrinus Curiatius Maternus

suffect consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

in 83 himself, or his adoptive father.

References

, '' Dialogus de oratoribus'' *

Dio Cassius Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, ''Roman History'
67.12.5
* Tenney Frank. "Curiatius Maternus and His Tragedies," ''AJP'' 58 (1937) 225–229. * Mario Erasmo. ''Roman Tragedy: Theatre to Theatricality. (University of Texas Press, 2004). {{DEFAULTSORT:Maternus, Curiatius Ancient Roman tragic dramatists Ancient Roman rhetoricians 1st-century Romans Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 1st-century writers in Latin Curiatii