Quintus Pedius (died about 13) 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 ...
painter and the first deaf person in
recorded history
Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world h ...
known by name. He is the first recorded deaf painter and his education is the first recorded education of a deaf child. All that is known about him today is contained in a single passage of the ''
Natural History
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
'' by the Roman author
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
.
Pedius was the son of Roman Senator and orator
Quintus Pedius Publicola. Pedius' paternal grandfather was the consul
Quintus Pedius and his paternal grandmother was Valeria, a sister of Roman Senator and orator
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus (64 BC – AD 8 or c. 12) was a Roman general, author, and patron of literature and art.
Family
Corvinus was the son of a consul in 61 BC, Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger,Syme, R., ''Augustan Aristocracy'', p. ...
. His paternal grandfather Pedius and
Roman emperor Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
were maternal second cousins (or first cousins once removed if Pedius was the son of
Julia Major instead). Pedius was born
deaf
Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...
. On the advice of his paternal great-uncle Corvinus, and with permission from Augustus, Pedius was taught to paint. The boy turned out to be a talented painter, but died in his youth.
Footnotes
Sources
Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies, Language, and Education*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedius, Quintus
10s deaths
1st-century Romans
Ancient Roman painters
Deaf artists
Year of birth unknown
Pedii
Italian deaf people
1st-century painters
Mute people