Giovanni Sulpizio da Veroli or Johannes Sulpitius Verulanus or Verolensis (fl. c. 1470 – 1490) was an Italian Renaissance humanist and

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 ...

. Known to

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

, he was the author of a work on epistolary art, the proper composition and ornamentation of letters, ''De componendis et ornandis epistoli'' (c. 1475).

Biography

He originated from the small commune of

Veroli Veroli () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, central Italy, in the Latin Valley. History Veroli (''Verulae'') became a Ancient Rome, Roman municipium in 90 BC. It became the seat of a bishopric in 743 AD, and was occupi ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, south of Rome. Occupying the chair of grammar at the University of Rome, the ''Studium urbis'', he joined with his master

Pomponio Leto Julius Pomponius Laetus (1428 – 9 June 1498), also known as Giulio Pomponio Leto, was an Italian humanist. Background Laetus was born at Teggiano, near Salerno, the illegitimate scion of the princely house of Sanseverino, the German historian ...

in studying the remains of Roman antiquity that lay in ruins all about them, and made impassioned pleas for the purification of

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 ...

. In 1486 Sulpizio prepared the first printed edition of

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

' ''

De Architectura (''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Ancient Rome, Roman architect and military engineer Vitruvius, Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesa ...

'' for the press; the work had long circulated in manuscripts, some of them corrupt. The volume, which also includes the text of

Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube frontier ...

' ''

De aquaeductu (') is a two-book official report given to the emperor Nerva or Trajan on the state of the aqueducts of Rome, and was written by Sextus Julius Frontinus at the end of the 1st century AD. It is also known as or . It is the earliest official r ...

'' describing the

aqueducts of Rome The Romans constructed aqueducts throughout their Republic and later Empire, to bring water from outside sources into cities and towns. Aqueduct water supplied public baths, latrines, fountains, and private households; it also supported mini ...

, was dedicated to Cardinal Riario, an enthusiastic supporter of the ideals of the Pomponian ''sodalitas''; the dedicatory epistle urges Riario to complete the recovery of classical Roman buildings with a theatre. In his preface Sulpizio urges readers to send him emendations of the notoriously crabbed and difficult text. With Vitruvius' text in hand, Sulpizio directed the erection of a reproduction open-air Roman theater in front of Palazzo Riario in Campo dei Fiori, Rome; there, in 1486 or 1488 his students mounted the first production of a Roman tragedy that had been seen since Antiquity, in the presence of

Pope Innocent VIII Pope Innocent VIII (; ; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death, in July 1492. Son of the viceroy of Naples, Cybo spent his ea ...

. The play they chose was Seneca's ''

Phaedra Phaedra may refer to: Mythology * Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus Arts and entertainment * Phaedra (Cabanel), ''Phaedra'' (Cabanel), an 1880 painting by Alexandre Cabanel *House of Phaedra ...

'', which they knew as ''Hippolytus''. In his concern to purify the Latin that was still being spoken as a ''

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...

'' in educated circles, he wrote a commentary on

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

. The abruptness of the ending of

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November AD 39 – 30 April AD 65), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba, Hispania Baetica (present-day Córdoba, Spain). He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imper ...

's ''

Pharsalia ''De Bello Civili'' (; ''On the Civil War''), more commonly referred to as the ''Pharsalia'' (, neuter plural), is a Latin literature, Roman Epic poetry, epic poem written by the poet Lucan, detailing the Caesar's civil war, civil war between Ju ...

'' prompted him to add eleven verses, which were included in most early printed editions of Lucan's epic poem. His Latin didactic poem, concerning the proper hygiene and

table manners Table manners are the rules of etiquette used while eating and drinking together, which may also include the use of utensils. Different cultures observe different rules for table manners. Each family or group sets its own standards for how st ...

suited to the young student, and the pursuit of literary virtues, which lead to the other virtues, ''De moribus puerorum in mensa praecipue servandis'', has been edited by M. Martini.Martini, ''Il carme giovanile di Giovanni Sulpizio Verulano ''De moribus puerorum in mensa servandis, (Centro di studi soriani) Sora, 1980.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sulpizio, Giovanni da Veroli 15th-century births 15th-century deaths People from the Province of Frosinone Italian Renaissance humanists