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Aelius Aristides

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Aelius Aristides

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Also known as Publius Aelius Aristides Theodorus, Publius Aelius Aristides

2nd century Greek rhetorician and author

Person · Open Library

Works
47

Top works

  • Laurentius Norrmannus, orationem Aristidis utramæue, de codice manuscripto
  • Artium oratoriarum liber prior, de Dictione civili...
  • In ineptos & futiels sophistas oratio Quam...
  • La fortuna umanistica di Elio Aristide
  • Declamationes Leptineae

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Origin
Greece

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Quotes

  • Neither walls, theatres, porches, nor senseless equipage, make States; but men who are able to rely upon themselves.
  • By Themistocles alone, or with very few others, does this saying appear to be approved, which, though Alcaeus formerly had produced, many afterwards claimed: "Not stones, nor wood, nor the art of artisans, make a State; but where men are who know how to take care of themselves, there are cities and walls."

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Native name
Πόπλιος Αἴλιος Ἀριστείδης Θεόδωρος
Born
117 ( 0117 ) AD, Hadriani , Mysia , (modern-day Orhaneli , Bursa , Turkey )
Died
181 (aged 63 – 64)
Language
Ancient Greek
Genre
Oratory
Subject
Dream interpretation
Notable works
Sacred Tales

via Wikipedia infobox

~14 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Publius Aelius Aristides Theodorus (Ancient Greek: Πόπλιος Αἴλιος Ἀριστείδης Θεόδωρος; 117–181 AD) was a Greek orator and author considered to be a prime example as a member of the Second Sophistic, a group of celebrated and highly influential orators who flourished from the reign of Nero until c. 230 AD.

More than fifty of his orations and other works survive, dating from the reigns of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. His early success was interrupted by a decades-long series of illnesses for which he sought relief by divine communion with the god Asclepius, effected by interpreting and obeying the dreams that came to him while sleeping in the god's sacred precinct; he later recorded this experience in a series of discourses titled Sacred Tales (Hieroi Logoi). In his later life, Aristides resumed his career as an orator, achieving such notable success that Philostratus would declare that "Aristides was of all the sophists most deeply versed in his art."

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Aelius Aristides” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.