Herodes Atticus
Herodes Atticus (Greek: Ἡρώδης; AD 101–177) was an Athenian rhetorician, as well as a Roman senator. A great philanthropic magnate, he and his wife Appia Annia Regilla, for whose murder he was potentially responsible, commissioned many Athenian public works, several of which stand to the present day. He was one of the best-known figures of the Antonine Period, and taught rhetoric to the Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, and was advanced to the consulship in 143. His full name as a Roman citizen was Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes.
Herodes Atticus | |
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Herodes Atticus bust, from his villa at Kephissia. mid-2nd century | |
| Born | Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes 101 Marathon, Greece |
| Died | 177 (aged 75–76) Marathon, Greece |
| Occupation(s) | Imperial magistrate, engineering and architectural consultant |
| Employer(s) | Senate and people of Rome |
| Organization | Imperial administration |
| Criminal charges | First-degree murder of his wife |
| Criminal status | Exonerated by emperor Marcus Aurelius |
According to Philostratus, Herodes Atticus, in possession of the best education that money can buy, was a notable proponent of the Second Sophistic. Having gone through the cursus honorum of civil posts, he demonstrated a talent for civil engineering, especially the design and construction of water-supply systems. The Nymphaeum at Olympia was one of his dearest projects. However, he never lost sight of philosophy and rhetoric, becoming a teacher himself. One of his students was the young Marcus Aurelius, last of the "Five Good Emperors". M.I. Finley describes Herodes Atticus as "patron of the arts and letters (and himself a writer and scholar of importance), public benefactor on an imperial scale, not only in Athens but elsewhere in Greece and Asia Minor, holder of many important posts, friend and kinsman of emperors."