Aelius Aristides

Aelius Aristides (AD 117 - 181) was a Greek orator during the Roman Empire, son of a wealthy land-owner, and considered an example of the Second Sophistic.

Related Topics:
117 - 181 - Greek - Roman Empire - Second Sophistic

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He studied under Alexander of Cotiaeon, the tutor of Marcus Aurelius. A career as an orator ended at the age of 26 when he was afflicted during a visit to Rome with the first of a long series of illnesses, possibly of a psychosomatic origin. He retired to Smyrna where between bouts of illnesses he wrote and gave lectures. Based on some of his own writings, historians today consider him to be rather vainglorious and egocentric. Some even judge he had severe psychological problems, but there is no evidence to witness this.

Related Topics:
Alexander of Cotiaeon - Marcus Aurelius - Orator - Rome - Smyrna

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Apart from his orations, he also wrote a very different account called the Sacred Tales, in which he describes mostly how Asklepios, the god of healing, cured him from various diseases inflicted on him by fate.

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According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, the remainder of his surviving writings, although praised by his contemporaries, is of primary interest for the incidental light they cast on the social history of Asia Minor in the 2nd century AD. A complete English translation was published by C.A. Behr in 1986.

Related Topics:
Oxford Classical Dictionary - Social history - Asia Minor - 2nd century

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