Lucius Aelius Stilo Praeconinus

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Lucius Aelius Stilo Praeconinus (* around 154 BC; † around 74 BC) from Lanuvium was the first philologist of the Roman Republic . He came from a respected family and was a knight .

He was called Stilo (from the Latin stilus "pen") because he wrote speeches for others. He got the nickname Praeconinus from his father's profession ( praeco , "crier, public herald ").

He divided his time into teaching (though not as a professional schoolmaster) and literary work.

His most famous students were Marcus Terentius Varro and Marcus Tullius Cicero , among his friends he counted the historian Coelius Antipater , and the satirist Gaius Lucilius , who dedicated their works to him.

According to Cicero, who thought little of Stilo's ability as a speaker, Stilo was a follower of the stoic school . Only a few fragments of Stilo's work have survived. He wrote commentaries on the hymns of the Salii ( Carmen Saliare ), and probably also on the Twelve Tables law .

Sources for Stilo are Cicero, Brutus 205-207 and De legibus 2,23,59; Suetonius , De grammaticis 2; Aulus Gellius 3,3, I.12 and Quintilian , Institutio oratoria 10,1,99.

literature

  • Richard Goulet: Stilo Praeconinus (L. Aelius). In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 6, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2016, ISBN 978-2-271-08989-2 , pp. 597-599
  • Robert A. Kaster: Stilo Praeconinus, L. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 1, Metzler, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-476-01471-1 , Sp. 174.
  • Werner Suerbaum : L. Aelius Stilo Praeconinus. In: Werner Suerbaum (Ed.): The archaic literature. From the beginnings to Sulla's death (= Handbook of Ancient Latin Literature , Volume 1). CH Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-48134-5 , pp. 552-557