Theodorus of Gadara

Theodorus of Gadara (Greek: Θεόδωρος ὁ Γαδαρεύς) was a Greek rhetorician of the 1st century BC from Gadara (present-day Um Qais, Jordan)[1][2] who founded a rhetorical school in his native city, where he taught future Roman emperor Tiberius the art of rhetoric. Suetonius (c. 69 – after 122 CE) wrote of Tiberius that:

...even in his boyhood, his cruel and cold nature did not lie hidden. Theodorus of Gadara was his teacher of rhetoric and, in all his wisdom, seems to have been the first to have understood Tiberius and to have capped him with a very pithy saying when he taunted Tiberius, calling him 'Mud kneaded with blood'... .[3]

His other well-known pupil was Greek rhetorician Hermagoras of Temnos, who later taught oratory in Rome.

Theodorus was one of the two most famous rhetoric teachers of the time, the other being Apollodorus of Pergamon. Students of Apollodorus were commonly referred to as Apollodoreans, while students of Theodorus were known as Theodoreans.

He participated in sophistic contests with Potamo of Mytilene and Antipater in Rome. His son Antonius became a senator under Emperor Hadrian.[4]

Works

According to the Suda, Theodorus wrote the following books, among others[4]:

  • On Questions in Pronunciation (Περὶ τῶν ἐν φωναῖς ζητουμένων, in 3 books)
  • On History (Περὶ ἱστορίας, 1 book)
  • On Thesis (Περὶ θέσεως, 1 book)
  • On the Similarity of Dialects and its Demonstration (Περὶ διαλέκτων ὁμοιότητος καὶ ἀποδείξεως, 2 books)
  • On the Constitution (Περὶ πολιτείας, 2 books)
  • On Coele Syria (Περὶ Κοίλης Συρίας, 1 book)
  • On the Capacity of the Orator (Περὶ ῥήτορος δυνάμεως, 1 book)
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References
  1. Blank, David, "Philodemus", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), accessed 3 June 2020.
  2. Strabo's Geography 16.2.29
  3. Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Tiberius (57)
  4. Suda Encyclopedia, th.151
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