The Role Of A Teacher
Aurelius and Pronto
From ancient times, teachers have been considered the most prominent part of society. They possess knowledge, wisdom, experience, and the ability to impart it. Moreover, they motivate students to actively seek out, acknowledge, and integrate this practice into their own lives.
Marcus Cornelius Fronto was a prominent lawyer and orator of the Antonine age and tutor in Latin rhetoric to the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
Fronto is one of the most well-known Marcus Aurelius’s teacher. The role he embraced through his upbringing of the future emperor was to teach him the techniques of ancient poets and orators, the composition of verse, the use of similes, translation between Greek and Latin, and finally, the various styles of rhetoric.
The emperors usually had four elementary teachers — the litterateur, the comedy, the music and geometer, and the magister innuendo; three in Greek and two in Latin; then four oratories. Moreover, six philosophers guided the interests of Marcus Aurelius.
After Marcus became emperor in 161, Fronto remained a close confidant until his death, which occurred sometime after 166.
