ERODE ATTICO. - Born at Maratona in A.D. 101 to Tiberio Claudio Attico Erode, who left him an immense fortune. He used it to procure books and teachers, which made him one of the most distinguished literary figures of his time; and to enrich Atene, Alessandria, Olimpia, Delfi, Corinto, Troia, and Camisio with fine buildings.
Wealth and culture facilitated his access to various public offices (in 125 prefect of Asia; in 127 agoranomos at Atene; in 140 teacher of Marco Aurelio and Lucio Vero; in 133 consul); but his frank and violent character on the one hand, and on the other his love of teaching, drew him away from public life. At Atene he conducted a school of rhetoric in which the most illustrious sophists of the time were trained, among them Claudio Adriano di Tiro, who delivered the funeral oration upon the death of his master (177). Of his writings, only the Περὶ πολιτικο remains, though its authenticity is still much disputed.
BBL.: P. Vidal-Lablaché, Herode-Atticus, Parigi 1872; C. Schulters, Herodes Atticus, Amburgo 1904; Münscher, s. V. in Pauly-Wissowa, VIII, cols. 621-54. Ireneo Daniele