16 The Imperial Government
ofthecorrespondencepassingthroughtheab epistulis’hands,anddoesnot
illuminatehispreciserole,oritsrelationtothatoftheEmperor.
Itissignificant,however,thatBeryllusforinstancehadbeenthepaidagogos
(tutor) of Nero, and a considerable numberofab epistulisin the next cen-
turyandahalfhadprimarilyliteraryqualifications,forinstance,Secundus,
arhetor,whowasab epistulisofOtho.^94 Itisparticularlynoteworthythata
numberofcharactersinPhilostratus’LivesoftheSophistsoccupiedthispost—
forinstance,AlexanderofSeleucia(2,5)orHadrianos,whowasoffereditby
CommoduswhenholdingthechairofrhetoricinRome(2,10).^95 Werethey
there,asisoftenthought,togiveexpertadviceonGreekaffairs?Thatisnot
theimplicationofoursources.PhilostratussaysofAeliusAntipater,abepistu-
lisgraecisunderSeverus,‘‘Thoughthereweremanymenwhobothdeclaimed
andwrotehistoricalnarrativebetterthanAntipater,yetnoonecomposed
lettersbetterthanhe,butlikeabrillianttragicactor...hisutteranceswere
always in accordance with the imperial role. For what he said was always
clear,thesentimentswereelevated,thestylewasalwayswelladaptedtothe
occasion,andhesecuredapleasingeffectbytheuseofasyndeton.’’^96 Philo-
stratusalsomentionsthathisrelation,PhilostratusofLemnos,wroteawork
‘‘HowtoWriteLetters’’criticizingtheab epistulisAspasius(alsoarhetor)for
writingintooobscureandrhetoricalastyle:‘‘Onbeingappointedabepistulis
totheEmperorhewrotecertainlettersinastylemorecontroversialthanis
suitable;andothershewroteinobscurelanguage,thoughneitherofthese
qualitiesisbecomingtoanemperor.Fortheemperorwhenhewritesalet-
teroughtnottouserhetoricalsyllogismsortrainsofreasoning,butought
toexpressonlyhisownwill;noragainshouldhebeobscure,sinceheisthe
voiceofthelaw,andlucidityistheinterpreterofthelaw.’’^97 Thesepassages
ofcoursemakequiteclearthatinthisperiodtheab epistulis graecisactually
wrote the letters.The main emphasis (at least on the part of Philostratus)
lies on the style. But the second passage in particular makes clear that the
ab epistulis graecis’responsibilitiesextendedtothewholeformoftheletters,
andhenceinevitablytotheireffectivecontents.Muchthesameimpression
isgiveninthepassagewherePhrynichustalksoftheresponsibilitiesofthe
abepistulisgraecisunderMarcusAurelius,Cornelianus,towhomheaddressed
hisworkonAtticusage:afterdescribingCornelianusas‘‘Givingtheimperial
- Plut.,Otho9.
- SeeingeneralG.B.Townend,‘‘ThePostab epistulisintheSecondCentury,’’Historia
10(1961):375.
96.VS2,24.
97.VS2,33.