THEMISTIUS

A Greek rhetorician of Paphlagonia, who lived in the second half of the 4th century A.D., as teacher of philosophy and oratory at Constantinople. He was much honoured by his contemporaries for his noble disposition and his learning and eloquence, which gained for him the name of Euphrades, or eloquent speaker. He was honoured with various marks of distinction by the emperors. Constantius made him a senator; Julian described him as the first philosopher of his age; Theodosius selected him as tutor to his son Arcadius, and in 384 nominated him to the prefecture. He died about 388. Thirty-four of his speeches have been preserved, one of them in a Latin translation only. They are partly philosophical and political, but principally eulogistic orations, either in compliment to or in memory of various emperors, composed in a clear, pleasant style, and valuable for the information they contain respecting contemporary history. Besides these, we possess four paraphrases by him of parts of Aristotle.