Marcus Aurelius in Love

Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Cornelius Fronto

University of Chicago Press, Sep 15, 2008 - Social Science - 176 pages

In 1815 a manuscript containing one of the long-lost treasures of antiquity was discovered—the letters of Marcus Cornelius Fronto, reputed to have been one of the greatest Roman orators. But this find disappointed many nineteenth-century readers, who had hoped for the letters to convey all of the political drama of Cicero’s. That the collection included passionate love letters between Fronto and the future emperor Marcus Aurelius was politely ignored—or concealed. And for almost two hundred years these letters have lain hidden in plain sight.

Marcus Aurelius in Love rescues these letters from obscurity and returns them to the public eye. The story of Marcus and Fronto began in 139 CE, when Fronto was selected to instruct Marcus in rhetoric. Marcus was eighteen then and by all appearances the pupil and teacher fell in love. Spanning the years in which the relationship flowered and died, these are the only love letters to survive from antiquity—homoerotic or otherwise. With a translation that reproduces the effusive, slangy style of the young prince and the rhetorical flourishes of his master, the letters between Marcus and Fronto will rightfully be reconsidered as key documents in the study of the history of sexuality and classics.

What people are saying

User Review -

My Name is Tom Peacock from USA, I want to say thank you to Dr Emu for the good thing he has done for me, Though am not sure if this is the best forum to show my joy and happiness for what he has done for me but i can't hide my happiness and my joy so i have to share it with people, my marriage got crashed about two years ago and i tried all i could within my power but to no avail. I saw a post and testimonial about the good things Dr Emu has been doing so I decided to give it a try. though he is always a busy man but when he responded back to my email, he gave me 48 hours for my marriage to be restored really just like he said my marriage was restored since then I am happy and i am living happily i am so grateful to Dr Emu you can always email him here: {[e-mail]} or WhatsApp: {[phone]}  

Contents

• Inrtroduction: 1
• Letters: 33
• Concordance: 153
• Works Cited: 157
• Index: 163

About the author

Amy Richlin is professor of classics at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of The Garden of Priapus: Sexuality and Aggression in Roman Humor, translator of Rome and the Mysterious Orient: Three Plays by Plautus, editor of Pornography and Representation in Greece and Rome, and coeditor of Feminist Theory and the Classics.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Marcus Aurelius in Love
• Authors: Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Cornelius Fronto
• Translated by: Amy Richlin
• Contributor: Amy Richlin
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2008
• ISBN: 0226713024, 9780226713021
• Length: 176 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / LGBTQ; Literary Criticism / Ancient & Classical; Social Science / General; Social Science / LGBTQ+ Studies / Gay Studies