Pagina 42 di 62

It is noteworthy that in his Meditations Marcus Aurelius mentions

Fronto only once.[47] All his literary studies, his oratory and

criticism (such as it was) is forgotten; and, says he, 'Fronto

taught me not to expect natural affection from the highly-born.'

Fronto really said more than this: that 'affection' is not a

Roman quality, nor has it a Latin name.[48] Roman or not Roman,

Marcus found affection in Fronto; and if he outgrew his master's

intellectual training, he never lost touch with the true heart of

the man it is that which Fronto's name brings up to his

remembrance, not dissertations on compound verbs or fatuous

criticisms of style.

[47] Book I., 8.

[48] Ad Verum, ii. 7

NOTES