Ab epistulisAb epistulis was the chancellor's office in the Roman Empire with responsibility for the emperor's correspondence.[1] The office sent mandata (instructions) to provincial governors and other officials.[2][3] Ab epistulis wrote in Latin (ab epistulis latinis) and in Greek (ab epistulis graecis), and composed the short responses to petitions on behalf of the emperor.[4] Holders of the position usually had a particular vocation for literary matters.[5][4] Notable ab epistulisAugustus punished his secretary Thallus "for divulging the contents of a letter".[6] Caligula dictated a letter to an ab epistulis.[7] Narcissus apparently worked as ab epistulis, because he was in charge of the grammata of Claudius against Agrippina.[7] Beryllus was the ab epistulis graecis of Nero.[7] The famous biographer Suetonius Tranquillus was ab epistulis to Hadrian,[8] according to the Historia Augusta until he was replaced for too-close relations with Empress Sabina.[9] One of the leading rhetoricians of this time, Alexander Peloplaton, was Marcus Aurelius's ab epistulis in the 170s.[4] Marcus was impressed by the orator Hadrian of Tyre, so he offered him the job ab epistulis to recognise his excellence.[4] Aspasius of Ravenna was a Greek orator, who between AD 211 and 216 served as ab epistulis.[4] Aelius Antipater was the ab epistulis of the emperor Caracalla, who defined him "my friend and teacher, entrusted with the composition of Greek letters".[4] Marcius Agrippa was a cognitionibus and ab epistulis of Caracalla.[10] References
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