Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus or as he is more commonly referred: Quintilian was a rhetorician made famous in Rome though Rome was not always his home. Quintilian was born in Spain around the year 35 and attained most of his education from a well known orator of the time by the name of Domitus Afer. He would become very active in the courts of Rome until he decided to take a leave from the area around the year 57 due to the unstable political climate driven by those in power. He would return around the year 68 as a teacher which would prove to be what brought him greatest notoriety. His aptitude at teaching rhetoric would bring him to earn the first state salary of anyone teaching Latin oration this would be one of a plethora of things Quintilian would christen the world of education with. Quintilian believed that each step of one’s education was …show more content…
He literally wrote the book on it, in fact he was the first to popularize books on education. In twelve installments he would meticulously break down each thing one needed to learn in order to be an effective and prominent orator. He believed good men should be able to speak well and express their thoughts freely. Unlike many famous rhetoricians of the day Quintilian blatantly stated that his purpose was not to invent new ideas but instead to dismantle the existing ideas presented to him and sift through them to decide which ideas were the most practical and which existed in the realm of complete absurdity for even the most brilliant thinkers have some ideas not all would find palatable. As previously stated, Quintilian believed those educated in the skills of oration should be of good character for he believed the ability to speak was a valuable tool that could be used for good or evil. He sought to mold each of his students into not only outstanding rhetoricians but also outstanding citizens and individuals. He wanted more than just clever or quick witted speakers he wanted professional and well