Um beijo retórico

In his epistolary works, Fronto (2nd century CE) suggests that he had a significant connection with the Antonine dynasty, especially Marcus Aurelius, to whom he taught rhetoric. Richlin (2006) points to the predominantly erotic and physical content of such a bond, which Laes (2009), in turn, puts into question. In dialogue with this debate, this text has two objectives: i) to discuss how affection is portrayed by the orator in the letters as a way of convincing his audience of a certain privileged proximity to the imperial house in the context of aristocratic dispute and ii) to present our translation of epistle 3.14, addressed to Marcus Aurelius, one of the letters in which the author emphasizes the uniqueness of his bond with his student. To this end, we focused on ancient sources such as Catullus (Catull. 9), Ovid (Ov. Her.), and Marcus Aurelius (M. Aur. Med.), as well as contemporary research on the nature of the mentioned relationship and the scenario of competition among autocrats in the imperial period – e.g. Laes (2009) and Faversani (2024) respectively. The complexity of the controversy is emphasized in order to highlight the political and rhetorical nature of the correspondents’ friendship without necessarily canceling its loving dimension.