Herodes Atticus and the Athenians

Abstract

Herodes Atticus (Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes) was a sophist, benefactor, Roman senator and one of the richest men of his time. His behavior often aroused a lot of controversy. He was often in conflict with the Roman officials and even emperors. The aim of this paper is to present complicated relation of Herodes with part of the Athenians. The author tries to explain the reasons for distrust and even dislike of the Athenians to Herodes. The most important part of the paper is an attempt to present the circumstances that led to the famous trial in Sirmium in 174 AD.