Life Diodorus of Sardis (Διόδωρος ὁ Σαρδιανός) was a Greek orator from Sardis in Lydia active during the 1st century BCE. He is known solely from a brief mention in Quintilian’s Institutio Oratoria (3.1.16), where he is listed among orators criticized for their excessively florid "Asianic" style [1]. This places him within the major Hellenistic rhetorical debate between ornate Asianism and restrained Atticism. No further biographical details survive.

Works No works by Diodorus survive. Quintilian’s reference to him as an orator implies he composed and delivered speeches, but no titles or fragments are extant [1].

Significance Diodorus holds a minor place in the history of rhetoric as a Roman-cited exemplar of the Asianic style. His inclusion in Quintilian’s pedagogical work a century after his floruit indicates he was considered a notable representative of the ornate oratorical tradition from Asia Minor. He serves as a data point illustrating the geographic and stylistic diversity of late Hellenistic Greek oratory.

Sources 1. Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University): https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0064%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D16 (Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria 3.1.16)