Life The anonymous author was a figure of Late Antiquity (4th–6th century CE). During this period, rhetoric remained central to elite education and public life in the Greek East. The use of an Atticizing dialect, as noted, was a hallmark of learned rhetorical production, demonstrating paideia and connecting to the prestige of Classical Athens [1]. Anonymous authorship is common for rhetorical works from antiquity where the copyist’s name was lost.

Works The metadata suggests a single anonymous oration, but no specific Atticizing oration from this period was identified in the sources. A related anonymous work is the Prolegomena to Hermogenes' "On Issues," a piece of rhetorical theory from the 5th or 6th century CE that survives in the Hermogenic manuscript tradition [2]. This, however, is not an oration.

Significance The author’s significance would lie in exemplifying the continuation of the Greek rhetorical tradition into Late Antiquity. Such a work would highlight the enduring pedagogical role of classical rhetoric during a period of profound change, serving as evidence for the maintenance of Hellenic cultural identity within the Christianized Roman Empire.

Sources 1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (The Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/byzantine-philosophy/#Rhe 2. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics (Oxford University Press): https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8079