Alexander of Cotiaeum Teacher, Exegete, Diorthotes

Alexander of Cotiaeum, the cultivated sophistes and one among the teachers of Aelius
Aristides and Marcus Aurelius, distinguished himself in linguistic and literary studies,
teaching, and cultural communication. Though without achieving brilliant results, he
also engaged in some of the questions previously discussed by the most learned scholars.
This cultural figure displays some typicality with respect to the average educated
personalities (grammatikoi) of the Antonine renaissance. However, current studies are
revealing a possible specificity of Alexander’s role: his influence, by way of educational
approach, on the making of literary trends and models (canons) of the concurrent
high culture, between New Sophistic and Atticism. This paper focuses on the very
philological side (diorthosis, or textual criticism) of the composite and complex intellectual
profile of Alexander.