427 BCE Gorgias arrives in Athens and inaugurates formal instruction in rhetoric
340–335 Aristotle, Rhetoric
91 Dramatic date of Cicero, On the Orator
86 Roman conquest of Athens, relocation of many Greek intellectuals to Rome
80s Anonymous, Rhetoric to Herennius
84 Cicero, On Invention
55 Cicero, On the Orator
46 Cicero, Brutus
44 Assassination of Julius Caesar in Rome
27 Conventional date for commencement of the Roman Principate under Augustus Caesar
30s CE Seneca the Elder, Suasoriae and Controversiae
71 Emperor Vespasian establishes first endowed chair of rhetoric at Rome, recognizing importance of rhetorical instruction throughout the Roman Empire
95 Quintilian, Oratorical Instruction
230s Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists
354 Libanius appointed to chair of rhetoric in Antioch; rhetoric continues to be taught to pagan and Christian students alike