Menander the Rhetorician of Laodicea was a Greek rhetorician of the late third or early fourth century CE. He is distinguished from other historical figures named Menander, such as the comic playwright. His origin is specified as Laodicea, though the precise city remains unclear.
He is the attributed author of two surviving instructional treatises on epideictic oratory: the Division of Epideictic Speeches and On Epidictic Speeches. These works provide detailed guidance for composing ceremonial speeches for various occasions, including imperial panegyrics, addresses to cities, and speeches for weddings or funerals.
Menander systematized epideictic rhetoric from the Second Sophistic. His treatises are the main historical sources for the highly formalized conventions of ceremonial oratory in the Roman Imperial era and link earlier theorists to the later Byzantine rhetorical tradition.
Available Works
Also published as PDF.