On Adverbs by Herodian of Alexandria

On Adverbs is a grammatical treatise composed in Attic Greek by the second-century CE Alexandrian scholar Herodian. The work provides a systematic classification and analysis of Greek adverbs, detailing their formation, proper usage, and correct accentuation, a subject on which Herodian was a foremost authority. Written during the Roman Imperial Period, a time of renewed scholarly focus on classical Athenian language, the treatise was aimed at advanced students and rhetoricians dedicated to mastering precise Attic diction. The original, complete text does not survive independently but is known through excerpts and summaries preserved in the works of later grammarians and in scholia on classical texts. Key passages from the treatise, which reflect its major analytical divisions, are extant in four principal sources. Herodian's grammatical doctrines, particularly his rules for accentuation, were incorporated into the Byzantine educational system and exerted a profound influence on Greek scholarship for more than a millennium.