Concept
Nicetes of Smyrna
Overview
Nicetes (or Nicetas) of Smyrna (Ancient Greek: Νικήτης or Νικήτας ὁ Σμυρναῖος, Nīkḗtēs or Nīkḗtās ho Smurnaîos; AD 1st century) was an Ancient Greek rhetorician and philosopher.
A noted forensic orator, he is considered the instigator of the Second Sophistic in Asia Minor during the first century. He has been identified with Sacerdos ille Nicetes, 'that priest Nicetes' who taught Pliny the Younger and to whom Tacitus referred in his Dialogus de oratoribus XV, 3.[en]
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
We are told that Cicero, being consul, undertook the defence of Murena against Cato's prosecution; and, by way of bantering Cato, made a long series of jokes upon the absurd paradoxes, as they are called, of the Stoic sect. When loud laughter passed from the crowd to the judges, Cato, with a quiet smile, said to those that sat next to him, "My friends, what an amusing consul we have."
Plutarch, The Boys' and Girls' Plutarch
States what Nicetes of Smyrna is.
Not that they deserve to be entirely neglected; for they are as it were the nursery of the orator whom we wish to draw; and concerning whom we are endeavouring to say something worth hearing. XII. From this form is derived fluency of words; from it also the combination and rhythm of sentences derives a freer licence. For great indulgence is shown to neatly turned sentences; and rhythmical, steady, compact periods…
Marcus Tullius Cicero, The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 4
States what Nicetes of Smyrna is.
But those schools were not supported by the public. They were, for a long time, barely tolerated by it. The demand for philosophy and rhetoric was, for a long time, so small, that the first professed teachers of either could not find constant employment in any one city, but were obliged to travel about from place to place. In this manner lived Zeno of Elea, Protagoras, Gorgias, Hippias, and many others. As the…
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Close in meaning to Nicetes of Smyrna; the term itself is not named.
Related ideas
Place in the tradition
Part of Sophist.