Gaius Albucius Silus
Gaius Albucius Silus was an ancient Roman orator and teacher of rhetoric under emperor Augustus. He was born and died in Novaria (today Novara), but made his career in Rome. Suetonius gives a sketch of his life, while Seneca the Elder describes him as an outstanding declaimer. In the novel "Albucius" (1990), Pascal Quignard invents fifty-three "controversiae" (fictitious lawsuits) by Albucius and alternates them with historical and fictional scenes from his life.