ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AND RESPECTED PHILOLOGISTS OF HIS GENERATION

Erasmus of Rotterdam: "In Rome I saw Pietro Marso, long-lived rather than famous, approaching eighty years of age, yet vigorous in mind and appearance. He seemed to me to be a man of integrity and integrity, and I could not help but admire his industriousness; at such an advanced age, he was working on some commentaries on De Senectute and other works by Cicero. Traces of an older generation were evident in him."

Pietro Marso (Cese, 30 October 1441 – Rome, 30 December 1511) was an Italian philologist, orator, and canon. Initiated into ecclesiastical life, Pietro moved to Rome at a fairly young age, where he joined the famous humanist academy that arose around the figure of Pomponio Leto. After a brief stint in Mantua with the Gonzaga lords as tutor to the young Ludovico, Pietro returned to Rome to resume teaching at the Sapienza, a position he held until his death, earning one of the highest salaries recorded among scholars of the time. Alongside his philological and professorial activities, he consistently developed his oratory skills , eventually becoming one of the greatest orators. His speeches and homilies in St. Peter's, the Sistine Chapel, Santa Maria Maggiore, and San Lorenzo in Damaso, the church of which he was appointed canon and then vicar of Cardinal Raffaele Riario around 1500, have remained famous over time.