[36] Only Gell. NA 16.6.1-12 might be so interpreted, concerning quispiam linguae Latinae litterator [= grammaticus ; see ibid. 11], Roma a Brundisinis accersitus , who made himself available for public tests of his expertise (experiundum sese vulgo dabat ). The passage shows, however, that these occasions were later than and independent of his summons to the town. Contrast Pamprepius, given a post at Constantinople after reciting either a poem or a discourse on the soul (Malch. frg. 20 and Damasc. V. Isid. frg. 178 Zintzen, with Part II no. 114); or Ioannes Lydus, given a chair of Latin at Constantinople by Justinian after delivering an encomium of the emperor (De mag. 3.28, with Part II no. 92); or Phoebicius of Bordeaux, gaining his chair through the patronage of a son (Auson. Prof. 10.29-30), probably the rhetorician Attius Patera; and see further below.