Quintilian returns to Italian classical high school exam after 13 years with text on music
For the first time since 2013, Italy's classical high school graduation exam included a Latin passage by Quintilian, drawing on his Institutio Oratoria to test students on music's role in education.
Thirteen-year gap ends
The 2026 Italian Maturità second written test for classical high school candidates, held on the morning of 19 June, featured a Latin passage from Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria. It is the third time the author has appeared in the exam, and the first since 2013. The translation task began at 08:30 and gave students four hours to translate and analyse a text on the educational and therapeutic value of music.
Quintilian's life and work
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (c. 35–96 AD) was born in Calagurris, Spain. He studied rhetoric in Rome under Remmius Palaemon and Domitius Afer, returned to the capital with Emperor Galba in 68 AD, practised law and founded a school of oratory that later became public. Emperor Vespasian awarded him the first state salary for a teacher of rhetoric, later adding consular honours. Domitian entrusted him with the education of his grandsons in 94 AD, granting him the ornamenta consularia. Among his students was Pliny the Younger.
The Institutio Oratoria
The passage, drawn from Book I of the Institutio Oratoria, sets out music's role in shaping the ideal orator. Quintilian's twelve-volume treatise, composed between 90 and 96 AD and dedicated to Marcus Vitorius Marcellus, is one of antiquity's richest pedagogical reflections. It outlines a curriculum from infancy that unites grammar, literature, philosophy and public speaking, all anchored in the principle of vir bonus dicendi peritus – the good man skilled in speaking.
Music as an educational pillar
In the chosen text, Quintilian invokes a lineage from Pythagoras and Plato to Socrates and Lycurgus, arguing that music was considered essential for a statesman. He notes its practical effects – motivating rowers, coordinating soldiers, elevating courage – and insists that nature itself gave music as a gift to ease toil. The exam required comprehension, linguistic and stylistic analysis, and personal reflection.
2026 examination nationwide
Italy's ministry of education selected the passage, which had not been used since 2013. Classical candidates joined over half a million students sitting the state exam across the country.
- Quintilian born in Calagurris, Spain (between 35 and 40 AD)
- Returned to Rome with Emperor Galba; began legal practice and founded a school of oratory
- Began over 20 years of public and private teaching (circa 70–90 AD)
- Composed Institutio Oratoria (between 90 and 96 AD)
- Appointed by Emperor Domitian to educate his grandsons; received consular honours
- Died in Rome
- Last time Quintilian's text appeared in the Maturità classical exam
- 2026 Maturità second test begins; Quintilian's passage set for classical high school
