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Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Assessing Dyslexia at Six Year of Age
Published on: May 1, 2020
Dyslexia Augusti: Does Suetonius describe a pattern of signs consistent with dyslexia?
David O'Sullivan1, Sean Hammond1
1School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Abstract:
It is generally agreed that Morgan was the first to reliably describe dyslexia with the case of Percy F. However, Suetonius, in "The lives of the twelve Caesars" describes the Emperor Augustus as having a range of language and literacy difficulties that could be consistent with this diagnosis. Using the framework of cognitive psychology, which rarely comments on the historical record, this article argues that Suetonius describes both signs and compensating strategies typical of an adult with remediated developmental dyslexia. If accepted, this analysis would locate a possible coherent description of the condition back to the second century CE.
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