Known to Erasmus,[1] he was the author of a work on epistolary art, the proper composition and ornamentation of letters, De componendis et ornandis epistoli (c.
Occupying the chair of grammar at the University of Rome, the Studium urbis, he joined with his master Pomponio Leto[3] in studying the remains of Roman antiquity that lay in ruins all about them, and made impassioned pleas for the purification of Latin.
In 1486 Sulpizio prepared the first printed edition of Vitruvius' De Architectura for the press; the work had long circulated in manuscripts, some of them corrupt.
The volume, which also includes the text of Frontinus' De aquaeductu describing the aqueducts of Rome, was dedicated to Cardinal Riario, an enthusiastic supporter of the ideals of the Pomponian sodalitas; the dedicatory epistle urges Riario to complete the recovery of classical Roman buildings with a theatre.
[5] In his concern to purify the Latin that was still being spoken as a lingua franca in educated circles, he wrote a commentary on Quintilian.