The chapter addresses the concept of linguistic norm in the tradition of classical grammar and rhetoric, paying special attention to activities concerning standardization processes in the Romance languages. Since a clear distinction between a prescriptive and a descriptive point of view is not given in "traditional grammar", the latter is manifested in the form of grammatical treatises which often also aimed at offering norms for "correct" language use. As a consequence thereof, our contribution will be concerned with aspects relating to the realm of the history of language sciences and, at least partially, to the history of rhetoric. The period taken into consideration ranges from Latin antiquity (Cicero, Quintilian) to the middle of the 17th century (Vaugelas). The topics to be discussed were selected with regard to the significance of the respective protagonists in the history of ideas in (Latin and) Romance language standardization.