11, 16,
(the year of the consulship of Caesar and Bibulus) | 18, 21, 23; Dion.
(the year of the consulship of Caesar and Bibulus) | 18, 21, 23; Dion.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
; Schneidewin, Comment.
de Laso ller-
refers, when he places Lasus in the time of Dareius, mioneusi, Gotting. 1842. )
[P. S. ]
the son of Hystaspes. (Suid. s. v. where, accord- LATERANUS, was, according to Arnobius
ingly, rý should be corrected into n. ) Nothing (adv. Gent. iv. 6), a divinity protecting the hearths
further is known of his life, and the notices of liis built bricks (luteres), whence some consider him
poetry are very defective. Tzetzes mentions himn to be identical with Vulcan. (llartung, Die Relig.
after Arion, as the second great dithyrambic poet. der Röm. ii. p. 109. )
(LS. )
(Proleg. in Lycoph. p. 252, ed. Müller ; comp. LATERA'NUS, APP. CLAU'DIUS, was one
Schol. ud Pind. 01. xiii. 25. ) According to a of the lieutenants of the emperor Septimius Severus
scholiast on Aristophanes (Av. 1403), some ancient in the expedition against the Arabians and Par-
writers ascribed to him, instead of Arion, the in- thians, a. b. 195, and two years afterwards appears
vention of the cyclic choruses. (Conip. Suid. s. v. in the Fasti as consul. (Dion Cass. lxxv. 2;
KUKA108ıdáokalos. ) A better account is given by Victor, Eprit. 20; Gruter, Corp. Inscript. xlvi. 9,
another scholiast (Vesp. 1410) and Suidas (s. v. li. 1, ccc. )
(W. R. )
Magos), that Lasus was the first who introduced LATERA'NUS, L. SE'XTIUS SEXTI'NUS,
dithyrambic contests, like those of the dramatic was the friend and supporter of the celebrated C.
chorises. This seems to have been in Ol. 68, 1, Licinius Calvus Stolo in his attempts to throw open
B. C. 508. (Marm. Par. Ep. 46. ) Putarch states the consulship to the plebeians. He was the col-
(De Mus. p. 1141, b. 2. ) that Lasus invented va- league of Licinius in the tribunate of the plebs
rious new adaptations of music to dithyrambic from B. C. 376 to 367 ; and upon the passing of the
poetry, giving it an accompaniment of several Autes, Licinian laws in the latter of these years, he was
and using more numerous and more varied voices elected to the consulship for the year B. c. 366,
(or musical sounds, poógyors). The change of being the first plebeian who had obtained that
form was naturally accompanied by a change in the dignity. (Liv. vi. 35—42, vii. 1. ) For an account
subjects of the dithyramb. Suidas (s. v. ) and the of the Licinian laws, see Vol. I. p. 586, b. , and the
scholiast on Aristophanes (Vesp. 1410) tell us authorities there referred to.
that Lasus introduced εριστικούς λόγους. From The name of Sextius Lateranus does not occur
these statements, compared with what we know of again under the republic, but re-appears in the
the earlier dithyramb on the one hand, and on the times of the empire. Thus we find in the Fasti a
other with the works of Lasus's great pupil, Pin- T. Sextius Magius Lateranus consul in A. D. 94,
dar, we may infer that Lasus introduced a greater and a T. Sextius Lateranus consul in A. D. 154.
freedom, both of rhythm and of music, into the LATERA'NUS, PLAU'TIUS, was one of the
dithyrambic Ode ; that he gave it a more artificial lovers of Messallina, the wife of the emperor Clau-
and more mimetic character; and that the subjects dius, and was in consequence condemned to death
of his poetry embraced a far wider range than had by the emperor in a. D. 48 ; but pardoned, says
been customary. It is difficult, however, to say Tacitus, on account of the brilliant services of his
what the scholiast means by épLOTIKOÙS nóyous. uncle, by whom the historian probably means A.
Some writers explain them as jocose altercations Plautius, the conqueror of Britain. Lateranus was
among the Satyrs, who formed the chorus; but deprived of his rank as a senator, to which, how-
this is scarcely consistent with the dignity of ever, he was restored on the accession of Nero, in
dithyrambic poetry. Another explanation is that a. D. 56. Ten years afterwards (A. D. 66), although
Lasus, like the dramatic poets, introduced into his consul elect, he took part in the celebrated con-
poetry subjects which afforded occasion for the dis- spiracy of Piso against Nero, actuated, says the
play of dialectic skill. It is something in confirm- historian, by no private wrongs, but by love for the
ation of this view, that, according to some accounts, state. He met death with the greatest firmness,
he was reckoned among the seven wise men of refusing to disclose the names of any of the con-
Greece. (Schol. ad Aristoph. Vesp. 1410 ; Suid. spirators, and not even upbraiding the tribune,
s. v. ; Diog. Laërt. i. 42 ; comp. the note of Me- who executed him in the place where slaves were
nagius. )
put to death, with being privy to the conspiracy,
Lasus wrote a hymn to Demeter, who was wor- I though such was the case. The first blow not
shipped at Hermione, in the Doric dialect, with severing his head from his body, he calmly stretched
the Aeolic harmony, of which there are three lines it out again. (Tac. Ann. xi. 30, 36, xiii. 11, xv
extant (Ath. xiv. p. 624, e. ), and an ode, entitled | 49, 60; Arrian, Epictet. Dissert. i. 1. )
Kévtaupoi, both of which pieces were remarkable for LATERENSIS, the name of a noble plebeian
not containing the letter 2. (Ath. x. p. 455, d. ) family of the Juventia gens (JUVENTIA Gens),
He is also cited twice by Aelian (V. H. xii. 36 ; | but not patrician, as has been erroneously stated by
N. A. vii. 47).
a scholiast on Cicero. (Schol. Bob. pro Planc. p.
Besides his poems, Lasus wrote on music, and 253, ed. Orelli. )
he is said to have been the first who did so. (Suid. 1. M. JUVENTIUS LATERENSIS, appears to have
$. v. )
served in early life in the Mithridatic war. (Cic.
The grammarian, Chamaeleon of Heracleia, pro Planc. 34. $ 84, with Wunder's note, p. 207. )
wrote a work upon Lasus. (Ath. viii. p. 338, b. ) | As he was descended both on his father's and
His name is sometimes mis-spelt by the ancient another's side from consular ancestors, he naturally
writers. Tzetzes (Proleg. in Lycophr. l. c. ) calls became a candidate for the public offices. The year
him Adooos, and Stobaeus (Serm, xxvii) writes of his quaestorship is not stated and we only know
## p. 725 (#741) ############################################
LATERENSIS.
725
LATINUS.
that, while holding this office, he gave an exhibition sealed his devotion with his blond. (Cic. pro
of games at Praeneste; and subsequently proceeded, Plunc. passim, ad Aut. ii. 18, 24, in latin. 11, ud
perhaps as pro-quaestor, to Cyrene. In R. c. 59 Fam. viii. 8, ad All. xii. 17, ad Fam. x.
11, 16,
(the year of the consulship of Caesar and Bibulus) | 18, 21, 23; Dion. Cass. xlvi. 51; Vell. Pat. ii.
he became a candidate for the tribunate of the 63 ; Appian, B. C. jii. 84. )
pleba; but as he would have been obliged, if 2. L. (JUVENTIUS) LATENENSIS, was a legate
elected, to have sworn to maintain the agrarinn in the army of Q. Cassius Longinus in Further
law of Caesar, which was passed in that year, he Spain B. c. 49, and was proclaimed practor by the
retired voluntarils from the contest. It was pro soldiers in the conspiracy against the life of Cassius,
bably owing to his political sentiments that La- whom they believed to have been put to death.
terensis became one of Cicero's personal friends ; | Cassius, however, escaped the hands of the asses-
and it was doubtless his opposition to Caesar which sins, and immediately exccuted Laterensis and the
led L. Vettius to denounce him as one of the con- ringleaders of the conspiracy. (Hirt. B. Alex. 53
spirators in the pretended plot against Pompey's -55. ) It is not known what relation this Lü-
life in B. C. 58.
terensis was to the preceding.
In B. c. 55, in the second consulship of Pompey LATIIRIA. (AVAXANDRA. )
and Crassus, Latcrensis became a candidate for the LATIA'LIS or LATIA'RIS, a surname of
curule aedileship, with Cn. Plancius, A. Plotius, Jupiter as the protecting divinity of Latium. The
and Q. Pedius. The clections were put off this Latin towns and Rome celebrated to him every
year; but in the summer of the following year year the feriae Latinae, on the Alban mouni,
( 13. c. 54) Plancius and Plotius were elected ; but which were proclaimed and conducted by one of
before they could enter upon their office Laterensis, the Roman consuls. (Liv. xxi. 63, xxii. 1 ; Dionys.
in conjunction with L. Cassius Longinus, accused | iv. 49 ; Serv. ad Aen. xii. 135; Suet. Calig. 22;
Plancius of the crime of sodalitium, or the bribery comp. Latisus. )
[L. S. ]
of the tribes by means of illegal associations, in LATIA'RIS, LATI'NIUS, in the earlier part
accordance with the lex Licinia, which had been of the reign of Tiberius had been praetor, but in
proposed by the consul Licinius Crassus in the pre- what year is unknown. He was a creature of
ceding year. (See Dict. of Ant. s. v. Ambitus. ) This Sejanus, and aspired to the consulship. But at
contest between Laterensis and Plancius placed that time delation was the readiest road to prefer-
Cicero in an awkward position, since both of them ment. Titius Sabinus had offended Sejanus by
were his personal friends. Plancius, however, had his steady friendship to the widow and children of
much stronger claims upon him, for being quaestor Germanicus. Him, therefore, in a. d. 28, Latiaris
in Macedonia in the year of Cicero's banishment, singled out as his victim and stepping-stone to the
he had afforded him shelter and protection in his consular fasces. He wormed himself into the con-
province, at a time when Cicero believed that his fidence of Sabinus, and encouraged him to speak of
life was in danger. Cicero had therefore warmly Agrippina's wrongs and Sejanus' tyranny in a room
exerted himself in canvassing for Plancius, and where three confederates lay hid between the ceil
came forward to defend him when he was accused ing and the roof. After the fall of Sejanus, Latiaris
by Laterensis. He avoids, however, personal attacks was soon marked for destruction by Tiberius. The
upon Laterensis, and attributes his loss of the elec- senate gladly condemned him, and Latiaris died
tion to his relying too much upon the nobility of without a murmur in his favour. (Tac. Ann. iv.
his family, and to his neglecting a personal can- 68, 69, vi. 4. )
(W. B. D. ]
vassing of the voters, and likewise to his opposition LATI'NUS (Aativos), a king of Latium, is
to Caesar a few years before. Through Cicero's described in the common tradition as a son of
exertions, Plancius was probably acquitted. Faunus and the nymph Marica, as a brother of
[PLANCIUS. )
Lavinius, and the husband of Amata, by whom he
Laterensis obtained the praetorship in B. c. 51, became the father of Lavinia, whom he gave in
and is spoken of by Cicero's correspondent, Caelius, marriage to Aeneas. (Virg. Aen. vii. 47, &c. ;
as ignorant of the laws. In the civil wars between Serv. ad Aen. i. 6; Arnob. ii. 71. ) But along
Caesar and the Pompeians his name does not with this there are a variety of other traditions.
occur, and he is not mentioned again till B. C. 45, Hesiod (Theog. 1013) calls him a son of Odysseus
in which year we learn from Cicero that he was and Circe, and brother of Agrius, king of the
one of the augurs.
Tyrrhenians, and Hyginus (Fab. 127) calls him a
Laterensis appears again in history as legate son of Telemachus and Circe, while others describe
in the army of M. Aemilius Lepidus, who was him as a son of Heracles, by an II yperborean
governor of the provinces of Nearer Spain and woman, who was afterwards married to Faunus
Southern Gaul, B. C. 43. When Antony, after (Dionys. i. 43), or as a son of Heracles by a
the battle of Mutina, fled across the Alps, and was daughter of Faunus. (Justin. xliii. 1. ) Conon
drawing near to Lepidus in Gaul, Laterensis used (Narr. 3) relates, that Latinus was the father of
erery possible exertion to confirm Lepidus in his Laurina, whom he gave in marriage to Locrus, and
allegiance to the senate. In this object he was that Latinus was slain by Heracles for having
warmly seconded by Munatius Plancus, who com- taken away from him the oxen of Geryones.
manded in Northern Gaul. But all their efforts According to Festus (s. v. Oscillum) Jupiter Latiaris
were vain, for as soon as Antony appeared, the once lived upon the earth under the name of Latinus,
soldiers of Lepidus threw open the gates of the or Latinus after the fight with Mezentius suddenly
camp to him ; and Laterensis, in despair, cast hinn- disappeared, and was changed into Jupiter Latiaris.
self upon his sword, and thus perished. The senate Hence the relation between Jupiter Latiaris and
decreed to him the honour of a public funeral and Latinus is perfectly analogous to that between
the erection of his statue. From his first entrance Quirinus and Romulus, and Latinus may be con-
upon public life Laterensis was always a warm ceived as an incarnation of the supreme god. [L. S. )
supporter of the senatorial party, to which he LATI'NUS, a celebrated player in the farces
## p. 726 (#742) ############################################
726
LAVERNA.
LEAGRUS.
p. 456. )
called mimes (Dict. of Ant. s. v. ) in the reign of nity, which is said to be a contraction of Lativerna,
Domitian, with whom he was a great favourite, is, according to some, connected with the verb
and whom he served as a delator. It seems pro- latere, or with the Greek dabeiv and the Sanscrit
buble that the Latinus spoken of by Juvenal (i. ) labh, but it is more probably derived from lerure
35, vi. 41), was the same person, though the scho- and levator (a thief). " See Petron. 140; Obbarius,
liast on Juvenal (II. cc. ) says that this Latinus was ad Horat. Ep. i. 16. 60.
(L. S. )
put to death by Nero on account of his being privy LAVI'NIA, a daughter of Latinus and Amati,
to the adulteries of Messallina. The Latinus of and the wife of Aeneas, by whom she became the
the time of Domitian is frequently mentioned by mother of Ascanius or Silvins. (Liv. i. 1 ; Virg.
Martial, who gives his epitaph (ix. 29), and speaks Aen. vii. 52, &c. , vi. 761 ; Dionys. i. 70. ) Some
of his private character in favourable terms. La traditions describe her as the daughter of the priest
tinus frequently acted as mimus in conjunction with Anius, in Delos. (Dionys. i. 50 ; Aur. Vict.
Thymele as mima. (Juv. l. c. ; Suct. Dom. 15; Orig. Gent. Rom. 9. )
(L, S. )
Mart. i. 5, ii. 7-2, iii, 86, v. 61, ix. 29. )
P. LAVI'NIUS, a Latin grammarian, who wrote
LATI'NUS, literary. 1. Á Greek grammarian a work, De Verbis Sordidis, which is referred to by
of uncertain age, who wrote a work in six books, A. Gellius (xx. 11), but of whom we know nothing
entitled Περί των ουκ ιδίων Μενάνδρου. (Fabric. more. It has been conjectured that he may be the
Bibl. Gracc. vol. ij.
same as the Laevinus mentioned by Macrobius.
2. LATINUS ALCIMUS AVITUS ALETHUS, the (Suturn. iii.
refers, when he places Lasus in the time of Dareius, mioneusi, Gotting. 1842. )
[P. S. ]
the son of Hystaspes. (Suid. s. v. where, accord- LATERANUS, was, according to Arnobius
ingly, rý should be corrected into n. ) Nothing (adv. Gent. iv. 6), a divinity protecting the hearths
further is known of his life, and the notices of liis built bricks (luteres), whence some consider him
poetry are very defective. Tzetzes mentions himn to be identical with Vulcan. (llartung, Die Relig.
after Arion, as the second great dithyrambic poet. der Röm. ii. p. 109. )
(LS. )
(Proleg. in Lycoph. p. 252, ed. Müller ; comp. LATERA'NUS, APP. CLAU'DIUS, was one
Schol. ud Pind. 01. xiii. 25. ) According to a of the lieutenants of the emperor Septimius Severus
scholiast on Aristophanes (Av. 1403), some ancient in the expedition against the Arabians and Par-
writers ascribed to him, instead of Arion, the in- thians, a. b. 195, and two years afterwards appears
vention of the cyclic choruses. (Conip. Suid. s. v. in the Fasti as consul. (Dion Cass. lxxv. 2;
KUKA108ıdáokalos. ) A better account is given by Victor, Eprit. 20; Gruter, Corp. Inscript. xlvi. 9,
another scholiast (Vesp. 1410) and Suidas (s. v. li. 1, ccc. )
(W. R. )
Magos), that Lasus was the first who introduced LATERA'NUS, L. SE'XTIUS SEXTI'NUS,
dithyrambic contests, like those of the dramatic was the friend and supporter of the celebrated C.
chorises. This seems to have been in Ol. 68, 1, Licinius Calvus Stolo in his attempts to throw open
B. C. 508. (Marm. Par. Ep. 46. ) Putarch states the consulship to the plebeians. He was the col-
(De Mus. p. 1141, b. 2. ) that Lasus invented va- league of Licinius in the tribunate of the plebs
rious new adaptations of music to dithyrambic from B. C. 376 to 367 ; and upon the passing of the
poetry, giving it an accompaniment of several Autes, Licinian laws in the latter of these years, he was
and using more numerous and more varied voices elected to the consulship for the year B. c. 366,
(or musical sounds, poógyors). The change of being the first plebeian who had obtained that
form was naturally accompanied by a change in the dignity. (Liv. vi. 35—42, vii. 1. ) For an account
subjects of the dithyramb. Suidas (s. v. ) and the of the Licinian laws, see Vol. I. p. 586, b. , and the
scholiast on Aristophanes (Vesp. 1410) tell us authorities there referred to.
that Lasus introduced εριστικούς λόγους. From The name of Sextius Lateranus does not occur
these statements, compared with what we know of again under the republic, but re-appears in the
the earlier dithyramb on the one hand, and on the times of the empire. Thus we find in the Fasti a
other with the works of Lasus's great pupil, Pin- T. Sextius Magius Lateranus consul in A. D. 94,
dar, we may infer that Lasus introduced a greater and a T. Sextius Lateranus consul in A. D. 154.
freedom, both of rhythm and of music, into the LATERA'NUS, PLAU'TIUS, was one of the
dithyrambic Ode ; that he gave it a more artificial lovers of Messallina, the wife of the emperor Clau-
and more mimetic character; and that the subjects dius, and was in consequence condemned to death
of his poetry embraced a far wider range than had by the emperor in a. D. 48 ; but pardoned, says
been customary. It is difficult, however, to say Tacitus, on account of the brilliant services of his
what the scholiast means by épLOTIKOÙS nóyous. uncle, by whom the historian probably means A.
Some writers explain them as jocose altercations Plautius, the conqueror of Britain. Lateranus was
among the Satyrs, who formed the chorus; but deprived of his rank as a senator, to which, how-
this is scarcely consistent with the dignity of ever, he was restored on the accession of Nero, in
dithyrambic poetry. Another explanation is that a. D. 56. Ten years afterwards (A. D. 66), although
Lasus, like the dramatic poets, introduced into his consul elect, he took part in the celebrated con-
poetry subjects which afforded occasion for the dis- spiracy of Piso against Nero, actuated, says the
play of dialectic skill. It is something in confirm- historian, by no private wrongs, but by love for the
ation of this view, that, according to some accounts, state. He met death with the greatest firmness,
he was reckoned among the seven wise men of refusing to disclose the names of any of the con-
Greece. (Schol. ad Aristoph. Vesp. 1410 ; Suid. spirators, and not even upbraiding the tribune,
s. v. ; Diog. Laërt. i. 42 ; comp. the note of Me- who executed him in the place where slaves were
nagius. )
put to death, with being privy to the conspiracy,
Lasus wrote a hymn to Demeter, who was wor- I though such was the case. The first blow not
shipped at Hermione, in the Doric dialect, with severing his head from his body, he calmly stretched
the Aeolic harmony, of which there are three lines it out again. (Tac. Ann. xi. 30, 36, xiii. 11, xv
extant (Ath. xiv. p. 624, e. ), and an ode, entitled | 49, 60; Arrian, Epictet. Dissert. i. 1. )
Kévtaupoi, both of which pieces were remarkable for LATERENSIS, the name of a noble plebeian
not containing the letter 2. (Ath. x. p. 455, d. ) family of the Juventia gens (JUVENTIA Gens),
He is also cited twice by Aelian (V. H. xii. 36 ; | but not patrician, as has been erroneously stated by
N. A. vii. 47).
a scholiast on Cicero. (Schol. Bob. pro Planc. p.
Besides his poems, Lasus wrote on music, and 253, ed. Orelli. )
he is said to have been the first who did so. (Suid. 1. M. JUVENTIUS LATERENSIS, appears to have
$. v. )
served in early life in the Mithridatic war. (Cic.
The grammarian, Chamaeleon of Heracleia, pro Planc. 34. $ 84, with Wunder's note, p. 207. )
wrote a work upon Lasus. (Ath. viii. p. 338, b. ) | As he was descended both on his father's and
His name is sometimes mis-spelt by the ancient another's side from consular ancestors, he naturally
writers. Tzetzes (Proleg. in Lycophr. l. c. ) calls became a candidate for the public offices. The year
him Adooos, and Stobaeus (Serm, xxvii) writes of his quaestorship is not stated and we only know
## p. 725 (#741) ############################################
LATERENSIS.
725
LATINUS.
that, while holding this office, he gave an exhibition sealed his devotion with his blond. (Cic. pro
of games at Praeneste; and subsequently proceeded, Plunc. passim, ad Aut. ii. 18, 24, in latin. 11, ud
perhaps as pro-quaestor, to Cyrene. In R. c. 59 Fam. viii. 8, ad All. xii. 17, ad Fam. x.
11, 16,
(the year of the consulship of Caesar and Bibulus) | 18, 21, 23; Dion. Cass. xlvi. 51; Vell. Pat. ii.
he became a candidate for the tribunate of the 63 ; Appian, B. C. jii. 84. )
pleba; but as he would have been obliged, if 2. L. (JUVENTIUS) LATENENSIS, was a legate
elected, to have sworn to maintain the agrarinn in the army of Q. Cassius Longinus in Further
law of Caesar, which was passed in that year, he Spain B. c. 49, and was proclaimed practor by the
retired voluntarils from the contest. It was pro soldiers in the conspiracy against the life of Cassius,
bably owing to his political sentiments that La- whom they believed to have been put to death.
terensis became one of Cicero's personal friends ; | Cassius, however, escaped the hands of the asses-
and it was doubtless his opposition to Caesar which sins, and immediately exccuted Laterensis and the
led L. Vettius to denounce him as one of the con- ringleaders of the conspiracy. (Hirt. B. Alex. 53
spirators in the pretended plot against Pompey's -55. ) It is not known what relation this Lü-
life in B. C. 58.
terensis was to the preceding.
In B. c. 55, in the second consulship of Pompey LATIIRIA. (AVAXANDRA. )
and Crassus, Latcrensis became a candidate for the LATIA'LIS or LATIA'RIS, a surname of
curule aedileship, with Cn. Plancius, A. Plotius, Jupiter as the protecting divinity of Latium. The
and Q. Pedius. The clections were put off this Latin towns and Rome celebrated to him every
year; but in the summer of the following year year the feriae Latinae, on the Alban mouni,
( 13. c. 54) Plancius and Plotius were elected ; but which were proclaimed and conducted by one of
before they could enter upon their office Laterensis, the Roman consuls. (Liv. xxi. 63, xxii. 1 ; Dionys.
in conjunction with L. Cassius Longinus, accused | iv. 49 ; Serv. ad Aen. xii. 135; Suet. Calig. 22;
Plancius of the crime of sodalitium, or the bribery comp. Latisus. )
[L. S. ]
of the tribes by means of illegal associations, in LATIA'RIS, LATI'NIUS, in the earlier part
accordance with the lex Licinia, which had been of the reign of Tiberius had been praetor, but in
proposed by the consul Licinius Crassus in the pre- what year is unknown. He was a creature of
ceding year. (See Dict. of Ant. s. v. Ambitus. ) This Sejanus, and aspired to the consulship. But at
contest between Laterensis and Plancius placed that time delation was the readiest road to prefer-
Cicero in an awkward position, since both of them ment. Titius Sabinus had offended Sejanus by
were his personal friends. Plancius, however, had his steady friendship to the widow and children of
much stronger claims upon him, for being quaestor Germanicus. Him, therefore, in a. d. 28, Latiaris
in Macedonia in the year of Cicero's banishment, singled out as his victim and stepping-stone to the
he had afforded him shelter and protection in his consular fasces. He wormed himself into the con-
province, at a time when Cicero believed that his fidence of Sabinus, and encouraged him to speak of
life was in danger. Cicero had therefore warmly Agrippina's wrongs and Sejanus' tyranny in a room
exerted himself in canvassing for Plancius, and where three confederates lay hid between the ceil
came forward to defend him when he was accused ing and the roof. After the fall of Sejanus, Latiaris
by Laterensis. He avoids, however, personal attacks was soon marked for destruction by Tiberius. The
upon Laterensis, and attributes his loss of the elec- senate gladly condemned him, and Latiaris died
tion to his relying too much upon the nobility of without a murmur in his favour. (Tac. Ann. iv.
his family, and to his neglecting a personal can- 68, 69, vi. 4. )
(W. B. D. ]
vassing of the voters, and likewise to his opposition LATI'NUS (Aativos), a king of Latium, is
to Caesar a few years before. Through Cicero's described in the common tradition as a son of
exertions, Plancius was probably acquitted. Faunus and the nymph Marica, as a brother of
[PLANCIUS. )
Lavinius, and the husband of Amata, by whom he
Laterensis obtained the praetorship in B. c. 51, became the father of Lavinia, whom he gave in
and is spoken of by Cicero's correspondent, Caelius, marriage to Aeneas. (Virg. Aen. vii. 47, &c. ;
as ignorant of the laws. In the civil wars between Serv. ad Aen. i. 6; Arnob. ii. 71. ) But along
Caesar and the Pompeians his name does not with this there are a variety of other traditions.
occur, and he is not mentioned again till B. C. 45, Hesiod (Theog. 1013) calls him a son of Odysseus
in which year we learn from Cicero that he was and Circe, and brother of Agrius, king of the
one of the augurs.
Tyrrhenians, and Hyginus (Fab. 127) calls him a
Laterensis appears again in history as legate son of Telemachus and Circe, while others describe
in the army of M. Aemilius Lepidus, who was him as a son of Heracles, by an II yperborean
governor of the provinces of Nearer Spain and woman, who was afterwards married to Faunus
Southern Gaul, B. C. 43. When Antony, after (Dionys. i. 43), or as a son of Heracles by a
the battle of Mutina, fled across the Alps, and was daughter of Faunus. (Justin. xliii. 1. ) Conon
drawing near to Lepidus in Gaul, Laterensis used (Narr. 3) relates, that Latinus was the father of
erery possible exertion to confirm Lepidus in his Laurina, whom he gave in marriage to Locrus, and
allegiance to the senate. In this object he was that Latinus was slain by Heracles for having
warmly seconded by Munatius Plancus, who com- taken away from him the oxen of Geryones.
manded in Northern Gaul. But all their efforts According to Festus (s. v. Oscillum) Jupiter Latiaris
were vain, for as soon as Antony appeared, the once lived upon the earth under the name of Latinus,
soldiers of Lepidus threw open the gates of the or Latinus after the fight with Mezentius suddenly
camp to him ; and Laterensis, in despair, cast hinn- disappeared, and was changed into Jupiter Latiaris.
self upon his sword, and thus perished. The senate Hence the relation between Jupiter Latiaris and
decreed to him the honour of a public funeral and Latinus is perfectly analogous to that between
the erection of his statue. From his first entrance Quirinus and Romulus, and Latinus may be con-
upon public life Laterensis was always a warm ceived as an incarnation of the supreme god. [L. S. )
supporter of the senatorial party, to which he LATI'NUS, a celebrated player in the farces
## p. 726 (#742) ############################################
726
LAVERNA.
LEAGRUS.
p. 456. )
called mimes (Dict. of Ant. s. v. ) in the reign of nity, which is said to be a contraction of Lativerna,
Domitian, with whom he was a great favourite, is, according to some, connected with the verb
and whom he served as a delator. It seems pro- latere, or with the Greek dabeiv and the Sanscrit
buble that the Latinus spoken of by Juvenal (i. ) labh, but it is more probably derived from lerure
35, vi. 41), was the same person, though the scho- and levator (a thief). " See Petron. 140; Obbarius,
liast on Juvenal (II. cc. ) says that this Latinus was ad Horat. Ep. i. 16. 60.
(L. S. )
put to death by Nero on account of his being privy LAVI'NIA, a daughter of Latinus and Amati,
to the adulteries of Messallina. The Latinus of and the wife of Aeneas, by whom she became the
the time of Domitian is frequently mentioned by mother of Ascanius or Silvins. (Liv. i. 1 ; Virg.
Martial, who gives his epitaph (ix. 29), and speaks Aen. vii. 52, &c. , vi. 761 ; Dionys. i. 70. ) Some
of his private character in favourable terms. La traditions describe her as the daughter of the priest
tinus frequently acted as mimus in conjunction with Anius, in Delos. (Dionys. i. 50 ; Aur. Vict.
Thymele as mima. (Juv. l. c. ; Suct. Dom. 15; Orig. Gent. Rom. 9. )
(L, S. )
Mart. i. 5, ii. 7-2, iii, 86, v. 61, ix. 29. )
P. LAVI'NIUS, a Latin grammarian, who wrote
LATI'NUS, literary. 1. Á Greek grammarian a work, De Verbis Sordidis, which is referred to by
of uncertain age, who wrote a work in six books, A. Gellius (xx. 11), but of whom we know nothing
entitled Περί των ουκ ιδίων Μενάνδρου. (Fabric. more. It has been conjectured that he may be the
Bibl. Gracc. vol. ij.
same as the Laevinus mentioned by Macrobius.
2. LATINUS ALCIMUS AVITUS ALETHUS, the (Suturn. iii.
