It has been
sometiraes
insinu- they are utterly unknown to us, so it is only fair
ated that he grew rich by the proscriptions; and to put the most liberal construction on them; and
Pliny (H.
ated that he grew rich by the proscriptions; and to put the most liberal construction on them; and
Pliny (H.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
Be that as it may,
geluas, which is quoted by Athenaeus (x. p. 454, the first notice that occurs of any of the family, as
b), and which appears to have been a kind of a citizen of Rome, is in Cicero's speech for Cluen-
A B C book (comp. Welcker, in Rheinisches Mu- tius ( 56), where a knight named C. Maecenas is
seum for 1833, p. 146). Maeandrius is also re- mentioned among the robora populi Romani, and
ferred to by Macrobius (Sat. i. 17). We learn as having been instrumental in putting down the
from an inscription, which Böckh places between conspiracy of the tribune, M. Livius Drusus, B. C.
Olymp. 140 and 155, that this writer was a native 91. This person has been generally considered the
of Miletus (Böckh, Corp. Inscr. n. 2905, vol. ii. father of the subject of this memoir ; but Frandsen,
p. 573). It has been conjectured with considerable in his life of Maecenas, thinks, and perhaps with
prohability, that this Maeandrius may be the same more probability, that it was his grandfather.
as the Leandrius or Leander of Miletus, who was About the same period we also find a Maecenas
also an historian, and who is mentioned by several mentioned by Sallust, in the fragments of his
ancient writers. (LEANDER. )
history (Lib. iii. ) as a scribe.
MAECENAS, C. CI'LNIUS. Of the life of Although it is unknown where Maecenas re-
Maecenas we must be content to glean what scat-ceived his education, it must doubtless have been
tered notices we can from the poets and historians a careful one. We learn from Horace that he was
of Rome, since it does not appear to have been versed both in Greek and Roman literature ; and
formally recorded by any ancient author. We are his taste for literary pursuits was shown, not only
## p. 891 (#907) ############################################
MAECENAS.
89!
MAECENAS.
by his patronage of the most eminent poets of his | Lepidus. The only direct authority for the state-
time, but also by sereral performances of his own, ment of Maecenas having been at Actium is an
both in verse and prose. That at the time of elegy ascribed to Albinoranus on the death of
Julius Caesar's assassination he was with Octa- Maecenas, which is certainly spurious ; and the
vianus at Apollonia, in the capacity of tutor, rests commentary of Acron on the first epode of Horace,
on pure conjecture. Shortly, however, after the which kind of authority is of little value. The
appearance of the latter on the political stage, we first elegy of the second book of Propertius has
find the name of Maecenas in frequent conjunction also been quoted in support of this fact, but upon
with his ; and there can be no doubt that he was examination it will be found wholly inadequate to
of great use to him in assisting to establish and establish it. Yet the existence of Horace's first
consolidate the empire ; but the want of materials epode still remains to be accounted for. Those
prevents us from tracing his services in this way critics who deny that Maecenas proceeded to Ac-
with the accuracy that could be wished. It is pos- tium have still, we believe, hitherto unanimously
sible that he may have accompanied Octavianus in held that the poem is to be referred to that epoch;
the campaigns of Mutina, Philippi, and Perusia ; and they explain the inconsistency by the supposi-
but the only authorities for the statement are a tion that Maecenas, when the epode was written,
passage in Propertius (ii. 1), which by no means had really intended to accompany Caesar, but was
necessarily bears that meaning; and the elegies prevented by the office assigned to him at home.
attributed to Pedo Albinovanus, but which have in confirmation of this view, Frandsen, in his
been pronounced spurious by a large majority of Life of Maecenas, appeals to the 35th ode of
the best critics. The first authentic account we Horace's first book, addressed to Augustus on the
have of Maecenas is of his being employed by occasion of his intended visit to Britain, a journey
Octavianus, B. C. 40, in negotiating a marriage for which it is known he never actually performed.
him with Scribonia, daughter of Libo, the father. But to this it may be answered that Augustus at
in-law of Sext. Pompeius; which latter, for political least started with the intention of going thither,
reasons, Octavianus was at that time desirous of and actually went as far as Gaul ; but proceeded
conciliating. (App. B. C. v. 33; Dion Cass. thence to Spain. A more probable solution, there-
xlviii. 16. ) In the same year Maecenas took part fore, may be that first proposed by the author of
in the negotiations with Antony (whose wife, this article in the Classical Museum (vol. ii. p. 205,
Fulvia, was now dead), which led to the peace of &c. ), that the epode does not at all relate to Ac
Brundisium, confirmed by the marriage of Antony tium, but to the Sicilian expedition against Sext.
with Octavia, Caesar's sister. (App. B. C. v. 64. ) Pompeius. But for the grounds of that opinion, .
Appian's authority on this occasion is supported by which would occupy too much space to be here
the scholiast on Horace (Sat. i. 5. 28), who tells us re-stated, the reader is referred to ibat work.
that Livy, in his 127th book, had recorded the By the detection of the conspiracy of Lepidus,
intervention of Maecenas. According to Appian, Maecenas nipped in the bud what might have
however, Cocceius Nerva played the principal part. proved another fruitful germ of civil war. Indeed
About two years afterwards Maecenas seems to his services at this period must have been most
have been again employed in negotiating with An- important and invaluable ; and how faithfully and
tony (App. B. C. v. 93); and it was probably on ably he acquitted himself may be inferred from the
this occasion that Horace accompanied him to unbounded confidence reposed in him. In con-
Brundisium, a journey which he has described in junction with Agrippa, we now find him empowered
the 5th satire of the 1st book. Maecenas is there not only to open all letters addressed by Caesar to
also represented as associated with Cocceius, and the senate, but even to alter their contents as the
they are both described as “aversos soliti componere posture of affairs at home might require ; and for
amicos. "
this purpose he was entrusted with his master's
: In B. C. 36 we find Maecenas in Sicily with seal (Dion Cass. li. 3), in order that the letters
Octavianus, then engaged in an expedition against might be delivered as if they had come directly
Sen. Pompeius, during the course of which Mae from Octavian's own hand. Yet, notwithstanding
cepas was twice sent back Rome for the purpose the height of favour and power to which he had
of quelling some disturbances which had broken attained, Maecenas, whether from policy or inclina-
out there. (App. B. C. v. 99, 112. ) Accord- tion, remained content with his equestrian rank;
ing to Dion Cassius (xlix. 16), this was the first & circumstance which seems somewhat to have
occasion on which Maecenas became Caesar's vice- diminished bis authority with the populace.
gerent; and he was entrusted with the adminis After Octavianus' victory over Antony and
tration not only of Rome, but of all Italy. His Cleopatra, the whole power of the triumvirate cen-
fidelity and talents had now been tested by several tered in the former ; for Lepidus had been pre-
years' experience ; and it had probably been found viously reduced to the condition of a private person.
that the bent of his genius fitted him for the cabinet On his return to Rome, Caesar is represented to
rather than for the field, since his services could be have taken counsel with Agrippa and Maecenas
so easily dispensed with in the latter. From this respecting the expediency of restoring the republic.
time till the battle of Actium (B. C. 31) history is | Agrippa advised him to pursue that course, but Mae-
silent concerning Maecenas ; but at that period we cenas strongly urged him to establish the empire ;
again find him intrusted with the administration and Dion Cassius (lii. 14, &c. ) has preserved the
of the civil affairs of Italy. It has indeed been speech which he is said to have addressed to Octa-
maintained by many critics that Maecenas was vianus on that occasion. The genuineness of that
present at the sea-fight of Actium ; but the best document is, however, liable to very great suspi-
modern scholars who have discussed the subject cion. It is highly improbable that Maecenas, in a
have shown that this could not have been the case, cabinet consultation of that kind, would have ad-
and that he remained in Rome during this time, dressed Octavianus in a set speech of so formal a
where he suppressed the conspiracy of the younger description ; and still more so that any one should
## p. 892 (#908) ############################################
892
MAECENAS.
MAECENAS.
Gali BC 16
phenolessed by the
to a Rose. Bu
204, the potica
ided as then a
i
The public se
pertani, Fere EL
the part in2: he
care, it is being
Dars by bis
: be has beer
rettement was p
lin, as it is
senices cloiste
tart of mind, ra
fore. He had an
Trito (Art.
sity of Augusta
ated that he gre
Piep (H. X. IS
porte sea, whi
Teresents it as
the ta1-farers.
that the bandes
wed to his
of
have been present to take it down, or that Mae praefectus alone, with those of the supreme political
cenas himself should have afterwards published it. power. This is shown by the word cunctis, and
Yet Suetonius, in his life of Augustus (28), confirms by the mention of Italy as well as Rome ; to which
tbe account of Dion Cassius so far as that some latter only the praefectura related. In like manner
Buch consultation took place ; and the tenor of the Dion Cassius (liv. 19), when relating how Mae
speech perfectly agrees with the known character cenas was finally superseded (B. c. 16) by Taurus,
and sentiments of Maecenas. . If, therefore, we the praefectus, as vicegerent, during the absence of
should be disposed to regard the part here attributed Augustus, expressly mentions that the jurisdiction
by Dion Cassius to Agrippa and Maecenas as some of Taurus was extended over the whole of Italy
thing more than a mere fiction of the historian, for (το μεν άστυ τω Ταύρα μετά της άλλης Ιτα-
the purpose of stating the most popular arguments alas dioikeiv ėmit pétas). When Agrippa, indeed,
that might be advanced against, or in favour of, could remain at Rome, he seems to have had the
the establishment of the empire, the most probable preference, as on the occasion of Augustus's expe-
solution is that the substance of the speech wils dition into Sicily in B. c. 21. (Dion Cass. liv. 6. )
extant in the Roman archives in the shape of a But when Agrippa accompanied the emperor, as in
state paper or minute, drawn up by Maecenas. his Spanish campaign in B. c. 27, it is hardly to be
However that may be, the document is certainly a doubled that Maecenas exercised the functions of
very able one, and should be carefully consulted by Augustus at Rome. The 8th and 29th odes of the
all who are studying the history of Rome during third book of Horace, which, although we cannot
its transition from a republic to an empire. The fix their precise dates, were evidently written after
regulations proposed for the consolidation of the the civil wars, contain allusions to the political
monarchical power are admirably adapted to their cares of Maecenas. Some of the expressions in them
purpose ; whether they were indispensable, or cal- have been too literally interprcted. In both urbs
culated to secure the happiness of the Roman is used in a sufficiently common sense for respub-
people, depends upon the truth or falsehood of the lica; and though in the latter the word ciritatem
former part of the speech, in which it is contended is taken by the scholiast to allude to the office of
that the republic could no longer exist without con- praefectus, yet the phrase quis deceat status points
stant danger of civil wars and dismemberment. to infinitely higher functions than those of a mere
The description
power
exercised by Maecenas police magistrate. : It may be observed, too, that
during the absence of Caesar should not be con- both odes refer to the foreign affairs of the empire.
founded with the praefectura urbis. It was not It must be confessed, however, that we have no
till after the civil wars that the latter office was
means of determining with certainty on what occa-
established as a distinct and substantive one ; and, sions, and for how long, after the establishment of
according to Dion Cassius (lii. 21), by the advice the empire, Maecenas continued to exercise his
of Maecenas himself. This is confirmed by Tacitus political power; though, as before remarked, we
(Ann. vi. 11), and by Suetonius (Aug. 37), who know that he had ceased to enjoy it in B. c. 16.
reckons it among the nova officia. The praefectus That he retained the confidence of Augustus till at
urbis was a mere police magistrate, whose jurisdic- least B. c. 21 may be inferred from the fact that
tion was confined to Rome and the adjacent country, about that time he advised him to marry his
within a radius of 750 stadia ; but Maecenas had daughter Julia to Agrippa, on the ground that he
the charge of political as well as municipal affairs, had made the latter so rich and powerful, that it
and his administration embraced the whole of was dangerous to allow him to live unless he ad-
Italy. Thus we are told by Seneca (Ep. 114) vanced him still further. (Dion Cass. liv. 6. ) The
that he was invested with judicial power (in tribu- fact to which we have before alluded of Agrippa
nali, in rostris, in omni publico coetu); and also that being entrusted in that year with the administra-
he the watch-word ( signum ab eo petebatur); tion, and not Maecenas, affords no ground for con-
a function of the very highest authority, and after- cluding that any breach had yet been made in the
wards exercised by the emperors themselves. friendship of the emperor and Maecenas. Agrippa,
It is the more necessary to attend to this dis- being more nearly connected with Augustus, would
tinction, because the neglect of it has given rise to of course obtain the preference; and such an act
the notion that Maecenas was never entrusted with of self-renunciation was quite in the character of
the supreme administration after the close of the Maecenas, and might have even formed part of his
civil wars.
The office of praefectus urbis was a advice respecting the conduct to be observed to
regular and continuous one ; and we learn from wards Agrippa. Between B. C. 21 and 16, how-
Tacitus that it was first filled by Messalla Cor- ever, we have direct evidence that a coolness, to
vinus, who held it but a few days ; then by Stati- say the least, had sprung up between the emperor
lius Taurus, who, it is plain from Dion (liv. 19), and his faithful minister. This estrangement, for
must have enjoyed it for upwards of ten years at it cannot be called actual disgrace, is borne out by
least ; and next by Piso, who, Tacitus tells us, the silence of historians respecting the latter years
was praefectus for the space of twenty years. (Ann. of Maecenas's life, as well as by the express testi-
vi. 11. ) But there is nothing in all this to show mony of Tacitus, who tells us (Anm iii. 30) that
that Maecenas might not have been Caesar's vice during this period he enjoyed only the appearance,
gerent whilst Taurus filled the subordinate office of and not the reality, of his sovereign's friendship.
praefectus. Nor are we to infer from the expres- The cause of this rupture is enveloped in doubt.
sion, “ bellis civilibus " in the passage of Tacitus Seneca (Ep. 19) drops a mysterious hint about
(Augustus bellis civilibus Cilnium Maecenatem cunctis Maecenas having taken in his sails too late ; whilst
apud Romam atque Italiam praeposuit, Ann. vi. 11), Dion Cassius (liv. 19) positively attributes it to an
that the political functions of Maecenas absolutely intrigue carried on by Augustus with Terentia,
ceased with the civil wars. His meaning rather Maecenas's wife. It is certain that such a con-
seems to be that, during that period Maecenas com- nection existed ; and the historian just cited men-
bined the duties which afterwards belonged to the tions a report that Augustus's motive for going into
ained to misar
Cacsar's own *
and would have
Maecenas hace
the Exquilne hi
baria-pace for the
Here be bad plat
markable for i
be which it was
which Nero is
plated the barris
kens to have
ad to bare ries
sugh be might
Timur, near the
uthority for th
spent his leisur
quhts of bis
eitbet by wie
-relat peregrin
height of the site
healthy abode I
from Suetonius
De occasion fet
gave
Maecenas's b
wits and tirtos
tribute to the
aways welcome
Ci society he do
kelet; and it
gushing hospita
porastica menst
Eaturally of a
and drew a b
quaintances tha
an idle hour, an
his intimacy ar
be was as carer
mating in the fc
onsisted of the
Een of Rome;
in dination towa
the reputation
friendship for su
## p. 893 (#909) ############################################
MAECENAS.
893
MAECENAS.
sure.
Gaul in B. c. 16 was to enjoy the society of Terentin he deserved it. " In recent times, and by some
unmolested by the lampoons which it gave occasion German authors, especially the celebrated Wieland
to at Rome. But, whatever may have been the in his Introduction and Notes to Horace's Epistles,
cause, the political career of Maecenas may be con- Maecenas's claims to the title of a literary patron
sidered as then at an end ; and we shall therefore have been depreciated. It is urged that he is not
now turn to contemplate him in private life. mentioned by Ovid and Tibullus ; that the Sabine
The public services of Maecenas, though im- farm which he gave to Horaco was not so very
portant, were unobtrusive ; and notwithstanding large ; that his conduct was perhaps not altogether
the part that he played in assisting to establish the disinterested, and that he might have befriended
empire, it is by his private pursuits, and more par literary men either out of vanity or from political
ticularly by his reputation as a patron of literature, motives ; that he was not singular in his literary
that he has been best known to posterity. His patronage, which was a fashion amongst the emi-
retirement was probably far from disagreeable to nent Romans of the day, as Messalla Corvinus,
bim, as it was accompanied with many circum- Asinius Pollio, and others ; and that he was too
stances calculated to recommend it to one of his knowing in pearls and beryls to be a competent
turn of mind, naturally a votary of ease and plea- judge of the higher works of genius. As for his
He had amassed an enormous fortune, which motives, or the reasons why he did not adopt
Tacitus (Ann. xiv. 53, 55) attributes to the libe Tibullus and Ovid, we shall only remark, that as
rality of Augustus.
It has been sometiraes insinu- they are utterly unknown to us, so it is only fair
ated that he grew rich by the proscriptions; and to put the most liberal construction on them; and
Pliny (H. N. xxxvii. 4), speaking of Maecenas's that he had naturally a love of literature for its
private seal, which bore the impression of a frog, own sake, apart from all political or interested
represents it as having been an object of terror to views, may be inferred from the fact of his having
the tax-payers. It by no means follows, however, been himself a voluminous author. Though literary
that the money levied under his private seal was patronage may have been the fashion of the day, it
applied to his private purposes ; and had he been would be difficult to point out any contemporary
inclined to misappropriate the taxes, we know that Roman, or indeed any at all, who indulged it so
Caesar's own seal was at his unlimited disposal, magnificently. His name had become proverbial
and would have better covered his delinquencies. for a patron of letters at least as early as the time
Maecenas had purchased a tract of ground on of Martial ; and though the assertion of that author
the Esquiline hill, which had formerly served as a (viii. 56), that the poets enriched by the bounty of
burial-place for the lower orders. (Hor
. Sat. i. 8. 7. ) Maecenas were noi easily to be counted, is not, of
Here he had planted a garden and built a house course, to be taken literally, it would have been
remarkable for its loftiness, on account of a tower utterly ridiculous had there not been some founda-
by which it was surmounted, and from the top of tion for it. That he was no bad judge of literary
which Nero is said to have afterwards contem- merit is shown by the sort of men whom he
plated the burning of Rome. In this residence he patronised - Virgil, Horace, Propertius ; besides
seems to have passed the greater part of his time, others, almost their equals in reputation, but whose
and to have visited the country but seldom ; for works are now unfortunately lost, as Varius, Tucca,
though he might possibly have possessed a villa at and others. But as Virgil and Horace were by far
Tibur, near the falls of the Anio, there is no direct the greatest geniuses of the age, so it is certain
authority for the fact. Tacitus tells us that he that they were more beloved by Maecenas, the
spent his leisure urbe in ipsa ; and the deep tran- latter especially, than any of their contemporaries.
quillity of his repose may be conjectured from the Virgil was indebted to him for the recovery of his
epithet by which the same historian designates it farm, which had been appropriated by the soldiery
-velut peregrinum otium. (Ann. xiv. 53. ) The in the division of lands, in B. c. 41 ; and it was at
height of the situation seems to have rendered it a the request of Maecenas that he undertook the
healthy abode (Hor. Sat. i. 8. 14); and we learn Georgics, the most finished of all his poems. To
from Suetonius (Aug. 72) that Augustus had on Horace he was a still greater benefactor. He not
one occasion retired thither to recover from a sick- only procured him a pardon for having fought
against Octavianus at Philippi, but presented him
Maecenas's house was the rendezvous of all the with the means of comfortable subsistence, a farm
wits and virtuosi of Rome ; and whoever could con- in the Sabine country. If the estate was but a
tribute to the amusement of the company was moderate one, we learn from Horace himself that
always welcome to a seat at his table. In this kind the bounty of Maecenas was regulated by his own
of society he does not appear to have been very contented views, and not by his patron's want of
select ; and it was probably from his undistin- generosity. (Carm. i. 18. 14, Carm. iïi. 16. 38. )
guishing hospitality that Augustus called his board Nor was this liberality accompanied with any
parasitica mensa. (Suet. Vit
. Hor. ) Yet he was servile and degrading conditions. The poet was at
naturally of a reserved and taciturn disposition, liberty to write or not, as he pleased, and lived in
and drew a broad distinction between the ac- a state of independence creditable alike to himself
quaintances that he adopted for the amusement of and to his patron. Indeed their intimacy was
an idle hour, and the friends whom he admitted to rather that of two familiar friends of equal station,
his intimacy and confidence. In the latter case than of the royally-descended and powerful minister
he was as careful and chary as he was indiscrimi- of Caesar, with the son of an obscure freedman.
nating in the former. His really intimate friends But on this point we need not dwell, as it has been
consisted of the greatest geniuses and most learned already touched upon in the life of Horace.
men of Rome ; and if it was from his universal Of Maecenas's own literary productions, only
inclination towards men of talent that he obtained a few fragments exist. From these, however, and
the reputation of a literary patron, it was by his from the notices which we find of his writings in
friendship for such poets as Virgil and Horace that | ancient authors, we are led to think that we have
3
ness,
## p. 894 (#910) ############################################
894
MAECENAS.
MAECENAS.
met on the tribuna
Mazcenas, who
beeld not approac
1702 upon Data
tandem confez
lan, who impedia
Dnan Cauti
;
Maecenas atp
tuinarian 11
taken ieras, b
Acardire to the
during the last
teis o de Pro
procure that see
by sme to
We par iniert
was rather bypo
slate of Gaiu
Cas kr. 7), and
zit do dhidren,
mit became est
Angustas, and
sided in his bo
sapere treated
later years of
cath, and seer
e so able, so it
(Dhon Cass. liv.
The life of
by John Henry
not suffered any great loss by their destruction ; | and Plutarch (Erol. 16) relates of him the story of
for, although a good judge of literary merit in the accommodating husband, Galba, who pretended
others, he does not appear to have been an author to be asleep after dinner in order to give him an
of much taste himself. It has been thought that opportunity with his wife. Nay, he is even sus
two of his works, of which little more than the pected of more infamous vices. (Tacit. Ant. i. 54. )
titles remain, were tragedies, namely the Pro- In his way of life Maecenas was addicted to
metheus and Octavia. But Seneca (Ěp. 19) calls every species of luxury. We find several allusions
the former a book (librum); and Octavia, men in the ancient authors to the effeminacy of his
tioned in Priscian (lib. 10), is not free from the dress. Instead of girding his tunic above his
suspicion of being a corrupt reading. An hexameter knees, he suffered it to hang loose about his heels,
line supposed to have belonged to an epic poem, like a woman's petticoat ; and when sitting on the
another line thought to have been part of a Galli- tribunal he kept his head covered with his pullium
ambic poem, one or two epigrams, and some other (Sen. Ep. 114). Yet, in spite of this softness be
fragments, are extant, and are given by Meibom was capable of exerting himself when the occasion
and Frandsen in their lives of Maecenas. In prose required, and of acting with energy and decision
he wrote a work on natural history, which Pliny (Vell. Pat. ii. 86). So far was he from wishing
several times alludes to, but which seems to have to conceal the softness and effeminacy of his man-
related chiefly to fishes and gems. Servius (ad ners, that he made a parade of his vices ; and,
Virg. Aen. viii. 310) attributes a Symposium to him. during the greatest heat of the civil wars, openly ap-
If we may trust the same authority be also com- peared in the public places of Rome with a couple of
posed soine memoirs of Augustus ; and Horace eunuchs in his train (Senec. l. c. ). He was fond
(Curm. ii. 12. 9) alludes to at least some project of theatrical entertainments, especially pantomimes;
of the kind, but which was probably never carried as may be inferred from his patronage of Bathyllus,
into execution. Maecenas's prose style was affected, the celebrated dancer, who was a freedman of his.
unnatural, and often unintelligible, and for these It has been concluded from Tacitus (Ann. i. 54)
qualities he was derided by Augustus. (Suet that he first introduced that species of representation
Aug. 26. ) Macrobius (Saturn. ii. 4) has pre at Rome ; and, with the politic view of keeping
served part of a letter of the emperor's, in which the people quiet by amusing them, persuaded
he takes off his minister's way of writing. The Augustus to patronize it. Dion Cassius (lv. 7)
author of the dialogue De Causis Corruptae Elo tells us that he was the first to introduce warm
quentiae (c. 26) enumerates him among the orators, swimming baths at Rome. His love of ointments
but stigmatises his affected style by the term cala- is tacitly satirized by Augustus (Suet. Aug. 86),
mistros Maecenatis. Quintilian (Inst
. Orat. ix. 4. $ and his passion for gems and precious stones is
28) and Seneca (Ep. 114) also condemn his style; notorious. According to Pliny he paid some at-
and the latter author gives a specimen of it which tention to cookery ; and as the same author (xix.
is almost wholly unintelligible. Yet, he likewise 57) mentions a book on gardening, which had been
tells us (Ep. 19), that he would have been very dedicated to him by Sabinus Tiro, it has been
eloquent if he had not been spoiled by his good thought that he was partial to that pursuit His
fortune ; and allows him to have possessed an in- tenacious, and indeed, unmanly love of life, he has
genium grande et virile (Ep. 92). According to himself painted in some verses preserved by Seneca
Dion Cassius (lv. 7), Maecenas first introduced (Ep. 107), and which, as affording a specimen of
short-hand, and instructed many in the art through his style, we here insert:-
bis freedman, Aquila. By other authors, however,
Debilem facito manu
the invention has been attributed to various persons
Debilem pede, coxa ;
of an earlier date ; as to Tiro, Cicero's freedman,
Tuber adstrue gibberum,
to Cicero himself, and even to Ennius.
Lubricos quate dentes ;
But though seemingly in possession of all the
Vita dum superest, bene esta
means and appliances of enjoyment, Maecenas
Hanc mihi, vel acuta
cannot be said to have been altogether happy in
Si sedeam cruce, sustine. --
his domestic life. We have already alluded to an
intrigue between Augustus and his wife Terentia ; | From these lines it has been conjectured that he
but this was not the only infringement of his belonged to the sect of the Epicureans ; but of his
domestic peace.
Terentia, though exceedingly philosophical principles nothing certain is known.
beautiful, was of a morose and haughty temper, That moderation of character which led him to
and thence quarrels were continually occurring be- he content with his equestrian rank, probably arose
tween the pair. Yet the natural uxoriousness of from the love of ease and luxury which we have
Maecenas as constantly prompted him to seek a described, or it might have been the result of more
reconciliation ; so that Seneca (Ep. 114) remarks prudent and political views. As a politician, the
that he married a wife a thousand times, though he principal trait in his character was fidelity to his
never had more than one. Her influence over him master (Maecenatis erunt vera tropaea fides, Pro-
was so great, that in spite of his cautious and pert. iii. 9), and the main end of all his cares was
tacitum temper, he was on one occasion weak the consolidation of the empire. But, though he
enough to confide an important state secret to her, advised the establishment a despotic monarchy,
respecting her brother Murena, the conspirator he was at the same time the advocate of mild and
(Suet. Aug. 66 ; Dion Cass. liv. 3). Maecenas liberal measures. He recommended Augustus to put
himself, however, was probably in some measure to no check on the free expression of public opinion ;
blame for the terms on which he lived with his but above all to avoid that cruelty, which, for so
wife, for he was far from being the pattern of a many years, had stained the Roman annals with
good husband. His own adulteries were notorious. blood (Senec. Ep. 114). To the same effect is the
Augustus, in the fragment of the letter in Macrobius anecdote preserved by Cedrenus, the Byzantine
before alluded to, calls him uán ayua maecharum ; | historian ; that when on some occasion Octavianus
Liter singular
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the end the ele
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MAECI
members of
## p. 895 (#911) ############################################
MAECILIA GENS.
895
MAELIUS.
sat on the tribunal, condemning numbers to death, 1. L. MAECILIUS, one of those tribunes of tho
Maecenas, who was among the bystanders, and plebs who were chosen for the first time in the
could not approach Caesar by reason of the crowd, comitia tributa, B. C. 471. (Liv. ii. 58. )
wrote upon his tablets, “ Rise, hangman ! " (Surge 2. SP. MAECILIUS, chosen for the fourth time
tandem carnifex /), and threw them into Caesar's tribune of the plebs, B. C. 416. (Liv. iv. 48. )
lap, who immediately left the judgment-Beat (comp. In the time of Augustus we find the name of
Dion Cass. Iv. 7).
M. Maecilius Tullus, a triumvir of the mint, on
Maecenas appears to have been a constant vale many coins (Eckhel, vol v. p. 240);
and at length
tudinarian. If Pliny's statement (vii. 51) is to be not long before the downfall of the Roman empire
taken literally, he laboured under a continual fever. in the west a Maecilius obtained the imperial
According to the same author he was sleepless dignity. (Avitus, MAECILIUS. )
during the last three years of his life ; and Seneca MAECIUS, QUINTUS (Koivros Malkis), the
tells us (de Provid. iii. 9) that he endeavoured to author of twelve epigrams in the Greek Anthology,
procure that sweet and indispensable refreshment, which are among the best in the collection, was
by listening to the sound of distant symphonies. evidently, from his name, a Roman ; but nothing
We may infer from Horace (Carm. ii. 17) that he further is known of him. (Brunck. Anal. vol. ii.
was rather hypochondriacal. He died in the con- p. 236, vol. iii. p. 332 ; Jacobs, Anth. Graec. vol.
sulate of Gallus and Censorinus, B. C.
geluas, which is quoted by Athenaeus (x. p. 454, the first notice that occurs of any of the family, as
b), and which appears to have been a kind of a citizen of Rome, is in Cicero's speech for Cluen-
A B C book (comp. Welcker, in Rheinisches Mu- tius ( 56), where a knight named C. Maecenas is
seum for 1833, p. 146). Maeandrius is also re- mentioned among the robora populi Romani, and
ferred to by Macrobius (Sat. i. 17). We learn as having been instrumental in putting down the
from an inscription, which Böckh places between conspiracy of the tribune, M. Livius Drusus, B. C.
Olymp. 140 and 155, that this writer was a native 91. This person has been generally considered the
of Miletus (Böckh, Corp. Inscr. n. 2905, vol. ii. father of the subject of this memoir ; but Frandsen,
p. 573). It has been conjectured with considerable in his life of Maecenas, thinks, and perhaps with
prohability, that this Maeandrius may be the same more probability, that it was his grandfather.
as the Leandrius or Leander of Miletus, who was About the same period we also find a Maecenas
also an historian, and who is mentioned by several mentioned by Sallust, in the fragments of his
ancient writers. (LEANDER. )
history (Lib. iii. ) as a scribe.
MAECENAS, C. CI'LNIUS. Of the life of Although it is unknown where Maecenas re-
Maecenas we must be content to glean what scat-ceived his education, it must doubtless have been
tered notices we can from the poets and historians a careful one. We learn from Horace that he was
of Rome, since it does not appear to have been versed both in Greek and Roman literature ; and
formally recorded by any ancient author. We are his taste for literary pursuits was shown, not only
## p. 891 (#907) ############################################
MAECENAS.
89!
MAECENAS.
by his patronage of the most eminent poets of his | Lepidus. The only direct authority for the state-
time, but also by sereral performances of his own, ment of Maecenas having been at Actium is an
both in verse and prose. That at the time of elegy ascribed to Albinoranus on the death of
Julius Caesar's assassination he was with Octa- Maecenas, which is certainly spurious ; and the
vianus at Apollonia, in the capacity of tutor, rests commentary of Acron on the first epode of Horace,
on pure conjecture. Shortly, however, after the which kind of authority is of little value. The
appearance of the latter on the political stage, we first elegy of the second book of Propertius has
find the name of Maecenas in frequent conjunction also been quoted in support of this fact, but upon
with his ; and there can be no doubt that he was examination it will be found wholly inadequate to
of great use to him in assisting to establish and establish it. Yet the existence of Horace's first
consolidate the empire ; but the want of materials epode still remains to be accounted for. Those
prevents us from tracing his services in this way critics who deny that Maecenas proceeded to Ac-
with the accuracy that could be wished. It is pos- tium have still, we believe, hitherto unanimously
sible that he may have accompanied Octavianus in held that the poem is to be referred to that epoch;
the campaigns of Mutina, Philippi, and Perusia ; and they explain the inconsistency by the supposi-
but the only authorities for the statement are a tion that Maecenas, when the epode was written,
passage in Propertius (ii. 1), which by no means had really intended to accompany Caesar, but was
necessarily bears that meaning; and the elegies prevented by the office assigned to him at home.
attributed to Pedo Albinovanus, but which have in confirmation of this view, Frandsen, in his
been pronounced spurious by a large majority of Life of Maecenas, appeals to the 35th ode of
the best critics. The first authentic account we Horace's first book, addressed to Augustus on the
have of Maecenas is of his being employed by occasion of his intended visit to Britain, a journey
Octavianus, B. C. 40, in negotiating a marriage for which it is known he never actually performed.
him with Scribonia, daughter of Libo, the father. But to this it may be answered that Augustus at
in-law of Sext. Pompeius; which latter, for political least started with the intention of going thither,
reasons, Octavianus was at that time desirous of and actually went as far as Gaul ; but proceeded
conciliating. (App. B. C. v. 33; Dion Cass. thence to Spain. A more probable solution, there-
xlviii. 16. ) In the same year Maecenas took part fore, may be that first proposed by the author of
in the negotiations with Antony (whose wife, this article in the Classical Museum (vol. ii. p. 205,
Fulvia, was now dead), which led to the peace of &c. ), that the epode does not at all relate to Ac
Brundisium, confirmed by the marriage of Antony tium, but to the Sicilian expedition against Sext.
with Octavia, Caesar's sister. (App. B. C. v. 64. ) Pompeius. But for the grounds of that opinion, .
Appian's authority on this occasion is supported by which would occupy too much space to be here
the scholiast on Horace (Sat. i. 5. 28), who tells us re-stated, the reader is referred to ibat work.
that Livy, in his 127th book, had recorded the By the detection of the conspiracy of Lepidus,
intervention of Maecenas. According to Appian, Maecenas nipped in the bud what might have
however, Cocceius Nerva played the principal part. proved another fruitful germ of civil war. Indeed
About two years afterwards Maecenas seems to his services at this period must have been most
have been again employed in negotiating with An- important and invaluable ; and how faithfully and
tony (App. B. C. v. 93); and it was probably on ably he acquitted himself may be inferred from the
this occasion that Horace accompanied him to unbounded confidence reposed in him. In con-
Brundisium, a journey which he has described in junction with Agrippa, we now find him empowered
the 5th satire of the 1st book. Maecenas is there not only to open all letters addressed by Caesar to
also represented as associated with Cocceius, and the senate, but even to alter their contents as the
they are both described as “aversos soliti componere posture of affairs at home might require ; and for
amicos. "
this purpose he was entrusted with his master's
: In B. C. 36 we find Maecenas in Sicily with seal (Dion Cass. li. 3), in order that the letters
Octavianus, then engaged in an expedition against might be delivered as if they had come directly
Sen. Pompeius, during the course of which Mae from Octavian's own hand. Yet, notwithstanding
cepas was twice sent back Rome for the purpose the height of favour and power to which he had
of quelling some disturbances which had broken attained, Maecenas, whether from policy or inclina-
out there. (App. B. C. v. 99, 112. ) Accord- tion, remained content with his equestrian rank;
ing to Dion Cassius (xlix. 16), this was the first & circumstance which seems somewhat to have
occasion on which Maecenas became Caesar's vice- diminished bis authority with the populace.
gerent; and he was entrusted with the adminis After Octavianus' victory over Antony and
tration not only of Rome, but of all Italy. His Cleopatra, the whole power of the triumvirate cen-
fidelity and talents had now been tested by several tered in the former ; for Lepidus had been pre-
years' experience ; and it had probably been found viously reduced to the condition of a private person.
that the bent of his genius fitted him for the cabinet On his return to Rome, Caesar is represented to
rather than for the field, since his services could be have taken counsel with Agrippa and Maecenas
so easily dispensed with in the latter. From this respecting the expediency of restoring the republic.
time till the battle of Actium (B. C. 31) history is | Agrippa advised him to pursue that course, but Mae-
silent concerning Maecenas ; but at that period we cenas strongly urged him to establish the empire ;
again find him intrusted with the administration and Dion Cassius (lii. 14, &c. ) has preserved the
of the civil affairs of Italy. It has indeed been speech which he is said to have addressed to Octa-
maintained by many critics that Maecenas was vianus on that occasion. The genuineness of that
present at the sea-fight of Actium ; but the best document is, however, liable to very great suspi-
modern scholars who have discussed the subject cion. It is highly improbable that Maecenas, in a
have shown that this could not have been the case, cabinet consultation of that kind, would have ad-
and that he remained in Rome during this time, dressed Octavianus in a set speech of so formal a
where he suppressed the conspiracy of the younger description ; and still more so that any one should
## p. 892 (#908) ############################################
892
MAECENAS.
MAECENAS.
Gali BC 16
phenolessed by the
to a Rose. Bu
204, the potica
ided as then a
i
The public se
pertani, Fere EL
the part in2: he
care, it is being
Dars by bis
: be has beer
rettement was p
lin, as it is
senices cloiste
tart of mind, ra
fore. He had an
Trito (Art.
sity of Augusta
ated that he gre
Piep (H. X. IS
porte sea, whi
Teresents it as
the ta1-farers.
that the bandes
wed to his
of
have been present to take it down, or that Mae praefectus alone, with those of the supreme political
cenas himself should have afterwards published it. power. This is shown by the word cunctis, and
Yet Suetonius, in his life of Augustus (28), confirms by the mention of Italy as well as Rome ; to which
tbe account of Dion Cassius so far as that some latter only the praefectura related. In like manner
Buch consultation took place ; and the tenor of the Dion Cassius (liv. 19), when relating how Mae
speech perfectly agrees with the known character cenas was finally superseded (B. c. 16) by Taurus,
and sentiments of Maecenas. . If, therefore, we the praefectus, as vicegerent, during the absence of
should be disposed to regard the part here attributed Augustus, expressly mentions that the jurisdiction
by Dion Cassius to Agrippa and Maecenas as some of Taurus was extended over the whole of Italy
thing more than a mere fiction of the historian, for (το μεν άστυ τω Ταύρα μετά της άλλης Ιτα-
the purpose of stating the most popular arguments alas dioikeiv ėmit pétas). When Agrippa, indeed,
that might be advanced against, or in favour of, could remain at Rome, he seems to have had the
the establishment of the empire, the most probable preference, as on the occasion of Augustus's expe-
solution is that the substance of the speech wils dition into Sicily in B. c. 21. (Dion Cass. liv. 6. )
extant in the Roman archives in the shape of a But when Agrippa accompanied the emperor, as in
state paper or minute, drawn up by Maecenas. his Spanish campaign in B. c. 27, it is hardly to be
However that may be, the document is certainly a doubled that Maecenas exercised the functions of
very able one, and should be carefully consulted by Augustus at Rome. The 8th and 29th odes of the
all who are studying the history of Rome during third book of Horace, which, although we cannot
its transition from a republic to an empire. The fix their precise dates, were evidently written after
regulations proposed for the consolidation of the the civil wars, contain allusions to the political
monarchical power are admirably adapted to their cares of Maecenas. Some of the expressions in them
purpose ; whether they were indispensable, or cal- have been too literally interprcted. In both urbs
culated to secure the happiness of the Roman is used in a sufficiently common sense for respub-
people, depends upon the truth or falsehood of the lica; and though in the latter the word ciritatem
former part of the speech, in which it is contended is taken by the scholiast to allude to the office of
that the republic could no longer exist without con- praefectus, yet the phrase quis deceat status points
stant danger of civil wars and dismemberment. to infinitely higher functions than those of a mere
The description
power
exercised by Maecenas police magistrate. : It may be observed, too, that
during the absence of Caesar should not be con- both odes refer to the foreign affairs of the empire.
founded with the praefectura urbis. It was not It must be confessed, however, that we have no
till after the civil wars that the latter office was
means of determining with certainty on what occa-
established as a distinct and substantive one ; and, sions, and for how long, after the establishment of
according to Dion Cassius (lii. 21), by the advice the empire, Maecenas continued to exercise his
of Maecenas himself. This is confirmed by Tacitus political power; though, as before remarked, we
(Ann. vi. 11), and by Suetonius (Aug. 37), who know that he had ceased to enjoy it in B. c. 16.
reckons it among the nova officia. The praefectus That he retained the confidence of Augustus till at
urbis was a mere police magistrate, whose jurisdic- least B. c. 21 may be inferred from the fact that
tion was confined to Rome and the adjacent country, about that time he advised him to marry his
within a radius of 750 stadia ; but Maecenas had daughter Julia to Agrippa, on the ground that he
the charge of political as well as municipal affairs, had made the latter so rich and powerful, that it
and his administration embraced the whole of was dangerous to allow him to live unless he ad-
Italy. Thus we are told by Seneca (Ep. 114) vanced him still further. (Dion Cass. liv. 6. ) The
that he was invested with judicial power (in tribu- fact to which we have before alluded of Agrippa
nali, in rostris, in omni publico coetu); and also that being entrusted in that year with the administra-
he the watch-word ( signum ab eo petebatur); tion, and not Maecenas, affords no ground for con-
a function of the very highest authority, and after- cluding that any breach had yet been made in the
wards exercised by the emperors themselves. friendship of the emperor and Maecenas. Agrippa,
It is the more necessary to attend to this dis- being more nearly connected with Augustus, would
tinction, because the neglect of it has given rise to of course obtain the preference; and such an act
the notion that Maecenas was never entrusted with of self-renunciation was quite in the character of
the supreme administration after the close of the Maecenas, and might have even formed part of his
civil wars.
The office of praefectus urbis was a advice respecting the conduct to be observed to
regular and continuous one ; and we learn from wards Agrippa. Between B. C. 21 and 16, how-
Tacitus that it was first filled by Messalla Cor- ever, we have direct evidence that a coolness, to
vinus, who held it but a few days ; then by Stati- say the least, had sprung up between the emperor
lius Taurus, who, it is plain from Dion (liv. 19), and his faithful minister. This estrangement, for
must have enjoyed it for upwards of ten years at it cannot be called actual disgrace, is borne out by
least ; and next by Piso, who, Tacitus tells us, the silence of historians respecting the latter years
was praefectus for the space of twenty years. (Ann. of Maecenas's life, as well as by the express testi-
vi. 11. ) But there is nothing in all this to show mony of Tacitus, who tells us (Anm iii. 30) that
that Maecenas might not have been Caesar's vice during this period he enjoyed only the appearance,
gerent whilst Taurus filled the subordinate office of and not the reality, of his sovereign's friendship.
praefectus. Nor are we to infer from the expres- The cause of this rupture is enveloped in doubt.
sion, “ bellis civilibus " in the passage of Tacitus Seneca (Ep. 19) drops a mysterious hint about
(Augustus bellis civilibus Cilnium Maecenatem cunctis Maecenas having taken in his sails too late ; whilst
apud Romam atque Italiam praeposuit, Ann. vi. 11), Dion Cassius (liv. 19) positively attributes it to an
that the political functions of Maecenas absolutely intrigue carried on by Augustus with Terentia,
ceased with the civil wars. His meaning rather Maecenas's wife. It is certain that such a con-
seems to be that, during that period Maecenas com- nection existed ; and the historian just cited men-
bined the duties which afterwards belonged to the tions a report that Augustus's motive for going into
ained to misar
Cacsar's own *
and would have
Maecenas hace
the Exquilne hi
baria-pace for the
Here be bad plat
markable for i
be which it was
which Nero is
plated the barris
kens to have
ad to bare ries
sugh be might
Timur, near the
uthority for th
spent his leisur
quhts of bis
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-relat peregrin
height of the site
healthy abode I
from Suetonius
De occasion fet
gave
Maecenas's b
wits and tirtos
tribute to the
aways welcome
Ci society he do
kelet; and it
gushing hospita
porastica menst
Eaturally of a
and drew a b
quaintances tha
an idle hour, an
his intimacy ar
be was as carer
mating in the fc
onsisted of the
Een of Rome;
in dination towa
the reputation
friendship for su
## p. 893 (#909) ############################################
MAECENAS.
893
MAECENAS.
sure.
Gaul in B. c. 16 was to enjoy the society of Terentin he deserved it. " In recent times, and by some
unmolested by the lampoons which it gave occasion German authors, especially the celebrated Wieland
to at Rome. But, whatever may have been the in his Introduction and Notes to Horace's Epistles,
cause, the political career of Maecenas may be con- Maecenas's claims to the title of a literary patron
sidered as then at an end ; and we shall therefore have been depreciated. It is urged that he is not
now turn to contemplate him in private life. mentioned by Ovid and Tibullus ; that the Sabine
The public services of Maecenas, though im- farm which he gave to Horaco was not so very
portant, were unobtrusive ; and notwithstanding large ; that his conduct was perhaps not altogether
the part that he played in assisting to establish the disinterested, and that he might have befriended
empire, it is by his private pursuits, and more par literary men either out of vanity or from political
ticularly by his reputation as a patron of literature, motives ; that he was not singular in his literary
that he has been best known to posterity. His patronage, which was a fashion amongst the emi-
retirement was probably far from disagreeable to nent Romans of the day, as Messalla Corvinus,
bim, as it was accompanied with many circum- Asinius Pollio, and others ; and that he was too
stances calculated to recommend it to one of his knowing in pearls and beryls to be a competent
turn of mind, naturally a votary of ease and plea- judge of the higher works of genius. As for his
He had amassed an enormous fortune, which motives, or the reasons why he did not adopt
Tacitus (Ann. xiv. 53, 55) attributes to the libe Tibullus and Ovid, we shall only remark, that as
rality of Augustus.
It has been sometiraes insinu- they are utterly unknown to us, so it is only fair
ated that he grew rich by the proscriptions; and to put the most liberal construction on them; and
Pliny (H. N. xxxvii. 4), speaking of Maecenas's that he had naturally a love of literature for its
private seal, which bore the impression of a frog, own sake, apart from all political or interested
represents it as having been an object of terror to views, may be inferred from the fact of his having
the tax-payers. It by no means follows, however, been himself a voluminous author. Though literary
that the money levied under his private seal was patronage may have been the fashion of the day, it
applied to his private purposes ; and had he been would be difficult to point out any contemporary
inclined to misappropriate the taxes, we know that Roman, or indeed any at all, who indulged it so
Caesar's own seal was at his unlimited disposal, magnificently. His name had become proverbial
and would have better covered his delinquencies. for a patron of letters at least as early as the time
Maecenas had purchased a tract of ground on of Martial ; and though the assertion of that author
the Esquiline hill, which had formerly served as a (viii. 56), that the poets enriched by the bounty of
burial-place for the lower orders. (Hor
. Sat. i. 8. 7. ) Maecenas were noi easily to be counted, is not, of
Here he had planted a garden and built a house course, to be taken literally, it would have been
remarkable for its loftiness, on account of a tower utterly ridiculous had there not been some founda-
by which it was surmounted, and from the top of tion for it. That he was no bad judge of literary
which Nero is said to have afterwards contem- merit is shown by the sort of men whom he
plated the burning of Rome. In this residence he patronised - Virgil, Horace, Propertius ; besides
seems to have passed the greater part of his time, others, almost their equals in reputation, but whose
and to have visited the country but seldom ; for works are now unfortunately lost, as Varius, Tucca,
though he might possibly have possessed a villa at and others. But as Virgil and Horace were by far
Tibur, near the falls of the Anio, there is no direct the greatest geniuses of the age, so it is certain
authority for the fact. Tacitus tells us that he that they were more beloved by Maecenas, the
spent his leisure urbe in ipsa ; and the deep tran- latter especially, than any of their contemporaries.
quillity of his repose may be conjectured from the Virgil was indebted to him for the recovery of his
epithet by which the same historian designates it farm, which had been appropriated by the soldiery
-velut peregrinum otium. (Ann. xiv. 53. ) The in the division of lands, in B. c. 41 ; and it was at
height of the situation seems to have rendered it a the request of Maecenas that he undertook the
healthy abode (Hor. Sat. i. 8. 14); and we learn Georgics, the most finished of all his poems. To
from Suetonius (Aug. 72) that Augustus had on Horace he was a still greater benefactor. He not
one occasion retired thither to recover from a sick- only procured him a pardon for having fought
against Octavianus at Philippi, but presented him
Maecenas's house was the rendezvous of all the with the means of comfortable subsistence, a farm
wits and virtuosi of Rome ; and whoever could con- in the Sabine country. If the estate was but a
tribute to the amusement of the company was moderate one, we learn from Horace himself that
always welcome to a seat at his table. In this kind the bounty of Maecenas was regulated by his own
of society he does not appear to have been very contented views, and not by his patron's want of
select ; and it was probably from his undistin- generosity. (Carm. i. 18. 14, Carm. iïi. 16. 38. )
guishing hospitality that Augustus called his board Nor was this liberality accompanied with any
parasitica mensa. (Suet. Vit
. Hor. ) Yet he was servile and degrading conditions. The poet was at
naturally of a reserved and taciturn disposition, liberty to write or not, as he pleased, and lived in
and drew a broad distinction between the ac- a state of independence creditable alike to himself
quaintances that he adopted for the amusement of and to his patron. Indeed their intimacy was
an idle hour, and the friends whom he admitted to rather that of two familiar friends of equal station,
his intimacy and confidence. In the latter case than of the royally-descended and powerful minister
he was as careful and chary as he was indiscrimi- of Caesar, with the son of an obscure freedman.
nating in the former. His really intimate friends But on this point we need not dwell, as it has been
consisted of the greatest geniuses and most learned already touched upon in the life of Horace.
men of Rome ; and if it was from his universal Of Maecenas's own literary productions, only
inclination towards men of talent that he obtained a few fragments exist. From these, however, and
the reputation of a literary patron, it was by his from the notices which we find of his writings in
friendship for such poets as Virgil and Horace that | ancient authors, we are led to think that we have
3
ness,
## p. 894 (#910) ############################################
894
MAECENAS.
MAECENAS.
met on the tribuna
Mazcenas, who
beeld not approac
1702 upon Data
tandem confez
lan, who impedia
Dnan Cauti
;
Maecenas atp
tuinarian 11
taken ieras, b
Acardire to the
during the last
teis o de Pro
procure that see
by sme to
We par iniert
was rather bypo
slate of Gaiu
Cas kr. 7), and
zit do dhidren,
mit became est
Angustas, and
sided in his bo
sapere treated
later years of
cath, and seer
e so able, so it
(Dhon Cass. liv.
The life of
by John Henry
not suffered any great loss by their destruction ; | and Plutarch (Erol. 16) relates of him the story of
for, although a good judge of literary merit in the accommodating husband, Galba, who pretended
others, he does not appear to have been an author to be asleep after dinner in order to give him an
of much taste himself. It has been thought that opportunity with his wife. Nay, he is even sus
two of his works, of which little more than the pected of more infamous vices. (Tacit. Ant. i. 54. )
titles remain, were tragedies, namely the Pro- In his way of life Maecenas was addicted to
metheus and Octavia. But Seneca (Ěp. 19) calls every species of luxury. We find several allusions
the former a book (librum); and Octavia, men in the ancient authors to the effeminacy of his
tioned in Priscian (lib. 10), is not free from the dress. Instead of girding his tunic above his
suspicion of being a corrupt reading. An hexameter knees, he suffered it to hang loose about his heels,
line supposed to have belonged to an epic poem, like a woman's petticoat ; and when sitting on the
another line thought to have been part of a Galli- tribunal he kept his head covered with his pullium
ambic poem, one or two epigrams, and some other (Sen. Ep. 114). Yet, in spite of this softness be
fragments, are extant, and are given by Meibom was capable of exerting himself when the occasion
and Frandsen in their lives of Maecenas. In prose required, and of acting with energy and decision
he wrote a work on natural history, which Pliny (Vell. Pat. ii. 86). So far was he from wishing
several times alludes to, but which seems to have to conceal the softness and effeminacy of his man-
related chiefly to fishes and gems. Servius (ad ners, that he made a parade of his vices ; and,
Virg. Aen. viii. 310) attributes a Symposium to him. during the greatest heat of the civil wars, openly ap-
If we may trust the same authority be also com- peared in the public places of Rome with a couple of
posed soine memoirs of Augustus ; and Horace eunuchs in his train (Senec. l. c. ). He was fond
(Curm. ii. 12. 9) alludes to at least some project of theatrical entertainments, especially pantomimes;
of the kind, but which was probably never carried as may be inferred from his patronage of Bathyllus,
into execution. Maecenas's prose style was affected, the celebrated dancer, who was a freedman of his.
unnatural, and often unintelligible, and for these It has been concluded from Tacitus (Ann. i. 54)
qualities he was derided by Augustus. (Suet that he first introduced that species of representation
Aug. 26. ) Macrobius (Saturn. ii. 4) has pre at Rome ; and, with the politic view of keeping
served part of a letter of the emperor's, in which the people quiet by amusing them, persuaded
he takes off his minister's way of writing. The Augustus to patronize it. Dion Cassius (lv. 7)
author of the dialogue De Causis Corruptae Elo tells us that he was the first to introduce warm
quentiae (c. 26) enumerates him among the orators, swimming baths at Rome. His love of ointments
but stigmatises his affected style by the term cala- is tacitly satirized by Augustus (Suet. Aug. 86),
mistros Maecenatis. Quintilian (Inst
. Orat. ix. 4. $ and his passion for gems and precious stones is
28) and Seneca (Ep. 114) also condemn his style; notorious. According to Pliny he paid some at-
and the latter author gives a specimen of it which tention to cookery ; and as the same author (xix.
is almost wholly unintelligible. Yet, he likewise 57) mentions a book on gardening, which had been
tells us (Ep. 19), that he would have been very dedicated to him by Sabinus Tiro, it has been
eloquent if he had not been spoiled by his good thought that he was partial to that pursuit His
fortune ; and allows him to have possessed an in- tenacious, and indeed, unmanly love of life, he has
genium grande et virile (Ep. 92). According to himself painted in some verses preserved by Seneca
Dion Cassius (lv. 7), Maecenas first introduced (Ep. 107), and which, as affording a specimen of
short-hand, and instructed many in the art through his style, we here insert:-
bis freedman, Aquila. By other authors, however,
Debilem facito manu
the invention has been attributed to various persons
Debilem pede, coxa ;
of an earlier date ; as to Tiro, Cicero's freedman,
Tuber adstrue gibberum,
to Cicero himself, and even to Ennius.
Lubricos quate dentes ;
But though seemingly in possession of all the
Vita dum superest, bene esta
means and appliances of enjoyment, Maecenas
Hanc mihi, vel acuta
cannot be said to have been altogether happy in
Si sedeam cruce, sustine. --
his domestic life. We have already alluded to an
intrigue between Augustus and his wife Terentia ; | From these lines it has been conjectured that he
but this was not the only infringement of his belonged to the sect of the Epicureans ; but of his
domestic peace.
Terentia, though exceedingly philosophical principles nothing certain is known.
beautiful, was of a morose and haughty temper, That moderation of character which led him to
and thence quarrels were continually occurring be- he content with his equestrian rank, probably arose
tween the pair. Yet the natural uxoriousness of from the love of ease and luxury which we have
Maecenas as constantly prompted him to seek a described, or it might have been the result of more
reconciliation ; so that Seneca (Ep. 114) remarks prudent and political views. As a politician, the
that he married a wife a thousand times, though he principal trait in his character was fidelity to his
never had more than one. Her influence over him master (Maecenatis erunt vera tropaea fides, Pro-
was so great, that in spite of his cautious and pert. iii. 9), and the main end of all his cares was
tacitum temper, he was on one occasion weak the consolidation of the empire. But, though he
enough to confide an important state secret to her, advised the establishment a despotic monarchy,
respecting her brother Murena, the conspirator he was at the same time the advocate of mild and
(Suet. Aug. 66 ; Dion Cass. liv. 3). Maecenas liberal measures. He recommended Augustus to put
himself, however, was probably in some measure to no check on the free expression of public opinion ;
blame for the terms on which he lived with his but above all to avoid that cruelty, which, for so
wife, for he was far from being the pattern of a many years, had stained the Roman annals with
good husband. His own adulteries were notorious. blood (Senec. Ep. 114). To the same effect is the
Augustus, in the fragment of the letter in Macrobius anecdote preserved by Cedrenus, the Byzantine
before alluded to, calls him uán ayua maecharum ; | historian ; that when on some occasion Octavianus
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MAECILIA GENS.
895
MAELIUS.
sat on the tribunal, condemning numbers to death, 1. L. MAECILIUS, one of those tribunes of tho
Maecenas, who was among the bystanders, and plebs who were chosen for the first time in the
could not approach Caesar by reason of the crowd, comitia tributa, B. C. 471. (Liv. ii. 58. )
wrote upon his tablets, “ Rise, hangman ! " (Surge 2. SP. MAECILIUS, chosen for the fourth time
tandem carnifex /), and threw them into Caesar's tribune of the plebs, B. C. 416. (Liv. iv. 48. )
lap, who immediately left the judgment-Beat (comp. In the time of Augustus we find the name of
Dion Cass. Iv. 7).
M. Maecilius Tullus, a triumvir of the mint, on
Maecenas appears to have been a constant vale many coins (Eckhel, vol v. p. 240);
and at length
tudinarian. If Pliny's statement (vii. 51) is to be not long before the downfall of the Roman empire
taken literally, he laboured under a continual fever. in the west a Maecilius obtained the imperial
According to the same author he was sleepless dignity. (Avitus, MAECILIUS. )
during the last three years of his life ; and Seneca MAECIUS, QUINTUS (Koivros Malkis), the
tells us (de Provid. iii. 9) that he endeavoured to author of twelve epigrams in the Greek Anthology,
procure that sweet and indispensable refreshment, which are among the best in the collection, was
by listening to the sound of distant symphonies. evidently, from his name, a Roman ; but nothing
We may infer from Horace (Carm. ii. 17) that he further is known of him. (Brunck. Anal. vol. ii.
was rather hypochondriacal. He died in the con- p. 236, vol. iii. p. 332 ; Jacobs, Anth. Graec. vol.
sulate of Gallus and Censorinus, B. C.
