No More Learning

DENTATUS.
Vict de l'ir. Illust. 33. ) The year of his tribune-jected their presents with the worda, that he pre-
ship is uncertain. According to an inscription ferred ruling over those who possessed gold, to
(Orelli, Inscript. Lut. No. 539) Appius the Blind possessing it himself. IIe was celebrated down to
was appointed interrex three times, and from Livy the latest times as one of the noblest specimens of
(x. 11) we know, that one of his inter-reigns ancient Roman simplicity and frugality. When
belongs to B. C. 299, but in that year Appius did after the conquest of the Sabines lands were dis-
not hold the elections, so that this cannot be the tributed among the people, he refused to take
year of the tribuneship of Dentatus.
In B. C. more than any other soldier, and it was probably
290 he was consul with P. Cornelius Rufinus, and on that occasion that the republic rewarded him
both fouglit against the Samnites and gained such with a house and 500 jugers of land. Ile is said
decisive victories over them, that the war which never to have been accompanied by more than two
had lasted for 49 years, was brought to a closc, grooms, when he went out as the commander of
and the Samnites sued for peace which was granted Roman armies, and to have died so poor, that the
to them. The consuls then triumphed over the republic found it necessary to provide a dowry for
Samnites. After the end of this campaign Curius his daughter. But such reports, especially the
Dentatus marched against the Sabines, who had latter, are exaggerations or misrepresentations, for
revolted from Rome and had probably supported the property which enabled a man to live com-
the Samnites. In this undertaking he was again fortably in the time of Curius, appeared to the
80 successful, that in one campaign the whole Romans of a later age hardly sufficient to live
country of the Sabines was reduced, and he ce- at all; and if the state gave a dowry to his
lebrated his second triumph in his first consulship. daughter, it does not follow that he was too poor
The Sabines then received the Roman civitas to provide her with it, for the republic may have
without the suffrage. (Vell. Pat. i. 14), but a por- given it to her as an acknowledgment of her fa-
tion of their territory was distributed among the ther's merits. Dentatus lived in intimate friend-
plebeians. (Niebuhr, Ilist. of Rome, iii. p. 420. ) ship with the greatest men of his time, and he has
In B. c. 283, Dentatus was appointed prae- acquired no less fame from the useful works he
tor in the place of L. Caecilius, who was slain constructed than from his victories orer Pyrrhus
in an engagement against the Senones, and he and the Samnites, and from his habits of the good
forth with sent ambassadors to the enemy to nego old times of Rome. In B. c. 272, during his cen-
tiate the ransom of the Roman prisoners; but his sorship, he built an aquaeduct (Aniensis Vetus),
ambassadors were murdered by the Senones. Au- which carried the water from the river Anio into
relius Victor mentions an oratio of Curius orer the the city. The expenses were covered by the booty
Lucanians, which according to Niebuhr (iii. p. which he had made in the war with Pyrrhus.
437) belonged either to B. C. 285 or the year pre. Two years later he was appointed duumvir to su-
vious. In B. c. 275 Curius Dentatus was consul perintend the building of the aquaeduct, but five
a second time. Pyrrhus was then returning from days after the appointment he died, and was thus
Sicily, and in the levy which Dentatus made to com- prevented from completing his work. (Frontin. de
plete the army, he set an example of the strictest Aquacduct. i. 6; Aur. Vict. de Vir. I. 33. ) He
severity, for the property of the first person that was further the benefactor of the town of Reate in
refused to serve was confiscated and sold, and when the country of the Sabines, for he dug a canal (or
the man remonstrated he himself too is said to have canals) from lake Velinus through the rocks, and
been sold. When the army was readı, Dentatus thus carried its water to a spot where it falls
marched into Samnium and defeated Pyrrhus near from a height of 140 feet into the river Nar
Beneventum and in the Arusinian plain so com- (Nera). This fall is the still celebrated fall of
pletely, that the king was obliged to quit Italy. Terni, or the cascade delle Marmore. The Rea-
The triumph which Dentatus celebrated in that year tians by that means gained a considerable district
over the Samnites and Pyrrhus was one of the of excellent arable land, which was called Kosea.
most magnificent that had ever been witnessed : / (Cic. ad Att. iv. 15, pro Scaur. 2 ; Serv. ad Aen.
it was adorned by four elephants, the first that vii. 712. ) A controversy has recently been raised
were ever seen at Rome. llis disinterestedness by Zumpt (. 1lhandl. der Berlin. Akademie for
and frugality on that occasion were truly worthy 1836, p. 155, &c. ) respecting the M. Curius, who
of a great Roman. All the booty that had been led the water of lake Velinus into the Xar. In
taken in the campaign against Pyrrhus was given the time of Cicero we find the town of Reate en-
up to the republic, but when he was nevertheless gaged in a law-suit with Interamna, whose terri-
charged with having appropriated to himself a por- tory was suffering on account of that canal, while
tion of it, he asserted on his oath that he had the territory of Reate was benefited by it. Zunpt
taken nothing except a wooden ressel which he naturally asks “how did it happen that Interamna
used in sacrificing to the gods. In the year fol- did not bring forward its complaints till two cen-
lowing, B. c. 274, he was elected consul a third turies and a half after the construction of the
time, and carried on the war against the Lucanians, canal ? ” and from the apparent impossibilty of
Samnites, and Bruttians, who still continued in finding a proper answer, he ventures upon the suppo-
arms after the defeat of Pyrrhus. When this war sition, that the canal from lake Velinus was a pri-
was brought to a close Curius Dentatus retired to
vate undertaking of the age of Cicero, and that
his fa. m in the country of the Sabines, where he M'. Curius who was quaestor in B. C. 60, was the
spent the remainder of his life and devoted him- author of the undertaking. But our ignorance of
self to agricultural pursuits, though still ready to any quarrels between Interamna and Reate before
serre his country when needed, for in B. c. 272 the time of Cicero, does not prove that there
he was invested with the censorship. Once the were no such quarrels previously, though a long
Samnites sent an embassy to him with costly pre- period might elapse before, perhaps owing to sone
The ambassadors found him on his farm, unfavourable season, the grievance was felt by In-
sitting at the hearth and roasting turnips. He re-
Thus we find that throughout the mid-
sents.
teranna.


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DERCYLLIDAS.
903
DERCYLLIDAS.
dle ages and even down to the middle of last con- under Strombichides. (Thuc. viii. 61, 62. ) In
tury, the inhabitants of Rcate (Rieti) and Inte- 1. c. 399 he was sent to supersede Thibron in the
ramna (Terni) had from time to time very serious command of the army which was employed in the
disputes about the canal. (J. H. Westphal
, Die protection of the Asiatic Greeks against Persia.
Rüm. Campaigne, p. 130. Comp. Liv. Epit. 11-14; On his arrival, he took advantage of the jealousy
Polyb. ii. 19; Oros. iii. 23, iv. 2; Eutrop. ii. 5, between Pharnabazus and Tissaphernes to divide
14; Florus, i. 18; Val. Max. iv. 3. & 5, vi. 3. & 4; their forces, and having made a truce with the
Varro, L. L. p. 280 ed. Bip. ; Plut. Pyrrh. 20, latter, proceeded against the midland Acolis, the
Apophth. Impor. 1, Cat. mai. 2; Plin. II. N. xvi. satrapy of Phamabazus, towards whom he enter-
73, xviii. 4; Zonaras, viii. 6; Cic. Brut. 14, de tained a personal dislike, as having been once
Senect. 13, 16, de Re Publ. iii. 28, de Amicit. 5, 11; subjected ibrough his means to a military punish-
Horat. Curm. j. 12. 37, c. ; Juven. xi. 78, &c. ; ment when he was harmost at Abydus under
Appul. Apolog. p. 43), ed. Bosschn. ) [L, S. ) Lysander. In Aeolis he gained possession of nine
DEXTER, CAECI'LIUS. 1. L. CaeciliUS cities in eight days, together with the treasures of
Dexter, was consul in B. c. 284, and prietor the Manin, the late satrapess of the province. [MANIA;
year after. In this capacity he fell in the war Medias. ) As he did not wish to burden his
against the Senones and was succeeded by M. allies by wintering in their country, he concluded
Curius Dentatus. (Liv. Epit. 12 ; Oros. iii. 2:2 ; a truce with Pharnabazus, and marched into Bi-
Polyb. ii. 19 ; Fast. Sicul. ) Fischer in his Römisch. thynia, where he maintained his army by plunder.
Zeittafeln makes him praetor and die in B. C. 285, In the spring of 398 he left Bithynia, and was
and in the year following he has him again as con- met at Lampsacus by Spartan commissioners, who
sul. Drumann (Gesch. Roms, ii. p. 18) denies the announced to him the continuance of his command
identity of the consul and the praetor, on the for another year, and the satisfaction of the home
ground that it was not customary for a person to government with the discipline of his troops as
hold the praetorship the year after his consulship ; contrasted with their condition under Thibron.
but examples of such a mode of proceeding do Having heard from these commissioners that the
occur (Liv. x. 22, xxii.
35), and Drumann's ob- Greeks of the Thracian Chersonesus had sent an
jection thus falls to the ground.
embassy to Sparta to ask for aid against the neigh-
2. L. Caecilius DENTER, was praetor in B. c. bouring barbarians, he said nothing of his inten.
182, and obtained Sicily for his province. (Liv. tion, but concluded a further truce with Pharna-
xxxix. 56, xl. ). )
bazus, and, crossing over to Europe, built a wall
3. M. Caecilius Dexter, one of the ambas for the protection of the peninsula. Then return-
sadors who were sent, in B. c. 173, to king Perseus ing, he besieged Atarneus, of which some Chian
to inspect the affairs of Macedonia, and to Alex- exiles had taken possession, and reduced it after
andria to renew the friendship with Ptolemy. an obstinate defence. Hitherto there had been no
(Liv. xlii. 6. )
(L. S. ] hostilities between Tissaphernes and Dercyllidas,
DENTER, LI'VIUS. 1. C. Livius Dexter, but in the next year, B. C. 397, ambassadors came
magister equitum to the dictator C. Claudius Cras- to Sparta from the Ionians, representing that by
sinus Regillensis in B. c. 348. (Fast. )
an attack on Caria, where the satrap's own pro-
2. M. Livius DESTER, was consul, in B. c. 302, perty lay, he might be driven into acknowledging
with M. Aemilius Paullus. In that year the war their independence, and the ephori accordingly
against the Aequians was renewed, but the Roman desired Dercyllidas to invade it. Tissaphernes
consuls were repulsed. In B. c. 299 he was among and Pharnabazus now united their forces, but no
the first plebeians that were admitted to the office engagement took place, and a negotiation was en-
of pontiff, and in this capacity he accompanied P. tered into, Dercyllidas demanding the independ-
Decius, and dictated to him the formula, under ence of the Asiatic Greeks, the satraps the with.
which he deroted himself to a voluntary death for drawal of the Lacedaemonian troops. A truce
the good of his country. P. Decius at the same was then made till the Spartan authorities and
time requested M. Livius Denter to act as praetor. the Persian king should decide respectively on the
(Liv. x. 1, 9, 28, 29. )
[L. S. ] requisitions. In B. C. 396, when Agesilaus crossed
DENTO, ASI'NIUS, a person whom Cicero into Asia, Dercyllidas was one of the three who
(ud Att. v. 20) calls nobilis sui generis, was primus were commissioned to ratify the short and hollow
pilus under M. Bibulus, in B. c. 5), and was armistice with Tissaphernes. After this, he ap-
killed near mount Amanus.
(L. S. ] pears to have returned home. In B. C. 394 he
DEO (An), another name for Demeter. (Hom. was sent to carry the news of the battle of Corinth
Hymn. in Dem. 47; Aristoph. Plut. 515; Soph. to Agesilaus, whom he met at Amphipolis, and at
Antig. 1121; Orph. Hymn. 38. 7; Apollon. Rhod. whose request he proceeded with the intelligence
iv. 988; Callim. Hymn. in Cer. 133; Schol. ad to the Greek cities in Asia which had furnished
Theocrit. rii. 3. ) The patronymic form of it, the Spartans with troops. This service, Xenophon
Deñois, Deoïne, or Deïone, is therefore given to says, he gladly undertook, for he liked to be ab-
Demeter's daughter, Persephone. (Ov. Met. vi. sent from home, –a feeling possibly arising from
114; Athen. X. p. 449. ).
(L. S. ] the mortifications to which, as an unmarried man
DEOMENEIA (Anouévela), a daughter of Ar- (so Plutarch tells us), he was subjected at Sparta.
cas, a bronze statue of whom was erected at (See Dict. of Ant. p. 597. ) He is said to have
Mantineia. (Paus. viii. 9. S 5. ) [L. S. ] been characterized by roughness and cunning,
DERCY'LLIDAS (Aepkultídas). 1. A Spar- qualities denoted respectively by his nicknames of
tan, was sent to the Hellespont in the spring of Scythus” and “Sisyphus," if indeed the former
B. C. 411 to excite the cities there to revolt from of these be not a corrupt reading in Athenaeus for
Athens, and succeeded in bringing over Abydus the second. (Xen. Hell. ii. 1. 688—28, i srl
and Lampsacus, the latter of which, howerer, was -20, 4. 6, iv. 3. 551-3, Anal, v. 6. 24;
almost immediately recovered by the Athenians Diod. xiv. 38 ; Plut. Lyc. 15; Athen. xi. p. 500, c. )
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99. 1
DERCYNUS.
DEUCALJON.
3
2. A Spartan, who was sent as ambassador to DERDAS (Aépdas), a Macedonian chieftin,
Pyrrhus when he invaded Sparta in B. C. 272 for who joined with Philip, brother of Perdiccas ll. ,
the purpose of placing Cleonymus on the throne. in rebellion against him. Athens entered into
(CHELIDONIS ; CLEONYMUS. ) Plutarch records alliance with them, a step, it would scem, of
an apophthegm of Dercyllidas on this occasion doubtful policy, leading to the hostility of Perdiccas,
with respect to the invader : “ If he is a god, wc and the revolt, under his advice, of Potidata, and
fear him not, for we are guilty of no wrong; if a the foundation of Olynthus. The Athenian generals
man, we are as good as he. " (Plut. Apophth. Luc. who arrived soon after those events acted for a
vol. ii. p. 128, ed. Tauchn. ; Plut. Purrh. 26, where while against Perdiccas with them. (Thuc. i. 57
the saying is ascribed to one Mandricidas. ) [E. E. ) --59. ) Derdas himself probably died about this
DERCY'LLIDAS (AEPKualidas), the author time, as we hear of his brothers in his place
of a voluminous work on Plato's philosophy, and (c. 59), one of whom Pausanias probably was.
of a commentary also on the “ Timacus,” neither (c. 61. )
[A. H. C. ]
of which has come down to us. (Fabric. Bibl. DERDAS (Aépdas), a prince of Elymia es üli-
Gracc. iii. pp. 95, 152, 170, ed. Harles, and the mein, and probably of the same family as the cou.
authorities there referred to. )
[E. E. ] sin of Perdiccas II. mentioned above. As he had
DERCYLUS or DERCYLLUS (Aepkúros, reason, from the example of Amyntas II. (see
Aépkvidos), an Athenian, was one of that em- p. 154, b. ), to fear the growing power of Olynthus,
bassy of ten, in which Aeschines and Demosthenes he zealously and effectually aided the Spartans in
were included, and which was sent to Philip to their war with that state, from B. c. 382 to 379.
treat on the subject of peace in B. c. 347. In B. C. (Xen. Hell. v.