)
onlyov), Potamon had introduced an eclectic sect POTHAEUS (Tlošaos), a Greek architect, of
of philosophy (KREKTIKH TIS aipeous).
onlyov), Potamon had introduced an eclectic sect POTHAEUS (Tlošaos), a Greek architect, of
of philosophy (KREKTIKH TIS aipeous).
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
We may therefore conclude that he went
Sicily in B. c. 50 and 49, and in the latter year the into banishment, like his patron, and was recalled
senate appointed Postumius as his successor (ad Att. by Caesar from exile. At all events, we find him
vii. 5. & 2). (PostUMIUS, No. 7. ) He is again serving under Caesar in B. C. 46, who sent him
mentioned as the governor of Sicily, with the title from Africa into Sicily, in order to obtain pro-
of proconsul, in B. C. 45 (ad Fam. vi. 8. $ 3, vi. 9). visions for the army. (Hirt. B. Afr. 8. )
PO'STUMUS, JU’LIUS, a paramour of Mu- PO'STUMUS, Q. SEIUS, a Roman eques,
tilia Prisca, who had great influence with Livia, said by Cicero to have been poisoned by P. Clodius,
the mother of Tiberius, and whom Sejanus em- because he was unwilling to sell his house to the
ployed to injure Agrippina, the widow of Germani- latter. (Cic. pro Dom. 44, 50, de Harusp. Resp.
cus, in the opinion of Livia, A. D. 23. (Tac. Ann. 14. )
iv. 12. ) In an inscription (Gruter, 113, 1) we PO'STUMUS, VI'BIUS, consul suffectus, A. D.
find mention made of a C. Julius Sex. f. Postmous, 5, conquered the Dalmatians in A. D. 10, and re-
who was praefect of Egypt under Claudius: he ceived, in consequence, the honour of the triumphal
was probably the son of the preceding.
ornaments. (Dion Cass. Ivi. 15; Vell. Pat. ii. 116;
PO'STUMUS, POE'NIUS. [POENIUS. ] Flor. iv, 12. $ 11. )
POʻSTUMUS, C. RABI'RIUS, whom Cicero POTA'MIUS, a Spaniard by birth, was bishop
defended in B. C. 54 in an oration, still extant, was of Lisbon in the middle of the fourth century; and
a Roman eques, and the son of C. Curius, a wealthy if the first of the pieces mentioned below be ge
farmer of the public revenues. He was born after nuine, he must, in the early part of his career,
the death of his father, who had married the sister have been a champion of the Catholic faith. Sub-
of C. Rabirius, whom Cicero had defended in B. C. sequently, however, he was a zealous Arian, and
63, when he was accused by T. Labienus ; and he it is believed that he drew up the document known
was adopted by his uncle Rabirius, whose name in ecclesiastical history as The second Sirmian Creed.
he consequently assumed. The younger Rabirius (PHOEBADIUS. ] The writings usually ascribed to
carried on a profitable business as a money-lender, Potamius are:- 1. Epistola ad Athanasiumn Epis-
and had among his debtors Ptolemy Auletes, copum Alexandrinum de Consubstantialitate Filii Dei,
who had been compelled to borrow large sums in some MSS. entitled Epistola Potamü ad Atha-
of money, in order to purchase the support of | nasium ab Arianis (impetitum ? ) postyuam in Con-
the leading men at Rome, to keep him on the cilio Ariminensi subscripserunt, composed in the
throne. To pay his Roman creditors, Ptolemy year A. D. 355, while the opinions of the author
was obliged to oppress his subjects ; and his ex- were yet orthodox. The authenticity of this piece,
actions became at length so intolerable, that the however, which is characterised by great obscurity
Egyptians expelled him from the kingdom. He of thought and of expression, and often half bar-
accordingly fled to Rome in B. c. 57, and Rabirius barous in phraseology, is very doubtful. It was
and his other creditors supplied him with the first published by the Benedictine D'Achery, in
means of corrupting the Roman nobles, as they had his Spicilegium reterum aliquot Scriptorum, 410.
no hopes of regaining their money except by his | Paris, 1661, vol. ii. p. 366, or vol. iii. p. 299, of
restoration to the throne. Ptolemy at length ob- the new edition by Baluze, fol. 1717, and will be
tained his object, and Gabinius, the proconsul of found under its best form in Galland's Bibliotheca
Syria, encouraged by Pompey, marched with a Patrum, vol. v. fol. Venet. 1769, p. 96. 2. Sörmo
Roman army into Egypt in B. c. 55. Ptolemy de Lazuro, and 3. Serno de Martyrio Esaiae
thus regained his kingdom. Rabirius forth with Prophetae. Two discourses resembling in style
repaired to Alexandria, and was invested by the the epistle to Athanasius, long attributed to Zeno,
king with the office of Dioecetes, or chief treasurer, bishop of Verona, and published, without suspicion,
no doubt with the sanction of Gadinius. In this among his works, until the brothers Ballerini (S.
office he had to amass money both for himself and Zenonis Sermones, fol. Venet. 1739, p. 297–303)
Gabinius ; but his extortions were so terrible, that proved that they must be assigned to Potamius, whom
I'tolemy had him apprehended, either to secure however they supposed to be a person altogether
him against the wrath of the people, or to satisfy | different from the bishop of Lisbon, and belonging
## p. 513 (#529) ############################################
POTAMON.
513
POTHINUS.
to a different age. The arguments which they em- andria to Rome the idea of an eclectic school.
ploy to demonstrate this last position are founded But he had no followers in his peculiar combina-
upon the second title of the Epistola ad Athana tions. They were supplanted by the school that
sium as given above, but this title Galland, Schoene- endeavoured to ingraft Christianity upon the older
mann, and others, hold to be the blunder of an systems of philosophy. Indeed, the short notice
ignorant transcriber. The Sermones will be found given by Laërtius does not entitle Potamon to the
in Galland, and the discussions with regard to the distinction invariably conferred upon him, that he
real author in the Prolegomena to the volume, cap. was the first to introduce an eclectic school ; though,
I. p. xvii.
[W. R. ) probably, he was the first who taught at Rome a
POT'AMO, PAPI'RIUS, a scriba of Verres, system 80 called.
and one of the instruments of his tyranny, is called Laërtius states briefly a few of his tenets, de-
by Cicero in irony. “homo severus, ex vetere illa rived from his writings, from which we can only
cquestri disciplina" (Cic. Verr. iii. 60, 66). He learn that he combined the doctrines of Plato with
was originally the scriba and friend of Q. Caecilius the Stoical and Aristotclian, and not without ori-
Niger, the quaestor of Verres, and he remained ginal views of his own. According to Suidas he
with Verres, when Caecilius left the island. (Cic. wrote a commentary on the Republic of Plato.
Div. in Cuccil. 9. )
2. Of Mytilene (Strab. xiii. p. 617), son of Leg-
PO'TAMON (Torduwv). 1. Of Alexandria. bonax the rhetorician, was himself a rhetorician, in
of this philosopher we have notices in Diogenes the time of Tiberius Caesar, whose favour he en-
Laërtius (Prooem. 21), Porphyrius (de Vita joyed (Suidas, s. v. ). Westermann, indeed, makes
Plotini, in Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. p. 109, old him a teacher of Tiberius, but this is stated nowhere
ed. ), and Suidas (s. vv. alpeors, Notáuwv). Many else (Geschichte Griech. Bered. p. 106). He is
attempts have been made to reconcile, by emenda- mentioned as an authority regarding Alexander the
tion and conjecture, the discrepancies found in Great, by Plutarch (Alex. 61). It is, probably,
these notices, or to ascertain the truth regarding he whom Lucian states to have attained the age of
him. Of these an elaborate account will be found ninety (Macrob. & 23). Suidas informs us that,
in Brucker's Historia Criticae Philosophiae (vol. ii. in addition to his life of Alexander the Great, he
p. 193, &c. ). This subject has also been investi-wrote several other works, namely, 'Npoi Eauiwe,
gated in a treatise by Gloeckner, entitled, De Po Bpoúrou égká'ulov, ITepi Telelov pnropos. And, to
tamonis Alex. Philosophia Eclectica, recentiorum the treatises mentioned by Suidas, should probably
Plutonicorum Disciplinae admodum dissimili
, Dis- be added that tepi tiſs dapopâs, quoted by Am-
put. 4to. Lipsiae, 1745. Of this an excellent abs monius in his treatise nepl opolwv Kal diapópws
tract is given by Harless (in Fabric. ibid. vol. iii
. 1étewv, s. v. épwtøv. (Suidas, s. vo. Olodupos ra-
p. 184, &c. ). What is chiefly interesting and im- δαρεύς, Λεσβώναξ, Ποτάμων. )
portant regarding Potamon, is the fact recorded by 3. A poet, sneered at by Lucillius. (Anth. Gracc.
Laërtius, that, immediately before his time (apd vol. ii. p. 44, Jacobs. )
[W. M. G.
)
onlyov), Potamon had introduced an eclectic sect POTHAEUS (Tlošaos), a Greek architect, of
of philosophy (KREKTIKH TIS aipeous). Modern unknown age and country, who, in conjunction
writers have made too much of this solitary fact, with Antiphilus and Megacles, made the treasury
for we read nowhere else of this school of Potamon of the Carthaginians at Olympia. (Paus, vi. 19.
The meaning of Porphyrius, in the passage referred § 4. 6. 7. )
[P. S. )
to above, is by no means clear. It is impossible to POTHEINUS (Nodeīvos), artists. 1. An Athe-
tell whether he makes Potanjon the occasional dis- nian sculptor, whose name is preserved on an in-
ciple of Plotinus, or Plotinus of Potamon. Suidas, scription which was affixed to the portrait-statue
in the article aiperis, evidently quotes Laërtius, but of a certain Nymphodotus, in the palaestra at
in Ποτάμων he states, that he lived προ Αυγούστου, | Athens. (Böckh, Corp. Inscr. No. 270, vol. i.
kal Her' ajtóv. Whatever meaning these words p. 375. The inscription, as explained by Böckh,
may have--for that is one of the points of dis reads thus, Eikova tvoe Hodeivos . τεύξας
cussion in this question—the two articles are irre-Shkaro, which can only mean that Potheinus was
concileable. Indeed, Suidas exhibits his usual con both the sculptor and the dedicator of the statue.
fusion in this name. He makes (s. v. neobávat) That artists not unfrequently dedicated their own
Potamon the rhetorician (No. 2], a philosopher, works, is shown by Welcker, Kunstblatt, 1827,
and we need not encumber the question with his No. 83 ; comp. R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn,
unsupported authority on a point of chronology. p. 392).
Yet, to accommodate his statement with those of 2. Á vase-painter, whose name appears on a
Laërtius and Porphyrius, Gloeckner and Harless beautiful vessel, in the ancient style, representing
suppose three Potamons. For this, or even for the the contest of Thetis and Peleus, which was found
supposition that there were two, there seems no in 1833 at Ponte dell' Abbadia, and is now in the
necessity. Setting aside the authority of Suidas, museum at Berlin. It is doubtful whether the
remembering the uncertainty of the time of Laërtius name inscribed on the vase is Modeīvos or lleidivos;
to determine which his mention of Potamon may but it looks more like the latter. (Levezow, Ver.
furnish a new element, - we cannot but attach zeichniss, No. 1005, p. 246 ; Gerhard, Berlins Ant.
much weight to the statement of Porphyrius, the Bildwerke, No. 1005, p. 291 ; R. Rochette, Lettre à
contemporary of Plotinus, and who refers to Pota. M. Schorn, pp. 56, 57. )
[P. S. )
mon, as a well-known name. We should, there- POTHI'NUS, an eunuch, the guardian of the
fore, conclude that the Potamon mentioned by young king Ptolemy, and the regent of the king-
Laërtius and Porphyrius are the same, and, on a dom, recommended the assassination of Pompey,
minute investigation of the passage where he is when the latter fled for refuge to Egypt after the
mentioned by the latter author, that he was older loss of the battle of Pharsalia in B. C. 48 (Lucan,
than Plotinus, and entrusted his children to his riii. 484, &c. ). He plotted against Caesar when
guardianship. He may have brought from Alex. he came to Alexandrin, later the same year. It
0
VOL. UL
## p. 514 (#530) ############################################
514
POTITUS.
· POTITUS
was Pothinus who placed Achillas over the Egyp. I the celebmted P. Valerius Publicola ; but it is s
tian forces, with directions to seize a favourable matter of dispute whether he was his brother or
opportunity for attacking Caesar, but he himself his nephew. Dionysius, it is true, calls him (viii.
remained with the young king in the quarters of 77) his brother * ; but it has been conjectured by
Caesar. But as he was here detected in carrying Glareanus, Gelenius, and Sylburg, that we ought
on a treasonable correspondence with Achillas, he to read αδελφιδούς Ο αδελφόπαις instead of άδελ-
was put to death by order of Caesar. (Caes. B. C. pós ; and this conjecture is confirmed by the fact
iii. 108, 112 ; Dion Cros. xlii. 36, 39 ; Plut. Caes. that Dionysius elsewhere (viii. 87) speaks of bim
48, 49; Lucan, x. 333, &c. 515, &c. )
as the son of Marcus, whereas we know that the
POTHOS (1160os), a personification of love or father of Publicola was Volusus. If Potitus was
desire, was represented along with Eros and His the son of Marcus, he was probably the son of the
meros, in the temple of Aphrodite at Megara, by M. Valerius who was consul B. c. 505, four years
the hand of Scopas. (Paus. i. 43. § 6 ; Plin. H. after the kings were expelled, and who is described
N. xxxvi. 4, 7. )
[L. S. ) in the Fasti as M. Valerius Vol. f. Volusus. More
POTITIA GENS, one of the most ancient pa- over, seeing that Potitus was consul a second time
trician gentes at Rome, but it never attained any B. C. 470, that is, thirty-nine years after the ex-
historical importance. The Potitii were, with the pulsion of the kings, it is much more likely that
Pinarii, the hereditary priests of Hercules at Rome: he should have been a nephew than a brother of
the legend which related the establishment of the the man who took such a prominent part in the
worship of this god, is given under Pinaria Gens. events of that time. We may, therefore, conclude
It is further stated that the Potitii and Pinarii con- with tolerable certainty that he was the nephew of
tinued to discharge the duties of their priesthood Publicola.
till the censorship of App. Claudius (B. C. 312), Potitus is first mentioned in B. C. 485, in which
who induced the Potitii, by the sum of 50,000 year he was one of the quaestores parricidii, and, in
pounds of copper, to instruci public slaves in the conjunction with his colleague, K. Fabius, im-
performance of the sacred rites ; whereat the god peached Sp. Cassius Viscellinus before the people.
was so angry, that the whole gens, containing (VISCELLINUS. ) (Liv. ii. 41 ; Dionys. viii. 77. )
twelve families and thirty grown up men, perished He was consul in B. C. 483, with M. Fabius Vibu-
within a year, or, according to other accounts, lanus (Liv. ii. 42 ; Dionys. viii. 87), and again in
within thirty days, and Appius himself became 470 with Ti. Aemilius Mamercus. In the latter
blind (Liv. ix. 29 ; Festus, p. 237, ed. Müller ; year he marched against the Aequi ; and as the
Val. Max i. 1. & 17). Niebuhr remarks that if enemy would not meet him in the open field, he pro-
there is any truth in the tale respecting the de- ceeded to attack their camp, but was prevented
struction of the Potitia gens, they may have perished from doing so by the indications of the divine will.
in the great plague which raged fifteen or twenty (Liv. ii. 61, 62; Dionys. ix. 51, 55. )
years later, since such legends are not scrupulous 2. L. VALERIUS Potitus, consul with M. Ho-
with respect to chronology. The same writer ratius Barbatus, in B C. 449. Dionysius calls him
further observes that it is probable that the worship a grandson of the great P. Valerius Publicola, and
of Hercules, as attended to by the Potitii and the a son of the P. Valerius Publicola, who was
Pinarii, was a form of religion peculiar to these consul in B. C. 460, and who was killed that
gentes, and had nothing to do with the religion of year in the assault of the Capitol, which had been
the Roman state ; and that as App. Claudius seized by Herdonius (Dionys. xi. 4); and hence we
wished to make these sacra privata part of the find him described as L. Valerius Publicola Potitus.
sucra publica, he induced the Potitii to instruct But we think it more probable that he was the
public slaves in the rites, since no foreign god son or grandson of L. Valerius Potitus (No. 1]; first,
could have a flamen. (Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, because we find that Livy, Cicero, and Dionysius,
vol. iii. p. 309. )
invariably give him the surname of Potitus, and
POTI'TUS, P. AFRA'NIUS, vowed during never that of Publicola, and secondly because the
an illness of Caligula, to sacrifice his life, if the great popularity of Potitus would naturally give
emperor recovered, expecting to be rewarded for origin to the tradition that he was a lineal de
his devotion. But when Caligula got well, and scendant of that member of the gens, who took
Afranius was unwilling to fulfill his vow, the such a prominent part in the expulsion of the kings.
emperor had him decked out like a sacrificial victim, The annals of the Valeria gens recorded that L.
paraded through the streets, and then hurled down Valerius Potitus was the first person who offered
from the eminence (ex aggere) by the Colline gate. opposition to the decemvirs ; and whether this was
;
(Dion Cass. lix. 8 ; Suet. Cal. 27. )
the case or not, there can be no doubt that he took
POTI'TUS, VALERIUS. Potitus was the a leading part in the abolition of the tyrannical
name of one of the most ancient and most cele- power. He and M. Horatius are represented as
brated families of the Valeria Gens. This family, the leaders of the people against Ap. Claudius after
like many of the other ancient Roman families, dis- the murder of Virginia by her father ; and when the
appears about the time of the Samnite wars ; but plebeians had seceded to the Sacred Hill, he and
the name was revived at a later period by the Va- Horatius were sent to them by the senate, as the
leria gens, as a prienomen: thus we find mention only acceptable members, to negotiate the terms of
of a Potitus Valerius Messalla, who was consul peace. In this mission they succeeded ; the de
buffectus in B. c. 29. The practice of using extinct cemvirate was abolished, and the two friends of the
family-names as praenomens was common to other plebs, Valerius and Horatius, were elected consuls,
gentes : as for instance in the Cornelia gens, where B. C. 449. Their consulship is memorable by the
the Lentuli adopted, as a praenomen, the extinct
cognomen of Cossus. (Cossus ; LENTULUS. ] * Dionysius also calls him L. Valerius Publicola,
1. L. VALERIUS Potitus, consul B. C. 483 and but this is opposed to the Fasti, and is in itself im-
470, the founder of the family, was a relation of probable.
## p. 515 (#531) ############################################
POTITUS.
Sicily in B. c. 50 and 49, and in the latter year the into banishment, like his patron, and was recalled
senate appointed Postumius as his successor (ad Att. by Caesar from exile. At all events, we find him
vii. 5. & 2). (PostUMIUS, No. 7. ) He is again serving under Caesar in B. C. 46, who sent him
mentioned as the governor of Sicily, with the title from Africa into Sicily, in order to obtain pro-
of proconsul, in B. C. 45 (ad Fam. vi. 8. $ 3, vi. 9). visions for the army. (Hirt. B. Afr. 8. )
PO'STUMUS, JU’LIUS, a paramour of Mu- PO'STUMUS, Q. SEIUS, a Roman eques,
tilia Prisca, who had great influence with Livia, said by Cicero to have been poisoned by P. Clodius,
the mother of Tiberius, and whom Sejanus em- because he was unwilling to sell his house to the
ployed to injure Agrippina, the widow of Germani- latter. (Cic. pro Dom. 44, 50, de Harusp. Resp.
cus, in the opinion of Livia, A. D. 23. (Tac. Ann. 14. )
iv. 12. ) In an inscription (Gruter, 113, 1) we PO'STUMUS, VI'BIUS, consul suffectus, A. D.
find mention made of a C. Julius Sex. f. Postmous, 5, conquered the Dalmatians in A. D. 10, and re-
who was praefect of Egypt under Claudius: he ceived, in consequence, the honour of the triumphal
was probably the son of the preceding.
ornaments. (Dion Cass. Ivi. 15; Vell. Pat. ii. 116;
PO'STUMUS, POE'NIUS. [POENIUS. ] Flor. iv, 12. $ 11. )
POʻSTUMUS, C. RABI'RIUS, whom Cicero POTA'MIUS, a Spaniard by birth, was bishop
defended in B. C. 54 in an oration, still extant, was of Lisbon in the middle of the fourth century; and
a Roman eques, and the son of C. Curius, a wealthy if the first of the pieces mentioned below be ge
farmer of the public revenues. He was born after nuine, he must, in the early part of his career,
the death of his father, who had married the sister have been a champion of the Catholic faith. Sub-
of C. Rabirius, whom Cicero had defended in B. C. sequently, however, he was a zealous Arian, and
63, when he was accused by T. Labienus ; and he it is believed that he drew up the document known
was adopted by his uncle Rabirius, whose name in ecclesiastical history as The second Sirmian Creed.
he consequently assumed. The younger Rabirius (PHOEBADIUS. ] The writings usually ascribed to
carried on a profitable business as a money-lender, Potamius are:- 1. Epistola ad Athanasiumn Epis-
and had among his debtors Ptolemy Auletes, copum Alexandrinum de Consubstantialitate Filii Dei,
who had been compelled to borrow large sums in some MSS. entitled Epistola Potamü ad Atha-
of money, in order to purchase the support of | nasium ab Arianis (impetitum ? ) postyuam in Con-
the leading men at Rome, to keep him on the cilio Ariminensi subscripserunt, composed in the
throne. To pay his Roman creditors, Ptolemy year A. D. 355, while the opinions of the author
was obliged to oppress his subjects ; and his ex- were yet orthodox. The authenticity of this piece,
actions became at length so intolerable, that the however, which is characterised by great obscurity
Egyptians expelled him from the kingdom. He of thought and of expression, and often half bar-
accordingly fled to Rome in B. c. 57, and Rabirius barous in phraseology, is very doubtful. It was
and his other creditors supplied him with the first published by the Benedictine D'Achery, in
means of corrupting the Roman nobles, as they had his Spicilegium reterum aliquot Scriptorum, 410.
no hopes of regaining their money except by his | Paris, 1661, vol. ii. p. 366, or vol. iii. p. 299, of
restoration to the throne. Ptolemy at length ob- the new edition by Baluze, fol. 1717, and will be
tained his object, and Gabinius, the proconsul of found under its best form in Galland's Bibliotheca
Syria, encouraged by Pompey, marched with a Patrum, vol. v. fol. Venet. 1769, p. 96. 2. Sörmo
Roman army into Egypt in B. c. 55. Ptolemy de Lazuro, and 3. Serno de Martyrio Esaiae
thus regained his kingdom. Rabirius forth with Prophetae. Two discourses resembling in style
repaired to Alexandria, and was invested by the the epistle to Athanasius, long attributed to Zeno,
king with the office of Dioecetes, or chief treasurer, bishop of Verona, and published, without suspicion,
no doubt with the sanction of Gadinius. In this among his works, until the brothers Ballerini (S.
office he had to amass money both for himself and Zenonis Sermones, fol. Venet. 1739, p. 297–303)
Gabinius ; but his extortions were so terrible, that proved that they must be assigned to Potamius, whom
I'tolemy had him apprehended, either to secure however they supposed to be a person altogether
him against the wrath of the people, or to satisfy | different from the bishop of Lisbon, and belonging
## p. 513 (#529) ############################################
POTAMON.
513
POTHINUS.
to a different age. The arguments which they em- andria to Rome the idea of an eclectic school.
ploy to demonstrate this last position are founded But he had no followers in his peculiar combina-
upon the second title of the Epistola ad Athana tions. They were supplanted by the school that
sium as given above, but this title Galland, Schoene- endeavoured to ingraft Christianity upon the older
mann, and others, hold to be the blunder of an systems of philosophy. Indeed, the short notice
ignorant transcriber. The Sermones will be found given by Laërtius does not entitle Potamon to the
in Galland, and the discussions with regard to the distinction invariably conferred upon him, that he
real author in the Prolegomena to the volume, cap. was the first to introduce an eclectic school ; though,
I. p. xvii.
[W. R. ) probably, he was the first who taught at Rome a
POT'AMO, PAPI'RIUS, a scriba of Verres, system 80 called.
and one of the instruments of his tyranny, is called Laërtius states briefly a few of his tenets, de-
by Cicero in irony. “homo severus, ex vetere illa rived from his writings, from which we can only
cquestri disciplina" (Cic. Verr. iii. 60, 66). He learn that he combined the doctrines of Plato with
was originally the scriba and friend of Q. Caecilius the Stoical and Aristotclian, and not without ori-
Niger, the quaestor of Verres, and he remained ginal views of his own. According to Suidas he
with Verres, when Caecilius left the island. (Cic. wrote a commentary on the Republic of Plato.
Div. in Cuccil. 9. )
2. Of Mytilene (Strab. xiii. p. 617), son of Leg-
PO'TAMON (Torduwv). 1. Of Alexandria. bonax the rhetorician, was himself a rhetorician, in
of this philosopher we have notices in Diogenes the time of Tiberius Caesar, whose favour he en-
Laërtius (Prooem. 21), Porphyrius (de Vita joyed (Suidas, s. v. ). Westermann, indeed, makes
Plotini, in Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. p. 109, old him a teacher of Tiberius, but this is stated nowhere
ed. ), and Suidas (s. vv. alpeors, Notáuwv). Many else (Geschichte Griech. Bered. p. 106). He is
attempts have been made to reconcile, by emenda- mentioned as an authority regarding Alexander the
tion and conjecture, the discrepancies found in Great, by Plutarch (Alex. 61). It is, probably,
these notices, or to ascertain the truth regarding he whom Lucian states to have attained the age of
him. Of these an elaborate account will be found ninety (Macrob. & 23). Suidas informs us that,
in Brucker's Historia Criticae Philosophiae (vol. ii. in addition to his life of Alexander the Great, he
p. 193, &c. ). This subject has also been investi-wrote several other works, namely, 'Npoi Eauiwe,
gated in a treatise by Gloeckner, entitled, De Po Bpoúrou égká'ulov, ITepi Telelov pnropos. And, to
tamonis Alex. Philosophia Eclectica, recentiorum the treatises mentioned by Suidas, should probably
Plutonicorum Disciplinae admodum dissimili
, Dis- be added that tepi tiſs dapopâs, quoted by Am-
put. 4to. Lipsiae, 1745. Of this an excellent abs monius in his treatise nepl opolwv Kal diapópws
tract is given by Harless (in Fabric. ibid. vol. iii
. 1étewv, s. v. épwtøv. (Suidas, s. vo. Olodupos ra-
p. 184, &c. ). What is chiefly interesting and im- δαρεύς, Λεσβώναξ, Ποτάμων. )
portant regarding Potamon, is the fact recorded by 3. A poet, sneered at by Lucillius. (Anth. Gracc.
Laërtius, that, immediately before his time (apd vol. ii. p. 44, Jacobs. )
[W. M. G.
)
onlyov), Potamon had introduced an eclectic sect POTHAEUS (Tlošaos), a Greek architect, of
of philosophy (KREKTIKH TIS aipeous). Modern unknown age and country, who, in conjunction
writers have made too much of this solitary fact, with Antiphilus and Megacles, made the treasury
for we read nowhere else of this school of Potamon of the Carthaginians at Olympia. (Paus, vi. 19.
The meaning of Porphyrius, in the passage referred § 4. 6. 7. )
[P. S. )
to above, is by no means clear. It is impossible to POTHEINUS (Nodeīvos), artists. 1. An Athe-
tell whether he makes Potanjon the occasional dis- nian sculptor, whose name is preserved on an in-
ciple of Plotinus, or Plotinus of Potamon. Suidas, scription which was affixed to the portrait-statue
in the article aiperis, evidently quotes Laërtius, but of a certain Nymphodotus, in the palaestra at
in Ποτάμων he states, that he lived προ Αυγούστου, | Athens. (Böckh, Corp. Inscr. No. 270, vol. i.
kal Her' ajtóv. Whatever meaning these words p. 375. The inscription, as explained by Böckh,
may have--for that is one of the points of dis reads thus, Eikova tvoe Hodeivos . τεύξας
cussion in this question—the two articles are irre-Shkaro, which can only mean that Potheinus was
concileable. Indeed, Suidas exhibits his usual con both the sculptor and the dedicator of the statue.
fusion in this name. He makes (s. v. neobávat) That artists not unfrequently dedicated their own
Potamon the rhetorician (No. 2], a philosopher, works, is shown by Welcker, Kunstblatt, 1827,
and we need not encumber the question with his No. 83 ; comp. R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn,
unsupported authority on a point of chronology. p. 392).
Yet, to accommodate his statement with those of 2. Á vase-painter, whose name appears on a
Laërtius and Porphyrius, Gloeckner and Harless beautiful vessel, in the ancient style, representing
suppose three Potamons. For this, or even for the the contest of Thetis and Peleus, which was found
supposition that there were two, there seems no in 1833 at Ponte dell' Abbadia, and is now in the
necessity. Setting aside the authority of Suidas, museum at Berlin. It is doubtful whether the
remembering the uncertainty of the time of Laërtius name inscribed on the vase is Modeīvos or lleidivos;
to determine which his mention of Potamon may but it looks more like the latter. (Levezow, Ver.
furnish a new element, - we cannot but attach zeichniss, No. 1005, p. 246 ; Gerhard, Berlins Ant.
much weight to the statement of Porphyrius, the Bildwerke, No. 1005, p. 291 ; R. Rochette, Lettre à
contemporary of Plotinus, and who refers to Pota. M. Schorn, pp. 56, 57. )
[P. S. )
mon, as a well-known name. We should, there- POTHI'NUS, an eunuch, the guardian of the
fore, conclude that the Potamon mentioned by young king Ptolemy, and the regent of the king-
Laërtius and Porphyrius are the same, and, on a dom, recommended the assassination of Pompey,
minute investigation of the passage where he is when the latter fled for refuge to Egypt after the
mentioned by the latter author, that he was older loss of the battle of Pharsalia in B. C. 48 (Lucan,
than Plotinus, and entrusted his children to his riii. 484, &c. ). He plotted against Caesar when
guardianship. He may have brought from Alex. he came to Alexandrin, later the same year. It
0
VOL. UL
## p. 514 (#530) ############################################
514
POTITUS.
· POTITUS
was Pothinus who placed Achillas over the Egyp. I the celebmted P. Valerius Publicola ; but it is s
tian forces, with directions to seize a favourable matter of dispute whether he was his brother or
opportunity for attacking Caesar, but he himself his nephew. Dionysius, it is true, calls him (viii.
remained with the young king in the quarters of 77) his brother * ; but it has been conjectured by
Caesar. But as he was here detected in carrying Glareanus, Gelenius, and Sylburg, that we ought
on a treasonable correspondence with Achillas, he to read αδελφιδούς Ο αδελφόπαις instead of άδελ-
was put to death by order of Caesar. (Caes. B. C. pós ; and this conjecture is confirmed by the fact
iii. 108, 112 ; Dion Cros. xlii. 36, 39 ; Plut. Caes. that Dionysius elsewhere (viii. 87) speaks of bim
48, 49; Lucan, x. 333, &c. 515, &c. )
as the son of Marcus, whereas we know that the
POTHOS (1160os), a personification of love or father of Publicola was Volusus. If Potitus was
desire, was represented along with Eros and His the son of Marcus, he was probably the son of the
meros, in the temple of Aphrodite at Megara, by M. Valerius who was consul B. c. 505, four years
the hand of Scopas. (Paus. i. 43. § 6 ; Plin. H. after the kings were expelled, and who is described
N. xxxvi. 4, 7. )
[L. S. ) in the Fasti as M. Valerius Vol. f. Volusus. More
POTITIA GENS, one of the most ancient pa- over, seeing that Potitus was consul a second time
trician gentes at Rome, but it never attained any B. C. 470, that is, thirty-nine years after the ex-
historical importance. The Potitii were, with the pulsion of the kings, it is much more likely that
Pinarii, the hereditary priests of Hercules at Rome: he should have been a nephew than a brother of
the legend which related the establishment of the the man who took such a prominent part in the
worship of this god, is given under Pinaria Gens. events of that time. We may, therefore, conclude
It is further stated that the Potitii and Pinarii con- with tolerable certainty that he was the nephew of
tinued to discharge the duties of their priesthood Publicola.
till the censorship of App. Claudius (B. C. 312), Potitus is first mentioned in B. C. 485, in which
who induced the Potitii, by the sum of 50,000 year he was one of the quaestores parricidii, and, in
pounds of copper, to instruci public slaves in the conjunction with his colleague, K. Fabius, im-
performance of the sacred rites ; whereat the god peached Sp. Cassius Viscellinus before the people.
was so angry, that the whole gens, containing (VISCELLINUS. ) (Liv. ii. 41 ; Dionys. viii. 77. )
twelve families and thirty grown up men, perished He was consul in B. C. 483, with M. Fabius Vibu-
within a year, or, according to other accounts, lanus (Liv. ii. 42 ; Dionys. viii. 87), and again in
within thirty days, and Appius himself became 470 with Ti. Aemilius Mamercus. In the latter
blind (Liv. ix. 29 ; Festus, p. 237, ed. Müller ; year he marched against the Aequi ; and as the
Val. Max i. 1. & 17). Niebuhr remarks that if enemy would not meet him in the open field, he pro-
there is any truth in the tale respecting the de- ceeded to attack their camp, but was prevented
struction of the Potitia gens, they may have perished from doing so by the indications of the divine will.
in the great plague which raged fifteen or twenty (Liv. ii. 61, 62; Dionys. ix. 51, 55. )
years later, since such legends are not scrupulous 2. L. VALERIUS Potitus, consul with M. Ho-
with respect to chronology. The same writer ratius Barbatus, in B C. 449. Dionysius calls him
further observes that it is probable that the worship a grandson of the great P. Valerius Publicola, and
of Hercules, as attended to by the Potitii and the a son of the P. Valerius Publicola, who was
Pinarii, was a form of religion peculiar to these consul in B. C. 460, and who was killed that
gentes, and had nothing to do with the religion of year in the assault of the Capitol, which had been
the Roman state ; and that as App. Claudius seized by Herdonius (Dionys. xi. 4); and hence we
wished to make these sacra privata part of the find him described as L. Valerius Publicola Potitus.
sucra publica, he induced the Potitii to instruct But we think it more probable that he was the
public slaves in the rites, since no foreign god son or grandson of L. Valerius Potitus (No. 1]; first,
could have a flamen. (Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, because we find that Livy, Cicero, and Dionysius,
vol. iii. p. 309. )
invariably give him the surname of Potitus, and
POTI'TUS, P. AFRA'NIUS, vowed during never that of Publicola, and secondly because the
an illness of Caligula, to sacrifice his life, if the great popularity of Potitus would naturally give
emperor recovered, expecting to be rewarded for origin to the tradition that he was a lineal de
his devotion. But when Caligula got well, and scendant of that member of the gens, who took
Afranius was unwilling to fulfill his vow, the such a prominent part in the expulsion of the kings.
emperor had him decked out like a sacrificial victim, The annals of the Valeria gens recorded that L.
paraded through the streets, and then hurled down Valerius Potitus was the first person who offered
from the eminence (ex aggere) by the Colline gate. opposition to the decemvirs ; and whether this was
;
(Dion Cass. lix. 8 ; Suet. Cal. 27. )
the case or not, there can be no doubt that he took
POTI'TUS, VALERIUS. Potitus was the a leading part in the abolition of the tyrannical
name of one of the most ancient and most cele- power. He and M. Horatius are represented as
brated families of the Valeria Gens. This family, the leaders of the people against Ap. Claudius after
like many of the other ancient Roman families, dis- the murder of Virginia by her father ; and when the
appears about the time of the Samnite wars ; but plebeians had seceded to the Sacred Hill, he and
the name was revived at a later period by the Va- Horatius were sent to them by the senate, as the
leria gens, as a prienomen: thus we find mention only acceptable members, to negotiate the terms of
of a Potitus Valerius Messalla, who was consul peace. In this mission they succeeded ; the de
buffectus in B. c. 29. The practice of using extinct cemvirate was abolished, and the two friends of the
family-names as praenomens was common to other plebs, Valerius and Horatius, were elected consuls,
gentes : as for instance in the Cornelia gens, where B. C. 449. Their consulship is memorable by the
the Lentuli adopted, as a praenomen, the extinct
cognomen of Cossus. (Cossus ; LENTULUS. ] * Dionysius also calls him L. Valerius Publicola,
1. L. VALERIUS Potitus, consul B. C. 483 and but this is opposed to the Fasti, and is in itself im-
470, the founder of the family, was a relation of probable.
## p. 515 (#531) ############################################
POTITUS.
