) His orations, which were extant in the was alive at the time when that passage was
tiine of Quintilian and Rutilius Lupus, must have written.
tiine of Quintilian and Rutilius Lupus, must have written.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - a
) | Charites.
They lend their grace and beauty to
Hesiod (Theog. 945) calls the Charis who is the ererything that delights and elevates gods and
wife of Hephaestus, Aglaia, and the youngest of men. This notion was probably the cause of
the Charites. (Comp. Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1148. ) Charis being called the wife of Hephaestus, the
According to the Odyssey, on the other hand, divine artist. The most perfect works of art are
A phrodite was the wife of Hephaestus, from which thus called the works of the Charites, and the
we may infer, if not the ide ity of Aphrodite and greatest artists are their favourites. The gentle-
Charis, at least a close connexion and resemblance ness and gracefulness which they impart to man's
in the notions entertained about the two divinities. ordinary pleasures are expressed by their moderat-
The idea of personified grace and beauty was, as ing the exciting influence of wine (Hor. Carm. iii.
we have already seen, divided into a plurality of 19. 15; Pind. Ol. xi. 18), and by their accom-
beings at a very early time, probably to indicate panying Aphrodite and Eros. (Hom. Od. vii.
the various ways in which the beautiful is mani- 364, xvii. 194; Paus. vi. 24. 5. ) They also
fested in the world and adorns it. In the Iliad assist Hermes and Peitho to give grace io elo-
itself (xiv. 269) Pasithea is called one of the quence and persuasion (Hesiod. Op. 63), and wis-
younger Charites, who is destined to be the wife dom itself receives its charms from them. Poetry,
of Sleep, and the plural Charites occurs several however, is the art which is especially favoured
times in the Homeric poems. (Od. xviii. 194. ) by them, whence they are called épaoiuoltou or
The parentage of the Charites is differently de pianoiuo mou. For the same reason they are the
scribed; the most common account makes them friends of the Muses, with whom they live to-
the daughters of Zeus either by Hera, Eurynome, gether in Olympus. (Hes. Theog. 64; Eurip.
Eunomia Eurydomene, Harmonia, or Lethe. Herc. fur. 673; Theocrit. xvi. in fin. ) Poets are
(Hesiod. Theog. 907, &c. ; Apollod. i. 3. $ 1; inspired by the Muses, but the application of their
Pind. Ol. xiv. 15; Phurnut. 15; Orph. Hymn. songs to the embellishment of life and the festivals
59. 2; Stat. Theb. ii. 286; Eustath. ad Hom. p. of the gods are the work of the Charites. Late
982. ) According to others they were the daugh- Roman writers describe the Charites (Gratiae) as
ters of Apollo by Aegle or Euanthe (Paus. ix. 35. the symbols of gratitude and benevolence, to which
$ 1), or of Diorysus by Aphrodite or Coronis. they were led by the meaning of the word gratia
;
## p. 687 (#707) ############################################
CHARISIUS.
687
CHARISIUS.
in their own language. (Senec. De Benef. i. 3; | book of indictment, and the confession which they
comp. Diod. v. 73. )
had imposed upon the deluded Philadelphians.
The worship of the Charites was believed to He also presented a brief confession of his own
have been first introduced into Boeotia by Eteo- faith, harmonizing with the Nicene creed, in order
clus or Eteocles, the son of Cephissus, in the valley that he might clear himself from the suspicion of
of that river. (Paus. ix. 35. § 1; Theocrit. xvi. heresy. The time of his birth and death is m-
104; Pind. Ol. xiv. ) At Orchomenos and in the known. He appears only in connexion with the
island of Paros a festival, the xaplosa or xapıthoia, | Ephesian council, a. D. 431.
was celebrated to the Charites. (Eustath. ad The indictment which he presented to the
Ilom. p. 1843 ; Apollod. iii. 15. $ 7. ) At Orcho- synod, his confession of faith, a copy of the expo-
menos they were worshipped from early times in sition of the creed as corrupted by Anastasius and
the form of rude stones, which were believed to Photius, the subscribings of those who were mis-
have fallen from heaven in the time of Eteocles. led, and the decree of the council after hearing the
(Paus. ix. 38. § l; Strab. ix. p. 414. ) Statues case, are given in Greek and Latin in the Sucro-
of them are mentioned in various parts of Greece, sancta Concilia, edited by Labbe and Cossart, vol.
as at Sparta, on the road from Sparta to Amyclac, iii. p. 673, &c. , Paris, 1671, folio. See also
in Crete, at Athens, Elis, Hermione, and others. Cave's Historia Literuria, pp. 327, 328, ed. Lond.
(Paus. i. 22. & 8, ii. 34. § 10, iii. 14. § 6, vi. 24. 1688, fol.
(S. D. ]
$ 5. ) They were often represented as the com- CHARI'SIUS, AURE'LIUS ARCADIUS,
panions of other gods, such as Hera, Hernes, Eros, a Roman jurist, one of the latest in time of those
Dionysus, Aphrodite, the Horae, and the Muses. whose works are cited in the Digest. Herennius
In the ancient statues of Apollo at Delos and Modestinus, who was living in the reign of Gor-
Delphi, the god carried the Charites on his hand. dianus III. , is usually considered to be the last
In the early times the Charites were represented jurist of the classical period of Roman jurispru-
dressed, but afterwards their figures were always dence. “ Hic oracula jurisconsultorum obmutuere,"
made naked, though even Pausanias (ix. 3. 5. & 2) says the celebrated Jac. Godefroi (Manuale Juris,
did not know who had introduced the custom of li. 7), “ sic ut ultimum JCtorum Modestinum
representing them naked. Specimens of both dicere vere liceat. ” For an interval of 80 or 90
dressed and naked representations of the Charites years after Modestinus, no jurist appears whose
are still extant. Their character is that of unsus- works are honoured with citation in the Digest,
picious maidens in the full bloom of life, and they unless Julius Aquila or Furius Anthianus belongs
usually embrace one another. Their attributes to that interval. The only two who can be named
differ according to the divinities upon whom they with certainty as posterior to Modestinus are
attend; as the companions of Apollo they often Charisius and Hermogenianus. Of these two, the
carry musical instruments, and as the companions priority of date is probably, for several reasons, to
of Aphrodite they carry myrtles, roses, or dice, the be assigned to the former. It may be here men-
favourite game of youth. (Hirt, Mythol. Bilderb. tioned, that Hermogenianus occupies the last place
ii. p. 215, &c. )
[L. S. ] in the Fiorentine Index. Charisius cites Modes-
CHARI'SIUS (Xaploios), a son of Lycaon, to tinus with applause (Dig. 50. tit. 4. s. 18. $ 26),
whom tradition ascribed the foundation of Chari- but his date is more closely to be collected from
siae in Arcadia (Paus. viii. 3. § 1; Steph. Byz. Dig. 1. tit. 11. s. un. § 1, where he states that ap-
s. r. )
[L. S. ) peal from the sentences of the praefecti praetorio
CHARI'SIUS (Xapíosos), a Greek orator and has been abolished. Now, this appeal was abolished
a contemporary of Demosthenes, wrote orations for by Constantine the Great, A. D. 331 (Cod. 7. tit.
others, in which he imitated the style of Lysias. 62. s. 19), and, from the language of Charisius in
He was in his tum imitated by Hegesias. (Cic. Dig. 1. tit. 11, it may be inferred, that Constantine
Brut. 83.
) His orations, which were extant in the was alive at the time when that passage was
tiine of Quintilian and Rutilius Lupus, must have written. Charisius is sometimes (e. g. Dig. 22.
been of considerable merit, as we learn from the tit. 5. s. 1. pr. ) cited in the Digest by the name
former writer (x. i. $ 70), that they were ascribed - Arcadius, qui et Charisius," and by Joannes
by some to Menander. Rutilius Lupus (i. 10, ii. 6) Lydus (de Magist. Pop. Rom. i. c. 14), he is
has given two extracts froin them. (Comp. Ruhn- cited by the name Aurelius simply. The name
ken, ad Rutil. Lup. i. 10; Westermann, Gesch. Charisius was not uncommon in the decline of the
der Griech. Beredtsamkeit. § 54, n. 34. )
empire, and, when it occurs on coins, it is usually
CHARI'SIUS, a presbyter of the church of the spelled Carisius, as if it were etymologically con-
Philadelphians in the fifth century. Shortly be nected with Carus rather than yapıs. The jurist,
fore the general council beld at Ephesus, a. D. 431, according to Panziroli (de Clur. Jur. Interpp. pp.
Antonius and James, presbyters of Constantinople, 13, 59), was the same with the Arcadius to whom
and attached to the Nestorian party, came to Phi- Carus, Carinus, and Numerianus directed a re-
ladelphia with commendatory letters from Anasta- script, A. D. 283. (Cod. 9. tit. ll. s. 4. ) There
sius and Photius, and cunningly prevailed upon is a constitution of Diocletianus and Maximianus,
several of the clergy and laity who had just re- addressed, A. D. 300-2, to Arcadius Chresimus.
nounced the errors of the Quartodecimani (Nean- (Cod. 2. tit. 3. 6. 27. ) Panziroli would here read
der, Kirchengesch. ii. 2, p. 645), to subscribe Charisius for Chresimus, and would also identify
a prolix coniession of faith tinctured with the our Charisius with the Carisius (Vat. M. S. ; vulg.
Nestorian errors. But Charisius boldly withstood lect. Charissimus), praeses of Syria, to whom was
them, and therefore they proscribed him as a addressed (A. D. 290) an earlier constitution of the
heretic from the communion of the pious. When same emperors. (Cod. 9. tit. 41. 6. 9. ) These
the council assembled at Ephesus, Charisius accused identifications, however, though not absolutely
before the fathers that composed it Anastasius, impossible, rest upon mere conjecture, and would
Photius, and James, exhibiting against them a require the jurist to have lived to a very advanced
6
## p. 688 (#708) ############################################
688
CHIARISIUS.
CHARITON.
ase.
9
Three works of Charisius are cited in the the third, included in the “Grainmaticae Latinae
Digest. Four extracts (Dig. 22. tit. 5. s. 1; Dig. Auctores Antiqui," of Putschius, Hanov. 4to. 1605,
22. tit. 5. 6. 21; Dig. 22. tit. 5. s. 25; Dig. 48. professes to be far more complete and accurate than
tit. 18. s. 10) are made from his Liber singularis the preceding, in consequence of the additional
de Testibus ; one (Dig. 50. tit. 4. s. 18) from his matter and various readings obtained from an ex-
Liber singularis de Muneribus civilibus; and one cellent codex, the property of Janus Douza, of
(Dig. 1. tit. 1. . un. ) from his Liber singularis which, however, no detailed account is given, and
de Officio Praefecti praetorio. In the inscription of which no trace now remains. Niebuhr had
prefixed to the latter passage (Dig. 1. tit. 11. s. paved the way for a new edition by collating and
un. ), he is stylcd magister libellorum, and Cujas making extracts from the Neapolitan MS. origin-
(Obss. vii. 2), probably suspecting that he held ally employed by Cyminius, which affords means
office under Constantine, conjectures that he was a for greatly purifying and enlarging the text. These
Christian. For this conjecture, however, there is materials were promised by Niebuhr to Linde
no sufficient ground, for, as Ritter has remarked mann, who, however, in consequence of the death
(ad Heineccii Historiam Jur. Rom. § 358), even of his friend and the destruction of a portion of
under Valentinianus the younger, Rome was still his papers by fire, succeeded in obtaining only a
for the most part pagan, and men, the most ad- copy of Putschius with the various readings of the
dicted to paganism, held the highest dignities even Neapolitan MS. marked on the margin. These
in the imperial household.
are given in the edition of Charisius, which forms
Both the matter and the language of the extracts the first part of the fourth volume of the “ Corpus
from Charisius in the Digest mark the declining Grammaticorum Latinorum Veterum,” Lips. 4to.
age of jurisprudence and Latinity. The matter 1810. (Funccius, De inerti ac decrepita Linguae
betrays the mere compiler. The language is dis- Latinae Senectute, c. iv. § 11; Osann, Beiträge zur
figured by barbarisms, e. g. participales, regimen Griech. und Röm. Litteraturgesch, vol. ii. p. 319 ;
tum, incunctabile, munus camelasiae. (Jac. Godefroi, Lersch, Die Sprachphilosophie der Alten, vol. i.
ad Cod. Theodos. ll. tit. 30. s. 16; Guil. Grot. p. 163. ).
(W. R. ]
Vitae Jurisc. ii. 11; Chr. Rau, de Aur. Arc. Cha- CHA'RITES. (CHARIS. )
risio. Vet. Jurisc. , 4to. , Lips. 1773; Zimmern, CHA’RITON (Xapítwv) of Aphrodisias, a town
R. R. G. i. § 104. )
[J. T. G. ] of Caria, is the name by which one of the Greek
CHARI'SIUS, FLAVIUS SOSI'PATER, a erotic prose writers calls himself; but the name is
Latin grammarian, author of a treatise in five probably feigned (from xápis and 'AợpodlTn), as
books, drawn up for the use of his son, entitled the time and position of the author certainly are.
Institutiones Grammaticae, which has come down He represents himself as the secretary (Unoypapevs)
to us in a very imperfect state, a considerable por of the orator Athenagoras, evidently referring to
tion of the first and fifth books being entirely the Syracusan orator mentioned by Thucydides
wanting, as we at once discover by comparing the (vi. 35, 36) as the political opponent of Hermo-
table of contents presented in the prooemium with The daughter of Hermocrates is the he-
what actually remains. It is a careful compilation roine of Chariton's work, which is a romance, in
from preceding writers upon the same subject, such eight books, on the Loves of Chaereas and Callir-
as Flavius Caper, Velius Longus, Terentius Scau- rhoë, under the following title, Xapítwvos 'Apposi-
rus, and above all Comminianus and Julius Ro- σίεως των περί Χαιρέαν και Καλλιρροήν ερωτικών
manus, from whom whole chapters are cited, and Oinynuátwv dóyou 5. The work begins with the
is particularly valuable on account of the number marriage of the heroine, which is presently followed
of quotations, apparently very accurate, from lost by her burial. She comes to life again in the tomb,
works. We can detect a close correspondence and is carried off by robbers. After various ad-
with many passages in the Ars Grammatica of ventures, she is restored to Chaereas. The inci-
Diomedes, but Charisius is so scrupulous in refer- dents are natural and pleasing, and the style sim-
ring to his authorities, that we are led to conclude, ple; but the work as a whole is reckoned inferior
since he makes no mention of Diomedes, that the to those of Achilles Tatius, Helindorus, Longus,
latter was the borrower. Comminianus is known and Xenophon of Ephesus. Nothing is known
to have flourished after Donatus and before respecting the real life or the time of the author.
Servius [COMMINIANCS], therefore Charisius, be- The critics place him variously between the fifth
ing mentioned by Priscian, must belong to some and ninth centuries after Christ. The general
period between the middle of the fourth and the opinion is, that he was the latest of the erotic prose
end of the fifth centuries. Osann, who has in: | writers, except perhaps Xenophon of Ephesus.
vestigated this question with great care, decides There is only one known MS. of the work, from
that he ought to be placed about the year A. D. 400, which it was printed by James Philip D'Orville,
in which case he probably enjoyed the advantage with a Latin version and notes by Reiske, in
of consulting the great libraries of the metropolis, 3 vols.
Hesiod (Theog. 945) calls the Charis who is the ererything that delights and elevates gods and
wife of Hephaestus, Aglaia, and the youngest of men. This notion was probably the cause of
the Charites. (Comp. Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1148. ) Charis being called the wife of Hephaestus, the
According to the Odyssey, on the other hand, divine artist. The most perfect works of art are
A phrodite was the wife of Hephaestus, from which thus called the works of the Charites, and the
we may infer, if not the ide ity of Aphrodite and greatest artists are their favourites. The gentle-
Charis, at least a close connexion and resemblance ness and gracefulness which they impart to man's
in the notions entertained about the two divinities. ordinary pleasures are expressed by their moderat-
The idea of personified grace and beauty was, as ing the exciting influence of wine (Hor. Carm. iii.
we have already seen, divided into a plurality of 19. 15; Pind. Ol. xi. 18), and by their accom-
beings at a very early time, probably to indicate panying Aphrodite and Eros. (Hom. Od. vii.
the various ways in which the beautiful is mani- 364, xvii. 194; Paus. vi. 24. 5. ) They also
fested in the world and adorns it. In the Iliad assist Hermes and Peitho to give grace io elo-
itself (xiv. 269) Pasithea is called one of the quence and persuasion (Hesiod. Op. 63), and wis-
younger Charites, who is destined to be the wife dom itself receives its charms from them. Poetry,
of Sleep, and the plural Charites occurs several however, is the art which is especially favoured
times in the Homeric poems. (Od. xviii. 194. ) by them, whence they are called épaoiuoltou or
The parentage of the Charites is differently de pianoiuo mou. For the same reason they are the
scribed; the most common account makes them friends of the Muses, with whom they live to-
the daughters of Zeus either by Hera, Eurynome, gether in Olympus. (Hes. Theog. 64; Eurip.
Eunomia Eurydomene, Harmonia, or Lethe. Herc. fur. 673; Theocrit. xvi. in fin. ) Poets are
(Hesiod. Theog. 907, &c. ; Apollod. i. 3. $ 1; inspired by the Muses, but the application of their
Pind. Ol. xiv. 15; Phurnut. 15; Orph. Hymn. songs to the embellishment of life and the festivals
59. 2; Stat. Theb. ii. 286; Eustath. ad Hom. p. of the gods are the work of the Charites. Late
982. ) According to others they were the daugh- Roman writers describe the Charites (Gratiae) as
ters of Apollo by Aegle or Euanthe (Paus. ix. 35. the symbols of gratitude and benevolence, to which
$ 1), or of Diorysus by Aphrodite or Coronis. they were led by the meaning of the word gratia
;
## p. 687 (#707) ############################################
CHARISIUS.
687
CHARISIUS.
in their own language. (Senec. De Benef. i. 3; | book of indictment, and the confession which they
comp. Diod. v. 73. )
had imposed upon the deluded Philadelphians.
The worship of the Charites was believed to He also presented a brief confession of his own
have been first introduced into Boeotia by Eteo- faith, harmonizing with the Nicene creed, in order
clus or Eteocles, the son of Cephissus, in the valley that he might clear himself from the suspicion of
of that river. (Paus. ix. 35. § 1; Theocrit. xvi. heresy. The time of his birth and death is m-
104; Pind. Ol. xiv. ) At Orchomenos and in the known. He appears only in connexion with the
island of Paros a festival, the xaplosa or xapıthoia, | Ephesian council, a. D. 431.
was celebrated to the Charites. (Eustath. ad The indictment which he presented to the
Ilom. p. 1843 ; Apollod. iii. 15. $ 7. ) At Orcho- synod, his confession of faith, a copy of the expo-
menos they were worshipped from early times in sition of the creed as corrupted by Anastasius and
the form of rude stones, which were believed to Photius, the subscribings of those who were mis-
have fallen from heaven in the time of Eteocles. led, and the decree of the council after hearing the
(Paus. ix. 38. § l; Strab. ix. p. 414. ) Statues case, are given in Greek and Latin in the Sucro-
of them are mentioned in various parts of Greece, sancta Concilia, edited by Labbe and Cossart, vol.
as at Sparta, on the road from Sparta to Amyclac, iii. p. 673, &c. , Paris, 1671, folio. See also
in Crete, at Athens, Elis, Hermione, and others. Cave's Historia Literuria, pp. 327, 328, ed. Lond.
(Paus. i. 22. & 8, ii. 34. § 10, iii. 14. § 6, vi. 24. 1688, fol.
(S. D. ]
$ 5. ) They were often represented as the com- CHARI'SIUS, AURE'LIUS ARCADIUS,
panions of other gods, such as Hera, Hernes, Eros, a Roman jurist, one of the latest in time of those
Dionysus, Aphrodite, the Horae, and the Muses. whose works are cited in the Digest. Herennius
In the ancient statues of Apollo at Delos and Modestinus, who was living in the reign of Gor-
Delphi, the god carried the Charites on his hand. dianus III. , is usually considered to be the last
In the early times the Charites were represented jurist of the classical period of Roman jurispru-
dressed, but afterwards their figures were always dence. “ Hic oracula jurisconsultorum obmutuere,"
made naked, though even Pausanias (ix. 3. 5. & 2) says the celebrated Jac. Godefroi (Manuale Juris,
did not know who had introduced the custom of li. 7), “ sic ut ultimum JCtorum Modestinum
representing them naked. Specimens of both dicere vere liceat. ” For an interval of 80 or 90
dressed and naked representations of the Charites years after Modestinus, no jurist appears whose
are still extant. Their character is that of unsus- works are honoured with citation in the Digest,
picious maidens in the full bloom of life, and they unless Julius Aquila or Furius Anthianus belongs
usually embrace one another. Their attributes to that interval. The only two who can be named
differ according to the divinities upon whom they with certainty as posterior to Modestinus are
attend; as the companions of Apollo they often Charisius and Hermogenianus. Of these two, the
carry musical instruments, and as the companions priority of date is probably, for several reasons, to
of Aphrodite they carry myrtles, roses, or dice, the be assigned to the former. It may be here men-
favourite game of youth. (Hirt, Mythol. Bilderb. tioned, that Hermogenianus occupies the last place
ii. p. 215, &c. )
[L. S. ] in the Fiorentine Index. Charisius cites Modes-
CHARI'SIUS (Xaploios), a son of Lycaon, to tinus with applause (Dig. 50. tit. 4. s. 18. $ 26),
whom tradition ascribed the foundation of Chari- but his date is more closely to be collected from
siae in Arcadia (Paus. viii. 3. § 1; Steph. Byz. Dig. 1. tit. 11. s. un. § 1, where he states that ap-
s. r. )
[L. S. ) peal from the sentences of the praefecti praetorio
CHARI'SIUS (Xapíosos), a Greek orator and has been abolished. Now, this appeal was abolished
a contemporary of Demosthenes, wrote orations for by Constantine the Great, A. D. 331 (Cod. 7. tit.
others, in which he imitated the style of Lysias. 62. s. 19), and, from the language of Charisius in
He was in his tum imitated by Hegesias. (Cic. Dig. 1. tit. 11, it may be inferred, that Constantine
Brut. 83.
) His orations, which were extant in the was alive at the time when that passage was
tiine of Quintilian and Rutilius Lupus, must have written. Charisius is sometimes (e. g. Dig. 22.
been of considerable merit, as we learn from the tit. 5. s. 1. pr. ) cited in the Digest by the name
former writer (x. i. $ 70), that they were ascribed - Arcadius, qui et Charisius," and by Joannes
by some to Menander. Rutilius Lupus (i. 10, ii. 6) Lydus (de Magist. Pop. Rom. i. c. 14), he is
has given two extracts froin them. (Comp. Ruhn- cited by the name Aurelius simply. The name
ken, ad Rutil. Lup. i. 10; Westermann, Gesch. Charisius was not uncommon in the decline of the
der Griech. Beredtsamkeit. § 54, n. 34. )
empire, and, when it occurs on coins, it is usually
CHARI'SIUS, a presbyter of the church of the spelled Carisius, as if it were etymologically con-
Philadelphians in the fifth century. Shortly be nected with Carus rather than yapıs. The jurist,
fore the general council beld at Ephesus, a. D. 431, according to Panziroli (de Clur. Jur. Interpp. pp.
Antonius and James, presbyters of Constantinople, 13, 59), was the same with the Arcadius to whom
and attached to the Nestorian party, came to Phi- Carus, Carinus, and Numerianus directed a re-
ladelphia with commendatory letters from Anasta- script, A. D. 283. (Cod. 9. tit. ll. s. 4. ) There
sius and Photius, and cunningly prevailed upon is a constitution of Diocletianus and Maximianus,
several of the clergy and laity who had just re- addressed, A. D. 300-2, to Arcadius Chresimus.
nounced the errors of the Quartodecimani (Nean- (Cod. 2. tit. 3. 6. 27. ) Panziroli would here read
der, Kirchengesch. ii. 2, p. 645), to subscribe Charisius for Chresimus, and would also identify
a prolix coniession of faith tinctured with the our Charisius with the Carisius (Vat. M. S. ; vulg.
Nestorian errors. But Charisius boldly withstood lect. Charissimus), praeses of Syria, to whom was
them, and therefore they proscribed him as a addressed (A. D. 290) an earlier constitution of the
heretic from the communion of the pious. When same emperors. (Cod. 9. tit. 41. 6. 9. ) These
the council assembled at Ephesus, Charisius accused identifications, however, though not absolutely
before the fathers that composed it Anastasius, impossible, rest upon mere conjecture, and would
Photius, and James, exhibiting against them a require the jurist to have lived to a very advanced
6
## p. 688 (#708) ############################################
688
CHIARISIUS.
CHARITON.
ase.
9
Three works of Charisius are cited in the the third, included in the “Grainmaticae Latinae
Digest. Four extracts (Dig. 22. tit. 5. s. 1; Dig. Auctores Antiqui," of Putschius, Hanov. 4to. 1605,
22. tit. 5. 6. 21; Dig. 22. tit. 5. s. 25; Dig. 48. professes to be far more complete and accurate than
tit. 18. s. 10) are made from his Liber singularis the preceding, in consequence of the additional
de Testibus ; one (Dig. 50. tit. 4. s. 18) from his matter and various readings obtained from an ex-
Liber singularis de Muneribus civilibus; and one cellent codex, the property of Janus Douza, of
(Dig. 1. tit. 1. . un. ) from his Liber singularis which, however, no detailed account is given, and
de Officio Praefecti praetorio. In the inscription of which no trace now remains. Niebuhr had
prefixed to the latter passage (Dig. 1. tit. 11. s. paved the way for a new edition by collating and
un. ), he is stylcd magister libellorum, and Cujas making extracts from the Neapolitan MS. origin-
(Obss. vii. 2), probably suspecting that he held ally employed by Cyminius, which affords means
office under Constantine, conjectures that he was a for greatly purifying and enlarging the text. These
Christian. For this conjecture, however, there is materials were promised by Niebuhr to Linde
no sufficient ground, for, as Ritter has remarked mann, who, however, in consequence of the death
(ad Heineccii Historiam Jur. Rom. § 358), even of his friend and the destruction of a portion of
under Valentinianus the younger, Rome was still his papers by fire, succeeded in obtaining only a
for the most part pagan, and men, the most ad- copy of Putschius with the various readings of the
dicted to paganism, held the highest dignities even Neapolitan MS. marked on the margin. These
in the imperial household.
are given in the edition of Charisius, which forms
Both the matter and the language of the extracts the first part of the fourth volume of the “ Corpus
from Charisius in the Digest mark the declining Grammaticorum Latinorum Veterum,” Lips. 4to.
age of jurisprudence and Latinity. The matter 1810. (Funccius, De inerti ac decrepita Linguae
betrays the mere compiler. The language is dis- Latinae Senectute, c. iv. § 11; Osann, Beiträge zur
figured by barbarisms, e. g. participales, regimen Griech. und Röm. Litteraturgesch, vol. ii. p. 319 ;
tum, incunctabile, munus camelasiae. (Jac. Godefroi, Lersch, Die Sprachphilosophie der Alten, vol. i.
ad Cod. Theodos. ll. tit. 30. s. 16; Guil. Grot. p. 163. ).
(W. R. ]
Vitae Jurisc. ii. 11; Chr. Rau, de Aur. Arc. Cha- CHA'RITES. (CHARIS. )
risio. Vet. Jurisc. , 4to. , Lips. 1773; Zimmern, CHA’RITON (Xapítwv) of Aphrodisias, a town
R. R. G. i. § 104. )
[J. T. G. ] of Caria, is the name by which one of the Greek
CHARI'SIUS, FLAVIUS SOSI'PATER, a erotic prose writers calls himself; but the name is
Latin grammarian, author of a treatise in five probably feigned (from xápis and 'AợpodlTn), as
books, drawn up for the use of his son, entitled the time and position of the author certainly are.
Institutiones Grammaticae, which has come down He represents himself as the secretary (Unoypapevs)
to us in a very imperfect state, a considerable por of the orator Athenagoras, evidently referring to
tion of the first and fifth books being entirely the Syracusan orator mentioned by Thucydides
wanting, as we at once discover by comparing the (vi. 35, 36) as the political opponent of Hermo-
table of contents presented in the prooemium with The daughter of Hermocrates is the he-
what actually remains. It is a careful compilation roine of Chariton's work, which is a romance, in
from preceding writers upon the same subject, such eight books, on the Loves of Chaereas and Callir-
as Flavius Caper, Velius Longus, Terentius Scau- rhoë, under the following title, Xapítwvos 'Apposi-
rus, and above all Comminianus and Julius Ro- σίεως των περί Χαιρέαν και Καλλιρροήν ερωτικών
manus, from whom whole chapters are cited, and Oinynuátwv dóyou 5. The work begins with the
is particularly valuable on account of the number marriage of the heroine, which is presently followed
of quotations, apparently very accurate, from lost by her burial. She comes to life again in the tomb,
works. We can detect a close correspondence and is carried off by robbers. After various ad-
with many passages in the Ars Grammatica of ventures, she is restored to Chaereas. The inci-
Diomedes, but Charisius is so scrupulous in refer- dents are natural and pleasing, and the style sim-
ring to his authorities, that we are led to conclude, ple; but the work as a whole is reckoned inferior
since he makes no mention of Diomedes, that the to those of Achilles Tatius, Helindorus, Longus,
latter was the borrower. Comminianus is known and Xenophon of Ephesus. Nothing is known
to have flourished after Donatus and before respecting the real life or the time of the author.
Servius [COMMINIANCS], therefore Charisius, be- The critics place him variously between the fifth
ing mentioned by Priscian, must belong to some and ninth centuries after Christ. The general
period between the middle of the fourth and the opinion is, that he was the latest of the erotic prose
end of the fifth centuries. Osann, who has in: | writers, except perhaps Xenophon of Ephesus.
vestigated this question with great care, decides There is only one known MS. of the work, from
that he ought to be placed about the year A. D. 400, which it was printed by James Philip D'Orville,
in which case he probably enjoyed the advantage with a Latin version and notes by Reiske, in
of consulting the great libraries of the metropolis, 3 vols.
