No More Learning

Rhod. iv. 540, was accused by him of glancing at Tiberius in his
990, 1131 ; comp. ARISTAEUS. ) [L. S. ) tragedy of Atreus, and driven to destroy himself;
MACRIS (Máxpus), an Odrysian woman, wife the veteran delator Fulcinius Trio denounced Macro
of Lysimachus, king of Thrace, by whom she was and Tiberius with his dying breath ; and L. Ar-
the mother of two sons, Agathocles and Alexander. runtius died by his own hands, to avoid being
[LYSIMACHUS. )
(E. H. B. ] his victim. As praetorian prefect Macro had the
MACRO, NAE'VIUS SERTOʻRIUS, was charge of the state prisoners — among others of
praetorian prefect under Tiberius and Caligula. the Jewish prince Agrippa (Joseph. Antiq. xviii.
His origin was obscure (Philo, Legat, ad Caium, 4); 6), (AGRIPPA HERODES, No. 1. ) and of Ca-
he was perhaps a freedman by birth (Tac. Ann. vi. ligula. Tiberius, A. D. 37, was visibly declining,
38); and the steps by which he attracted the no- and, in a new reign, Macro might be even more
tice and favour of Tiberius are unknown. Macro powerful than he had been under a veteran and
first appears in history as the conductor of the wary despot. Of the Claudian house there re-
arrest of Aelius Sejanus, his immediate predecessor mained only two near claimants for the throne,
in the command of the praetorians, A. D. 31. The - Tiberius, the grandson, and Caligula, the grand-
seizure of this powerful favorite in the midst of nephew, of the reigning emperor. In Roman
the senate where he had many adherents, and of eyes the claim of the latter was preferable, since
the guards whom he principally had organised by his mother Agrippina he was a descendant
(Tac. Ann. iv. 2), seemed, at least before its exe of the Julian house. Tiberius was an infant, Cali-
cution, a task of no ordinary peril. The plan of gula had attained manhood, but he was a prisoner,
the arrest was concerted at Capreae by Tiberius and therefore more under the influence of his
and Macro, and the latter was despatched to Rome keeper. To Caligula, therefore, Macro applied
on the 19th of October, with instructions to the himself ; he softened his captivity, he interceded
officials of the government and the guards, and for his life, and he connived at, or rather promoted,
with letters to some of the principal members of an intrigue between his wife Ennia (ENNIA) and
the senate. Macro reached the capital at mid- his captive. Tiberius noticed but was not alarmed
night; and imparted his errand to P. Memmius Re- at Macro's homage to Caligula. “You quit,” he
gulus, one of the consuls, and to Graecinus Laco, said," the setting for the rising sun. ” It was ru-
prefect of the city-police (vigiles). By daybreak moured, but it could not be known, that Macro
the senate assembled in the temple of Apollo, ad- shortened the fleeting moments of the dying em-
joining the imperial palace. Macro, by the promise peror by stifling him with the bedding as he re-
of a donation, and by showing his commission from covered unexpectedly from a swoon. Macro cer-
Tiberius, had dismissed the praetorians to their tainly induced the senate to accept Caligula as sole
camp, and supplied their place at the entrance and emperor, although Tiberius had in his will declared
along the avenues of the temple by Laco and his his grandson partner of the empire. During the
vigiles. He had alsu lulled the suspicions which better days of Caligula's government Macro re-
his sudden arrival at Rome had awakened in Se- tained his office and his influence. But his services
janus by informing him, as if confidentially, that were too great to be rewarded or forgiven. Ac-
the senate was specially convened to confer on him cording to one account (Philo, Legat. ad Caium, 4),
the tribunitian dignity, which would have been Macro presumed to remonstrate with the emperor
equivalent to adopting him to the empire. Sejanus for his extravagance, his indecorous levity, his ad-
therefore took no steps for his own security, but, diction to sensual pleasures, and his neglect of
had he shown any disposition to resist, Macro had business. A rebuke which Agrippa might have
secret orders to release from prison Drusus, son of offered and Augustus received was thrown away
Germanicus and Agrippina (Drusus, No. 18), and on Caligula, and was unseasonable in Macro.
proclaim him heir to the throne. Macro presented Dread of the prefect's influence with the guards at
Tiberius' letters to the consul in the senate, but first induced the emperor to dissemble ; he even
3 14


## p. 888 (#904) ############################################

888
MACROBIUS.
MACROBIUS.
Cieero de Republica
en the persica. com
ing to the news of
vith notices of so
Dei as well as
that can commen:
part of ibe Satan
priced sp of the
anot upon a M
the words Macroda
tres de Saturn
open the corside
peralt meanings
blov a bornew tat
of Virgin On the
that the comment
maintained throu:
of the auditors bei
while in the form
te presence of
IIL De Difa
Braque Feria, a 1
do not possess t
from tbe band of
set by a cert
thought fit to id
lived in the time
A controvers
able animation et
bus The assal1
that no pagan
pretended to design the prefecture of Egypt, a confidence or conjectured with plansibility: - The
place of the highest trust (Tac. Ann. ii. 59, Hist. works which have descended to us are,
i. 11), for Macro. But hatred at length prevailed L Saturnaliorum Conviviorum Libri VII. , con-
over dissimulation, and Macro, his wife Ennia, and sisting of a series of curious and valuable dissertations
his children, were all compelled to die by a master on history, mythology, criticism, and various points
whose life he had thrice saved, and who owed his of antiquarian research, supposed to have been
empire to the power and preference of his victim. delivered during the holidays of the Saturnalia at
(Tac. Ann. vi. 15, 23, 29, 38, 45, 47, 48, 50 ; the house of Vetrius Praetextatus, who was invested
Suet. Tib. 73, Cal. 12, 23, 26 ; Dion Cass. lviii. with the highest offices of state under Valentinian
9, 12, 13, 18, 21, 24, 25, 27, 28, lix. 1. 10; Joseph. and Valens. The form of the work is arowedly
Antiq. xviii
. 6. $ 6,7; Philo, Legat. ad Caium, p. copied from the dialogues of Plato, especially the
994, in Flacc. p. 967. )
[W. B. D. ] Banquet: in substance it bears a strong resem-
MACRO'BIUS, the grammarian. Ambrosius blance to the Noctes Atticae of A. Gellius, from
Aurelius Theodosius Macrobius are the names whom, as well as from Plutarch, much has been
usually prefixed to the works of this author. One borrowed. It is in fact a sort of commonplace
MS. is said to add the designation Oriniocensis, book, in which information collected from a great
which in a second appears under the form Orni- variety of sources, many of which are now lost, is
censis or Ornicsis, words supposed to be corruptions arranged with some attention to system, and
of Oneirocensis, and to bear reference to the com- brought to bear upon a limited number of subjects.
mentary on the dream (8verpos) of Scipio ; in a The individual who discourses most largely is
third we meet with the epithet Sicctini, which some Praetextatus himself, but the celebrated Aurelins
critics have proposed to derive from Sicca in Nu- Symmachus, Flavianus the brother of Symmachus,
midia, others from Sicenus or Sicinus, one of the Caecina Albinus, Servius the grammarian, and
Sporades. Both Parma and Ravenna have claimed several other learned men of less note, are present
the honour of giving him birth, but we have during the conversations, and take a part in the
no evidence of a satisfactory description to deter- debates. The author does not appear in his own
mine the place of his nativity. We can, however, person, except in the introduction addressed to his
pronounce with certainty, upon his own express son Eustathius; but a pleader named Postumianus
testimony (Sat. i. praef. ), that he was not a Roman, relates to a friend Decius the account, which he
and that Latin was to him a foreign tongue, while had received from a rhetorician Eusebius, who had
from the hellenic idioms with which his style been present during the greater part of the dis-
abounds we should be led to conclude that he was cussions, both of what he had himself heard and of
a Greek. From the personages whom he intro- what he had learned from others with regard to
duces in the Saturnalia, and represents as his con- the proceedings during the period when he had been
temporaries, we are entitled to conclude that he absent. Such is the clumsy machinery of the
lived about the beginning of the fifth century, but piece. The first book is occupied with an inquiry
of his personal histor or of the social position into the attributes and festivals of Saturnus and
which he occupied we know absolutely nothing. Janus, a complete history and analysis of the
In the Codex Theodosianus, it is true, a law of Roman calendar, and an exposition of the theory
Constantine, belonging to the year a. D. 326, is according to which all deities and all modes of
preserved, addressed to a certain Maximianus worship might be deduced from the worship of the
Macrobius, another of Honorius (A. D. 399) ad- sun. The second book commences with a collection
dressed to Macrobius, propraefect of the Spains, of bon mots, ascribed to the most celebrated wits
another of Arcadius and Honorius (a. D. 400), of antiquity, among whom Cicero and Augustus
addressed to Vincentius, praetorian praefect of the hold a conspicuous place ; to these are appended a
Gauls, in which mention is made of a Macrobius series of essays on matters connected with the
as Vicarius ; another of Honorius (A. D. 410), pleasures of the table, a description of some choice
addressed to Macrobius, proconsul of Africa; and a fishes and fruits, and a chapter on the sumptuary
rescript of Honorius and Theodosius (4. D. 422), laws. The four following books are devoted to
addressed to Florentius, praefect of the city, in criticisms on Virgil. In the third is pointed out
which it is set forth, that in consideration of the the deep and accurate acquaintance with holy rites
merits of Macrobius (styled Vir illustris), the office possessed by the poet ; the fourth illustrates his
of praepositus sacri cubiculi shall from that time rhetorical skill ; in the fifth he is compared with
forward be esteemed as equal in dignity to those Homer, and numerous passages are adduced imi-
of the praetorian praefect, of the praefect of the tated from the Iliad and Odyssey ; the sixth
city, and of the magister militum ; but we possess contains a catalogue of the obligations which he
no clue which would lead us to identify any of owed to his own countrymen. The seventh book
these dignitaries with the ancestors or kindred of is of a more miscellaneous character than the pre-
the grammarian, or with the grammarian himself. ceding, comprising among other matters an inves-
In codices he is generally termed v. C. ET INL. , ) tigation of various questions connected with the
that is, Vir clarus (not consularis) et inlustris, but physiology of the human frame, such as the com-
no information is conveyed by such vague com- parative digestibility of different kinds of food,
plimentary titles. It has been maintained that he why persons who whirl round in a circle, become
is the Theodosius to whom Avianus dedicates his affected with giddiness, why shame or joy calls up
fables, a proposition scarcely worth combating, even a blush upon the cheek, why fear produces paleness,
if we could fix with certainty the epoch to which and in general in what way the brain exercises an
these fables belong. [AVIANUS. ) When we state, influence upon the members of the body.
therefore, that Macrobius flourished in the age of II. Commentarius ex Cicerone in Somnium Sci-
Honorius and Theodosius, that he was probably a pionis, a tract which was greatly admired and ex-
Greek, and that he had a son named Eustathius, tensively studied during the middle ages. The
we include every thing that can be asserted with | Dream of Scipio, contained in the sixth book of
de lunscents by
tid of the direct
the Saturnala (
the anthor was
Foly merabll
preserved throug
the Dev faith,
be warm ada
local opinions
Prest; and ter
disisities are er
and frankness
in that age by
been looked up
the other hand
wear a scriptur
- Deus opiles
(Saut. ri. 3, 1
bot faily recogs
The Editio F
the Saturtalia
1412. The te
merarios, fol
H. Stephan. 1
Bat. 1597, te
Grodorius, 85
kantie improve
wit 850. P
Lips. 1774.
has ever appea
The tract
Paris, 8vo. 13
the same place
be found in the
197. 1605, p. 2
Gronovias, ar
Aselect, Gram
Two French


## p. 889 (#905) ############################################

- MACROBIUS.
889
MADATES.
ܪ
Cicero de Republica (CICERO, p. 729), is taken as at Paris in the same year (1826), one by Ch. de
a text, which suggests a succession of discourses Rosoy, the other by an individual who prefixes his
on the physical constitution of the universe, accord- initials only, C. G. D. R. Y. There is no English
ing to the views of the New Platonists, together version. (Barth. Advers. xxxix. 12 ; Pontanus,
with notices of some of their peculiar tenets on Comment. in Macrob. ; Cod. Theod. 9. tit. 12. 8. 2,
mind as well as matter. Barthius has conjectured 16. tit. 10. s. 15, 8. tit. 6. &. 61, 11. tit. 28. s. 6, 6.
that this commentary ought to be held as forming tit. 8. See especially Mahul, Dissertation His-
part of the Saturnalia, and that it constituted the torique, Littéraire el Bibliographique sur la vie et
proceedings of the third day. He founded his les Ouvrages de Macrobe, Paris, 1817, reprinted in
opinion upon a MS. which actually opened with the Classicul Journal, vols. XX. p. 105, xxi. p. 81,
the words Macrobii Th. V. C. et inl. commentariorum xxii. p. 51, where the materials are all collected
tertiae diei Saturnaliorum liber primus incipit, and and well arranged. Some good remarks on the
upon the consideration that an exposition of the plan and arngement of the different parts of the
occult meaning of Cicero might with propriety Saturnalia are contained in the essays of L. von
follow a somewhat similar development of the sense Jan, Ueber die ursprüngliche Form der Suturnalien
of Virgil
. On the other hand, it must be remarked des Macrobius, inserted in the Münch. gelehrt. An-
that the commentary consists of a number of con- zeig. 1844.
On the Christianity of Macrobius
tinuous essays, while the form of a dialogue is consult Masson, the Slaughter of the Children in
maintained throughout the Saturnalia, the remarks Bethlehem, &c. , 8vo. Lond. 1728, appended to
of the auditors being freely interspersed in the latter, Bishop Chandler's Vindication of his Defence of
while in the former there is no indication given of Christianity. )
[W. K. )
the presence of listeners.
MACRO'BIUS, mentioned in the writings of
III. De Differentiis et Societatibus Graeci La- Optatus and Gennadius, was a presbyter of the
tinique Verbi, a treatise purely grammatical. We Catholic church in Africa, during the early part of
do not possess the original work as it proceeded the fourth century, became attached to the Donatists,
from the hand of Macrobius, but merely an abridge- and was by them despatched to Rome, where he
ment by a certain Joannes, whom Pithou has secretly officiated as bishop of their communion.
thought fit to identify with Joannes Scotus, who Before his separation he wrote an address, Ad Con-
lived in the time of Charles the Bald.
fessores et Virgines, insisting chiefly on the beauty
A controversy has been maintained with consider- and holiness of chastity; and, when a heretic, a
able animation upon the religious opinions of Macro letter to the laity of Carthage, entitled Epistola de
bius. The assailants of Christianity having asserted Passione Maximiani et Isaaci Donatistarum. The
that no pagan writer had recorded the massacre of former is no longer extant, the latter was first pub-
the Innocents by Herod, found it necessary to get lished in an imperfect state, by Mabillon, in his
rid of the direct testimony to the fact contained in Analecta (8vo. Paris, 1675, vol. iv. p. 119, or 1723,
the Saturnalia (ii 4), by endeavouring to prove that p. 185), and will be found in its most correct form
the author was a Christian. The position seems appended to the editions of Optatus, by Du Pin,
wholly untenable. Not only is an absolute silence printed at Paris in 1700, at Amsterdam in 1701,
preserved throughout the dialogues with regard to and at Antwerp in 1702. Lardner is inclined to
the new faith, but the persons present express think that Gennadius has made a confusion be-
their warm admiration of the sanctity and theo tween two persons of the same name, and that
logical opinions of Praetextatus, who was a heathen Macrobius, the fourth Donatist bishop of Rome,
priest; and terms of reverence towards various never was a Catholic. (Gennad, de Viris IU. 5;
divinities are employed, with a degree of freedom Optatus, ii. 4; Honor. ï. 5; Trithem. 107;
and frankness which would not have been tolerated Tillemont, Les Donatistes, not. 21 ; Lardner, Cre-
in that age by a believer, and would indeed have dibility of Gospel History, c. lxvii. Siri. 4 ; Schöne-
been looked upon as amounting to apostacy. On mann, Bibliotheca Patrum Lat. vol. i. § 4; Bähr,
the other hand, the phrases which are supposed to Geschichte der Röm. Litterat. suppl. Band. 2te Ab-
wear a scriptural air, “ Deus omnium fabricator," theil, 61. )
(W. R. )
“Deus opifex omnes sensus in capite locavit ” MACULA, Q. POMPEIUS, a friend of Ci-
(Sat. vii. 5, 14), involve no doctrine which was cero (ad Fam. vi. 19), and probably the same
not fully recognised by the Neo-Platonists. person with Pompeius Macula mentioned by Ma-
The Editio Princeps of the Commentarius and of crobius in connection with a pun founded on his
the Saturnalia was printed at Venice by Jenson, fol. cognomen. Fausta, daughter of Sulla, the dictator
1472. The text was gradually improved by Ca- [Fausta Cornelia], had at the same time two
merarius, fol. Basil. 1535; by Carrio, 8vo. Paris, lovers — Fulvius, a fuller's son, and Pompeius
H. Stephan. 1585; by J. J. Pontanus, 8vo. Lug. Macula. Faustus, the lady's brother, remarked
Bat. 1597, reprinted with corrections 1628 ; by that, “ he wondered his sister should have a stain
Gronovius, 8vo. Lug. Bat. 1670, reprinted, with (macula), since she had a fuller (fullo). ” (Sat. ii.
some improvements, but omitting a portion of the 2. ) The cognomen Macula is probably derived
notes, 8vo. Patav. 1736 ; and by Zeunius, 8vo. from some physical blemish. (W. B. D. )
Lips. 1774. No really good edition of Macrobius MADARUS, spoken of by Cicero (ad Att. xiv.
has ever appeared, but that of Gronovius is the best. 2), is C. Matius, to whom he gives the sumame
The tract De Differentiis was first published at Madarus (uaðapós), on account of his baldness.
Paris, 8vo. 1583, by H. Stephens, and again at He is usually called Calvena. (CALVENA.
the same place by Obsopaeus, 8vo. 1588. It will MA'DATES, called by Diodorus MA'DETAS,
be found in the collection of Putschius, 4to. Han- (Madétas), a general of Dareius, who defended a
nov. 1605, p. 2727, and in the editions of Pontanus, strong mountain-fortress of the Uxii against Alex-
Gronovius, and Zeunius ; see also Endlicher, ander the Great, when the latter wished to pene
Analect. Gramm. p. ix. 187.
trate from Susiana into Persis towards the end of
Two French translations of Macrobius appeared | B. C. 331. He was pardoned by Alexander at the


## p. 890 (#906) ############################################

890
MAECENAS.
; MAECENAS.
entreaties of Sisygambis, the mother of Dareius, a totally in the dark both as to the date and place of
niece of whom he had married. (Curt. V. 3; Diod. his birth, and the manner of his education. It is
xvii. 67. )
most probable, however, that he was born some
MADYAS. [IDANTHYRSUS. ]
time between B. C. 73 and 63; and we learn from
MAEANDRUS (Malav&pos), a son of Oceanus Horace (Carm. iv. 1)) that his birth-day was the
and Tethys, and the god of the winding river 13th of April. His family, though belonging only
Maeander in Phrygia. He was the father of to the equestrian order, was of high antiquity and
Cyanea and Canaus, who is hence called Maean- honour, and traced its descent from the Lucumones
drius. (Hes. Theog. 339; Ov. Met. ix. 450, of Etruria. The scholiast on Horace (Carm. i 1)
473. )
(L. S. ) inforins us that he numbered Porsena among his
MAEA’NDRIUS (Maiávopios), secretary to ancestors; and his authority is in some measure
Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, was sent by his mas confirmed by a fragment of one of Augustus' letters
ter to Sardis to see whether the promises of Oroetes, to Maecenas, preserved by Macrobius (Sat. ii. 4),
the satrap, might safely be trusted, and was so far in which he is addressed as “ berylle Porsenae.
deceived as to bring back a favourable report, in His paternal ancestors (CILNII) are mentioned by
consequence of which Polycrates passed over to Livy (x. 3, 5) as having attained to so high a pitch
Asia Minor, leaving Maeandrius in Samos as res of power and wealth at Arretium about the middle
gent, and, having placed himself in the power of of the fifth century of Rome, as to excite the
Oroetes, was put to death, in B. c. 522. On re jealousy and hatred of their fellow-citizens, who
ceiving intelligence of this event, Maeandrius came rose against and expelled them; and it was not
forward with a speech, reported by Herodotus with without considerable difficulty that they were at
the most amusing naïvetē, in which he expressed length restored to their country, through the inter-
his extreme dislike of arbitrary power, and offered ference of the Romans. The maternal branch of
to lay it down for certain valuable considerations. the family was likewise of Etruscan origin, and it
But the terms of the proposed bargain being some- was from them that the name of Maecenas was de-
what bluntly rejected, and a hint being given at rived, it being customary among the Etruscans to
the same time, by one Telesarchus, of the necessity assume the mother's as well as the father's name.
of an inquiry into the expenditure of the money (Müller, Etrusker, ii. p. 404. ) It is in allusion to
which had passed through his hands, Maeandrius this circumstance that Horace (Sat. i. 6. 3) men-
thought he could not do better than keep the ty- tions both his avus maternus atque paternus as
ranny, and he therefore threw into chains his prin- having been distinguished by commanding nu-
cipal opponents, whom, during an illness with merous legions ; a passage, by the way, from which
which he was attacked, his brother Lycaretus put we are not to infer that the ancestors of Maecenas
to death. When a Persian force under Otanes had ever led the Roman legions. Their name does
invaded Samos, to place Syloson, brother of Poly- not appear in the Fasti Consulares ; and it is mani-
crates, in the government, Maeandrius capitulated; fest, from several passages of Latin authors, that
but he encouraged his crazy brother, CHARILAUS, the word legio is not always restricted to a Roman
in his design of murdering the chief Persians, legion. (See Liv. 1. 5; Sall. Cal. 53, &c. ) With
while he himself made his escape to Sparta, where respect to the etymology of the name Maecenas,
he endeavoured to tempt Cleomenes I. and others, authors are at variance. We sometimes find it
by bribes, to aid him in recovering his power ; spelt Mecaenas, sometimes Mecoenas; but it seems
whereupon, by the advice of the king, the Ephori to be now agreed that Maecenas is right. As to
banished him out of the Peloponnesus. (Herod. its derivation, several fanciful theories have been
iii. 123, 140–148 ; Plut. Ap. Lac. Cleom. 16. ) started. It seems most probable, as Varro tells ug
Aelian says that the Persian war arose from the (L. L. viii. 84, ed. Müller), that it was taken from
difference between Maeandrius and the Athenians; some place ; and which may possibly be that men-
but we hear of no such quarrel, and the attempted tioned by Pliny (H. N. xiv. 8) as producing an
explanation of Perizonius is pure conjecture. (Ael. inland sort of wines called the vina Maecenatiana.
V. H. xii. 53 ; Perizon. ad loc. ) [E. E. ]
The names both of Cilnius and Maecenas occur on
MAEA'NDRIUS (Marávopios), an historian Etruscan cinerary urns, but always separately, a
(oryypapeús), who wrote a work in which men- fact from which Müller, in his Etrusker, has in-
tion was made of the Heneti (Strab. xii. p. 552). ferred that the union of the two families did not
He was also the author of a work entitled rapár- take place till a late period. 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.