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.
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.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
Graec.
vol.
ii.
pp.
452,
assistance in the siege of Sinope. (Appian, Mithr. 453. )
[P. S. ]
67, 78, 83 ; Plut. Lucull. 24 ; Memnon, 54, ed. MACI'STIUS. (MASISTIUS. ]
Orelli. ) But when Mithridates, after his defeat hy MACISTUS (MárutOS). 1. A surname of
Pompey, adopted the daring resolution of marching Heracles, who had a temple in the neighbourhood
with his army to the Bosporus, and renewing the of the town of Macistus in Triphylia. (Strab. vii.
contest from thence, Machares became alarmed for p. 348. )
the consequences of his defection ; and on learning 2. A son of Athamas and brother of Phrixus,
the actual approach of his father (B. C. 65) fled to from whom the town of Macistus in Triphylia was
the city of Chersonesus, where he soon after, de believed to have derived its name. (Steph. Byz
spairing of pardon, put an end to his own life. s. v. Máriotus. )
[L. S. ]
(Appian, Mithr. 102. ) Dion Cassius, on the con- MACRIANUSand MACRIA'NUS,JUNIOR,
trary, relates (wxvi. 33) that Mithridates deceived rank among the thirty tyrants enumerated by
hini with promises of safety, and then put him to Trebellius Pollio. When Valerian undertook the
death. (Comp. Oros. vi. 5. ). [E. H. B. ) Persian war, he committed the chief command to
MACHATAS (Maxátas) 1. A Macedonian, Macrianus, whose valour bad been proved as a boy
father of Harpalus, and of Philip, the satrap of in Italy, as a youth in Thrace, as a man in Africa,
India. (Arr. Anab. iii
. 6. § 7, v. 8. $ 5. ) He and when stricken in years in Illyria and Dalmatia
was a brother of Derdas and of Phila, one of the In consequence, it is said, of his incapacity or
many wives of Philip of Macedonia, and belonged treachery, the campaign terminated in the capture
to the family of the princes of Elymiotis. After of the emperor, after which, Macrianus and Balista
the expulsion of those princes he seems to have baring collected the scattered remnants of the
resided at the court of Philip, though it would / Roman army, it was determined in solemn con-
3
31. 3
## p. 886 (#902) ############################################
886
. MACRINUS.
MACRINUS.
ference, that, neglecting the claim of the effeminate narrowly escaped being involved in the destruction
Gallienus, the former should assume the purple. of his patron. (PLAUTIANUS. ] Having subse.
Having assigned the management of affairs in the quently received several appointments of trust in
East to one of his sons, Quietus, he set out with the imperial household, he was at length named
the other for Italy. They were encountered by praefect of the praetorians, by Caracalla, and dis-
Aureolus on the confines of Thrace and Illyria, de charged the duties of that high office with the
feated and slain, A. D. 262.
greatest prudence and integrity, whenever he was
MACRIANUS, JUNIOR, the son of the pre- permitted to follow the dictates of his own in-
ceding, shared the power and the fate of his father. clinations uncontrolled. The death of Caracalia
Indeed it seems probable that the chief authority took place on the 8th of April, A. D. 217 [CARA-
was vested in his person, for all the coins hitherto CALLA), and on the 11th Macrinus, who had
discovered, bearing the name of these pretenders, hitherto abstained from coming forward openly,
exhibit the effigy of a young man, while it is lest he might be suspected of having participated
certain that the general of Valerian was far ad- in the plot, having, through the secret agency of
vanced in life at the time of his appointment. his friends, succeeded in gaining over the soldiers
But as there is one coin which represents Ma by the promise of a liberal donative, was pro-
crianus with a beard, while in all the others he claimed emperor, the title of Caesar being at the
has no beard, it has been conjectured that this same time conferred upon his son Diadumenianus
coin refers to the elder Macrianus. Moreover, [DJADUM ENIANUS). He immediately repealed the
a difficulty arises with regard to the medals additional tax imposed by his predecessor on manu-
of Alexandria, some of which present the names missions and inheritances, and expressed a deter-
T. $. IOTN. MAKPIANOZ (Titus Fulvius Junius mination to abolish all unlawful exactions both in
Macrianus), while others have M. or MA. 40r. the city and in the provinces. The senate, filled
MAKPIANOZ (Marcus Fulvius Macrianus), as if with joy on receiving intelligence of the death of
they represented different individuals. The MSS. their hated tyrant, gladly confirmed the choice of
of the Augustan historians_vary much between the army.
Macrianus and Macrinus. Zonaras (xii. 24) uni- The emperor at once marched to meet Artabanus
formly distinguishes the father by the latter, and the Parthian, who, burning with rage on account
the son by the former appellation. (Trebell. Poll of the dishonour and loss sustained through the
Trig. Tyrann. Vit. Macrian. et Gallien. 1, 2, 3. See treachery of Caracalla, and confident in his own
Tillemont on the alleged magical power of Ma- strength, had haughtily rejected all offers of accom-
crianus. )
[W. R. ] modation, except upon such terms as it was im-
possible to accept. The opposing hosts encountered
near Nisibis, the Romans were signally defeated,
and after having been compelled to purchase the
forbearance of the conqueror, by a great sum of
money and heavy sacrifices, retired, covered with
disgrace, into Syria. At the commencement of the
following year a discontented and mutinous spirit
began to be openly displayed in the legions, who
found the sovereign of their choice far less indul-
gent and open-handed than the son of Severus.
COIN OF MACRIANUS SENIOR.
Taking advantage of these feelings, Julia Maesa
[MAESA), who was at that time living at Emesa,
persuaded the detachments quartered in the vici-
nity that her grandson Elagabalus was in reality
the child of Caracalla, and having seduced them
from their allegiance by lavish offers, induced them
to receive the boy into their camp, and to acknow-
ledge him as their prince. Macrinus advanced to
Antioch to crush the impostor, but after an en-
gagement, fought on the 8th of June, A. D. 218, in
which great cowardice was displayed on both sides,
the fortune of the day having been eventually de-
cided by the energy and bold example of Maesa
COIN OF MACRIANUS JUNIOR,
and Soemias, he was compelled to fly, and, casting
away his royal robes, reached Chalcedon disguised
MACRI'NUS, a friend of the younger Pliny, in mean attire. There he was quickly betrayed,
to whom the latter addresses many of his letters, was dragged back, and slain in Cappadocia, in the
but of whose life we have no particulars, (Plin. fifty-fourth or fifty-fifth year of his age, after a
Ep. ii. 7, iii. 4, vii. 6, 10, viii. 17, ix. 4. ) reign of fourteen months. His head, and that of
MACRI'NUS, Roman emperor, April, A. D. 217 his son, who had been discovered and put to death
-- June, A. D. 218. M. OPELIUS (OR OPILIUS) elsewhere, were stuck upon poles, and carried
MACRINUS, afterwards M. Opelius SeveRUS MA- about in triumph. If we can trust Capitolinus, he
CRINUS, at whose instigation Caracalla was assas- scarcely deserves our pity, for he is represented by
sinated, when marching to encounter the Parthians, the Augustan historian as haughty, blood-thirsty
was a native of Caesareia in Mauritania, and was and inhumanly cruel in the infliction of punish-
born of very humble parents, in the year A. D. 164. ments. Great complaints were made of the number
Having been recommended to the notice of Plau- of unfitting and unworthy persons invested by
tianus, the all-powerful favourite of Septimius him with the highest dignities. (Dion Cass
Sererus, he was admitted into his employment, and lxxxviii. 11–41 ; Capitolin. Macrin. ; Aurel. Vice
TE
NUSPA
PVCNAT
UNI
SMART
OOCOG
199
FROL
90
MAC
23222022000
SIDE
Moclobe
Dorok
1000010
a
## p. 887 (#903) ############################################
MACRO.
887
MACRO. ,
N
090030
400000
COIN OF MACRINUS,
do Cores. 22, Epil. 22; Eutrop. viii. 12; Zonar. I withdrew before they were opened, since his pre-
xü. 13. )
[W. R. ] sence was required at the praetorian camp, where
the soldiers, jealous of the preference shown to the
vigiles, were in mutiny, and, in the confusion that
followed the arrest of Sejanus, began to plunder
and burn the suburbs. Macro, however, reduced
them to discipline by a donation of more than
thirty pounds sterling to each man, and they ac-
cepted him as their new prefect. For his services
on this day the senate decreed Macro a large sum
of money, a seat in the theatre on the senatorian
benches, the right of wearing the pretexta, and
MACRI'NUS, BAE'BIUS, a Roman rhetori- the ornaments of a praetor. But he prudently de-
cian, is mentioned along with Julius Frontinus and clined these unusual honours, and contented him-
Julius Granianus, as one of the teachers of the self with the more substantial favour of Tiberius.
emperor Alexander Severus. (Lamprid. Alex. Sev. He was praetorian prefect for the remainder of
3. )"
that emperor's reign and during the earlier part of
MACRI'NUS, PLO'TIUS, to whom Persius Caligula's Macro, whom L. Arruntius described
addressed his second satire, but of whom we know as a worse Sejanus (Tac. Ann. vi. 48), was unre-
nothing, except that he was a friend of the poet. lenting in his persecution of the fallen favourite's
MACRIS (Máxpis), a daughter of Aristaeus, adherents. He laid informations ; he presided at
who fed the infant Dionysus with honey, after he the rack; and he lent himself to the most savage
was brought to her in Euboea by Hermes ; but caprices of Tiberius during the last and worst pe-
being expelled by Hera, she took refuge in the riod of his government. Mam. Aemilius Scaurus
island of the Phaeacians. (Apollon. 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.
assistance in the siege of Sinope. (Appian, Mithr. 453. )
[P. S. ]
67, 78, 83 ; Plut. Lucull. 24 ; Memnon, 54, ed. MACI'STIUS. (MASISTIUS. ]
Orelli. ) But when Mithridates, after his defeat hy MACISTUS (MárutOS). 1. A surname of
Pompey, adopted the daring resolution of marching Heracles, who had a temple in the neighbourhood
with his army to the Bosporus, and renewing the of the town of Macistus in Triphylia. (Strab. vii.
contest from thence, Machares became alarmed for p. 348. )
the consequences of his defection ; and on learning 2. A son of Athamas and brother of Phrixus,
the actual approach of his father (B. C. 65) fled to from whom the town of Macistus in Triphylia was
the city of Chersonesus, where he soon after, de believed to have derived its name. (Steph. Byz
spairing of pardon, put an end to his own life. s. v. Máriotus. )
[L. S. ]
(Appian, Mithr. 102. ) Dion Cassius, on the con- MACRIANUSand MACRIA'NUS,JUNIOR,
trary, relates (wxvi. 33) that Mithridates deceived rank among the thirty tyrants enumerated by
hini with promises of safety, and then put him to Trebellius Pollio. When Valerian undertook the
death. (Comp. Oros. vi. 5. ). [E. H. B. ) Persian war, he committed the chief command to
MACHATAS (Maxátas) 1. A Macedonian, Macrianus, whose valour bad been proved as a boy
father of Harpalus, and of Philip, the satrap of in Italy, as a youth in Thrace, as a man in Africa,
India. (Arr. Anab. iii
. 6. § 7, v. 8. $ 5. ) He and when stricken in years in Illyria and Dalmatia
was a brother of Derdas and of Phila, one of the In consequence, it is said, of his incapacity or
many wives of Philip of Macedonia, and belonged treachery, the campaign terminated in the capture
to the family of the princes of Elymiotis. After of the emperor, after which, Macrianus and Balista
the expulsion of those princes he seems to have baring collected the scattered remnants of the
resided at the court of Philip, though it would / Roman army, it was determined in solemn con-
3
31. 3
## p. 886 (#902) ############################################
886
. MACRINUS.
MACRINUS.
ference, that, neglecting the claim of the effeminate narrowly escaped being involved in the destruction
Gallienus, the former should assume the purple. of his patron. (PLAUTIANUS. ] Having subse.
Having assigned the management of affairs in the quently received several appointments of trust in
East to one of his sons, Quietus, he set out with the imperial household, he was at length named
the other for Italy. They were encountered by praefect of the praetorians, by Caracalla, and dis-
Aureolus on the confines of Thrace and Illyria, de charged the duties of that high office with the
feated and slain, A. D. 262.
greatest prudence and integrity, whenever he was
MACRIANUS, JUNIOR, the son of the pre- permitted to follow the dictates of his own in-
ceding, shared the power and the fate of his father. clinations uncontrolled. The death of Caracalia
Indeed it seems probable that the chief authority took place on the 8th of April, A. D. 217 [CARA-
was vested in his person, for all the coins hitherto CALLA), and on the 11th Macrinus, who had
discovered, bearing the name of these pretenders, hitherto abstained from coming forward openly,
exhibit the effigy of a young man, while it is lest he might be suspected of having participated
certain that the general of Valerian was far ad- in the plot, having, through the secret agency of
vanced in life at the time of his appointment. his friends, succeeded in gaining over the soldiers
But as there is one coin which represents Ma by the promise of a liberal donative, was pro-
crianus with a beard, while in all the others he claimed emperor, the title of Caesar being at the
has no beard, it has been conjectured that this same time conferred upon his son Diadumenianus
coin refers to the elder Macrianus. Moreover, [DJADUM ENIANUS). He immediately repealed the
a difficulty arises with regard to the medals additional tax imposed by his predecessor on manu-
of Alexandria, some of which present the names missions and inheritances, and expressed a deter-
T. $. IOTN. MAKPIANOZ (Titus Fulvius Junius mination to abolish all unlawful exactions both in
Macrianus), while others have M. or MA. 40r. the city and in the provinces. The senate, filled
MAKPIANOZ (Marcus Fulvius Macrianus), as if with joy on receiving intelligence of the death of
they represented different individuals. The MSS. their hated tyrant, gladly confirmed the choice of
of the Augustan historians_vary much between the army.
Macrianus and Macrinus. Zonaras (xii. 24) uni- The emperor at once marched to meet Artabanus
formly distinguishes the father by the latter, and the Parthian, who, burning with rage on account
the son by the former appellation. (Trebell. Poll of the dishonour and loss sustained through the
Trig. Tyrann. Vit. Macrian. et Gallien. 1, 2, 3. See treachery of Caracalla, and confident in his own
Tillemont on the alleged magical power of Ma- strength, had haughtily rejected all offers of accom-
crianus. )
[W. R. ] modation, except upon such terms as it was im-
possible to accept. The opposing hosts encountered
near Nisibis, the Romans were signally defeated,
and after having been compelled to purchase the
forbearance of the conqueror, by a great sum of
money and heavy sacrifices, retired, covered with
disgrace, into Syria. At the commencement of the
following year a discontented and mutinous spirit
began to be openly displayed in the legions, who
found the sovereign of their choice far less indul-
gent and open-handed than the son of Severus.
COIN OF MACRIANUS SENIOR.
Taking advantage of these feelings, Julia Maesa
[MAESA), who was at that time living at Emesa,
persuaded the detachments quartered in the vici-
nity that her grandson Elagabalus was in reality
the child of Caracalla, and having seduced them
from their allegiance by lavish offers, induced them
to receive the boy into their camp, and to acknow-
ledge him as their prince. Macrinus advanced to
Antioch to crush the impostor, but after an en-
gagement, fought on the 8th of June, A. D. 218, in
which great cowardice was displayed on both sides,
the fortune of the day having been eventually de-
cided by the energy and bold example of Maesa
COIN OF MACRIANUS JUNIOR,
and Soemias, he was compelled to fly, and, casting
away his royal robes, reached Chalcedon disguised
MACRI'NUS, a friend of the younger Pliny, in mean attire. There he was quickly betrayed,
to whom the latter addresses many of his letters, was dragged back, and slain in Cappadocia, in the
but of whose life we have no particulars, (Plin. fifty-fourth or fifty-fifth year of his age, after a
Ep. ii. 7, iii. 4, vii. 6, 10, viii. 17, ix. 4. ) reign of fourteen months. His head, and that of
MACRI'NUS, Roman emperor, April, A. D. 217 his son, who had been discovered and put to death
-- June, A. D. 218. M. OPELIUS (OR OPILIUS) elsewhere, were stuck upon poles, and carried
MACRINUS, afterwards M. Opelius SeveRUS MA- about in triumph. If we can trust Capitolinus, he
CRINUS, at whose instigation Caracalla was assas- scarcely deserves our pity, for he is represented by
sinated, when marching to encounter the Parthians, the Augustan historian as haughty, blood-thirsty
was a native of Caesareia in Mauritania, and was and inhumanly cruel in the infliction of punish-
born of very humble parents, in the year A. D. 164. ments. Great complaints were made of the number
Having been recommended to the notice of Plau- of unfitting and unworthy persons invested by
tianus, the all-powerful favourite of Septimius him with the highest dignities. (Dion Cass
Sererus, he was admitted into his employment, and lxxxviii. 11–41 ; Capitolin. Macrin. ; Aurel. Vice
TE
NUSPA
PVCNAT
UNI
SMART
OOCOG
199
FROL
90
MAC
23222022000
SIDE
Moclobe
Dorok
1000010
a
## p. 887 (#903) ############################################
MACRO.
887
MACRO. ,
N
090030
400000
COIN OF MACRINUS,
do Cores. 22, Epil. 22; Eutrop. viii. 12; Zonar. I withdrew before they were opened, since his pre-
xü. 13. )
[W. R. ] sence was required at the praetorian camp, where
the soldiers, jealous of the preference shown to the
vigiles, were in mutiny, and, in the confusion that
followed the arrest of Sejanus, began to plunder
and burn the suburbs. Macro, however, reduced
them to discipline by a donation of more than
thirty pounds sterling to each man, and they ac-
cepted him as their new prefect. For his services
on this day the senate decreed Macro a large sum
of money, a seat in the theatre on the senatorian
benches, the right of wearing the pretexta, and
MACRI'NUS, BAE'BIUS, a Roman rhetori- the ornaments of a praetor. But he prudently de-
cian, is mentioned along with Julius Frontinus and clined these unusual honours, and contented him-
Julius Granianus, as one of the teachers of the self with the more substantial favour of Tiberius.
emperor Alexander Severus. (Lamprid. Alex. Sev. He was praetorian prefect for the remainder of
3. )"
that emperor's reign and during the earlier part of
MACRI'NUS, PLO'TIUS, to whom Persius Caligula's Macro, whom L. Arruntius described
addressed his second satire, but of whom we know as a worse Sejanus (Tac. Ann. vi. 48), was unre-
nothing, except that he was a friend of the poet. lenting in his persecution of the fallen favourite's
MACRIS (Máxpis), a daughter of Aristaeus, adherents. He laid informations ; he presided at
who fed the infant Dionysus with honey, after he the rack; and he lent himself to the most savage
was brought to her in Euboea by Hermes ; but caprices of Tiberius during the last and worst pe-
being expelled by Hera, she took refuge in the riod of his government. Mam. Aemilius Scaurus
island of the Phaeacians. (Apollon. 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.
