On the
suppression
of the conspiracy, were published by Hen.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
M.
Sextius SABINUS, plebeian aedile B.
C.
lived to see her son emperor, but died a few days 203, and practor in the following year, B. C. 202,
before his fall. (Tac. Hist, ii. 64, 89, iï. 67 ; Suet. when he obtained Gaul as his province. (Liv.
Vitel. 3. )
xxx. 26, 27. )
SEXTI’LIA GENS, plebeian, is first mentioned 3. Sextius, quaestor of the consul L. Calpur-
in B. C. 379, when one of its members was consular nius Bestia, in Numidia, B. c. 111. (Sall. Jug. 29. )
tribune. The gens, however, never obtained much 4. P. Sextius, praetor designatus B. c. 100,
distinction, and their name does not once occur on was accused of bribery by T. Junius, and con-
the Consular Fasti. Towards the end of the re- demned. (Cic. Brut. 48. )
public, and under the empire, we meet with a few 5. Sextius, the proximus lictor of C. Verres,
Sextilii, with cognomens, which are given below ; | in Sicily, and his favourite executioner. (Cic. Verr.
but the gens was not divided into families with iii. 67, v. 45, 54. )
distinctive surnames.
6. P. Sextius Baculus'a primipili centurio
SEXTI'LIUS. 1. C. Sextilius, consular tri- in Caesar's army in Gaul, distinguished himself on
bune B. C. 379, in which year an equal number of many occasions by his great bravery. (Caes. B. G.
patricians and plebeians were elected to the office. ii. 25, iii. 5, vi. 38. )
(Liv. vi. 30. )
7. T. Sextius, one of Caesar's legates in Gaul,
2. L. SEXtilius, one of the triumviri nocturni, took an active part in the campaign against Vercin-
was accused by the tribunes of the plebs, and con- getorix in B. c. 52, and was stationed for winter-
demned, with his two colleagues, because they had quarters, with one legion, among the Bituriges
come too late to put out a fire in the Via Sacra. (Caes. B. G. vi. I, vii. 49, 90). On the death of
(Val. Max. viii. 1. damn. 5).
Julius Caesar in B. c. 44, Sextius was in possession
3. M. Sextilius, of Fregellae, assured the con- of the province of Numidia, or New Africa, while
suls in the second Punic war, B. C. 209, that Q. Cornificius held that of Old Africa. The two
eighteen of the Roman colonies were ready to furo governors became involved in war with one another,
nish the state with soldiers, when twelve had re- the causes and details of which are related dif-
fused to do so. (Liv. xxvii. 9, 10).
ferently by Appian and Dion Cassius. The latter
4. Sextilius, governor of the province of Africa writer represents Sextius as governing New Africa
in B. c. 88, forbade Marius to land in the country. for Antony, and Cornificius Old Africa for Octavian ;
(Plut. Mar. 40; Appian, B. C. i. 62, where he is and Appian at one time speaks of Sextius as bold-
called Sertius).
ing his province for one triumvir, and at another
5. SEXTILIUS, an Etruscan, betrayed C. Julius time for the other. But the real fact seems to
Caesar Strabo to the assassins of Marius and Cinna, have been that Sextius availed himself of the
in B. C. 87, although he had been previously de troubles in Italy to extend his own power in Africa,
fended by Caesar, when accused of a very grave and, accordingly, in the name of the triumvirs, re
offence. (Val. Max. v. 3. § 3; Cic. de Orat. quired Cornificius, who was a partizan of the
ii. 3).
senate, to evacuate his province. Upon the refusal
6. Sextilius, a legatus of L. Lucullus, in the of the latter, Sextius marched against him. He
Mithridatic war, was sent to attack Tigranocerta. was at first unsuccessful, but eventually defeated
(Appian, Mithr. 84. )
and slew Cornificius, and thus obtained possession
7. Sextilius, a praetor carried off by the pirates, of both provinces (Dion Cass. xlvii. 21; Appian,
shortly before Pompey was appointed to the com- B. C. üi. 85, iv. 53–56 ; Liv. Epit. 123). In
mand of the war against them. (Plut. Pomp. 24 ; the new division of the Roman provinces after the
comp. Appian, Mithr. 99 ; Cic. pro Leg. Manil. 12. ) battle of Philippi, B. C. 42, Octavian obtained New
8. A. Sextilius, spoken of in Cicero's oration Africa ; and Sextius was therefore ordered by L.
for Flaccus (c. 15) as “ homo improbus," appears. Antonius to hand over this province to C. Fango,
## p. 811 (#827) ############################################
SEXTUS.
811
SEXTUS.
the legate of Octavian. He obeyed, but still re- by the emperor Pertinax. Suidas ascribes to our
mained in Old Africa, hoping that the present Sextus two works, 'Hord, Ethica, and 'ETIOKETTIKS,
harmony between Octavian and Antony would not Bibaía déka, Episcepticu (for which some propose
be of long continuance. He had not to wait long; to read EXETTIKÁ, Sceptica, or T1 EXENTIKÁ), Libris
for on the breaking out of the Perusinian war, decem. Menage (vid. Kuster, Not. in Suil. ) sus
soon afterwards, Fulvia and L. Antonius urged pects that the mention of the second work has been
him to take possession of New Africa. He accord- inserted by some transcriber, who confounded the
ingly marched against Fango, whom he defeated two Sexti above mentioned; but the mistake (if
and drove into the hills, where he put an end to such it be) is probably to be attributed to Suidas
his life (Fango). Thus Sextius again obtained himself or the authority from whom he took it,
the command of both provinces, but he was unable for we find it also in the lonia of the empress
to keep them long ; since Lepidus, after the con. Eudocia But it is not impossible that one,
clusion of the Perusinian war, received both Old perhaps both of these titles, were intended to
and New Africa as his share of the Roman world, apply to certain Alanéters, Disserlationes, written
and landed in the country with an army of six in the Doric dialect, and which Fabricius describes
legions. Sextius could not resist this force, and as Dissertationes Antiscepticae. They are five in
accordingly resigned the government to the trium- number, and very short. The subjects are :-).
vir. (Dion Cass. xlviii. 22–24; Appian, B. C. Nepl dyabou Kal Kakov, De Bono et Malo. 2. Tepl
v. 12, 26, 75. )
καλου και αισχρού, De Honesto d Turpi. 3. Περί
8. Sextius Naso, B. C. 44. (Naso. ]
δικαίου και άδικού, De Justo t Injusto. 4. Περί
9. Q. Sextius, one of the conspirators against aanbelas kal yeúdous, De Veritate et Falsitate.
Q. Cassius Longinus, quaestor of Further Spain, 5. An Virtus et Sapientia doceri possint. These
in B. C. 48.
On the suppression of the conspiracy, were published by Hen. Stephanus (Henri Etienne),
he purchased his life from Longinus, by giving among the Fragmenta Pythagoraeorum, without an
him a sum of money (Hirt. B. Alex. 55). He is author's name ; and appeared, still anonymously,
called M. Silius by Valerius Maximus (ix. 4. § 2). but with a Latin version and notes, by John North,
10. Q. Sextius, a contemporary of Julius Caesar, in the Opuscula Mythologica, Physica, Ethica, of
and a Stoic philosopher, whose praises are fre Gale, 8vo. Cambridge, 1670, and Amst. 1688.
quently celebrated by Seneca. The latter parti: John North, in his first note, asserts that the
cularly admired one of bis works (Senec. Ep. 64). author's name was Mimas, founding his assertion
For further information respecting him see Senec. on a passage in the fourth Dissertatio, of which the
Ep. 73, 98, de Ira, iii. 36, and Sextus, No. 11. reading has since been corrected. They were again
SE'XTIUS PACONIA NUS. (PACONIANUS. ) printed, with North's version, but without his
SEXTUS (ZÉETOS), Greek writers. 1. Afri- notes, by Fabricius (Biblioth. Graec. vol. xii. p.
CANUS or LIBYcus (Albus), a philosopher mentioned 617, ed. vet. ). These dissertations, it has been
by Suidas and Eudocia (s. v. ), who ascribe to him conjectured, were written by Sextus of Chaeroneia :
Σκεπτικά ένα βιβλίοις ί', Soption in Libris decem, και but whether the conjecture is well founded, and
Tluppúvera, Pyrrhonia, thus evidently confounding if so, whether they are the 'Hound or the 'Endokér-
him with Sextus Empiricus ; or, which is more Tiká of Suidas, is altogether uncertain. (Fabric.
probable, speaking altogether of Empiricus, but Bibl. Graec. vol. v. p. 528, note ba, ed. Harles ;
under an unusual and probably inaccurate name. Idem, Notae in Testimonia praefixa Operibus Sex.
[Sextus EMPIRICUS. )
Empirici. )
2. AFRICAN U8. [AFRICANUS, Sextus JULIUS. ] 4. CHRISTIANUA, a CHRISTIAN writer of the
3. Of Chaeroneia, a Stoic philosopher, nephew reign of Severus who wrote a work Nepl åvaotá-
of Plutarch, and one of the instructors of the em- Oews, De Resurrectione, which has long been lost.
peror Marcus Aurelius (Jul. Capitolin. Vita M. An- (Euseb. H. E. v. 27 ; Hieron. De Viris Mustrib.
ionin. Philos. ; Suid. s. v. Mápkos ; comp. Antonin. c. 50; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vi. p. 746, ed.
De Rebus suis, i. 9). According to Suidas it was Harles, and vol. xii. p. 615, ed. vet. )
during the reign, and indeed in the latter part of 5. EMPIRICUS. [See below, Sextos EMPIRI-
the reign of Marcus, and when Sextus was teach-cus. ]
ing at Rome, that the emperor attended his in- 6. GRAMMATICUS, a Greek grammarian, other.
structions. He is perhaps the “ Sextus the Phi- wise unknown, cited by the scholiast on Homer,
losopher," mentioned by Syncellus as flourishing 11. 155, p. 270, ed. Villoison.
under the reign of Hadrian. Suidas (s. v. Déctos 7. JULIUS AFRICANUS. (AFRICANUS, Sex.
Xaipwvevs) confounds the nephew of Plutarch with JULIUS. ]
a contemporary or nearly contemporary philosopher, 8. LIBYCUS. [No. 1 ; and Sextus EMPIRICUS,
Sextus Empiricus (Sextus EMPIRICUS] : and this below. )
confusion, into which several modern critics have 9. MEDICUS. (See below, Sextus EMPIRICUS. )
also fallen, makes it difficult to determine to which 10. PLATONICUS. [PLACITUS. ]
of the two the particulars mentioned by him in the 11. PYTHAGORAEUS ; otherwise Sextius, Six-
article are to be referred. When he states that tUs, or Xystus. There is extant a little book of
Sextus was the disciple of Herodotus of Philadel moral and religious aphorisms, translated by Rufi-
phia, and was so high in the favour of the emperor nus into Latin, and probably interpolated by the
Marcus Aurelius, that he was invited to share with translator, who is known to have been sufficiently
him the judgment-seat, it is probable that our unscrupulous in such matters, and who has ad-
Sextus is spoken of. To him also we may suppose mitted, in his preface to the work, that he had
the account to refer, that an impostor, who re- made certain additions from the advice of a religious
sembled him in features, attempted to personate father to his son, electa quaedam religiosi parentis
him, and thus to obtain possession of his honours ad filium. ” The author is called by Rufinus in
and property. The impostor is said to have been the preface, Sixtus ; and Rufinus adds that he was
discovered, through his ignorance of Greek learning, I identified by some persons with Sixtus, bishop of
66
## p. 812 (#828) ############################################
812
SEXTUS.
SEXTUS.
a
9
Rome and martyr ; but it is to be observed that Rufinus, was taken, perhaps without examination, hy
finus does not express any opinion of his own as to Augustin. Modern critics have been divided;
their identity. Whether he meant Sixtus I. , who some (e. g. Siberus) retain the opinion which iden-
was bishop early in the second century, and whose tifies the author with Pope Sixtus 11. ; others (e. g. "
martyrdom is doubtful, or Sixtus II. , who lived | Lequien, Not. ad Damascen. l. c. ) regard the author
about the middle of the third century, and was as at any rate a Christian : but Gale, Mosheiin,
certainly a martyr, is not clear. Origen, however, Brucker (llist. Philos. period ii. pars i. lib. i. cap.
twice (Contra Celsum, lib. viii. c. 30, and In Mutt. i. sect. ii. $ 34), Fontanini (Ilist. Litt. Aquileiensis,
tom. xv. 3, vol. i. p. 763, vol. iii. p. 654, ed. De- p. 302, &c. ), to whom we have been much indebted,
larue) cites the Gnomae 8. Sententiae of Sextus and Fabricius, identify the author with the elder
(I'vwua. Létou), as a work well known among Quintus Sextius (Quinti Sextii Patris), a Roman
Christians ; but he does not mention either the philosopher, mentioned with great encomiums by Se-
episcopal rank or the martyrdom of the writer, neca (Epistol. 64, c. 2). Seneca delighted much
whom, therefore, we can hardly identify with in a work of this Sextius, the title of which he does
Sixtus I. And as Origen makes no reference to not give, but which he praises as written with
his being a contemporary writer, and speaks of his great power, " Quantus in illo, Dii boni, vigor
book as already in extensive circulation, it is diffi- est, quantum animi! Hoc non in omnibus philo
cult to suppose him to hare been Sixtus II. , whose sophis invenies. Quorumdam scripta clarum habent
elevation to the episcopate and martyrdom were a tantum nomen, caetera exsanguia sunt. Instituunt,
few years subsequent to Origen's own death. It disputant, cavillantur, non faciunt animum quia non
is not clear whether Origen regarded Sextus as a habent. Quum legeris Sextium dices, Vivit, viget,
Christian. Jerome cites the Sententiae of Xystus liber est, supra hominem est; dimittit me plenum in-
(as he writes the name, Adv. Jovinian. lib. i. c. gentis fiduciae. In quacunque positione mentis sim,
49, and In Ezekiel. c. xviii. vg. 5, 6, seq. ), enume- quum hunc lego, fatebor tibi, libet omnes casus pro-
rating him in one place among writers, all the rest vocare, libet exclamare, Quid cessas, Fortuna ? con-
of whom are heathens, and in the other place gredere ! paratum vides” (ibid. ). It is observable
he expressly calls him a Pythagorean.
In two that Seneca speaks of Sextius as a Stoic in reality
other places he charges Rufinus with prefixing the but not in name. From other Epistles of Seneca
name of a martyr and bishop to the productions of (lix. 6, lxiii. 11, 13, xcviii. 13, cviii. 17, and from his
“a Christ-less and heathenish” (absque Christo et De Ira, ii. 36, iii. 36) we learn that Sextius, though
ethnici), and in another place, a “most heathenish' born of an illustrious family, had declined the dig-
(gentilissimi) man (Hieron.
lived to see her son emperor, but died a few days 203, and practor in the following year, B. C. 202,
before his fall. (Tac. Hist, ii. 64, 89, iï. 67 ; Suet. when he obtained Gaul as his province. (Liv.
Vitel. 3. )
xxx. 26, 27. )
SEXTI’LIA GENS, plebeian, is first mentioned 3. Sextius, quaestor of the consul L. Calpur-
in B. C. 379, when one of its members was consular nius Bestia, in Numidia, B. c. 111. (Sall. Jug. 29. )
tribune. The gens, however, never obtained much 4. P. Sextius, praetor designatus B. c. 100,
distinction, and their name does not once occur on was accused of bribery by T. Junius, and con-
the Consular Fasti. Towards the end of the re- demned. (Cic. Brut. 48. )
public, and under the empire, we meet with a few 5. Sextius, the proximus lictor of C. Verres,
Sextilii, with cognomens, which are given below ; | in Sicily, and his favourite executioner. (Cic. Verr.
but the gens was not divided into families with iii. 67, v. 45, 54. )
distinctive surnames.
6. P. Sextius Baculus'a primipili centurio
SEXTI'LIUS. 1. C. Sextilius, consular tri- in Caesar's army in Gaul, distinguished himself on
bune B. C. 379, in which year an equal number of many occasions by his great bravery. (Caes. B. G.
patricians and plebeians were elected to the office. ii. 25, iii. 5, vi. 38. )
(Liv. vi. 30. )
7. T. Sextius, one of Caesar's legates in Gaul,
2. L. SEXtilius, one of the triumviri nocturni, took an active part in the campaign against Vercin-
was accused by the tribunes of the plebs, and con- getorix in B. c. 52, and was stationed for winter-
demned, with his two colleagues, because they had quarters, with one legion, among the Bituriges
come too late to put out a fire in the Via Sacra. (Caes. B. G. vi. I, vii. 49, 90). On the death of
(Val. Max. viii. 1. damn. 5).
Julius Caesar in B. c. 44, Sextius was in possession
3. M. Sextilius, of Fregellae, assured the con- of the province of Numidia, or New Africa, while
suls in the second Punic war, B. C. 209, that Q. Cornificius held that of Old Africa. The two
eighteen of the Roman colonies were ready to furo governors became involved in war with one another,
nish the state with soldiers, when twelve had re- the causes and details of which are related dif-
fused to do so. (Liv. xxvii. 9, 10).
ferently by Appian and Dion Cassius. The latter
4. Sextilius, governor of the province of Africa writer represents Sextius as governing New Africa
in B. c. 88, forbade Marius to land in the country. for Antony, and Cornificius Old Africa for Octavian ;
(Plut. Mar. 40; Appian, B. C. i. 62, where he is and Appian at one time speaks of Sextius as bold-
called Sertius).
ing his province for one triumvir, and at another
5. SEXTILIUS, an Etruscan, betrayed C. Julius time for the other. But the real fact seems to
Caesar Strabo to the assassins of Marius and Cinna, have been that Sextius availed himself of the
in B. C. 87, although he had been previously de troubles in Italy to extend his own power in Africa,
fended by Caesar, when accused of a very grave and, accordingly, in the name of the triumvirs, re
offence. (Val. Max. v. 3. § 3; Cic. de Orat. quired Cornificius, who was a partizan of the
ii. 3).
senate, to evacuate his province. Upon the refusal
6. Sextilius, a legatus of L. Lucullus, in the of the latter, Sextius marched against him. He
Mithridatic war, was sent to attack Tigranocerta. was at first unsuccessful, but eventually defeated
(Appian, Mithr. 84. )
and slew Cornificius, and thus obtained possession
7. Sextilius, a praetor carried off by the pirates, of both provinces (Dion Cass. xlvii. 21; Appian,
shortly before Pompey was appointed to the com- B. C. üi. 85, iv. 53–56 ; Liv. Epit. 123). In
mand of the war against them. (Plut. Pomp. 24 ; the new division of the Roman provinces after the
comp. Appian, Mithr. 99 ; Cic. pro Leg. Manil. 12. ) battle of Philippi, B. C. 42, Octavian obtained New
8. A. Sextilius, spoken of in Cicero's oration Africa ; and Sextius was therefore ordered by L.
for Flaccus (c. 15) as “ homo improbus," appears. Antonius to hand over this province to C. Fango,
## p. 811 (#827) ############################################
SEXTUS.
811
SEXTUS.
the legate of Octavian. He obeyed, but still re- by the emperor Pertinax. Suidas ascribes to our
mained in Old Africa, hoping that the present Sextus two works, 'Hord, Ethica, and 'ETIOKETTIKS,
harmony between Octavian and Antony would not Bibaía déka, Episcepticu (for which some propose
be of long continuance. He had not to wait long; to read EXETTIKÁ, Sceptica, or T1 EXENTIKÁ), Libris
for on the breaking out of the Perusinian war, decem. Menage (vid. Kuster, Not. in Suil. ) sus
soon afterwards, Fulvia and L. Antonius urged pects that the mention of the second work has been
him to take possession of New Africa. He accord- inserted by some transcriber, who confounded the
ingly marched against Fango, whom he defeated two Sexti above mentioned; but the mistake (if
and drove into the hills, where he put an end to such it be) is probably to be attributed to Suidas
his life (Fango). Thus Sextius again obtained himself or the authority from whom he took it,
the command of both provinces, but he was unable for we find it also in the lonia of the empress
to keep them long ; since Lepidus, after the con. Eudocia But it is not impossible that one,
clusion of the Perusinian war, received both Old perhaps both of these titles, were intended to
and New Africa as his share of the Roman world, apply to certain Alanéters, Disserlationes, written
and landed in the country with an army of six in the Doric dialect, and which Fabricius describes
legions. Sextius could not resist this force, and as Dissertationes Antiscepticae. They are five in
accordingly resigned the government to the trium- number, and very short. The subjects are :-).
vir. (Dion Cass. xlviii. 22–24; Appian, B. C. Nepl dyabou Kal Kakov, De Bono et Malo. 2. Tepl
v. 12, 26, 75. )
καλου και αισχρού, De Honesto d Turpi. 3. Περί
8. Sextius Naso, B. C. 44. (Naso. ]
δικαίου και άδικού, De Justo t Injusto. 4. Περί
9. Q. Sextius, one of the conspirators against aanbelas kal yeúdous, De Veritate et Falsitate.
Q. Cassius Longinus, quaestor of Further Spain, 5. An Virtus et Sapientia doceri possint. These
in B. C. 48.
On the suppression of the conspiracy, were published by Hen. Stephanus (Henri Etienne),
he purchased his life from Longinus, by giving among the Fragmenta Pythagoraeorum, without an
him a sum of money (Hirt. B. Alex. 55). He is author's name ; and appeared, still anonymously,
called M. Silius by Valerius Maximus (ix. 4. § 2). but with a Latin version and notes, by John North,
10. Q. Sextius, a contemporary of Julius Caesar, in the Opuscula Mythologica, Physica, Ethica, of
and a Stoic philosopher, whose praises are fre Gale, 8vo. Cambridge, 1670, and Amst. 1688.
quently celebrated by Seneca. The latter parti: John North, in his first note, asserts that the
cularly admired one of bis works (Senec. Ep. 64). author's name was Mimas, founding his assertion
For further information respecting him see Senec. on a passage in the fourth Dissertatio, of which the
Ep. 73, 98, de Ira, iii. 36, and Sextus, No. 11. reading has since been corrected. They were again
SE'XTIUS PACONIA NUS. (PACONIANUS. ) printed, with North's version, but without his
SEXTUS (ZÉETOS), Greek writers. 1. Afri- notes, by Fabricius (Biblioth. Graec. vol. xii. p.
CANUS or LIBYcus (Albus), a philosopher mentioned 617, ed. vet. ). These dissertations, it has been
by Suidas and Eudocia (s. v. ), who ascribe to him conjectured, were written by Sextus of Chaeroneia :
Σκεπτικά ένα βιβλίοις ί', Soption in Libris decem, και but whether the conjecture is well founded, and
Tluppúvera, Pyrrhonia, thus evidently confounding if so, whether they are the 'Hound or the 'Endokér-
him with Sextus Empiricus ; or, which is more Tiká of Suidas, is altogether uncertain. (Fabric.
probable, speaking altogether of Empiricus, but Bibl. Graec. vol. v. p. 528, note ba, ed. Harles ;
under an unusual and probably inaccurate name. Idem, Notae in Testimonia praefixa Operibus Sex.
[Sextus EMPIRICUS. )
Empirici. )
2. AFRICAN U8. [AFRICANUS, Sextus JULIUS. ] 4. CHRISTIANUA, a CHRISTIAN writer of the
3. Of Chaeroneia, a Stoic philosopher, nephew reign of Severus who wrote a work Nepl åvaotá-
of Plutarch, and one of the instructors of the em- Oews, De Resurrectione, which has long been lost.
peror Marcus Aurelius (Jul. Capitolin. Vita M. An- (Euseb. H. E. v. 27 ; Hieron. De Viris Mustrib.
ionin. Philos. ; Suid. s. v. Mápkos ; comp. Antonin. c. 50; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vi. p. 746, ed.
De Rebus suis, i. 9). According to Suidas it was Harles, and vol. xii. p. 615, ed. vet. )
during the reign, and indeed in the latter part of 5. EMPIRICUS. [See below, Sextos EMPIRI-
the reign of Marcus, and when Sextus was teach-cus. ]
ing at Rome, that the emperor attended his in- 6. GRAMMATICUS, a Greek grammarian, other.
structions. He is perhaps the “ Sextus the Phi- wise unknown, cited by the scholiast on Homer,
losopher," mentioned by Syncellus as flourishing 11. 155, p. 270, ed. Villoison.
under the reign of Hadrian. Suidas (s. v. Déctos 7. JULIUS AFRICANUS. (AFRICANUS, Sex.
Xaipwvevs) confounds the nephew of Plutarch with JULIUS. ]
a contemporary or nearly contemporary philosopher, 8. LIBYCUS. [No. 1 ; and Sextus EMPIRICUS,
Sextus Empiricus (Sextus EMPIRICUS] : and this below. )
confusion, into which several modern critics have 9. MEDICUS. (See below, Sextus EMPIRICUS. )
also fallen, makes it difficult to determine to which 10. PLATONICUS. [PLACITUS. ]
of the two the particulars mentioned by him in the 11. PYTHAGORAEUS ; otherwise Sextius, Six-
article are to be referred. When he states that tUs, or Xystus. There is extant a little book of
Sextus was the disciple of Herodotus of Philadel moral and religious aphorisms, translated by Rufi-
phia, and was so high in the favour of the emperor nus into Latin, and probably interpolated by the
Marcus Aurelius, that he was invited to share with translator, who is known to have been sufficiently
him the judgment-seat, it is probable that our unscrupulous in such matters, and who has ad-
Sextus is spoken of. To him also we may suppose mitted, in his preface to the work, that he had
the account to refer, that an impostor, who re- made certain additions from the advice of a religious
sembled him in features, attempted to personate father to his son, electa quaedam religiosi parentis
him, and thus to obtain possession of his honours ad filium. ” The author is called by Rufinus in
and property. The impostor is said to have been the preface, Sixtus ; and Rufinus adds that he was
discovered, through his ignorance of Greek learning, I identified by some persons with Sixtus, bishop of
66
## p. 812 (#828) ############################################
812
SEXTUS.
SEXTUS.
a
9
Rome and martyr ; but it is to be observed that Rufinus, was taken, perhaps without examination, hy
finus does not express any opinion of his own as to Augustin. Modern critics have been divided;
their identity. Whether he meant Sixtus I. , who some (e. g. Siberus) retain the opinion which iden-
was bishop early in the second century, and whose tifies the author with Pope Sixtus 11. ; others (e. g. "
martyrdom is doubtful, or Sixtus II. , who lived | Lequien, Not. ad Damascen. l. c. ) regard the author
about the middle of the third century, and was as at any rate a Christian : but Gale, Mosheiin,
certainly a martyr, is not clear. Origen, however, Brucker (llist. Philos. period ii. pars i. lib. i. cap.
twice (Contra Celsum, lib. viii. c. 30, and In Mutt. i. sect. ii. $ 34), Fontanini (Ilist. Litt. Aquileiensis,
tom. xv. 3, vol. i. p. 763, vol. iii. p. 654, ed. De- p. 302, &c. ), to whom we have been much indebted,
larue) cites the Gnomae 8. Sententiae of Sextus and Fabricius, identify the author with the elder
(I'vwua. Létou), as a work well known among Quintus Sextius (Quinti Sextii Patris), a Roman
Christians ; but he does not mention either the philosopher, mentioned with great encomiums by Se-
episcopal rank or the martyrdom of the writer, neca (Epistol. 64, c. 2). Seneca delighted much
whom, therefore, we can hardly identify with in a work of this Sextius, the title of which he does
Sixtus I. And as Origen makes no reference to not give, but which he praises as written with
his being a contemporary writer, and speaks of his great power, " Quantus in illo, Dii boni, vigor
book as already in extensive circulation, it is diffi- est, quantum animi! Hoc non in omnibus philo
cult to suppose him to hare been Sixtus II. , whose sophis invenies. Quorumdam scripta clarum habent
elevation to the episcopate and martyrdom were a tantum nomen, caetera exsanguia sunt. Instituunt,
few years subsequent to Origen's own death. It disputant, cavillantur, non faciunt animum quia non
is not clear whether Origen regarded Sextus as a habent. Quum legeris Sextium dices, Vivit, viget,
Christian. Jerome cites the Sententiae of Xystus liber est, supra hominem est; dimittit me plenum in-
(as he writes the name, Adv. Jovinian. lib. i. c. gentis fiduciae. In quacunque positione mentis sim,
49, and In Ezekiel. c. xviii. vg. 5, 6, seq. ), enume- quum hunc lego, fatebor tibi, libet omnes casus pro-
rating him in one place among writers, all the rest vocare, libet exclamare, Quid cessas, Fortuna ? con-
of whom are heathens, and in the other place gredere ! paratum vides” (ibid. ). It is observable
he expressly calls him a Pythagorean.
In two that Seneca speaks of Sextius as a Stoic in reality
other places he charges Rufinus with prefixing the but not in name. From other Epistles of Seneca
name of a martyr and bishop to the productions of (lix. 6, lxiii. 11, 13, xcviii. 13, cviii. 17, and from his
“a Christ-less and heathenish” (absque Christo et De Ira, ii. 36, iii. 36) we learn that Sextius, though
ethnici), and in another place, a “most heathenish' born of an illustrious family, had declined the dig-
(gentilissimi) man (Hieron.
