19), the
Phrygian
defeated and driven out.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
1516, under the title of Xysli Pythugorici lator is said to be the Sicur Huart, a teacher of
Sententiac. Various cditions followed, but they mathematics ; but the translation is not highly
omitted Rufinus's Prologue. The work was also spoken of.
comprehended in the various editions of De la None of the medical works of Sextus are extant,
Bigne's Bibliotheca Patrum, where it appears as though it appears from his own writings that he
the work of Pope Sixtus, down to the Lyon edition did write on medical subjects.
of 1677. It was included, still without the Pro- Sextus is the only Greek sceptic whose complete
logue, in the Opuscula Mythologica, Ethica, et Phy-works we possess ; and we may probably assume
sica of Gale, 12mo. Cambridge, 1670, 8vo. Amster- that he has collected all that could be said against
uam, 1688. The text of Rhenanus was reprinted, the Dogmatici, and all that the Sceptici had to say
with Observationes, designed to vindicate the title for themselves. He does not present what he say's
of Pope Sixtus II. to the authorship, by Urbanus as his own, but as the exposition of the sceptical
Godofredus Siberus, 4to. Lipsiae, 1725. The ori- school. Ritter (Gesch. der Philosophie, vol. iv. p. 299.
ginal Greek of some of the Sententiae has been &c. ) has a long dissertation on Sextus, which as
traced in Origen, Nilus, Maximus, in the Sententiae usual is not favourable. His philosophy of nega-
of Demophilus and Democrates, and in Stobaeus. tions is certainly not satisfactory, nor is Ritter's
An edition of the Latin text with a French version judgment on Sextus. Much that he finds fault
was published, 12mo. Paris, 1843, by Le Comte with, is precisely that which some thinkers will
C. P. de Lastayrie, with the view of showing that set a value on. The chief objection that Ritter
as pure and elevated inorality was to be found else- makes against him is, that he does not keep his
where as in the Christian Scriptures: the editor exposition of Scepticism free from such assertions
seems to have forgotten that the unsettled author. as destroy Scepticisin itself. He" denies that
ship of the work, and the interpolations of Rufinus there is any general moral rule of life which can be
rendered the work unsuitable for his purpose. prescribed (Adv. Math. xi. 203), because every
(Fabricius, Bibl. Graec. vol. i. p. 870, &c. ; Fonta- man must order his life according to chance and
nini, Brucker, U. cc. ; Gale, Praefat. ad Opusc. My circumstances, whereas, however, this general rule
thologica, fc. )
[J. C. M. ] of life is excepted, that a man must direct himself
SEXTÚS EMPIRICUS, was a physician, according to circumstances. ” But it seems no con-
and received his name Empiricus from belonging tradiction to say that there is no general rule to
to the school of Empirici. He was a pupil of He- guide us in all circumstances, and yet to say that
rodotus of Tarsus (Diog. Laërt. ix. ; Timon), who we must do as well as we can without such a rule,
was a physician, and apparently a contemporary of Sextus maintains that scepticism alone can make a
Galen. Sextus may, therefore, have lived in the man happy, because it teaches that nothing is
first half of the third century of the Christian aera naturally (púoei) good or bad (Adv. Math. xi.
Nothing is known of his life. He belonged to the 208). The meaning of the proposition depends on
Sceptici.
the meaning that is to be given to Nature, that
Two works of Sextus are extant. The Supsas much abused word. Nature is nothing more than
νιαι Υποτύπωσεις ή σκεπτικά υπομνήματα, contains | the constitution of all things by the will of God ;
the doctrines of the Sceptici, in three books. The and the notion of good and bad, which is a notion
second work, entitled, Mpds tous padnuatikoùs of limited practical application, is not applicable to
dvtipöntikol, against the Mathematici, in eleven the general constitution of all things. Such con-
books, is an attack upon all positive philosophy. tradictions as these, however, though in truth they
The first six books are a refutation of the six do not necessarily involve contradictions, Ritter
sciences of grammatic, rhetoric, geometry, arith- observes, are only in part to be attributed to the
metic, astrology, and music. The remaining five unskilfulness of Sextus: the greater part are to be
books are directed against logicians, physical philo- attributed to the direction that Greek scepticism in
sophers, and ethical writers, and form, in fact, a general took, or to its tendency particularly among
distinct work, which may be viewed as belonging the later Sceptici.
to the 'TTOTUTÚO ELS. The two works are a great Ritter considers that the old sceptical objections
repository of doubts ; the language is as clear and were mainly designed to oppose the reasons founded
perspicuous as the subject will allow.
on the intellect to the purely sensuous view of things.
H. Stephens published the first Latin translation But the objections of the Sceptici, as they appear
of the Hypotyposes, in 1562, 8vo. The first Latin in Sextus, are solely directed against philosophical
translation of the work against the Mathematici is systems: the Sceptici are disposed to consider
by G. Hervet, Antwerp and Paris, 1569, 1601, fol. phaenomena as true for practical purposes, but to
The first edition of the Greek text of both works reject all scientific investigation of them as idle in-
was that of Par. s, 1621, fol. ; but Geneva is often quiries. Accordingly, they assume a kind of prac-
## p. 814 (#830) ############################################
814
SEXTUS.
SIBYLLA.
tical art, which is based on experience ; and admit I period, are not regarded as documents of au-
that a useful art of life may be derived from the thority, and have even been stigmatised as modern
observation of many particular cases. (Adv. Math. forgeries. Biondo Flavio, in his Roma Instaurata
yüji. 8. )
(Veron. 1482), quotes from an old description of
It is an exemplification of the nature of the Rome by Sextus Ruffus Vir Consuluris, a copy of
sceptical doctrines, as exhibited by Sextus, that which he had seen in the library attached to the
the objections to mathematical science are not monastery of Monte Casino. There can be little
directed against reckoning by number and against doubt that the piece thus described is the same
mensuration, but against the scientific form of with that printed by Panvinius ; but there are no
mathematics, and mainly against its fundamental grounds whaterer for establishing a connection
notions ; against the admissibility of proof, and between this personage, whoever he may have
against axioms, against the notion of body, divisi- | been, and Sextus Rufus the historian.
bility into equal parts, and the like. The object The De Regionibus will be found in Graevius,
of the modern scepticism thus appears to be to Thesaurus Antiquitatum Romanarum, vol. iii. p. 25,
stop all progress in science which has not utility and was published separately with notes by Mün-
for its object, and to treat it as a pestilent luxury ; nich, 8vo. Hannov. 1815.
in which view there is both wisdom and folly ; (See the remarks on the Regionarü appended to
wisdom, inasmuch as some purpose of utility is the Mr. Bunbury's paper on the Topography of Rome,
end of all science, and folly, inasmuch as utility is in the tenth number of the Classical Museum, p.
not always best attained by proceeding directly 373. )
(W. R. )
towards it. The Sceptici did not go so far as to SEXTUS RUFUS. The name prefixed to an
deny that much useful knowledge was traditional, abridgment of Roman History, entitled Sexti Rufi
and might be communicated by speech and writing ;| Breviarium de Victoris et Provinciis Populi Rom
for no man's sole experience is sufficient to give mani, executed by command of the emperor Valens,
him all useful knowledge.
to whom it is dedicated. The prince had instructed
Ritter admits that the Sceptici have urged many the author to be brief (brevem fieri Clementia tua
things that are well worthy of consideration, both praecepit), and the injunction was most scrupu-
against the form and the matter of the sciences ; lously obeyed, for the events of more than eleven
and this is true. Their notion of the relation of hundred years, from the foundation of the city
cause and effect was connected with their notion of until the death of Jovianus, are compressed within
the being of God, whom they acknowledged to be the limits of twenty-eight short chapters, couched
the supreme activity (Pyrrh. Hyp. iii. 2, Spaoti- in plain and unpretending language. A more lofty
κώτατον αίτιον). They showed clearly the con exposition, however, of contemporary achievements
tradictions which existed in all attempts to define is promised in the concluding sentence, Quam
the nature of God after the measure of human magno deinceps ore tua, O princeps invicte, facta
notions: that passions and motives are attributed inclita sunt personanda ? quibus me, licet imparem
to him, which passions and motives imply some dicendi nisu, et aevo gravior, praeparabo ;” but
change in the patient, and this is inconsistent with whether this project was ever carried into effect
the nature of God. Even the attributing of parti- we have no means of discovering, since nothing is
cular virtuous qualities to God is an inconsistency, known with regard to the personal history of the
inasmuch as God, a perfect being, cannot be said writer.
to exercise virtues which in themselves imply the The Breviarium was first printed by Sixtus
possibility of vice. The sum of their objections, Ruesinger at Rome, about 1470, and many edi-
properly viewed, is this, that God is incompre- tions appeared before the close of the fifteenth cen-
hensible.
tury. The text was established upon a satisfactory
It is difficult to form a just estimate of the value basis by Cuspinianus, who collated many MSS.
of what Sextus has collected. A good translation and published it with annotations in his Commen-
and a careful analysis of the work would be worth taria de consulibus Romanis, fol. Franc. 1601,
a man's labour. The sceptical arguments were Since that time it has generally been included in
directed against proof; but there is evidence which the larger editions of Eutr ius, and of the minor
is not demonstration, and yet is sufficient, not only Roman historians. A new recension, by Raffaello
for practical purposes, but for a philosophical con- Mecenate, from the Vatican and other MSS. , was
viction. All conviction is not and cannot be founded published at Rome, 8vo. 1819. (W. R. ]
on demonstration. The ultimate truths do not, in SIBU'RIUS, a physician of Burdigala (Bour-
their nature, admit of demonstration, for there is deaux) in the fourth century after Christ, men-
nothing from which the demonstration can proceed. tioned, along with Ausonius and Eutropius, by
If a man, then, cannot have a conviction of these Marcellus Empiricus (De Medicam. praef. p. 242),
ultimate truths, he must reject them, or live in as being one of his fellowv-citizens and immediate
doubt.
(G. L. ) predecessors. He wrote a pharmaceutical work,
SEXTUS RUFUS. Onuphrius Panvinius pub which is noticed by Marcellus, but is not now ex-
lished at Frankfort in 1558, along with his work tant. Fabricius (Bibl. Gr. vol. xiii. p. 423, ed. vet. )
on the Roman Republic, a tract bearing the name conjectures that in the passage referred to
of Sextus Rufus, and entitled De Regionibus Urbis should read Scribonius idstead of Siburius: but
Romae, which he professed to have found in an this is certainly an oversight ; as 1. Scribonius is
ancient MS. It corresponds closely with the cata- mentioned (by the name Designatianus) as a dif-
logue of Publius Victor (Victor), but is less com- ferent person in a former clause of the same sen.
plete, and is much mutilated. The MS. of Panvinius tence ; 2. he lived in the first century, not in the
bas disappeared, and no codex containing either of fourth ; and 3. there is no reason for believing
these productions is known to exist of a date earlier that he was a native of Bourdeaux. (W. A. G. ]
than the fifteenth century. They are believed by the SIBYLLA (Lleuada) is the name by which
best topographers to have been compiled at a late several prophetic women are designated who occur
we
## p. 815 (#831) ############################################
SIBYRTIUS.
816
SICINIA GENS.
in various countries and at different times in rival, confirmed Sibyrtius in his satrapy, and placed
antiquity. The name is said to be formed from under his command a large part of the select body
Aids and Bouati, so that it would signify the of troops termed Argyraspids ; a measure adopted
counsel of Zeus (Plut. Phaedr. p. 244 ; Serv. ad with the ostensible object of guarding these pro-
Aen. iii. 445). The first Sibyl, from whom all vinces against the neighbouring barbarians, but in
the rest are said to have derived their name, is reality with a view to the gradual destruction of
said to have been a daughter of Dardanus and the troops in question, whose turbulent and dig-
Neso. Some authors mention only four Sibyls, affected spirit was well known. (Diod. xix. 14,
the Erythraean, the Samian, the Egyptian and 23, 48 ; Polyaen. iv. 6. § 18. ) No further men-
the Sardian (Aelian, V. H. xii. 35); but it was tion is found of Sibyrtius. [E. H. B. ]
more commonly believed that there were ten, SICA'NUS (Elkavós), son of Execestus, was
namely the Babylonian, the Libyan, the Delphian one of the three generals of the Syracusans (Her-
(an elder Delphian, who was a daughter of Zeus mocrates being another), who were appointed at
and Lamia, and a younger one, Paus. x. 12. $ 1), the time of the Athenian invasion, B. C. 415. In
the Cimmerian, the Erythraean (here too we find B. C. 413, after the repulse of the Athenians from
an elder and a younger one, who is called Hero- Epipolae, he was sent with 13 ships to Agri-
phile, Strab. xiv. p. 645), the Samian, the Cu- gentum, to endeavour to obtain assistance ; but,
maean (who is sometimes identified with the before he could reach the city, the party there,
Erythraean, Aristot. Miral. 97), the Hellespontian which was favourable to the Syracusans, was
or Trojan (comp. Tibull. ii. 5.
19), the Phrygian defeated and driven out. In the sea-fight of the
and the Tiburtine (Paus. x. 12 ; Lactant. Instit
. same year, in which the Athenians were conquered
i. 6). The most celebrated of these Sibyls is the and Eurymedon was slain, Sicanus, according to
Cumaean, who is mentioned under the names of Diodorus, was the author of the plan for setting
Herophile, Demo, Phemonoë, Deiphobe, Demo- fire to the enemy's ships, which had been driven
phile, and Amalthea (Paus. l. c. ; Serv. ad Aen. into the shallow water near the shore ; and shortly
iii
. 445, vi. 72 ; Tibull
. ii. 5. 67 ; Suidas, s. v. ), after we find him commanding one wing of the
She was consulted by Aeneas before he descended Syracusan fleet in the last and decisive defeat of
into the lower world (Ov. Met. xiv. 104, &c. , the Athenians in the great harbour of Syracuse.
xv. 712 ; Virg. Aen. vi. 10). She is said to have (Thuc. vi. 73, vii. 46, 50, 53, 70; Diod. xiii.
come to Italy from the East (Liv. i. 7), and she is 13. )
[E. E. )
the one who, according to tradition, appeared be- SICCA, a friend of Cicero, who took refuge at
fore king Tarquinius, offering him the Sibylline his estate at Vibo, in the country of the Bruttii,
books for sale (Plin. H. N. xiii. 28 ; Gell. i. 19). when he left Rome in B. c. 58. Here he received
Pausanias also mentions a Hebrew Sibyl of the intelligence of his banishment, and forthwith set
name of Sabbe, who is called a daughter of Be- out for Brundisium, where he expected to meet
rosus and Erymanthe.
[L. S. ] Sicca, but was disappointed, as Sicca had left Brun-
SIBY'NTIUS (LLBÚVTLOS), a reader and a slave disium before he arrived there. (Cic. ad Att. iii. 2,
of the orator Theodectes of Phaselis, who died 4, ad Fam. xiv. 4. $ 6). Plutarch (Cic. 32) ap-
before B. c. 333, was the first slave who professed pears to refer to the same person, but calls' him
the art of oratory. He wrote some works on Duilios Elke ds ávýp, “ Vibius, a Sicilian," as if he
rhetoric, which are mentioned by Suidas (s. v. ) nad mistaken the name Sicca; but he relates that
(Comp. Westerniann, Geschichte der Griech. Be- this Vibius refused Cicero hospitality at Vibo.
redtsamkeit, $ 50, n. 6. )
Sicca is next mentioned at the breaking out of the
SIBY'RTIUS (E. Cúptios), a Macedonian officer civil war in B. C. 49, when L. Domitius sent him
in the service of Alexander the Great, who was with a letter and orders to Pompey. In B. C. 44
appointed by him, on his return from India (B. C. Cicero again took refuge in Sicca's house at Vibo.
326), governor of the province of Carmania. This (Cic. ad. tt. viii. 12, c. xii. 23, xiv. 19, xvi. 6, 11. )
post he shortly after exchanged for the more im- SI'CCIUS, a name oftentimes confused with
portant satrapy of Arachosia and Gedrosia, to which Sicinius. [See SICINIUS, Nos. 2, 3. ]
he succeeded on the death of Thoas (Arrian, Anab. SICHAEUS. [SYCHAEUS. ]
vi. 27 ; Curt. ix. 10. § 20). At the death of SICI'NIA GENS, patrician and plebeian. The
Alexander, Sibyrtius, in common with most of the only patrician member of the gens was T. Sicinius
other governors of the remote eastern provinces, Sabinus, who was consul B. C. 487. [SABINUS,
retained possession of his satrapy, which was again p. 691, a. ] All the other Sicinii mentioned in
confirmed to him in the second partition at Tripa- history were plebeians; and although none of them
radeisus, B. C. 321 (Diod. xviii. 3 ; Justin, xiii. 4 ; obtained the consulship, they gained great celebrity
Arrian, ap. Phot. p. 71, b. ; Dexippus, ibid. p. 64, by their advocacy of the rights of the plebeians in
b. ). In the subsequent divisions which arose the struggles between the two orders. One or two
among the eastern satraps, Sibyrtius was one of of the plebeian Sicinii bore cognomens, which are
those who supported Peucestes against Python and given below. There are a few coins of this gens,
Seleucus, and afterwards accompanied that leader
when he joined Eumenes in Susiana, B. C. 317.
His attachment was, however, to Peucestes, and
not to Eumenes, and in the intrigues of the former
against his commander-in-chief, Sibyrtius supported
him so strongly that he incurred the especial re-
sentment of Eumenes, who threatened to bring
PSICINIVS
him to trial ; a fate from which he only escaped
by a hasty flight. But this open rupture with
Eumenes had the advantage of securing him the
favour of Antigonus, who, after the defeat of his
COIN OF TIIE SICINIA GENS.
PORT
00. 00. 00
## p. 816 (#832) ############################################
816
SICINIUS.
SICINNUS.
а
He was,
of which a specimen is given on the preceding ( Ile is called by Livy a descendant of the S. cinius
page. On the obverse is a female head, with who was first created tribune on the Sacred Mount
“ PORT. P. R. ” i. e. Fortuna Populi Romani, and (No. 1). (Liv. iii. 51. )
on the reverse a caduceus and a palm branch, with 5. T. SICINIUS, tribune of the plebs B. C. 395,
"Q. SICINIVS Ilivir. " This Q. Sicinius is not men- brought forward a bill for removing part of the
tioned by any ancient writer. ( Eckhel, vol. v. p. 313. ) Roman people to Veii, and thus making, as it were,
SICI'NIUS. 1. L. SICINIUS BELLUTUS, the two capitals of the republic. (Liv. v. 24. )
leader of the plebeians in their secession to the 6. L. SICINIUS, tribune of the plebs B. C. 387,
Sacred Mount in B. c. 494, which led to the insti. brought before the people an agrarian law respect-
tution of the office of tribune of the plebs. Sici- ing the ager Pomptinus. (Liv. vi. 6. )
nius was chosen one of the first tribunes, the 7. CN. SICINIUS, was aedile in B. C. 185, and
original number of whom is variously stated in the was an unsuccessful candidate for the praetorship
ancient authorities (Liv. ii. 32, 33, iii. 54 ; Dionys. in the following year, to supply the place of C. Dec-
vi. 45, 70, &c. , 89; Ascon. in Cornel. p. 76, ed. imius, who had died while in office.
Orelli ; Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, vol. i. p. 617. ) however, successful in B. c. 183, in which year he
Dionysius further relates (vii.
Sententiac. Various cditions followed, but they mathematics ; but the translation is not highly
omitted Rufinus's Prologue. The work was also spoken of.
comprehended in the various editions of De la None of the medical works of Sextus are extant,
Bigne's Bibliotheca Patrum, where it appears as though it appears from his own writings that he
the work of Pope Sixtus, down to the Lyon edition did write on medical subjects.
of 1677. It was included, still without the Pro- Sextus is the only Greek sceptic whose complete
logue, in the Opuscula Mythologica, Ethica, et Phy-works we possess ; and we may probably assume
sica of Gale, 12mo. Cambridge, 1670, 8vo. Amster- that he has collected all that could be said against
uam, 1688. The text of Rhenanus was reprinted, the Dogmatici, and all that the Sceptici had to say
with Observationes, designed to vindicate the title for themselves. He does not present what he say's
of Pope Sixtus II. to the authorship, by Urbanus as his own, but as the exposition of the sceptical
Godofredus Siberus, 4to. Lipsiae, 1725. The ori- school. Ritter (Gesch. der Philosophie, vol. iv. p. 299.
ginal Greek of some of the Sententiae has been &c. ) has a long dissertation on Sextus, which as
traced in Origen, Nilus, Maximus, in the Sententiae usual is not favourable. His philosophy of nega-
of Demophilus and Democrates, and in Stobaeus. tions is certainly not satisfactory, nor is Ritter's
An edition of the Latin text with a French version judgment on Sextus. Much that he finds fault
was published, 12mo. Paris, 1843, by Le Comte with, is precisely that which some thinkers will
C. P. de Lastayrie, with the view of showing that set a value on. The chief objection that Ritter
as pure and elevated inorality was to be found else- makes against him is, that he does not keep his
where as in the Christian Scriptures: the editor exposition of Scepticism free from such assertions
seems to have forgotten that the unsettled author. as destroy Scepticisin itself. He" denies that
ship of the work, and the interpolations of Rufinus there is any general moral rule of life which can be
rendered the work unsuitable for his purpose. prescribed (Adv. Math. xi. 203), because every
(Fabricius, Bibl. Graec. vol. i. p. 870, &c. ; Fonta- man must order his life according to chance and
nini, Brucker, U. cc. ; Gale, Praefat. ad Opusc. My circumstances, whereas, however, this general rule
thologica, fc. )
[J. C. M. ] of life is excepted, that a man must direct himself
SEXTÚS EMPIRICUS, was a physician, according to circumstances. ” But it seems no con-
and received his name Empiricus from belonging tradiction to say that there is no general rule to
to the school of Empirici. He was a pupil of He- guide us in all circumstances, and yet to say that
rodotus of Tarsus (Diog. Laërt. ix. ; Timon), who we must do as well as we can without such a rule,
was a physician, and apparently a contemporary of Sextus maintains that scepticism alone can make a
Galen. Sextus may, therefore, have lived in the man happy, because it teaches that nothing is
first half of the third century of the Christian aera naturally (púoei) good or bad (Adv. Math. xi.
Nothing is known of his life. He belonged to the 208). The meaning of the proposition depends on
Sceptici.
the meaning that is to be given to Nature, that
Two works of Sextus are extant. The Supsas much abused word. Nature is nothing more than
νιαι Υποτύπωσεις ή σκεπτικά υπομνήματα, contains | the constitution of all things by the will of God ;
the doctrines of the Sceptici, in three books. The and the notion of good and bad, which is a notion
second work, entitled, Mpds tous padnuatikoùs of limited practical application, is not applicable to
dvtipöntikol, against the Mathematici, in eleven the general constitution of all things. Such con-
books, is an attack upon all positive philosophy. tradictions as these, however, though in truth they
The first six books are a refutation of the six do not necessarily involve contradictions, Ritter
sciences of grammatic, rhetoric, geometry, arith- observes, are only in part to be attributed to the
metic, astrology, and music. The remaining five unskilfulness of Sextus: the greater part are to be
books are directed against logicians, physical philo- attributed to the direction that Greek scepticism in
sophers, and ethical writers, and form, in fact, a general took, or to its tendency particularly among
distinct work, which may be viewed as belonging the later Sceptici.
to the 'TTOTUTÚO ELS. The two works are a great Ritter considers that the old sceptical objections
repository of doubts ; the language is as clear and were mainly designed to oppose the reasons founded
perspicuous as the subject will allow.
on the intellect to the purely sensuous view of things.
H. Stephens published the first Latin translation But the objections of the Sceptici, as they appear
of the Hypotyposes, in 1562, 8vo. The first Latin in Sextus, are solely directed against philosophical
translation of the work against the Mathematici is systems: the Sceptici are disposed to consider
by G. Hervet, Antwerp and Paris, 1569, 1601, fol. phaenomena as true for practical purposes, but to
The first edition of the Greek text of both works reject all scientific investigation of them as idle in-
was that of Par. s, 1621, fol. ; but Geneva is often quiries. Accordingly, they assume a kind of prac-
## p. 814 (#830) ############################################
814
SEXTUS.
SIBYLLA.
tical art, which is based on experience ; and admit I period, are not regarded as documents of au-
that a useful art of life may be derived from the thority, and have even been stigmatised as modern
observation of many particular cases. (Adv. Math. forgeries. Biondo Flavio, in his Roma Instaurata
yüji. 8. )
(Veron. 1482), quotes from an old description of
It is an exemplification of the nature of the Rome by Sextus Ruffus Vir Consuluris, a copy of
sceptical doctrines, as exhibited by Sextus, that which he had seen in the library attached to the
the objections to mathematical science are not monastery of Monte Casino. There can be little
directed against reckoning by number and against doubt that the piece thus described is the same
mensuration, but against the scientific form of with that printed by Panvinius ; but there are no
mathematics, and mainly against its fundamental grounds whaterer for establishing a connection
notions ; against the admissibility of proof, and between this personage, whoever he may have
against axioms, against the notion of body, divisi- | been, and Sextus Rufus the historian.
bility into equal parts, and the like. The object The De Regionibus will be found in Graevius,
of the modern scepticism thus appears to be to Thesaurus Antiquitatum Romanarum, vol. iii. p. 25,
stop all progress in science which has not utility and was published separately with notes by Mün-
for its object, and to treat it as a pestilent luxury ; nich, 8vo. Hannov. 1815.
in which view there is both wisdom and folly ; (See the remarks on the Regionarü appended to
wisdom, inasmuch as some purpose of utility is the Mr. Bunbury's paper on the Topography of Rome,
end of all science, and folly, inasmuch as utility is in the tenth number of the Classical Museum, p.
not always best attained by proceeding directly 373. )
(W. R. )
towards it. The Sceptici did not go so far as to SEXTUS RUFUS. The name prefixed to an
deny that much useful knowledge was traditional, abridgment of Roman History, entitled Sexti Rufi
and might be communicated by speech and writing ;| Breviarium de Victoris et Provinciis Populi Rom
for no man's sole experience is sufficient to give mani, executed by command of the emperor Valens,
him all useful knowledge.
to whom it is dedicated. The prince had instructed
Ritter admits that the Sceptici have urged many the author to be brief (brevem fieri Clementia tua
things that are well worthy of consideration, both praecepit), and the injunction was most scrupu-
against the form and the matter of the sciences ; lously obeyed, for the events of more than eleven
and this is true. Their notion of the relation of hundred years, from the foundation of the city
cause and effect was connected with their notion of until the death of Jovianus, are compressed within
the being of God, whom they acknowledged to be the limits of twenty-eight short chapters, couched
the supreme activity (Pyrrh. Hyp. iii. 2, Spaoti- in plain and unpretending language. A more lofty
κώτατον αίτιον). They showed clearly the con exposition, however, of contemporary achievements
tradictions which existed in all attempts to define is promised in the concluding sentence, Quam
the nature of God after the measure of human magno deinceps ore tua, O princeps invicte, facta
notions: that passions and motives are attributed inclita sunt personanda ? quibus me, licet imparem
to him, which passions and motives imply some dicendi nisu, et aevo gravior, praeparabo ;” but
change in the patient, and this is inconsistent with whether this project was ever carried into effect
the nature of God. Even the attributing of parti- we have no means of discovering, since nothing is
cular virtuous qualities to God is an inconsistency, known with regard to the personal history of the
inasmuch as God, a perfect being, cannot be said writer.
to exercise virtues which in themselves imply the The Breviarium was first printed by Sixtus
possibility of vice. The sum of their objections, Ruesinger at Rome, about 1470, and many edi-
properly viewed, is this, that God is incompre- tions appeared before the close of the fifteenth cen-
hensible.
tury. The text was established upon a satisfactory
It is difficult to form a just estimate of the value basis by Cuspinianus, who collated many MSS.
of what Sextus has collected. A good translation and published it with annotations in his Commen-
and a careful analysis of the work would be worth taria de consulibus Romanis, fol. Franc. 1601,
a man's labour. The sceptical arguments were Since that time it has generally been included in
directed against proof; but there is evidence which the larger editions of Eutr ius, and of the minor
is not demonstration, and yet is sufficient, not only Roman historians. A new recension, by Raffaello
for practical purposes, but for a philosophical con- Mecenate, from the Vatican and other MSS. , was
viction. All conviction is not and cannot be founded published at Rome, 8vo. 1819. (W. R. ]
on demonstration. The ultimate truths do not, in SIBU'RIUS, a physician of Burdigala (Bour-
their nature, admit of demonstration, for there is deaux) in the fourth century after Christ, men-
nothing from which the demonstration can proceed. tioned, along with Ausonius and Eutropius, by
If a man, then, cannot have a conviction of these Marcellus Empiricus (De Medicam. praef. p. 242),
ultimate truths, he must reject them, or live in as being one of his fellowv-citizens and immediate
doubt.
(G. L. ) predecessors. He wrote a pharmaceutical work,
SEXTUS RUFUS. Onuphrius Panvinius pub which is noticed by Marcellus, but is not now ex-
lished at Frankfort in 1558, along with his work tant. Fabricius (Bibl. Gr. vol. xiii. p. 423, ed. vet. )
on the Roman Republic, a tract bearing the name conjectures that in the passage referred to
of Sextus Rufus, and entitled De Regionibus Urbis should read Scribonius idstead of Siburius: but
Romae, which he professed to have found in an this is certainly an oversight ; as 1. Scribonius is
ancient MS. It corresponds closely with the cata- mentioned (by the name Designatianus) as a dif-
logue of Publius Victor (Victor), but is less com- ferent person in a former clause of the same sen.
plete, and is much mutilated. The MS. of Panvinius tence ; 2. he lived in the first century, not in the
bas disappeared, and no codex containing either of fourth ; and 3. there is no reason for believing
these productions is known to exist of a date earlier that he was a native of Bourdeaux. (W. A. G. ]
than the fifteenth century. They are believed by the SIBYLLA (Lleuada) is the name by which
best topographers to have been compiled at a late several prophetic women are designated who occur
we
## p. 815 (#831) ############################################
SIBYRTIUS.
816
SICINIA GENS.
in various countries and at different times in rival, confirmed Sibyrtius in his satrapy, and placed
antiquity. The name is said to be formed from under his command a large part of the select body
Aids and Bouati, so that it would signify the of troops termed Argyraspids ; a measure adopted
counsel of Zeus (Plut. Phaedr. p. 244 ; Serv. ad with the ostensible object of guarding these pro-
Aen. iii. 445). The first Sibyl, from whom all vinces against the neighbouring barbarians, but in
the rest are said to have derived their name, is reality with a view to the gradual destruction of
said to have been a daughter of Dardanus and the troops in question, whose turbulent and dig-
Neso. Some authors mention only four Sibyls, affected spirit was well known. (Diod. xix. 14,
the Erythraean, the Samian, the Egyptian and 23, 48 ; Polyaen. iv. 6. § 18. ) No further men-
the Sardian (Aelian, V. H. xii. 35); but it was tion is found of Sibyrtius. [E. H. B. ]
more commonly believed that there were ten, SICA'NUS (Elkavós), son of Execestus, was
namely the Babylonian, the Libyan, the Delphian one of the three generals of the Syracusans (Her-
(an elder Delphian, who was a daughter of Zeus mocrates being another), who were appointed at
and Lamia, and a younger one, Paus. x. 12. $ 1), the time of the Athenian invasion, B. C. 415. In
the Cimmerian, the Erythraean (here too we find B. C. 413, after the repulse of the Athenians from
an elder and a younger one, who is called Hero- Epipolae, he was sent with 13 ships to Agri-
phile, Strab. xiv. p. 645), the Samian, the Cu- gentum, to endeavour to obtain assistance ; but,
maean (who is sometimes identified with the before he could reach the city, the party there,
Erythraean, Aristot. Miral. 97), the Hellespontian which was favourable to the Syracusans, was
or Trojan (comp. Tibull. ii. 5.
19), the Phrygian defeated and driven out. In the sea-fight of the
and the Tiburtine (Paus. x. 12 ; Lactant. Instit
. same year, in which the Athenians were conquered
i. 6). The most celebrated of these Sibyls is the and Eurymedon was slain, Sicanus, according to
Cumaean, who is mentioned under the names of Diodorus, was the author of the plan for setting
Herophile, Demo, Phemonoë, Deiphobe, Demo- fire to the enemy's ships, which had been driven
phile, and Amalthea (Paus. l. c. ; Serv. ad Aen. into the shallow water near the shore ; and shortly
iii
. 445, vi. 72 ; Tibull
. ii. 5. 67 ; Suidas, s. v. ), after we find him commanding one wing of the
She was consulted by Aeneas before he descended Syracusan fleet in the last and decisive defeat of
into the lower world (Ov. Met. xiv. 104, &c. , the Athenians in the great harbour of Syracuse.
xv. 712 ; Virg. Aen. vi. 10). She is said to have (Thuc. vi. 73, vii. 46, 50, 53, 70; Diod. xiii.
come to Italy from the East (Liv. i. 7), and she is 13. )
[E. E. )
the one who, according to tradition, appeared be- SICCA, a friend of Cicero, who took refuge at
fore king Tarquinius, offering him the Sibylline his estate at Vibo, in the country of the Bruttii,
books for sale (Plin. H. N. xiii. 28 ; Gell. i. 19). when he left Rome in B. c. 58. Here he received
Pausanias also mentions a Hebrew Sibyl of the intelligence of his banishment, and forthwith set
name of Sabbe, who is called a daughter of Be- out for Brundisium, where he expected to meet
rosus and Erymanthe.
[L. S. ] Sicca, but was disappointed, as Sicca had left Brun-
SIBY'NTIUS (LLBÚVTLOS), a reader and a slave disium before he arrived there. (Cic. ad Att. iii. 2,
of the orator Theodectes of Phaselis, who died 4, ad Fam. xiv. 4. $ 6). Plutarch (Cic. 32) ap-
before B. c. 333, was the first slave who professed pears to refer to the same person, but calls' him
the art of oratory. He wrote some works on Duilios Elke ds ávýp, “ Vibius, a Sicilian," as if he
rhetoric, which are mentioned by Suidas (s. v. ) nad mistaken the name Sicca; but he relates that
(Comp. Westerniann, Geschichte der Griech. Be- this Vibius refused Cicero hospitality at Vibo.
redtsamkeit, $ 50, n. 6. )
Sicca is next mentioned at the breaking out of the
SIBY'RTIUS (E. Cúptios), a Macedonian officer civil war in B. C. 49, when L. Domitius sent him
in the service of Alexander the Great, who was with a letter and orders to Pompey. In B. C. 44
appointed by him, on his return from India (B. C. Cicero again took refuge in Sicca's house at Vibo.
326), governor of the province of Carmania. This (Cic. ad. tt. viii. 12, c. xii. 23, xiv. 19, xvi. 6, 11. )
post he shortly after exchanged for the more im- SI'CCIUS, a name oftentimes confused with
portant satrapy of Arachosia and Gedrosia, to which Sicinius. [See SICINIUS, Nos. 2, 3. ]
he succeeded on the death of Thoas (Arrian, Anab. SICHAEUS. [SYCHAEUS. ]
vi. 27 ; Curt. ix. 10. § 20). At the death of SICI'NIA GENS, patrician and plebeian. The
Alexander, Sibyrtius, in common with most of the only patrician member of the gens was T. Sicinius
other governors of the remote eastern provinces, Sabinus, who was consul B. C. 487. [SABINUS,
retained possession of his satrapy, which was again p. 691, a. ] All the other Sicinii mentioned in
confirmed to him in the second partition at Tripa- history were plebeians; and although none of them
radeisus, B. C. 321 (Diod. xviii. 3 ; Justin, xiii. 4 ; obtained the consulship, they gained great celebrity
Arrian, ap. Phot. p. 71, b. ; Dexippus, ibid. p. 64, by their advocacy of the rights of the plebeians in
b. ). In the subsequent divisions which arose the struggles between the two orders. One or two
among the eastern satraps, Sibyrtius was one of of the plebeian Sicinii bore cognomens, which are
those who supported Peucestes against Python and given below. There are a few coins of this gens,
Seleucus, and afterwards accompanied that leader
when he joined Eumenes in Susiana, B. C. 317.
His attachment was, however, to Peucestes, and
not to Eumenes, and in the intrigues of the former
against his commander-in-chief, Sibyrtius supported
him so strongly that he incurred the especial re-
sentment of Eumenes, who threatened to bring
PSICINIVS
him to trial ; a fate from which he only escaped
by a hasty flight. But this open rupture with
Eumenes had the advantage of securing him the
favour of Antigonus, who, after the defeat of his
COIN OF TIIE SICINIA GENS.
PORT
00. 00. 00
## p. 816 (#832) ############################################
816
SICINIUS.
SICINNUS.
а
He was,
of which a specimen is given on the preceding ( Ile is called by Livy a descendant of the S. cinius
page. On the obverse is a female head, with who was first created tribune on the Sacred Mount
“ PORT. P. R. ” i. e. Fortuna Populi Romani, and (No. 1). (Liv. iii. 51. )
on the reverse a caduceus and a palm branch, with 5. T. SICINIUS, tribune of the plebs B. C. 395,
"Q. SICINIVS Ilivir. " This Q. Sicinius is not men- brought forward a bill for removing part of the
tioned by any ancient writer. ( Eckhel, vol. v. p. 313. ) Roman people to Veii, and thus making, as it were,
SICI'NIUS. 1. L. SICINIUS BELLUTUS, the two capitals of the republic. (Liv. v. 24. )
leader of the plebeians in their secession to the 6. L. SICINIUS, tribune of the plebs B. C. 387,
Sacred Mount in B. c. 494, which led to the insti. brought before the people an agrarian law respect-
tution of the office of tribune of the plebs. Sici- ing the ager Pomptinus. (Liv. vi. 6. )
nius was chosen one of the first tribunes, the 7. CN. SICINIUS, was aedile in B. C. 185, and
original number of whom is variously stated in the was an unsuccessful candidate for the praetorship
ancient authorities (Liv. ii. 32, 33, iii. 54 ; Dionys. in the following year, to supply the place of C. Dec-
vi. 45, 70, &c. , 89; Ascon. in Cornel. p. 76, ed. imius, who had died while in office.
Orelli ; Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, vol. i. p. 617. ) however, successful in B. c. 183, in which year he
Dionysius further relates (vii.
