He after-
ward attained to the quxstorship.
ward attained to the quxstorship.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
, while the latter was in captivity.
He was
surnsmed Crraunus (" thunderbolt"), an ostentatious
? ? and unmerited title, as he was a very weak, timid, and
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? SEM
fiEMIRAMIS.
13 57. ) About 16,000 men fei in the siege or during
the slaughter that followed thr taking of the place,
5000 were led away to Carthage into slavery, 2600
fled to Agrigcntum, and many wandered about the ad-
jacent country. Selinus would seem, from this ac-
count, to have been a city of more than 30,000 inhabi-
tants. --The Carthaginians afterward allowed the fugi-
tives to return to their ruined city, and again inhabit
it. (Diod. , 13. 69. ) A abort time before his death,
Dionyaiue the elder, of Syracuse, made himself master
of Selinus and the adjacent places, but they all, not
long after, reverted to their former possessors. The
Carthaginians at last, during the first Punic war, feel-
ing the difficulty of maintaining this post, transferred
the few remaining inhabitants to Lilybaeum, and Seli-
nus was destroyed. (Diod. Sic , 24, 1. -- Manner! ,
Geogr. , vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 370, seqq. ) A description of the
ruins of Selinus may be found in Hoarc's Classical
Tour, vol. 2, p. 78, seqq. The ruins exist near what
is called Torre di I'olluce, and, according to Sir R.
Hoare, their modern appellation is Pilieri del Castel
Vetrano. -- II. A city of Cilicia Trachea, the most
westerly place in that province with the exception of
Laertes, and situated on the coast. Its site was on a
rock surrounded by the sea, at the mouth of the river
Selinus. The Emperor Trajan died here; and from
him the place took the new name of Trajanopolis.
(Slrabo, 681. --/,i>>? 33,20. ) The modern name is
Selenti. -- Its territory was called Selentis. (Man-
nerl, Geogr. , vol. 6, pt. 2. p. 85. )
Sellasia, a town of Laconia, northeast of Sparta,
and commanding one of the principal passes in the
country. It was situate near the confluence of the
CEnus and Gongylus, in a valley confined between
two mountains, named Evas and Olympus. (Polyb. ,
8, 6. ) It commanded the only road by which an army
could enter I,aconia from the north, and was, there-
fore, a position of great importance for the defence of
the capital. Thus, when Epaminondas made his at-
tack on Sparta, his first object, after forcing the passes
which led from Arcadia into the enemy's country, was
to march directly upon Sellasia with all his troops.
(X'. n. , Hist. Gr. , 5, 6, 17. ) Cleotnenes, tyrant of
Sparta, was attacked in this strong position by Antig-
onus Doson, and totally defeated after an obstinate
conflict. (Polyb. , 2, 66, tcqq )--No modern traveller
appears to have explored the site of Sellasia. (Cra-
mer's Anc. Greece, vol. 3, p. 221. )
Ski. leis. a river of Elis, in the Peloponnesus, rising
in Mount Pholoe, and falling into the sea below the
Peneue. Near its mouth stood the town of Ephyre.
iSlrabo, 337 )
Selymbria, a city of Thrace, founded by the Me-
garensians at a still earlier period than Byzantium.
(Scymn. , c. 714. -- Scylaz, p. 28. --iterator. , 6, 33. )
The name of its founder, the leader of the colony, was
Selys (StfXuc), at least, Strabo explains the name by
Zv^otT iroXic (" the city of Selys"), the term bria be-
ing the Thracian word for "a city. " It became a
flourishing city, of considerable strength, and for a lonf
time defended itself against the inroads of the Thra-
cians, and the attempts of Philip of Macedon. It fell
at last, however, into the hands of this monarch. It
? ank in importance after this event. --With the com-'
mon people in the Doric dialect, the form Salambria
was used. The writers of the middle ages give Se-
lybr'a, from which w mes the modern Selivria. The
? ? city changed its name at a late period to that of Eu-
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? StM
SEN
Tol. 1, p SOD. --H. , ad Schirin. , vol. 1, p. 36, n. 4 --
Daiberg, ad Sehcik Mohammed, Fanis Dalnstan, p.
110, eeqq. --Bahr, ad Ctet. , p. 415. )--Regarded as a
matter oi authentic history, the narrative of Semiramis
presents many chronological difficulties. This is fully
apparent in the discrepance that exists among various
writers relative to the era of her reign. Thus, for ex-
ample, if we adopt the traditions which Ctesias, Di-
odorus Siculus, Justin, Eusebius, and Georgius Syn-
cellus have followed as their guides, Semiramis will
have been anterior to Augustus at least eighteen cen-
times; while, on the other hand, Larcher makes her
to havo been the wife of Nabonassar, and to have ex-
ercised sovereign sway during the latter years of that
prince's reign, when he was prevented from ruling by
a severe malady. (Larcher, Hist, d'Herod. --Chro-
nc4. , vol. 7, p. 171. )
Semnones, called by Strabo Xefivuvec, by Ptolemy
Zipvovec, by Velleius Patcrculus Senones, and by Ta-
citus Semnones. They were a German nation, and,
according to Velleius Paterculus (2, 106), the Albis
or Elbe separated their territories from those of the
Hermunduri; while, from Ptolemy's account, they
would seem to have inhabited what is now Branden-
burg. They originally formed a part of the kingdom
of Maroboduus, but afterward separated from it along
with the Langobardi. Mannert is of opinion that the
name of Semnones was given by the German tribes,
not to a single nation, but to all the nations in the vi-
cinity of the Elbe, from whom the more southern Ger-
mans were descended. (Geogr. , vol. 3, p. 334. ) The
Semnones must not be confounded with the Senones,
a Celtic race who settled on the coast of Umbria.
I Vid. Senones )
Sehones, an inferior class of divinities, such as
Priapus, Silenus, the Fauns, &c. They were called
Semones (i. e. , semi-homines) from their holding a
middle kind of rank between gods and men. Certain
deified heroes were also included under this appella-
tion. (Oeid, Fatt. , 6, 213. )
Skmpkonia, I. a Roman matron, daughter of Scipio
Africanus the elder, and mother of the two Gracchi.
{Vid. Cornelia III. )--II. A sister of the Gracchi, and
wife of the younger Scipio Africanus. She was sus-
pected of having been privy, along with Carbo, Grac-
chus, and Flaccus. to the murder of her husband. --
The name of Scmpronia was common to the females
of the families of the Sempronii, Scipios, and Gracchi.
Skmi-boxia Lix. I. dc Magistraltbus, by C. Sem-
pronius Gracchus, the tribune, A. U. C. 630, ordained
that no person who had been legally deprived of a
magistracy for misdemeanours should be capable of
bearing an office again. This law was afterward re-
pealed by the author. --II. Another, de Cititale, by the
same, A. U. C. 630. It ordained that no capital judg-
ment ahould be passed over a Roman citizen without
the order of the people. --III. Another, de ComUiit, by
the same, A. U. C. 635. It ordained that, in giving
their votes, the centuries should be chosen by lot, and
not give it according to the order of their classes. --
IV. Another, de Provinciit, by the same, A. U. C. 630.
It enacted that the senators should appoint provinces
for the consuls every year before their election. --V.
Another, called agraria prima, by T. Sempronius
Gracchus, the tribune, A U. C. 630. (Vid. Agraria)
I. eges. )--VI. Another, called agraria altera, by the
same. It required that all the ready money which was
? ? found in the treasury of Attalus, king of Pergamus,
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? SENECA.
SENECi
printed ai"if nth the works of Seneca the philoso-
pher, and trie est of the editions thus given is that of
Heineius, Ail si. , 1620, 8vo. A separate edition ap-
peared from >>ne Bipont press in 1783, 8vo; and in
1831, from t'. jc Paris press, by BouiJlet, forming part
of the collection of Lemaire. From me researches
of Niebuhr, be would seem to have been the author
also of a history. (Niebuhr, ad Cic. , Liv. el Seneca,
fragm, p. 104, Rom. , 1820. )--II. L. , A celebrated
Roman writer, son of M. Annaeus Seneca, the rheto-
rician, and Hclvia, born at Corduba, in the second or
third year of the Christian era. He was still very
young when his father removed to Rome, where the
son received his education. The oratorical profes-
sion became his choice when he attained to years of
maturity, and he plead in several causes before the
public tribunals. The frantic Caligula, who was jeal-
ous of every species of talents, sought to destroy him,
but spared his life, it is said, when it was represented
to him that Seneca's health was feeble, and that he
would, in all probability, be only short lived.
He after-
ward attained to the quxstorship. In the first year of
the reign of Claudius, Messalina, who hated him, had
Seneca implicated in the accusation of adultery which
was brought against the paramours of Julia, daughter
of Germanicus, and caused him to be banished to the
island of Corsica, where he passed eight years of se-
clusion. Agrippina, the second wife of Claudius, re-
called him from banishment, and appointed him tutor
to Nero, in conjunction with Burrhus. The latter was
the young prince's instructer in military science, and
endeavoured to communicate his own sedateness and
gravity of manners. Elegant accomplishments, taste
for the arts, and polite address were Seneca's prov-
ince. Among other tutorial employment, he com-
posed Nero's speeches. The first, a funeral oration
for Claudius, was unfortunate in its effect, according
to Tacitus. (Ann. , 13, 3. ) Nero's next harangue,
probably also written by Seneca, though Tacitus does
iot say so, gave universal satisfaction. It was de-
livered on his first appearance in the senate, and prom-
ised a reign of moderation. Dio Cassius says that
this address was ordered to be rngraven on a pillar of
solid silver, and to be publicly read every year when
the consuls entered on their office. --Seneca soon ob-
tained an exclusive influence over his pupil, and en-
gaged Annaeus Serenus, who stood high in his esteem
and friendship, to assist him in the means, not very
creditable, of preserving his ascendancy, by supplying
Nero with a mistress, and persecuting his patroness
Agrippina, whose indignation rose above all restraint.
Tacitus puts into her mouth a few emphatic words,
*aid to have been uttered in the emperor's hearing.
I'hcy have been finely imitated and expanded by Ra-
cine, in his tragedy of Britannicus; and Gray, in his
short fragment of Agrippina, has done little more than
translate Racine. Agsippina regained a temporary in-
fluence, and succeeded in punishing some of her ac-
cusers and rewarding her friends. Among the pro-
motions obtained by her was that of Balbillus to the
province of Egypt. It seems strange that a person so
highly spoken of by Seneca should have been patron-
ised by Agrippina at this juncture. --It was not till
Suillius had too justly upbraided, but, at the same time,
coarsely reviled Seneca, that the latter incurred any
targe portion of popular censure. Among the grounds
on which Suillius attacked him were those of usury,
? ? avarice, and rapacity. That he was avaricious is be-
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? SENECA.
SENECA.
effect. He then desired to be placed in a warm bath,
? nd, the vapour soon overpowering him, there breathed
his last. Seneca's wife was permitted to live. --Ju-
venal bestows high commendation on Seneca, and
other ancient authors as well as Juvenal, who was a
diligent reader of Seneca's works, have been lavish of
their praises. Martial takes many occasions of men-
tioning him with some commendatory epithet. Why
did St Jerome saint himl The reason is thus ex-
plained by Dr. Ireland, in a communication to Mr.
Giflbrd while translating Juvenal. -- "The writer to
whom you refer seems to have used the term without
much consideration. In Jerome's time, it was applied
to Christians at large, as the general distinction from
the pagans. Indeed, it was given to those who had
not yet received baptism, but who looked forward to
! t, and were therefore called candidates for the faith.
It could be only a charitable extension of this term
that led Jerome to place Seneca among the tancti;
for he still calls him a stoic philosopher. The case is,
that in the time of St. Jerome certain letters were ex-
tant, which were said to have passed between Seneca
end St. Paul. In one of these the former had ex-
pressed a wish, that he were to the Romans what
Paul was to the Christians. This Jerome seems to
nave interpreted as an evangelical sentiment. He
therefore placed Seneca among the ecclesiastical wri-
ters and saints; in other words, he presumptively
atyled him a Christian, though not born of Christian
parents. "--The sketch of Seneca's life here given,
when checked by the authorities, will not warrant his
seing ranked in any respect with the first Christian
worthies. His early career was confessedly irregular
ind licentious. This, if sincerely repented of, might
te forgiven. But hit conduct after his recall, ma-
ting allowance fur the calumny and wholesale libel of
the '. mes, was, to speak of it in measured and negative
terms, not altogether commendable. That his philo-
sophical professions had some occasional influence
on his imperial pupil; that they did a little towards
stemming the torrent of profligacy with the people for
a time, we are willing and desirous to concede: but
that the practice of the preacher too frequently coun-
teracted the tendency of his preaching, it would be
uncandid to deny. Of the later political delinquen-
cies he was unquestionably innocent. With respect
to Piso's conspiracy, it was the current report at
Rome, that the conspirators, after having employed
Piso to get rid of Nero, meant to destroy Piso him-
self, and raise Seneca to the vacant throne; but the
conception of such a scheme could have been nothing
short of madness. Seneca was at the time old and
infirm; and his tamperings in conduct with the virtue
which he rigidly taught, and with the self-denial he stoi-
cally enforced in his writings as what the wise man could
undeniably exemplify, had rendered him too unpopular
to make the tenure of the empire safe in his hands
for the shortest period of lime In respect of this
charge he was shamefully treated. But his personal
biography, on the whole, has an unfortunate tendency.
Whatever may be thought of his excellences or de-
fects as a writer, or of the caricature and priggishness
of the Stoic sect, ho was in his writings on earnest, a
highly-pretending, and apparently a sincere advocate
of ascetic seventy. When the professions of such
persons are belied by their lives and conduct, the in-
terests of socioty cannot fail to suffer. If his ministry
? ? was corrupt, his behaviour undor Nero's frown was
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? SENECA
SEN
er, ? young man of great promise. It contains some
fine passages, but is unworthy of coming from tbe pen
of Seneca, on account of the gross flattery with which
it abounds. Diderot, in his Essay on the Life of Sen-
eca, has attacked the authenticity of the work, and
Ruhkopf, one of the latest editors of Seneca, has fol-
lowed in the same path. --4. Dc Consolationc, ad Mar-
ram. Another consolatory epistle to a friend who
had lost her son. It is a touching and eloquent piece,
and was written under Claudius, after the return of
Seneca from exile. --5. De Providenlia, sive quarc
bonis riris mala accidant, cum sit Providenlia, " On
Providence, or why, if there be a superintending Prov-
idence, evils happen to the good! " It is not a general
dissertation on Providence, but merely an attempt to
justify Providence, and refute the cavils and murmurs
of the discontented. The piece ends with recom-
mending suicide to the unfortunate as their last ref-
uge! It was written under the reign of Nero, and
forms part of a complete treatise on ethics, of which
Seneca speaks in his letters. --6. De Ahum Iran-
quilldatc, '? On Serenity of Mind. " This work, writ-
ten soon after the return of Seneca to Home, has not
the usual form of his productions. It is preceded by
a letter of Annasus Serenus, in which that friend
depicts lo Seneca the disquietude, and disgust of life,
which torment him, and requests his advice. Seneca
replies, and shows the mode in which this mental mal-
ady may be combated. -- 7. De Constantia sapien-
tis, rive quod in savienlem non cadit injuria, "Of
tbe firmness of the sage, or proof that the wise man
can suffer no injury. " This work is based on the
principles and paradoxes of the porch. It is addressed
to Annasus Serenus. --8. De dementia, "On Clem-
uncy. " Addressed to Nero. It was in three books,
and was composed during the second year of the
prince's reign. The subject is rather the mild ad-
ministration of government. A great part of the sec-
ond, and the third book, are lost. --The diction in this
work is simpler and nobler tban in the other works of
Seneca. --9. De Brevilale vita, "On the shortness
of life. " Addressed to Paulir. us, the father, or else
the brother of Seneca's second wife, and who filled
the station of Prafeclus Annona. Seneca recom-
mends him to renounce his public employments in a
spirit directly contrary lo that in which he urges Se-
renus to engage in public affairs. These contradic-
tions sometimes occur in the works of Seneca. --10.
De Vita Beata, "On a Happy Life. " Addressed
to Gallio, the brother of Seneca. --11. De Olio aut
seeessu sapicntis, "On the Leisure or Retirement
of the Sage. " The first twenty-seven chapters are
wanting. Some critics believe that it formed part of
the preceding. --12. De Bencficiis, "On Benefits. "
In seven'books. Seneca treats, in this fine work, of
the manner of conferring benefits, and the duty of
him who receives them, and collaterally of gratitude
and ingratitude. It was written at tbe close of Sene-
ca's life, when he had retired from the court of Nero
to the solitude of his villa. --13. One hundred and
twenty-four letters, addressed to Lucilius Junior.
Though Seneca has given to these pieces an episto-
lary form, they are rather moral treatises on various
subjects. We find in them many excellent maxims,
and a real treasure of practical philosophy. They
were written during the later years of Seneca, after
kia retirement from court. --14. 'AkokoXokvvduoir,
? ? "The Metamorphosis into, a Gourd. " A Varronian
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? SE R
SER
aged Rome. They afterward settled in Umbria, on
the cnast of the Adriatic. After some years of con-
flict with the Romans they were expelled, or rather
exterminated, A. U. C. 471. (Polyb. , 2, 19. ) Livy,
however, makes the date of this event some years ear-
lier. (Lit. , Epit. , 11. )--II. A people of Germany.
(Vid. Semnoncs. )
SeptimTus I. or Titus Septimius, a Roman knight,
intimate with Horace, and to whom the latter address-
ed one of his Odes (2, 6). He appears, from the
words of Horace on another occasion (Epist. , 1, 3, 9,
teqq. ), to have been a votary of the Muses; and, ac-
cording to one of the scholiasts, he composed lyric
pieces and tragedies. None of his productions have
reached us. --II. Aulus Septimius Severus, a Roman
poet, who flourished under Vespasian. He was high-
ly esteemed for his lyric talents, but none of his pieces
have reached us. One of his poems was entitled
Opuscula Ruralia or Opuscula Ruris, consisting of
several books; another was called Falisca, in which
he sang the praises of his villa among the Falisci.
Tho metre of this poem was peculiar in its kind, each
line being composed of three dactyls and a pyrrhic.
Wcrnsdorff ascribes to him the Moretum, a poem
commonly assigned to Virgil. (Burmann, ad Anthol.
tat, lib. 1, ep. 27. --Wernsdorff, Poet. Lat. Min. ,
vol. 2, p. 247, seqq. )--HI. Q. Septimius, the transla-
tor of the work of Dictys Cretensis into Latin, and
who lived in the time of the Emperor Diocleaian.
[Vid. Dictys I. )
Sequana (called by Ptolemy Ecitovavea), a river of
Gallia Transalpina, rising in the territory of the ATAm,
and flowing by Lutetia or Paris into the Atlantic. It
is now the Seine. (0>>? B. &. , 1, I. --Id. ib , 8, 87. )
Sequani, a people of Gallia Transalpina, whose ter-
ritory lay to the east of that of the jEdui and Lingones,
and was separated from them by the Arar; while it
was parted from that of the Helvetii by the range of
Mount Jura. Their country answers to the modern
Department du Doubt el du Jura, (Cat. , B. G. , 1,
B. --Id. ib. , 6, 12, &c. )
Skrapeum or Skrapion, I. a name given to the
temples of Serapis in Egypt, of which there were a
great number. (Crcuzer, Dionysus, p. 181. )--II. A
telebrated temple of Serapis in Alexandrea, and one
}f the two tempies in which the famous library was
Jeposited. (Vii. Serapis, and Alexandrea. )--III.
surnsmed Crraunus (" thunderbolt"), an ostentatious
? ? and unmerited title, as he was a very weak, timid, and
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? SEM
fiEMIRAMIS.
13 57. ) About 16,000 men fei in the siege or during
the slaughter that followed thr taking of the place,
5000 were led away to Carthage into slavery, 2600
fled to Agrigcntum, and many wandered about the ad-
jacent country. Selinus would seem, from this ac-
count, to have been a city of more than 30,000 inhabi-
tants. --The Carthaginians afterward allowed the fugi-
tives to return to their ruined city, and again inhabit
it. (Diod. , 13. 69. ) A abort time before his death,
Dionyaiue the elder, of Syracuse, made himself master
of Selinus and the adjacent places, but they all, not
long after, reverted to their former possessors. The
Carthaginians at last, during the first Punic war, feel-
ing the difficulty of maintaining this post, transferred
the few remaining inhabitants to Lilybaeum, and Seli-
nus was destroyed. (Diod. Sic , 24, 1. -- Manner! ,
Geogr. , vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 370, seqq. ) A description of the
ruins of Selinus may be found in Hoarc's Classical
Tour, vol. 2, p. 78, seqq. The ruins exist near what
is called Torre di I'olluce, and, according to Sir R.
Hoare, their modern appellation is Pilieri del Castel
Vetrano. -- II. A city of Cilicia Trachea, the most
westerly place in that province with the exception of
Laertes, and situated on the coast. Its site was on a
rock surrounded by the sea, at the mouth of the river
Selinus. The Emperor Trajan died here; and from
him the place took the new name of Trajanopolis.
(Slrabo, 681. --/,i>>? 33,20. ) The modern name is
Selenti. -- Its territory was called Selentis. (Man-
nerl, Geogr. , vol. 6, pt. 2. p. 85. )
Sellasia, a town of Laconia, northeast of Sparta,
and commanding one of the principal passes in the
country. It was situate near the confluence of the
CEnus and Gongylus, in a valley confined between
two mountains, named Evas and Olympus. (Polyb. ,
8, 6. ) It commanded the only road by which an army
could enter I,aconia from the north, and was, there-
fore, a position of great importance for the defence of
the capital. Thus, when Epaminondas made his at-
tack on Sparta, his first object, after forcing the passes
which led from Arcadia into the enemy's country, was
to march directly upon Sellasia with all his troops.
(X'. n. , Hist. Gr. , 5, 6, 17. ) Cleotnenes, tyrant of
Sparta, was attacked in this strong position by Antig-
onus Doson, and totally defeated after an obstinate
conflict. (Polyb. , 2, 66, tcqq )--No modern traveller
appears to have explored the site of Sellasia. (Cra-
mer's Anc. Greece, vol. 3, p. 221. )
Ski. leis. a river of Elis, in the Peloponnesus, rising
in Mount Pholoe, and falling into the sea below the
Peneue. Near its mouth stood the town of Ephyre.
iSlrabo, 337 )
Selymbria, a city of Thrace, founded by the Me-
garensians at a still earlier period than Byzantium.
(Scymn. , c. 714. -- Scylaz, p. 28. --iterator. , 6, 33. )
The name of its founder, the leader of the colony, was
Selys (StfXuc), at least, Strabo explains the name by
Zv^otT iroXic (" the city of Selys"), the term bria be-
ing the Thracian word for "a city. " It became a
flourishing city, of considerable strength, and for a lonf
time defended itself against the inroads of the Thra-
cians, and the attempts of Philip of Macedon. It fell
at last, however, into the hands of this monarch. It
? ank in importance after this event. --With the com-'
mon people in the Doric dialect, the form Salambria
was used. The writers of the middle ages give Se-
lybr'a, from which w mes the modern Selivria. The
? ? city changed its name at a late period to that of Eu-
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? StM
SEN
Tol. 1, p SOD. --H. , ad Schirin. , vol. 1, p. 36, n. 4 --
Daiberg, ad Sehcik Mohammed, Fanis Dalnstan, p.
110, eeqq. --Bahr, ad Ctet. , p. 415. )--Regarded as a
matter oi authentic history, the narrative of Semiramis
presents many chronological difficulties. This is fully
apparent in the discrepance that exists among various
writers relative to the era of her reign. Thus, for ex-
ample, if we adopt the traditions which Ctesias, Di-
odorus Siculus, Justin, Eusebius, and Georgius Syn-
cellus have followed as their guides, Semiramis will
have been anterior to Augustus at least eighteen cen-
times; while, on the other hand, Larcher makes her
to havo been the wife of Nabonassar, and to have ex-
ercised sovereign sway during the latter years of that
prince's reign, when he was prevented from ruling by
a severe malady. (Larcher, Hist, d'Herod. --Chro-
nc4. , vol. 7, p. 171. )
Semnones, called by Strabo Xefivuvec, by Ptolemy
Zipvovec, by Velleius Patcrculus Senones, and by Ta-
citus Semnones. They were a German nation, and,
according to Velleius Paterculus (2, 106), the Albis
or Elbe separated their territories from those of the
Hermunduri; while, from Ptolemy's account, they
would seem to have inhabited what is now Branden-
burg. They originally formed a part of the kingdom
of Maroboduus, but afterward separated from it along
with the Langobardi. Mannert is of opinion that the
name of Semnones was given by the German tribes,
not to a single nation, but to all the nations in the vi-
cinity of the Elbe, from whom the more southern Ger-
mans were descended. (Geogr. , vol. 3, p. 334. ) The
Semnones must not be confounded with the Senones,
a Celtic race who settled on the coast of Umbria.
I Vid. Senones )
Sehones, an inferior class of divinities, such as
Priapus, Silenus, the Fauns, &c. They were called
Semones (i. e. , semi-homines) from their holding a
middle kind of rank between gods and men. Certain
deified heroes were also included under this appella-
tion. (Oeid, Fatt. , 6, 213. )
Skmpkonia, I. a Roman matron, daughter of Scipio
Africanus the elder, and mother of the two Gracchi.
{Vid. Cornelia III. )--II. A sister of the Gracchi, and
wife of the younger Scipio Africanus. She was sus-
pected of having been privy, along with Carbo, Grac-
chus, and Flaccus. to the murder of her husband. --
The name of Scmpronia was common to the females
of the families of the Sempronii, Scipios, and Gracchi.
Skmi-boxia Lix. I. dc Magistraltbus, by C. Sem-
pronius Gracchus, the tribune, A. U. C. 630, ordained
that no person who had been legally deprived of a
magistracy for misdemeanours should be capable of
bearing an office again. This law was afterward re-
pealed by the author. --II. Another, de Cititale, by the
same, A. U. C. 630. It ordained that no capital judg-
ment ahould be passed over a Roman citizen without
the order of the people. --III. Another, de ComUiit, by
the same, A. U. C. 635. It ordained that, in giving
their votes, the centuries should be chosen by lot, and
not give it according to the order of their classes. --
IV. Another, de Provinciit, by the same, A. U. C. 630.
It enacted that the senators should appoint provinces
for the consuls every year before their election. --V.
Another, called agraria prima, by T. Sempronius
Gracchus, the tribune, A U. C. 630. (Vid. Agraria)
I. eges. )--VI. Another, called agraria altera, by the
same. It required that all the ready money which was
? ? found in the treasury of Attalus, king of Pergamus,
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? SENECA.
SENECi
printed ai"if nth the works of Seneca the philoso-
pher, and trie est of the editions thus given is that of
Heineius, Ail si. , 1620, 8vo. A separate edition ap-
peared from >>ne Bipont press in 1783, 8vo; and in
1831, from t'. jc Paris press, by BouiJlet, forming part
of the collection of Lemaire. From me researches
of Niebuhr, be would seem to have been the author
also of a history. (Niebuhr, ad Cic. , Liv. el Seneca,
fragm, p. 104, Rom. , 1820. )--II. L. , A celebrated
Roman writer, son of M. Annaeus Seneca, the rheto-
rician, and Hclvia, born at Corduba, in the second or
third year of the Christian era. He was still very
young when his father removed to Rome, where the
son received his education. The oratorical profes-
sion became his choice when he attained to years of
maturity, and he plead in several causes before the
public tribunals. The frantic Caligula, who was jeal-
ous of every species of talents, sought to destroy him,
but spared his life, it is said, when it was represented
to him that Seneca's health was feeble, and that he
would, in all probability, be only short lived.
He after-
ward attained to the quxstorship. In the first year of
the reign of Claudius, Messalina, who hated him, had
Seneca implicated in the accusation of adultery which
was brought against the paramours of Julia, daughter
of Germanicus, and caused him to be banished to the
island of Corsica, where he passed eight years of se-
clusion. Agrippina, the second wife of Claudius, re-
called him from banishment, and appointed him tutor
to Nero, in conjunction with Burrhus. The latter was
the young prince's instructer in military science, and
endeavoured to communicate his own sedateness and
gravity of manners. Elegant accomplishments, taste
for the arts, and polite address were Seneca's prov-
ince. Among other tutorial employment, he com-
posed Nero's speeches. The first, a funeral oration
for Claudius, was unfortunate in its effect, according
to Tacitus. (Ann. , 13, 3. ) Nero's next harangue,
probably also written by Seneca, though Tacitus does
iot say so, gave universal satisfaction. It was de-
livered on his first appearance in the senate, and prom-
ised a reign of moderation. Dio Cassius says that
this address was ordered to be rngraven on a pillar of
solid silver, and to be publicly read every year when
the consuls entered on their office. --Seneca soon ob-
tained an exclusive influence over his pupil, and en-
gaged Annaeus Serenus, who stood high in his esteem
and friendship, to assist him in the means, not very
creditable, of preserving his ascendancy, by supplying
Nero with a mistress, and persecuting his patroness
Agrippina, whose indignation rose above all restraint.
Tacitus puts into her mouth a few emphatic words,
*aid to have been uttered in the emperor's hearing.
I'hcy have been finely imitated and expanded by Ra-
cine, in his tragedy of Britannicus; and Gray, in his
short fragment of Agrippina, has done little more than
translate Racine. Agsippina regained a temporary in-
fluence, and succeeded in punishing some of her ac-
cusers and rewarding her friends. Among the pro-
motions obtained by her was that of Balbillus to the
province of Egypt. It seems strange that a person so
highly spoken of by Seneca should have been patron-
ised by Agrippina at this juncture. --It was not till
Suillius had too justly upbraided, but, at the same time,
coarsely reviled Seneca, that the latter incurred any
targe portion of popular censure. Among the grounds
on which Suillius attacked him were those of usury,
? ? avarice, and rapacity. That he was avaricious is be-
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? SENECA.
SENECA.
effect. He then desired to be placed in a warm bath,
? nd, the vapour soon overpowering him, there breathed
his last. Seneca's wife was permitted to live. --Ju-
venal bestows high commendation on Seneca, and
other ancient authors as well as Juvenal, who was a
diligent reader of Seneca's works, have been lavish of
their praises. Martial takes many occasions of men-
tioning him with some commendatory epithet. Why
did St Jerome saint himl The reason is thus ex-
plained by Dr. Ireland, in a communication to Mr.
Giflbrd while translating Juvenal. -- "The writer to
whom you refer seems to have used the term without
much consideration. In Jerome's time, it was applied
to Christians at large, as the general distinction from
the pagans. Indeed, it was given to those who had
not yet received baptism, but who looked forward to
! t, and were therefore called candidates for the faith.
It could be only a charitable extension of this term
that led Jerome to place Seneca among the tancti;
for he still calls him a stoic philosopher. The case is,
that in the time of St. Jerome certain letters were ex-
tant, which were said to have passed between Seneca
end St. Paul. In one of these the former had ex-
pressed a wish, that he were to the Romans what
Paul was to the Christians. This Jerome seems to
nave interpreted as an evangelical sentiment. He
therefore placed Seneca among the ecclesiastical wri-
ters and saints; in other words, he presumptively
atyled him a Christian, though not born of Christian
parents. "--The sketch of Seneca's life here given,
when checked by the authorities, will not warrant his
seing ranked in any respect with the first Christian
worthies. His early career was confessedly irregular
ind licentious. This, if sincerely repented of, might
te forgiven. But hit conduct after his recall, ma-
ting allowance fur the calumny and wholesale libel of
the '. mes, was, to speak of it in measured and negative
terms, not altogether commendable. That his philo-
sophical professions had some occasional influence
on his imperial pupil; that they did a little towards
stemming the torrent of profligacy with the people for
a time, we are willing and desirous to concede: but
that the practice of the preacher too frequently coun-
teracted the tendency of his preaching, it would be
uncandid to deny. Of the later political delinquen-
cies he was unquestionably innocent. With respect
to Piso's conspiracy, it was the current report at
Rome, that the conspirators, after having employed
Piso to get rid of Nero, meant to destroy Piso him-
self, and raise Seneca to the vacant throne; but the
conception of such a scheme could have been nothing
short of madness. Seneca was at the time old and
infirm; and his tamperings in conduct with the virtue
which he rigidly taught, and with the self-denial he stoi-
cally enforced in his writings as what the wise man could
undeniably exemplify, had rendered him too unpopular
to make the tenure of the empire safe in his hands
for the shortest period of lime In respect of this
charge he was shamefully treated. But his personal
biography, on the whole, has an unfortunate tendency.
Whatever may be thought of his excellences or de-
fects as a writer, or of the caricature and priggishness
of the Stoic sect, ho was in his writings on earnest, a
highly-pretending, and apparently a sincere advocate
of ascetic seventy. When the professions of such
persons are belied by their lives and conduct, the in-
terests of socioty cannot fail to suffer. If his ministry
? ? was corrupt, his behaviour undor Nero's frown was
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? SENECA
SEN
er, ? young man of great promise. It contains some
fine passages, but is unworthy of coming from tbe pen
of Seneca, on account of the gross flattery with which
it abounds. Diderot, in his Essay on the Life of Sen-
eca, has attacked the authenticity of the work, and
Ruhkopf, one of the latest editors of Seneca, has fol-
lowed in the same path. --4. Dc Consolationc, ad Mar-
ram. Another consolatory epistle to a friend who
had lost her son. It is a touching and eloquent piece,
and was written under Claudius, after the return of
Seneca from exile. --5. De Providenlia, sive quarc
bonis riris mala accidant, cum sit Providenlia, " On
Providence, or why, if there be a superintending Prov-
idence, evils happen to the good! " It is not a general
dissertation on Providence, but merely an attempt to
justify Providence, and refute the cavils and murmurs
of the discontented. The piece ends with recom-
mending suicide to the unfortunate as their last ref-
uge! It was written under the reign of Nero, and
forms part of a complete treatise on ethics, of which
Seneca speaks in his letters. --6. De Ahum Iran-
quilldatc, '? On Serenity of Mind. " This work, writ-
ten soon after the return of Seneca to Home, has not
the usual form of his productions. It is preceded by
a letter of Annasus Serenus, in which that friend
depicts lo Seneca the disquietude, and disgust of life,
which torment him, and requests his advice. Seneca
replies, and shows the mode in which this mental mal-
ady may be combated. -- 7. De Constantia sapien-
tis, rive quod in savienlem non cadit injuria, "Of
tbe firmness of the sage, or proof that the wise man
can suffer no injury. " This work is based on the
principles and paradoxes of the porch. It is addressed
to Annasus Serenus. --8. De dementia, "On Clem-
uncy. " Addressed to Nero. It was in three books,
and was composed during the second year of the
prince's reign. The subject is rather the mild ad-
ministration of government. A great part of the sec-
ond, and the third book, are lost. --The diction in this
work is simpler and nobler tban in the other works of
Seneca. --9. De Brevilale vita, "On the shortness
of life. " Addressed to Paulir. us, the father, or else
the brother of Seneca's second wife, and who filled
the station of Prafeclus Annona. Seneca recom-
mends him to renounce his public employments in a
spirit directly contrary lo that in which he urges Se-
renus to engage in public affairs. These contradic-
tions sometimes occur in the works of Seneca. --10.
De Vita Beata, "On a Happy Life. " Addressed
to Gallio, the brother of Seneca. --11. De Olio aut
seeessu sapicntis, "On the Leisure or Retirement
of the Sage. " The first twenty-seven chapters are
wanting. Some critics believe that it formed part of
the preceding. --12. De Bencficiis, "On Benefits. "
In seven'books. Seneca treats, in this fine work, of
the manner of conferring benefits, and the duty of
him who receives them, and collaterally of gratitude
and ingratitude. It was written at tbe close of Sene-
ca's life, when he had retired from the court of Nero
to the solitude of his villa. --13. One hundred and
twenty-four letters, addressed to Lucilius Junior.
Though Seneca has given to these pieces an episto-
lary form, they are rather moral treatises on various
subjects. We find in them many excellent maxims,
and a real treasure of practical philosophy. They
were written during the later years of Seneca, after
kia retirement from court. --14. 'AkokoXokvvduoir,
? ? "The Metamorphosis into, a Gourd. " A Varronian
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? SE R
SER
aged Rome. They afterward settled in Umbria, on
the cnast of the Adriatic. After some years of con-
flict with the Romans they were expelled, or rather
exterminated, A. U. C. 471. (Polyb. , 2, 19. ) Livy,
however, makes the date of this event some years ear-
lier. (Lit. , Epit. , 11. )--II. A people of Germany.
(Vid. Semnoncs. )
SeptimTus I. or Titus Septimius, a Roman knight,
intimate with Horace, and to whom the latter address-
ed one of his Odes (2, 6). He appears, from the
words of Horace on another occasion (Epist. , 1, 3, 9,
teqq. ), to have been a votary of the Muses; and, ac-
cording to one of the scholiasts, he composed lyric
pieces and tragedies. None of his productions have
reached us. --II. Aulus Septimius Severus, a Roman
poet, who flourished under Vespasian. He was high-
ly esteemed for his lyric talents, but none of his pieces
have reached us. One of his poems was entitled
Opuscula Ruralia or Opuscula Ruris, consisting of
several books; another was called Falisca, in which
he sang the praises of his villa among the Falisci.
Tho metre of this poem was peculiar in its kind, each
line being composed of three dactyls and a pyrrhic.
Wcrnsdorff ascribes to him the Moretum, a poem
commonly assigned to Virgil. (Burmann, ad Anthol.
tat, lib. 1, ep. 27. --Wernsdorff, Poet. Lat. Min. ,
vol. 2, p. 247, seqq. )--HI. Q. Septimius, the transla-
tor of the work of Dictys Cretensis into Latin, and
who lived in the time of the Emperor Diocleaian.
[Vid. Dictys I. )
Sequana (called by Ptolemy Ecitovavea), a river of
Gallia Transalpina, rising in the territory of the ATAm,
and flowing by Lutetia or Paris into the Atlantic. It
is now the Seine. (0>>? B. &. , 1, I. --Id. ib , 8, 87. )
Sequani, a people of Gallia Transalpina, whose ter-
ritory lay to the east of that of the jEdui and Lingones,
and was separated from them by the Arar; while it
was parted from that of the Helvetii by the range of
Mount Jura. Their country answers to the modern
Department du Doubt el du Jura, (Cat. , B. G. , 1,
B. --Id. ib. , 6, 12, &c. )
Skrapeum or Skrapion, I. a name given to the
temples of Serapis in Egypt, of which there were a
great number. (Crcuzer, Dionysus, p. 181. )--II. A
telebrated temple of Serapis in Alexandrea, and one
}f the two tempies in which the famous library was
Jeposited. (Vii. Serapis, and Alexandrea. )--III.
