Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/243

Rh APICATA. Greek rhetorician who lived about A. D. 315, but of whose life nothing is known. He is the author of an elementary introduction to the study of rhetoric, and of a number of fables in the style of those of Aesop. The introduction to the study of rhetoric, which bears the title Progymnasmata (TrpoyvixvouTfj.aTa if considered from a right point of view, is of great interest, inasmuch as it shews us the method followed by the ancients in the in- struction of boys, before they were sent to the regular schools of the rhetoricians. The book con- sists of rules and exercises. Previous to the time of Aphthonius the progymnasmata of Hermogenes were commonly used in schools ; Aphthonius found it insufficient, and upon its basis he constructed his new work, which contained fourteen progym- nasmata, while that of his predecessor contained only twelve. Soon after its appearance the work of Aphthonius superseded that of Hermogenes, and became the common school-book in this branch of education for several centuries. On the revival of letters the progymnasmata of Aphthonius recovered their ancient popularity, aCnd during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they were used every- where, but more especially in Germany, in schools and universities, as the text-book for rhetoric. But by a singular mistake the work was during that period regarded as the canon of everything that ■was required to form a perfect orator, whereas the author and the ancients had intended and used it as a collection of elementary and preparatory exer- cises for children. The number of editions and translations which were published during that period is greater than that of any other ancient writer. (Fabr. Bibl. Grace, vi. p. 9G, &c. ; Hoff- mann, Lex. Bibliogr. i. p. 199, &c.) The editio princeps is that in Aldus' collection of the Rlietores Graect, Venice, 1508, fol. The most important among the subsequent editions are that of Giunta, Florence, 1515, 8vo., which contains also the progynmasmata of Hermogenes ; that of Camerarius, with a Latin translation. Lips. 1567, 8vo. ; of B. Harbart, 1591, 8vo., with a Latin translation and notes; of F. Scobarius, 1597, 8vo., and that of J. Scheffer, Upsala, 1670, 8vo. The last and best edition is that in Walz's collection of the " Rhetores Graeci," i. p. 54, &c. It contains the notes of Scheffer, and an ancient abridgement of the v/ork by one Matthaeus [firiTOfxil els to Trjs prTopiK7s irpo- yvixi'daixaTo), and a sort of commentary upon them by an anonymous writer ('Ava}vviJ.ov irepl rwv toS 'A6ouiov TTpoyvixvaauaTCiv), p. 121, &c., 126, &c. The Aesopic fables of Aphthonius, which are in- ferior in merit to those of Aesop, are printed in Scobarius' edition of the progymnasmata, and also in the Paris edition of 1623. Furia's edition of the fables of Aesop contains twenty-three of those of Aphthonius. (Westermann, GescJdcMe der GriecL Beredfsam/ceit, § 98, nn. 16—20.) [L.S.] APHTHO'NIUS {'Atpeovios) of Alexandria is mentioned by Philostorgius (iii. 15) as a learned and eloquent bishop of the Manichaeans. He is mentioned as a disciple and commentator of Mani by Photius and Peter of Sicily, and iu the form of abjuring Manichaeism. Philostorgius adds, that Aetius had a public disputation with Aphthonius, in which the latter was defeated, and died of grief seven days afterwards, [P. S.] APICA'TA, the wife of Sejanus, was divorced by him, a. d. 23, after she had borne him three children, when he hud seduced liivia, the wife of APICIUS. 225 Dnisus, and was plotting against the life of the latter. His subsequent nmrder of Drusus was first disclosed by Apicata. (Tac. Ann. iv. 3, 11.) When Sejanus and his children were killed eight years afterwards, a. d. 31, Apicata put an end to her own life. (Dion Cass. Iviii. 11.) API'CIUS. Ancient writers distinguish three Romans bearing this name, all of them indebted for celebrity to the same cause, their devotion to gluttony. 1. The first of these in chronological order, is said to have been instrumental in procuring the condemnation of Rutilius Rufus, who went into exile in the year b. c. 92. According to Posido- nius, in the 49th book of his history, he transcend- ed all men in luxury. (Athen iv. p. 168, d. ; com- pare Posidonii Reliquiae^ ed. Bake.) 2. The second and most renowned, M. GaJUua Apicius, flourished under Tiberius, and many anecdotes have been preserved of the inventive genius, the skill and the prodigality which he dis- played in discovering and creating new sources of culinary delight, arranging new combinations, and ransacking every quarter of the globe and every kingdom of nature for new objects to stimulate and gratify his appetite. At last, after having squan- dered upwards of eight hundred thousand pounds upon the indulgence of his all-engrossing passion, he balanced his books, and found that little more than eighty thousand remained ; upon which, de- spairing of being able to satisfy the cravings of hunger from such a miserable pitt<mce, he forth- with hanged himself. But he was not forgotten. Sundry cakes (Apicia) and sauces long kept alive his memory ; Apion, the grammarian, composed a work upon his luxurious labours ; his name passed into a proverb in all matters connected with the pleasures of the table ; he became the model of gastronomers, and schools of cookery arose which hailed him as their mighty master. (Tacit. Ann. iv. 1 ; Dion Cass. Ivii. 19 ; Athen. i. p. 7, a. ; Plin. H. N. viii. 51, ix. 17, x. 48, xix. 8 ; Senec. Consol. adHelv. 10, Epp. xciv. 43, cxx. 20, De Vtt.Beat. xi. 3 ; Juv. iv. 23, and Schol. xi. 2 ; Martial, ii. 69, iii. 22, x. 73 ; Lamprid. Heligab. 18, &c. ; Sidon. ApoUin. Epp. iv. 7 ; Suidas, s. v. Att'ikios ; Isidor. (M<;g. xx. 4; Tertullian. Apolog. 3.) 3. When the emperor Trajan was in Parthia, many days distant from the sea, a certain Apicius sent him fresh oysters, preserved by a skilful pro- cess of his own. (Athen. i. p. 7, d. ; Suidas, s. V. ScTpeu.) The first and third of these are mentioned by Athenaeus alone, the second by very many writers, as may be seen from the authorities quoted above. Hence some scholars, startled not unnaturally by the singular coincidence of name and pursuit, have endeavoured to prove that there was in reality only one Apicius, namelj'- the second, and that the r.iultiplication arose from the tales with regard to his excesses having passed from mouth to mouth among persons ignorant of chronology, or from the stories current with regard to various gluttons having been all in the process of time referred to the most famous of all. It will be observed, how- ever, that in so far as the first is concenied Athe- naeus points directly to the soiurcc from whence his infonutition was derived, and conntH;ts the in- dividual with an important and well known historical fact, nor is it probable that there is any confusion of names in the passage relating to the