Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/601

Rh CALPURNIUS. Tftits, in others as Caitts^ in a great number the praenomen is altogether wanting, while the only .evidence for the determination of the epoch when lie tiourished rests upon the gratuitous assumption that he is identical with the Junius or Julius Cal- puniius commemonited by Vopiscus in tiie life of Carus. In like manner we are left in uncertainty Avhether we ought to consider the term Siculm as a cognomen, or as an appellation pointing out his native country, or as an epithet bestowed xipon him because he cultivated the same style of com- position with the Syracusan Tlieocritus. Some have sought to prove, from internal evidence, that, like the Mantuan bard, he was raised from a hum- ble station by the favour of some exalted patron, but this hypothesis receives no support from the passages referred to, and those who have attempted in a similar manner to ascertain the precise epoch when he flourished have arrived at conflicting con- clusions. Even if the dedication to Ncmesianus is genuine, and this is far from certain, it does not necessarily follow, that this must be the same Ne- mesianus who was contemporary with Numerianus. The literary merits of Calpurnius may be briefly discussed. In all that relates to the mechanism of his art he deserves much praise. His versification is smooth, flowing, and sonorous, and his diction for the most part pure and elegant, although from being too elaborately finished it is sometimes tinged with aflect<ation. In all the higher departments he can advance no claim to our admiration. He imi- tates closely the Eclogues of Virgil, and like Virgil is deficient in the simplicity, freshness, and reality which lend such a charm to the Idylls of Theo- critus — a deficiency which he awkwardly endea- vours to supply by occasionally foisting harsh and uncouth expressions into the mouths of his speakers. He evidently was a careful student of Horace, I'ibuUns, Propertius, Juvenal, and Statius, for we can often detect their thoughts and even their ex- pressions, unless, indeed, we are disposed to adopt the absurd notions advocated by Ascensius, that he belonged to the Augustan age, and might thus have been copied by the others instead of borrow- ing from them. In the oldest MSS. and editions the whole eleven eclogues are attributed to Calpurnius. Ugo- letus, upon the authority of a single MS., separated the last four from the rest, assigning them to Nemesianus ; but independent of the feeble autho- rity upon which this change was introduced, the tone and spirit of the whole eleven is so exactly uniform, that we might at once conclude with con- fidence that they were productions of the same pen, and this has been satisfactorily established by Wernsdorf. The Editio Princeps is without place or date, but is usually found appended to the Silius Italicus printed at Rome in 1471, by Sweynheim and Pannartz. The next in antiquity is that of Venice, 1472. The most valuable modern editions are those contained in the Poetae Latini Minores of Burmann (Leida, 1731), and in the Poetae Latini Minores of Wernsdortf (Altenb. 1780), and in Lemaire's Classics (Paris, 1824). The text has been recently revised with much care bv Glaeser. (Getting. 1842.) [W. R.] CALPU'RNIUS ASPRE'NAS, [Asprenas.] CALPU'RNIUS CRASSUS. [Crassus.] CALPU'RNIUS FABA'TUS. [Fabatus.] CALPU'RNIUS FLACCUS. [Flaccus.] CALVENA. 583 CALPU'RNIUS GALERIA'NUS. [Galb- RIANUS.] CALPU'RNIUS SALVIA'NUS.[SALViANtT8.] CALVA, a surname of Venus at Rome, which is derived by some from the verb calvere, to mock or annoy, and is believed to refer to the caprices of lovers. Others relate, that Ancus Marcius dedi- cated the temple of Venus Calva near the Capitol at the time when his wife's hair began to fall oif ; whereas a third account connects the foundation of this temple with the war against the Gauls, during which the Roman women were said to have cut oif their hair for the purpose of making bow-strings of it. (Serv. ad Aen. i. 724 ; Lactant. i. 20, 27.) Hartung (^Die Relig. d. Rom. ii. p. 251) thinks the last account the most probable, and believes that the name referred to a real or symbolical cutting oflf of the hair of brides on their marriage dav. (Comp. Pers. Sat. ii. 70, with the Schol.) [L. S'.] CALVASTER, JU'LIUS, a laticlave tribune of the soldiers under Domitian, took part in the revolt of Antonius in Germany, but was pardoned because he pretended that his intercourse with Antonius was confined to a licentious connexion. (Dion Cass. Ixvii. 11 ; Suet. Dom. 10.) CALVE'NA, C. MA'TIUS, usually called Matius, without his cognomen Calvena, which he received on account of his baldness, belonged to the equestrian order, and was one of Caesar's most intimate friends. He was a learned, amiable, and accomplished man ; but, through his love of re- tirement and literature, he took no part in the civil war, and did not avail himself of Caesar's friendship to obtain any public ofiices in the state. Unlike many, who called themselves the friends of Caesar, he took no part in the conspiracy against his life, but on the contrary was deeply affected by his death. He immediately espoused the side of Octavianus, with whom he became very intimate ; and at his request, and in memory of his departed friend, he presided over the games Avhich Octavia- nus exhibited in B. c. 44, on the completion of the temple of Venus Genetrix, in honour of Caesar's victories. The conduct of Matius excited the wrath of Caesar's murderers ; and there is a beau- tiful letter of his to Cicero {ad Fam. xi. 28), in which he justifies his conduct, avows his attach- ment to Caesar, and deplores his loss. Matius was also an intimate friend of Cicero and Trebatius. Cicero first speaks of him in a letter to Trebatius, written in B. c 52, in which he congratulates the latter upon having become a friend of Matius, whom he calls "suavissimus doctissimusque homo" (ad Fam. vii. 15); but Cicero himself had been intimate with him some time before. Matius paid Cicero a visit at his Formian villa in B. c. 49, when he was on his way to join Caesar at Brundusium ; and when Cicero returned to Italy after the battle of Pharsalia, in B. c. 48, greatly alarmed at the reception which Caesar might give him, Matius met him at Brun- dusium, did his best to console him, and promised to exert his influence with Caesar to obtain his pardon. From that time till Caesar's death, Ma- tius and Cicero appear to have seen a good deal of one another ; and he is frequently mentioned by Cicero in the period immediately following Caesar's death. (Cic. ad Att. ix. II, 12, 15, a., ad Fam. vi. 12, ad Att. xiv. 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, xv. 2, xvi. 11, but the fullest information respecting Matius is in the two letters ad Fam. xi. 27, 28.)