Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/605

CALVUS. were fully completed, and thus averted the dishonour and ruin which would have been entailed upon his family by a public condemnation and by the confiscation of property which it involved. (Val. Max. ix. 12. § 7; Plut. Ch. 9 ; Cic. ad Ait. i. 4.) This Licinius Macer was very probably the same person with the annalist of that name so frequently quoted by Livy and others, and with the orator mentioned in the Brutus (cc. 64, 67, comp. de Leg. i. 2. § 3), although there is not sufficient evidence to justify us in pronouncing with confidence on their identity. Young Calvus being thus at the age of sixteen bereft of his father, devoted himself to study with singular zeal, and submitted to ex- traordinary discipline, in order that the whole of his bodily strength might be concentrated upon in- tellectual pursuits. (Plin. H.N. xxxiv, 50.) But this excessive application seems to have enfeebled and exhausted his constitution, for he died in his early prime, certainly not later than in his 35th or 36th year (Cic. Brut. 82, ad Fam. xv. 21), leav- ing behind him twenty-one orations. The names of five only of these have been preserved : against Asitius ; against Drusus ; for Messius ; for C. Cato, the prosecution against v/hom was conducted by Asinius PoUio ; and against Vatinius, who was de- fended by Cicero. This last, which was divided into several parts, was his first effort at the bar, and was delivered when he had attained the age of 27. It is very frequentl}' referred to by an- cient writers in terms of strong commendation (e.g. Dial, de Oral. 34); and from Seneca (Controv. iii. 19) we learn, that so skilfully were the charges developed, so energetically were they urged upon the jurj', and so powerful was the effect evidently produced, that the accused, unable to restrain his feelings, started up in the midst of the pleading, and passionately exclaimed, " Rogo vos, judices num, si iste disertus est, ideo me damnari oporteat?" The inconsiderable fragments which have been preserved of the above speeches are not of such a description as to enable us to fonn any estimate of the powers of Calvus ; but we gather from the tes- timony of Cicero, Quintilian, and the author of the dialogue on the decline of eloquence, that his com- positions were carefully moulded after the models of the Attic school, and were remarkable for the accuracy, tact, and deep research which they dis- played, but were so elaborately polished as to ap- pear deficient in ease, vigour, and fi'eshness ; and thus, while they were listened to with delight and admiration by men of education, they fell compa- ratively dead and cold iipon an uncultivated au- dience. (Cic. ad Fam. xv. 21; Quintil. x. 1. §111. X. 2. § 25, xii. 10. § 11.; I>iaLde Orat. 17,21,25; Senec. Controv. I. c.) As a poet, he Avas the author of many short fu- gitive pieces, which, although of a light and spor- tive character (joca) and somewhat loose in tone, still bore the stamp of high genius — of elegies whose beauty and tenderness, especially of that on the untimely death of his mistress Quintilia, have been warmly extolled by Catullus, Propertius, and Ovid — and of fierce lampoons {famosa epigrammaia) upon Pompey, Caesar, and their satellites, the bit- terness of which has been commemorated b}' Sue- tonius, We have reason to believe, from the criti- cisms of Pliny (Ep. i. 16) and Aulus Gellius (xix. 9), that the poems of Calvus, like the lighter effu- sions of Catullus with which they are so often classed, were full of wit and grace, but were never- aLYDONIUS. 587 thelcss marked by a certain harshness of expression and versification which offended the fastidious ears of those habituated to the unbroken smoothness of the poets of the Augustan court. They were un- doubtedly much read, so that even Horace, whose contemptuous sneer (Sat. i. 10. 16) was probably in some degree prompted by jealousy, cannot avoid indirectly acknowledging and paying tribute to their popularity. As to their real merits, we must depend entirely upon the judgment of others, for the scraps transmitted to us are so few and trifling, none extending beyond two lines, that they do not enable us to form any opinion for ourselves. We hear of an Epitlialamium (Priscian, v. 8. p. 196, ed. Krehl); of an /o, in hexameter verse (Scrv. ad Virg. Ed. vi. 47, viii. 4); and of a Hipponacieum praeconiiim, levelled against the notorious Hermo- genes Tigellius (Schol. Cruq. ad I/or. Sat. i. 3. 3 ; Cic. ad Fam. vii. 24); but with these exceptions, the very names of his pieces are lost. (Plin. Ep. iv. 14. § 9, iv. 27. § 3, x. 3 ; Catull. xcvi. ; Pro- pert, ii. 19, 40, ii. 25, 89; Ov. Am. iii. 9. 61 ; Sencc. Control: I. c; Sueton. Jtil. Caes. 49, 73.) Calvus was remarkable for the shortness of his stature, and hence the vehement action in which he indulged while at the bar, leaping over the benches, and rushing violently towards the seats of his opponents, was in such ludicrous contrast with his stunted and insignificant person, that even his friend Catullus has not been able to resist a joke, and has presented him to us as the " Sala- putium disertum," " the eloquent Tom Thumb." (Catull. liv.; Senec. Controv. I.e.) With regard to his name, he is usually styled C. Licinius Calvus ; but we find him called by Cicero (ad Q. Fr. ii. 4) Macer Licinius, probably after his father; and hence his full designation would be that which we have placed at the head of this article. The most complete account of Licinius Calvus is given in the essay of Weichert "De C. Licinio Calvo poeta" {Fragm. Poet. Latin. Lips. 1830); but it is so full of digressions that it is not very readable. See also Levesque de Burigny in the Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, vol. xxxi. [W. R.] CALVUS, ATHENODO'RUS. [AthexNO- DORUS, No. 3.] CALVUS, L. CAECI'LIUS METELLUS, consul B. c. 142. [Metellus.] CALVUS, CN. CORN'ELIUS SCIPIO, consul, B. c. 222. [SciPio.J CA'LYBE (KaAuSr;), two mythical personages, one of whom was a nymph by whom Laomedon became the father of Bucolion (Hom. //. vi. 23 ; Apollod. iii. 12. § 3), and the other a priestess of of Juno. (Virg. Aen. vii. 419.) [L. S.] CA'LYCE (KaXyKTj), three mythical beings, the one a daughter of Aeolus and Enarete, and mother of Endymion (Apollod. i. 7. §§ 3, 5) ; the second a daughter of Hecaton and mother of Cygnus by Poseidon (Hygin. Fab. 157); and the third ia mentioned by Apollodorus (iii. 1. § 5) among the daughters of Danaus ; but the whole passage is probablj- comipt. [L. S.J CA'LYDON (KaXuSwV), a son of Aetolus and Pronoe, married to Aeolia, by whom he became the father of Epieaste and Protogeneia. He was regarded as the founder of the Aetolian town of Calydon. (Apollod. i. 7. § 7 ; Steph.Byz.s.r. ) [L.S. J CALYDU'NIUS (KoAvSams),' a surname of