Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/779

Rh CLASSIC us. having, like most of Hadrian's other friends, in- curred his suspicion. (Spartian. Hadr. 9, 11, 15.) 2. M. Erucius Clarus, brother of the prece- ding, is spoken of by Pliny {Ep. ii. 9), as a man of honour, integrity, and learning, and well skilled in pleading causes. He is probably the same as the Enicius Clarus who took and burnt Seleuceia, in conjunction with Julius Alexander, in A. D. 115 (Dion Cass. Ixviii. 30), and also the same as the M. Erucius Clarus, who was consul sutfectus with Ti. Julius Alexander, in a. d. 117, the year of Trajan's death. 3. Sex. Erucius Cx.arus, son of No. 2, was also a friend of Pliny, who obtained for him from Trajan the latus clavtis, which admitted him to the senate, subsequently secured the quaestorsliip for him, and writes a letter to his friend ApoUinaris, requesting his assistance in canvassing for Erucius who was then aspiring to the tribunate. (Plin. Ep. ii. 9.) A/ Gellius speaks of him as a contempo- rary, and says that he was most devoted to the study of ancient literature ; we also learn from the same author that he was praefect of the city, and had been twice consul. (Gell, vi. 6, xiii. 17.) The date of his first consulship is not known, but we learn from Spartianus (Sever. 1), and an ancient inscription, that he was consul a second time in A. D. 146, with Cn. Claudius Severas. One of Pliny's Epistles (i. 15), is addressed to him. 4. C. Erucius Clarus, consul in a. d. 170, •with M. Cornelius Cethegus (Fast.), was probably the son of No. 3, and the same as the Praefectus Vigilura mentioned in the Digest. (1. tit. 15. s. 3. 5. C. (Julius) Erucius Clarus, probably the son of No. 4, was consul in A. D. 193, with Q. Sosius Falco. The emperor Commodus had deter- mined to murder both consuls, as they entered upon their office on the 1 st of January, but he was himself assassinated on the preceding day. (Dion Cass. Ixvii. 22 ; Capitol. Pertin. 15.) After the death of Niger, who had been one of the claimants to the vacant throne, Severus wished Clarus to turn informer, and accuse persons falsely of having assisted Niger, partly with the view of destroying the character of Clarus, and partly that the well- known integrity of Clarus might give an appear- ance of justice to the unjust judgments that might be pronounced. But as Clarus refused to discharge this disgraceful office, he was put to death by Severus. (Dion Cass. Ixxiv. 9; Spartian. Sever. 13.) CLA'SSICUS, JULIUS, a Trevir, was prefect of an ala of the Treviri in the Roman army on the llhine, under Vitellius, A. d. 69 (Tac. Hist. ii. 14), and afterwards joined Civilis at the head of some of the Treviri in his rebellion against the Romans, A. n. 70. During the first part of the war with Civilis, the Treviri, like the rest of Gaul, remained firm to the Romans. They even fortified their borders, and opposed the Germans in great battles. (Tac. Hist. iv. 37.) But when the news of Vitel- lius's death reached Gaul (a. d. 70), there arose a rumour that the chiefs of Gaul had secretly taken an oath to avail themselves of the civil discords of Rome for the recovery of their independence. There was, however, no open sign of rebellion till after the death of Hordeonius Flaccus, when messengers began to pass between Civilis and Classicus, who was still commanding an ala of Trevirans in the army of Vocula. He was des- CLAUDIA. 761 cended from a family of royal blood and of renown both in peace and war, and through his ancestors he accounted himself rather an enemy than an ally of the Roman people. His conspiracy was shared "by Julius Tutor, a Treviran, and .Julius Sabi- Nus, a Lingon. They met, with some Trevirans and a few Ubii and Tungri, in a house at Colonia Agrippinensis; and, having resolved to occupy the passes of the Alps, to seduce the Roman legions, and to kill the legates, they sent emissaries to rouse the Gauls. Vocula was warned of the plot, but did not feel strong enough to crush it. He even suflfered himself to be enticed by the conspi- rators to leave his camp at Colonia and to march against Civilis, who was besieging Vetera Castra. The army was not far from this place, when Clas- sicus and Tutor, having communicated privately with the Germans, drew off" their forces and formed a separate camp. Vocula, after attempting in vain to gain them back, retired to Novesium. They followed at a little distance, and at length persuaded the disaffected soldiers of Vocula to mutiny against him ; and in the midst of the mu- tiny Classicus sent into the camp a deserter named Aemilius Longus, who murdered Vocula. Classi- cus then entered the camp, bearing the insignia of a Roman emperor, and compelled the soldiers to take the oath to ilie empire of Gaul {pro imperio Galliarum). The command was now divided be- tween Classicus and Tutor; and Classicus sent the worst disposed of the captured Roman soldiers to induce the legions who were besieged in Vetera Castra to surrender and to take the same oath. The further progress of the war is related under Civilis. The last mention of Classicus is when he crossed the Rhine with Civilis after his defeat by Cerealis, and aided him in his last effort in the island of the Batavi. (Tac. Hint. iv. 54 — 79, v. 19—22.) [P.S.] CLAU'DIA. 1. Five of this name were daugh- ters of App. Claudius Caecus, censor b. c. 312. [Claudius, Stemma, No. 10.) It is related of one of them, that, being thronged by the people as she was returning home from the games, she expressed a wish that her brother Publius had been alive, that he might again lose a fleet, and lessen the number of the populace. For this she was fined by the plebeian aediles, R c. 246. (Li v. xix. ; Valer. Max. viii., 1. § 4 ; Sueton. Tib. 2 ; Gell. x. 6.) 2. Claudia Quinta [Claudius, Stemma, No. 18], probably the sister of App. Claudius Pulcher [Claudius, No. 17], and grand-daughter of App. Claudius Caecus. Her fame is connected with the story of the transportation of the image of Cybele from Pessinus to Rome. The vessel conveying the image had stuck fast in a shallow at the mouth of the Tiber. The soothsayers announced that* only a chaste woman could move it. Claudia, who had been accused of incontinency, stepped forward from among the matrons who had accompanied Scipio to Ostia to receive the image, and after calling upon the goddess to vindicate her innocence, took hold of the rope, and the vessel forthwith followed her. A statue was erected to her in the vestibule of the temple of the goddess. (Liv. xxix. 1 4 ; Ov.Fasti^ iv. 305, &c. ; Cic de Harusp. Resp. 1 3 ; Val. Max. i. 8. $ n ; Plin. H. N. vii. 35.) 3. Claudia [Claudius, Stemma, No. 19], daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher [No. 17 J. She was married to Pacuvius Calavius of Capua, (Liv. xxiii. 2.)