Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/869

Rh CORBULO. as was possible. In 47, however, Corbiilo obtiiincd the command of an army in Germany, and fought with great success against the Chauci under their leader Gennascus. He maintained excellent dis- cipline among his troops, and acted with great caution and courage. His success excited either the fear or jealousy of Claudius, for he was com- manded to lead his army back to the western banks of the Rhine. Corbulo obeyed, though with re- lucUmce, as his career was thus checked without any necessity; but to prevent his soldiers from becoming demoralized by inactivity, he made them dig a canal between the Meuse and the Rhine, of 2;i,000 paces in length, in order to prevent the inundation of the country by the tide of the sea. In 54, shortly after the accession of Nero, Corbulo was entrusted with the supreme command against the Parthians, whose king, Vologeses, had invaded Armenia and expelled its king, Rhadamistus, who was under the protection of the Romans. But as Vologeses was engaged in quelling an insurrection of his own son, Vardanes, he withdrew his troops from Armenia, and gave the most distinguished members of the family of the Arsacidae as hostages to the Romans. But, a few years later, a. d. 58, the war broke out afresh, and Corbulo fought with great success against Tiridates, the brother of 'ologeses, who now claimed the throne of Armenia. Corbulo took the towns of Artaxata and Tigrano- certa, and secured the throne to Tigranes, to whom Nero had given the kingdom of Armenia. In 63, Vologeses and Tiridates renewed the war; and, as Corbulo had to protect Syria, Caesennius Paetus was sent into Armenia ; but he conducted the war with so much inability and want of success, that Corbulo was in the end glad to see Vologeses will- ing to conclude a treaty by w^hich both the Romans and Parthians were obliged to evacuate Armenia. But Tiridates soon after took possession of Arme- nia, and then sent an insulting letter to Rome, requesting Nero's sanction to his title of king of Armenia. This conduct occasioned a renewal of the war, and Corbulo marched with a strong army into Armenia. But the Parthians had become tired of incessant warfare : they sued for peace, and Tiridates condescended to lay down his crown before a statue of Nero, in order to receive it back at Rome from the hands of the emperor himself. Corbulo sent Annius, his son-in-law, to accompany Tiridates to Rome, in order to attest his own fide- lity to the emperor. Corbulo was one of the greatest generals of the time, and amid the universal hatred which Nero had drawn upon himself, Corbulo remained faith- ful to him. His power and influence with the army were very great, and if he had placed himself at the head of an insurn^ction, he would have been sure of obtaining the imperial dignity. But he seems never to have entertained such a thought : the reward he earned for his fidelity was — death. For, in a. d. 67, when Nero was in Greece, he invited Corbulo to come to him. As soon as the latter landed at Cenchreae, Nero gave orders for his execution. When Corbulo was informed of his fate, he plunged his sword into his breast, exclaim- ing, " Well deserved !" (Plin. H. N. ii. 70, vi. 8, 13, vii. 5 ; Tac. Ann. iii. 31, ix. 18, &c., xiii. 6, &c., 34, &c., xiv. 23, &c., xv. 1, &c., 26, &c.. Hist. ii. 76 ; Dion Cass. li.x. 15, Ix. 30, Ixii. 19, &c., Ixiii, 17 ; Frontin, Slraieg. iv. 2, 7, ii. 9, iv. 1.) [L.S.] CORDUS. 851 CORDACA (Kop^cf/ca), a surname of Axtemis in Elis, derived from an indecent dance called /frf/DSol, which the companions of Pelops are said to have performed in honour of the goddess after a victory which they had won. (Paus. vi. 22, § 1.) [L. S.] CORDUS, AE'LIUS, or Junius Cordus, apparently different designations of the same indi- vidual — an historian perpetually quoted by Capito- linus in his biographies of Albinu*, the Maximins, the Gordians, and Maximus with Balbinus. He appears to have been an accurate chronicler of trivial facts. (Capit. Albin. c. 11.) [W. R.] CORDUS, CAE/SIUS, governor of Crete, with the title of proconsul, in the reign of Tiberius, was accused by Ancharius Priscus of extortion in his province. The accusation was supported by the inhabitants of Cyrene, which was included in the province of Crete, and Cordus was condemned. (Tac. Ann. iii. 38, 70.) CORDUS, CREMU'TIUS, a Roman historian, who, after having lived long and blamelessly, was impeached by two of his own clients before Tibe- rius of having praised Brutus and denominated Cassius " the last of the Romans'" — " crimine," says Tacitus, " novo ac tunc primum audito." His real offence, however, was the freedom of speech in which he had indulged against Sejanus, for the work in which the objectionable passages occurred had been published for many years, and had been read with approbation by Augustus him- self. Perceiving from the relentless aspect of the emperor that there was no room for hope, Cordus delivered an apology, the substance of which has been preserved or fabricated by Tacitus, appealing to the impunity enjoyed under similar circum- stances by all preceding annalists, and then quitting the senate-house retired to his own mansion, where he starved himself to death, (a. d. 25.) The subservient fathers ordained that his works should be burned by the aediles in the city, and by the public authorities wherever elsewhere found, but copies were so much the more eagerly treasured in concealment by his daughter Marcia and by his friends, who afterwards gave them again to the world with the full permission of Caligula. A few scanty fragments are contained in the seventh of the Smisoriae of Seneca. (Tac. Ann. iv. 34, 35 ; Sueton. Odav. 35, Tib. 61, Calig. 16; Senec. Suasor. vii., and especially his Cmisolatio addressed to Marcia, the daughter of Cremutius Cordus, cc. 1 and 22 ; Dion Cass. Ivii. 24.) [W. R.] CORDUS, JUNIUS. [Cordus, Ablius.] CORDUS, MUCIUS. This surname was borne by some of the Scaevolae [Scaevolae], and occurs on the annexed coin of the Mucia gens. The obverse represents two heads, the one crowned with laurel and the other with a helmet, which would appear from the letters on each side to represent Honos and Virtus • the letters Kaleni underneath refer to some members of the Fufia gens. [Caleni:s.] On the reverse two women are standing, the one on the left representing Italia and the one on the right Roma, the former hold- ing a cornucopia in her hand, and the latter with a sceptre in her hand and her foot on a globe : beneath is Cordi. Who the Calenus and Cordus are, mentioned on the coin, is quite uncertiiin. The figures of Italia and Roma would seem to refer to I the times when harmony was established between 3i2