Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/873

Rh COKNELIA. married his daughter. According to other state- ments, however, Cornelia was married to Gracchus in the life-time of her father, and Scipio is said to have given her to Gnicchus, because the latter in- terfered to save his brother L. Scipio from being dragged to prison. (Plut. Ti, Graech. 1 ; Liv. xxxviii. 57.) ComelLi was left a widow with a young family of twelve children, and devoted her- self entirely to their education, rejecting all offers of a second marriage, and adhering to her resolu- tion even when tempted by Ptolemy, who offered to share his crown and bed with her. Of her numerous family three only survived their child- hood, — a daughter, who was married to Scipio Africanus the Younger, and her two sons Tiberius and Cuius. Cornelia had inherited from her father a love of literature, and united in her person the severe virtues of the old Roman matron with the superior knowledge, refinement, and civilization which then began to prevail in the higher classes at Rome. She was well acquainted with Greek literature, and spoke her own language with that purity and elegance which pre-eminently character- ises well educated women in every country. Her letters, which were extant in the time of Cicero, were models of composition, and it was doubtless mainly owing to her judicious training that her sons became in after-life such distinguished orators and statesmen. (Comp. Cic. Brut. 58.) As the daughter of the conqueror of Hannibal, the mother of the Gracchi, and the mother-in-law of the taker of Carthage and Numantia, Cornelia occupies a prouder position than any other woman in Roman history. She was almost idolized by the people, and exercised an important influence over her two sons, whose greatness she lived to see, — and also their death. It was related by some writers that Ti. Gracchus was urged on to propose his laws by the reproaches of his mother, who upbraided him with her being called the mother-in-law of Scipio and not the mother of the Gracchi ; but though she was doubtless privy to all the plans of her son, and probably urged him to persevere in his course, his lofty soul needed not such inducements as these to undertake what he considered necessary for the salvation of the state. Such respect was paid to her by her son Caius, that he dropped a law upon her intercession which was directed against M. Octavius, who had been a coUcigue of Tiberius in his tribunate. But great as she was, she did not escape the foul aspersions of calumny and slander. Some attributed to her, with the assistance of her daughter, the death of her son-in-law, Scipio Afri- canus the Younger (Appian, B. C. i. 20) ; but this charge is probably nothing but the base invention of party malice. She bore the death of her sons with magnanimity, and said in reference to the conse- crated places where they had lost their lives, that they were sepulchres worthy of them. On the mur- der of Caius, she retired to Misenum, where she spent the remainder of her life. Here she exercised unbounded hospitality ; she was constantly sur- rounded by Greeks and men of letters ; and the various kings in alliance with the Romans were accustomed to send her presents, and receive the like from her in return. Thus she reached a good old age, honoured and respected by all, and the Roman people erected a statue to her, with the inscription, Cornelia, mother of thb Gracchi. (Plut. Ti. Graech. 1, 8, C. Graech. 4, 19; Oros. V. 12; Veil. Pat. ii. 1.) CORNELIANUS. 855 6. Daughter of P. Cornelius Scipio (also called Q. Caecilius Metellus Scipio, on account of his adoption by Q. Metellus), consul in b. c. 52, was first married to P. Crassus, the son of the triumvir, who perished, in B. c. 53, with hig fa- ther, in the expedition against the Parthians. In the next year she married Pompey the Great. This marriage was not merely a political one ; for Pompey seems to have been captivated by her. She was still young, possessed of ex- traordinary beauty, and distinguished for her knowledge of literature, music, geometry, and phi- losophy. In B. c. 49, Pompey sent her, when he abandoned Italy, with his youngest son Sextus to Lesbos, where she received her husband upon his flight after the battle of Pharsalia. She accom- panied him to the Egyptian coast, saw him mur- dered, and fled first to Cypnis and afterwards to Cyrene. But, pardoned by Caesar, she soon after- wards returned to Rome, and received from him the ashes of her husband, which she preserved on his Alban estate. (Plut. Pomp. 55, 66, 74, 76, 78—80; Appian, B. C. ii. 83 ; Dion Cass. xl. 51, xlii. 5 ; Veil. Pat. ii. 53 ; Lucan, iii. 23, v. 725, viii. 40, &c.) Family of the SuUae. 7. Sister of the dictator Sulla, was married to Nonius, and her son is mentioned as grown up in B. c. 88. (Plut. Sull. 10.) 8. Daughter of the dictator Sulla, was married to Q. Pompeius Rufus, who was murdered by the Marian party, in B. c. 88, at the instigation of the tribune Sulpicius. (Liv. Epit. 77 ; Veil. Pat. ii. 18; Plut. ^«//. 8.) 9. Another daughter of the dictator Sulla, was married first to C. Memmius, and afterwards to T. Annius Milo. She is better known by the name of Fausta. [Fausta.] CORNE'LIA ORESTILLA. [OREyriLLA.] CORNE'LIA PAULLA. [Paulla.] CORNE'LIA GENS, patrician and plebeijui, was one of the most distinguished Roman gentes, and produced a greater number of illustrious men than any other house at Rome. All its gi-eat families belonged to the patrician order. The names of the patrician families are: — Arvina, Blasio, Cethegus, Cinna, Cossrs, Dolabeli.a, Lentulus (with the agnomens Cuudimis, Clodi- anus. Cms, Gaetulicus, Lupus, Maluginensis, Mar- celH7ius, Niger, Rufinus, Scipio, Spinther, Su?-a}j Maluginensis, Mammula, Merenda, Merula, RuFiNus, Scapula, Scipio (with the agnomens Afncanus, Asiaiicua, Asina^ Barbcttus, Calvus^ Hu-pallus, Nasica, Serapio), Sisenna, and Sulla (with the agnomen Felix). The names of the plebeian families are Balbus and Gallus, and we also find various cognomens, as Chrysogonus, Cul- leolus, Phoffita, &c., given to freedmen of this gens. There are also several plebeians mentioned without any surname : of these an account is given under Cornelius. The following cognomens occur on coins of this gens: — Balbus, Blasio, Cethegus, Cinrnif Lentulus, Scipio, Sisenna, Sulla. Under the empire the number of cognomens increased considerably ; of these an alphabetical list is given under Cor- nelius. CORNELIA'NUS, a Roman rhetorician, who seems to have lived in the reign of M. Aurelius and Verus, and was secretary to the emperor M. Aurelius. The grammarian Phr nichus, who de-