Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/921

Rh CURITIS. listoned to. Amid these disputes the year of Curious tribimesiiip was coming to its close, and as he had good reason to fear for his own safety, he was induced l)y despair to quit the city and go to Caesar, who was at Ravenna and consulted him as to what was to be done. Curio urged the neces- sity of immediately collecting his troops and mai'ch- ing them against Rome. Caesar, however, was still inclined to settle the question in a peaceful manner, and despatched Curio with a message to the senate. But when Domitius Ahenobarbus was actually appointed Caesar's successor, and when the new tribunes, Antony and Q. Cassius, who followed in Curio's footsteps, were commanded by the consuls to quit the senate, and when even their lives were threatened by the partizans of Pompey, the tribunes together with Curio fled in the night following, and went to Caesar at Raven- na. He and his army received them as men per- secuted, and treated as enemies for their zeal in upholding the freedom of the republic. The breaking out of the civil war could now be avoided no longer. Curio collected the troops sta- tioned in Umbria and Etruria, and led them to Caesar, who rewarded him with the province of Sicily and the title of propraetor, B. c. 49. Curio was successful in crushing the party of Pompey in Sicily, and compelled Cato to quit the island. Af- ter having eftected this, he crossed over to Africa to attack king Juba and the Pompeian general, P. Attius Varus. Curio was at hrst successful, but desertion gradually became general in his army, which consisted of only two legions, and when he began to lay siege to Utica, he was at- tacked by Juba, and fell in the ensuing battle. His troops were dispersed, killed, and taken pri- soners, and onlj- a few of them were able to return to Sicily. Africa was thus again in the hands of the Pompeian party. C. Scribonius Curio had been one of the main instalments in kindling the civil war between Caesar and Pompey. He was a bold man and profligate to the last degree ; he squandered his own property as unscrupulously as that of others, and no means were ample enough to satisfy his demands. His want of modesty knew no bounds, and he is a fair specimen of a depraved and profli- gate Roman of that time. But he was never- theless a man of eminent talent, especially as an orator. This Cicero saw and appreciated, and he never lost the hope of being able to turn the talent of Curio into a proper direction. This cir- cumstance and the esteem which Cicero had enter- tained for Curio's father, are the only things that can account for his tender attachment to Curio ; and this is one of the many instances of Cicero's amiable character. The first seven letters of the second book of Cicero's " Kpistolae ad Familiares " are addressed to him. (Orelli, Onom. lull. ii. p. 526, &c.; comp. Caes. B. C. ii. '23, &c.; Veil. Pat. ii. 48, 55; Appiaii, Ii. C ii. "23, &c. ; Suet Caes. •29, 36, de Clur. Rhet. 1 ; Tacit, de Our. Ovat. 37 ; Liv. Epit. 109, 110; Plut. Cut's. 2.9, &c., Povi} 58 ; Dion Cass. xl. 60, &c. ; Quintil. vi. 3. § 76 ; Schol. Bob. in Argum. ad Cic. Oral, in Clod, et Cur.) [L. S.] CURI'TIS, a surname of Juno, which is usually derived from the Sabine word curis, a ls ce or spear, which according to the ancient notions was the symbol of the imperium and mancipium, and would accordingly designate J una as the ruling CURIUS. goddess. (Ov. Fast. ii. 477, vi. 49; 903 Macrob. Sat. i. 9.) Hartung {Die lielig.der Rom. ii. p. 72) finds in the surname Curitis an allusion to a marriage ceremony, in which some of the bride's hair was either really or symbolically cut otF with the curved point of a sword. (Plut. Quaest. Rom. 87 ; Ov. /'a*-^ ii. 560.) [L.S.J CU'RI US. 1. M'. CuRii'S, probably a grand- son of M'. Curius Dentatus, was tribune of the people in B. c. 199. He and one of his colleagues, M. Fulvius, opposed T. Quinctius Flamininus, who ofl^Iered himself as a candidate for the consulship, without having held any of the intermediate of- fices between that of quaestor and consul ; but the tribunes yielded to the wishes of the senate. (Liv. xxxii. 7.) 2. M'. Curius, is known only through a law- suit which he had with M. Coponius about an inheritance, shortly before B. c. 91. A Roman citizen, who was anticipating his wife's confine- ment, made a will to this efl'ect, that if the child should be a son and die before the age of maturity, M'. Curius should succeed to his property. Soon after, the testator died, and his wife did not give birth to a son. M. Coponius, who was the next of kin to the deceased, now came forward, and, ap- pealing to the letter of the will, claimed the pro- perty which had been left. Q. Mucins Scaevola undertook to plead the cause of Coponius, and L. Licinius Crassus spoke for Curius. Crassus suc- ceeded in gaining the inheritance for his client. This trial {Curiana causa), which attracted great attention at the time, on account of the two emi- nent men who conducted it, is often mentioned by Cicero. (De Oral. i. 39, 56, 57, ii. 6, 32, 54, Brut. 39, 52, 53, 73, 88, pro Caecin. 18, Topic. 10.) 3. M'. Curius (is in some editions called M'. Curtius), a friend of Cicero and a relation {conso- briims) of C. Caelius Caldus. He was quaestor urbanus in B. c. 61, and tribune of the people in 58, when Cicero hoped that Curius would protect him against the machinations of P. Clodius. At a somewhat later time, he is called in a letter of Cicero's addressed to him {ad Fain. xiii. 49) a governor of a Roman province with the title of proconsul, but it is not known of what province he had the administration. The letter above referred to is the only one extant among the ad Familiares which is addressed to him. In the declamation Post Reditum in Senatu (8) Cieero states, that he had been quaestor to Curius's father, whereas it is a well-known fact, that Cicero had been quaestor to Sex. Peducaeus. This contradiction is usually solved by the supposition, that Curius was the adoptive son of Peducaevis. (Cic. ad Fain. iL 19, ad Quint. Frai. i. 4, pro Fluvc. 1 3.) 4. M'. Curius, one of the most intimate friends of Cicero, who had known him from his childhood, and describes him as one of the kindest of men, always ready to serve his iriends, and as a very pattern of politeness (nrbanitus). He lived for several years as a negotiator at Patrae in Pelopon- nesus. At the time when Tiro, Cicero's freedman, was ill at Patrae, B. c. 50 and subsequently, Curiu& took great care of him. In B. c. 46, Cicero recom- mended Curius to Serv. Sulpicius, who was then govemor of Achaia, and also to Auctus, his succes- sor. The intimacy between Curius and Atticua was still greater than that between Cicero and Curius ; and the latter is said to have made a wili