Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/191

Rh FLORUS by Quintilian (x. 13) ; Vossius and Salmasius, with a greater show of probability, recognize him as the poet Floras (see below), the composer of cer- tain verses to Hadrian, preserved by Spartianus, while Vinetus and Schottus believe him to be no other than Seneca, the preceptor of Nero, resting their opinion chiefly upon a passage in Lactantius {Instit. vii. 15), where we are told that the philo- sopher in question divided the history of Rome into a succession of ages, — infancy under Romulus, boyhood under the kings immediately following, youth from the sway of Tarquin to the downfal of the Carthaginian power, manly vigour up to the commencement of the civil wars, which undermined its strength, until, as if in second childhood, it was forced to submit to the control of a single ruler ; — a fancy which has been adopted by the author of the Epitome, who, however, arranges the epochs differently, and might evidently have borrowed the general idea. Moreover, if we were to adopt this last hypothesis, we should be compelled arbitrarily to reject the prooemium as spurious. Finally, Titze imagines that he can detect the work of two hands, — one a writer of the purest epoch, whom lie supposes to have been the Julius Florus twice Hddressed by Horace {Ep. i. 3, ii. 2), the other an unknown and inferior interpolator, belonging to the decline of literature. To the former, according to this theory, all that is praiseworthy, both in matter and manner, must be ascribed, while to the share of the latter fall all the blunders, both in facts and tjiste, which disfigure the production as it now ex- ists. But all these opinions rest upon nothing but mere conjectures. It would be a waste of time to discuss the native country and personal history of a person whose very name we cannot ascertain with certainty, and therefore we shall refrain from ex- amining the arguments by which scholars have sought i(S demonstrate that he was an Italian, or a Gaul, or a Spaniard. What is usually esteemed the Editio Princeps of Florus was printed at the Sorbonne about 1471, in 4to,, by Gering, Friburg, and Crantz, under the inspection of Gaguinus, with the title " Lucii An- naei Flori de tota Hystoria Titi Li vii Epithoma ;" but two others, without date and without the name of place or printer, one in Gothic and one in Roman characters, are believed by many bibliogra- phers to be entitled to take precedence. In ad- dition to these, at least six impressions were pub- lished before the close of the fifteenth century, revised by the elder Beroaldus, Antonius Sabelli- cus, Thannerus, and Barynthus (or Barynus). Since that period numberless editions have appeared; but those who desire to study the gradual progress of the text, which, aa might be expected in a work which was extensively employed in the middle ages as a school-book, is found in most MSS. under a very corrupt form, will be able to trace its gradual development in the labours of the following scholars: — Jo. Gamers, 4to. Vienn. Pannon. 1518, fol, Basil. 1532, accompanied by elaborate historical notes; El. Vinetus, 4to. Pictav. 1553. 1563. Paris, 1576 ; J. Stadius, 8vo. Antv. 1567. 1584. 1594 ; Gruteras, 8vo. Heidel. 1597 ; Gruterusand Salmasius, Heidel. 8vo. 1 609 ; Freinshemius, 8vo. Argentorat. 1632. 1636. 1655; Graevius, 8vo. Traj. ad Rhen. 1680, with numerous illustrations from coins and ancient monuments ; Dukeras, 8vo. Lug. Bat. 1722. 1744. Lips. 1832. This last must be considered as the standard, since it ex- FLORUS. 177 hibits a very pure text and a copious selection of the best commentaries. We may also consult with advantage the recent editions by Titze, 8vo, Prag. 1819, and Seebode, 8vo. Lips. 1821. The work has been frequently translated into almost all European languages. [W. R.] FLORUS, ANNAEUS, the author of three sportive Trochaic dimeters addressed to Hadrian, which, with the emperor's reply in the same strain, have been preserved by Spartianus (//arf. 16). We cannot doubt that he is the same person with the Annaeus (Cod. Neap. Annius) Floras twice quoted by Charisius (pp. 38, 113) as an authority for the ablative poematis — " Annaeus Floras ad divum Hadrianum jooemafos rfeZec/or." {^Aiithol. Lat. ii. 97, ed. Burmann, or n. 212, ed. Meyer.) A series of eight short epigrams in trochaic te- trameters catalectic are found in many MSS. under the name of Flortis, or, as in the Codex Thuaneus, Floridus, to which Salmasius {ad Spart. Had. 16) added a ninth, in five hexameters, ascribing the whole to Florus the historian, who was at one time believed by Wernsdorf to be the author not only of these and of the lines to Hadrian, but of the well-known Pervigilium Veneris also — an opinion which, however, he afterwards retracted. {Anthol. Lat. i. 17, 20. iii. HI, 112, 113, 114, 115, 265, 291, ed. Burmann, or n. 213 — 221, ed. Meyer ; Wernsdorf, Poet. Lat. Min. vol. iii. p. 425, vol, iv. pt. ii. p. 854.) A curious fragment has been recently published from a Brussels MS. headed " Pannii Flori (a corraption probably of P. Annii) Virgilius Orator an Poeta, Incipit. The introduction only, which is in the form of a dialogue supposed to have been held about A. D. 101, has been preserved, and from this we learn that the author was a native of Africa, that he had repaired, when still almost a boy, to Rome, and had become a competitor, at the Ludi Capitolini celebrated by Domitian (a. d. 90 apparently), for the poetical prize, which had been awarded to him by the applauding shouts of the audience, but unfairly withheld by the emperor. We are farther informed that, disgusted by this disappointment, he had refused to return to his country and his kindred, had become a wanderer upon the earth, visiting in succession Sicily, Crete, Rhodes, and Egypt, — that he then returned to Italy, crossed the Alps into Gaul, proceeded on- wards to the Pyrenees, finding at last repose in the city of Tarragona, and contentment in the peaceful occupation of superintending the instraction of youth. Ritschl endeavours to identify this per- sonage with Florus the poet under Hadrian ; but there seems little to support this view except the name and the fact that there is no chronological difficult3 {R/ieiniscJies Mtiseum^ for 1841, p, 302, «&c.) [W. R.] FLORUS, C. AQUI'LLIUS, M. f. C. n., con- sul B. c. 259, the sixth year of the first Punic war. The province assigned to Florus was Sicily, where he watched the movements of Hamilcar during the autumn and winter months, and remained in the island as proconsul until late in the summer of B. c. 258. He was employed in that year in blockading Mytistratum, a strong hill-fort, which, after a stubborn resistance and severe loss to the Romans, submitted at length to the united legions of Florus and his successor in the consulship, A. Atilius Calatinus [Calatinus]. Floras triumphed " De Poeneis" on the 5th of October, 258. (Liv.