Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/259

Rh GENUCIUS. more success : Gentius represented that he could not stir without money, which the Macedonian king was unwilling to grant ; and it was not till the fourth year of the war (b. c. 1G8) that Perseus, alarmed at the successes of the Romans, consented to secure the alliance of the IHyrian by the pay- ment of a sum of 300 talents. A treaty having been concluded on these terras, and confirmed by oaths and the sending of mutual hostages, Gentius allowed himself to be led into acts of direct hostility against the Romans, before he had actu- ally received the stipulated sum : but as soon as Perseus saw that he was so far committed that he could no longer withdraw from the contest, he im- mediately recalled the messengers, who had actually set out with the money, and refused to fulfil his agreement. (Polyb.xxviii. 8, 9, xxix. 2, 3, 5 ; Liv. xliv. 23 — 27.) Yet, though thus scandalously defrauded by his ally, Gentius made no attempt to avert the war, but assembled forces both by sea and land. The contest was, however, very brief : no sooner had the Roman praetor, L. Anicius, entered Illyricum at the head of an army, than many towns submitted to him. Gentius threw himself into the strong fortress of Scodra ; but having been defeated in a combat beneath the walls, he despaired of success, and placed himself at the mercy of the Roman general. The whole war is said to have been terminated within the space of thirty days. Anicius spared the life of his captive, but sent him to Rome, together with his wife and children, to adorn the triumph which he celebrated the following year (b. c- 167). From thence Gentius was sent a prisoner to Spoletium, where he probably ended his days in captivity. (Liv. xliv, 30— 32', xlv. 43; Polyb. xxx. 13; Appian, Illyr. 9 ; Eutrop. iv. 6.) According to Polybius, Gentius was immode- rately given to drinking, which inflamed his natu- rally cruel and violent disposition, and led him to commit great excesses. Soon after his acces- sion he put to death his brother, Pleuratus, who had been engaged to marry Etuta, the daughter of a Dardanian prince, and kept the intended bride for himself. (Polyb. xxix. 5 ; Liv. xliv. 30.) He subsequently married a princess of the name of Etleva, who was sent captive to Rome together with him. (Liv. xliv. 32.) According to Pliny {H.N. xxv. 34) and Dioscorides (iii. 3), the herba Gentiana^ well known for its medicinal properties, derives its name from this Gentius, who first made known its value. ( E.H.B.] GENU'CIA GENS, patrician, as is clear from the fact of T. Genucius Augurinus having been consul in B. c. 451, and M. Genucius Augurinus in B. c. 445, since in those years plebeians were not yet allowed to hold the consulship. In the earliest as well as in the later times we find plebeian Genucii, who acted as strenuous champions of their order; and they had probably become plebeians in the usual manner, either by mixed marriages or by transition to the plebs. The cognomens of this gens are Aventinensis, Augurinus, Cipus, Clepsina. [L. S.] GENU'CIUS. L T. Genucius, was tribune of the plebs in b. c. 476 ; and in conjunction with his colleague, Q. Considius, he brought forward an agrarian law, and also accused T. Menenius La- natus, who was charged with being the cause of the destruction of the Fabii on the Cremera. (Liv. ii. 62; Dionys. ix. 26 ; comp. Considius, No. 1.) GEORGIUS. 246 2. Cn. Genucius, was tribune of the plebs in B. c. 473, and used the most vehement exertions to carry into effect the agrarian law, for the evasion of which he brouglit a charge against L. Furius and C. Manlius, the consuls of the preceding year. The patricians were greatly alarmed, and assassinated Genucius in his bed on the night before the accu- sation was to be brought before the people. (Liv. ii. 54; Dionys. ix. 37, &c., x. 38; Zonar. vii. ] 7 ; comp. Niebuhr, Hist, of Rome^ vol. ii. p. 208, &c.) 3. Genucius, a tribune of the people, who was insulted by the Faliscans, against whom, in con- sequence, the Romans declared war. (Plut. C. Graccli. 3.) To Avhat time this event belongs is not quite certain, though it may refer to the last war against the Faliscans, which broke out in B. c. 241. 4. L. Genucius, was sent in b.c. 210 as ambas- sador to Syphax, king of Numidia. (Liv. xxvii. 4.) 5. M. Genucius, tribune of the soldiers in b. c. 193, under the consul L. Cornelius Merula, fell in battle against the Boians. (Liv. xxx v. 5.) 6. Genucius, a priest of the Magna Mater, that is, a gallus. A legacy had been left him, and he had been pronounced the legitimate heir by the praetor Cn. Aufidius Orestes ; but the consul Mam. Aemilius Lepidus (b. c. 77) declared that he could not take possession of the inheritance, being neither a man nor a woman, but an eunuch. (Val. Max. vii. 7. § 6.) [L. S.] GEOR'GIUS (r6wp7tos), historical, the name of several persons mentioned by the Byzantine his- torians, but none of them were of much impor- tance. 1. One of the officers (Theophanes describes him as Kovparccp toSv Maplurjs, " steward of the lands or revenues of Marina ") of Justinian I., on whose illness (a. d. 561) he was accused by the ex-prae- fect, Eugenius, of wishing to raise Theodore, the son of Peter Magister, to the empire. The charge was supported by the praefects, Aetherius of An- tioch and Gerontius of Constantinople ; but on ex- amination, it could not be proved ; and the accuser, Eugenius, was himself punished, though not capi- tally. (Theoph. Chronog. vol. i. p. 363, ed. Bonn.) 2. Collector of the revenue in the cities of the eastern part of the Byzantine empire, was sent as ambassador by the emperor Mauricius shortly before his death in A. d. 602 to Chosroes or Khosru II., king of the Persians. (Theophylact. Simocat. HM. viii. 1 ; Phot. Dibl. cod. 65, p. 32, ed. Bekker.) 3. Turmarchus, or commander of a division of the troops of the thema Arraeniacum in the sixth Per- sian campaign of Heraclius (a. d. 626 or 627) against Chosroes or Khosru II. (Theoph. Chronog. vol. i. pp. 492, 499, ed. Bonn.) 4. Praefectus Militarium Tabularum, in the reign of the emperor Theophilus (who reigned from A. D. 829 to 842), mentioned on one or two occasions by the continuator of Theophanes. An Arabian prophetess or fortuneteller, whom the emperor had sent for to court, is said to have foretold that George would be killed by a sling in the Hippodrome, and his property confiscated. (Theoph. Coidinuat. lib. iii. De T/ieophilo Mi- cJiaelis Filio^ c. 27 ; Sym. Mag. De Theophilo^ c. 14.) 5. Brother to the emperor Michael IV., the Paphlagonian, before whose elevation George (who was an eunuch) was in a low condition, but was R 3