Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/717

Rh LACUMACES. African contemporaries, or the stiff affectation, vulgar finery, and empty pomposity, of the Graeco- Italian rhetoricians. He was unquestionably also a man of extensive erudition ; and much curious and valuable information concerning ancient super- stition and ancient philosophy may be gathered from his pages, in which are preserved many quo- tations from lost works of interest and importance. His merits as a theologian are more questionable. It is almost certain that he became a convert late in life : he probably did not receive instruction from a judicious teacher, nor fully comprehend all tliat he had learned. His expressions relative to the nature of Christ, his view of the redemption, his picture of the day of judgment, his predictions concerning the millennium, the unsuspecting con- fidence with which he quotes such authorities as the Sibylline oracles and Hermes Trismegistus, the line of argument adopted in the De Ira Dei^ his remarks on the immortality of the soul and on early death, may be given as a few examples out of many which might be adduced of erroneous doctrines, of rash and unwarrantable conclusions, of unsound criticism, of reasoning rhetorical but not logical, of superficial investigation, and false induction. The charge of a leaning towards Manicheism and Anti- Trinitarian opinions seems altogether unfounded. The Editio Princeps of Lactantius is one of the earliest specimens of the typographical art in ex- istence, having been printed at the monastery of Subiaco in 14(15 by Sweynheym and Pannartz ; a second and a third impression by the same printers appeared at Rome in 1468 and 1470, the last under the editorial inspection of Andrew, bishop of Aleria. The great popularity of this author, and the multitude of MSS. dispersed over Europe, gave rise to a multitude of editions, of which the most notable are that of Gallaeus, Lug. Bat. 1660, forming one of the series of Variorum Classics, in 8vo. ; that of C. Cellarius, Lips. 8vo. 1698 ; that of Walchius, Lips. 8vo. 1715 ; that of Ileumann, Getting. 8vo. 1736 ; that of Blinemann, Lips. 8vo, 1739 ; and that of Le Brun and Lenglet du Fresnoy, Paris, 2 vols. 4to. 1748. (Hieronym. </e VirisIU. 79, 80 ; Chronic. Euseb. nd ann. cccxviii.. Comment, in Eccles. c. 10, Com- ment, in EpJies. c. 4, Ad Paulin. Epist. ; Lactant. Divin. Instit i. 1. § 8, v. 2. § 2, iii. 13. § 12 ; Schrockh, Kirchem/escJd. vol. v. p. 232 ; Schone- mann, Bibliol/ieca I'atrum Lat. vol. i. § 2 ; Bahr, Gesch. der Romisch. Liitemt. Suppl. Band. 1" Ab- theil. § 9, 2e Abtheil. § 38—46.) [W. R.] LACTANS, LACfURNUS, and LACTUR- CIA, Roman divinities, who were believed to pro- tect the young fruits of the field. (Serv. ad Aen. i. 315 ; August. De Civ. Dei, iv. 3.) Some believe that Lactans and Lacturcia are mere surnames of Ops, and that Lacturnus is a surname of Sa- turnus. (Hartung, Die lielig. der Rom. vol. ii. pp. 129,132.) LL. S.J LACTU'CA, a surname of M. Valerius Maxi- mus, consul, b. c. 456. [Maxim us.] LACTUCI'NUS, a surname of M. Valerius Maximus, consular tribune, b. c. 398 and 395. [Maximus.] LACUMACES, a Numidian, the younger son of Oesalces, king of the Massy Hans, was placed on the throne while a mere child by Mezetulus, who had overthrown his brother Capusa. On the land- ing of Masinissa in Africa, Lacumaces repaired to the court of Syphax to solicit assistance, but was LADOGENES. 703 attacked by Masinissa on liis march, and narrowly escaped falling intd his hands. He, however, ob- tained from Syphax a large auxiliary force, with which he joined his guardian Mezetulus, but their combined armies were defeated by Masinissa, and they themselves fled to Syphax for refuge. From thence they were induced by the conqueror to return, and Lacumaces was received at the court of Masinissa with the honours due to his royal birth. (Liv. xxix. 29, 30.) [E. H. B.] LACY'DES (Ao/cvStjs). 1. A native of Cyrene, the son of Alexander. In his youth he was poor, but remarkable for his industry, as well as for his affable and engaging manners. He removed to Athens, and attached himself to the New Aca- demy, according to a silly story quoted by Eusebius {Fraep. Evang. xiv. 7) from Numenius, because the facility with which his servants robbed him without being detected, convinced him that no re- liance could be placed on the evidence of the senses. He was a disciple of Arcesilaus, and succeeded him as. president of the school, over which he pre- sided for 26 years. The place where his instructions were delivered was a garden, named the Aa/d^Sejof, provided for the purpose by his friend Attains Philometor king of Pergamus. This alteration in the locality of the school seems at least to have contributed to the rise of the name of the New Academy. Before his death Lacydes resigned liis place to Telecles and Evander of Phocis, a thing which no philosopher had ever done before him. He died in B.C. 24 1, according to Diogenes Laertius (iv. § 60 ; conip. Aelian, V. H. ii. 41 ; Athen. x. p. 438. a.), from the effects of excessive drinking. According to Eusebius {Fraep. Ev. xiv. 7), he was so frugal, in other respects at least, that he was styled 6 oiKouofxiKos. In his philosophical tenets he followed Arcesilaus closely. Cicero {Acad. ii. 6), speaking of the latter, says : " cujus primo non admodum probata ratio, quanquam floruit quum acumine ingenii tum admirabili quodam lepore dicendi proxime a Lacyde solo retenta est." Suidas {s. V. AoK.) mentions writings of his under the general name of (pt(To<pa or irepi (ptiatws. (Diog. Laert. iv. 59—61.) 2. A peripatetic philosopher, mentioned by Aelian {Hi^t. An. vii. 41 ), and Pliny (//. N. x. 22). Nothing is recorded of him but that he had a pet goose which never left him either by day or by night. [C. P. M.] liADAMAS, artist. [Moschion.] LADAS {Addas). 1. A celebrated runner, a native of Laconia. He gained the victory at Olympia in the S6ixos, and expired soon after. There was a monument to his memory on the banks of the Eurotas. In Arcadia, on one of the roads leading to Orchomenus, was a stadium, called the stadium of Ladas, where he used to practise. There was a famous statue of him by Myron, in the temple of Apollo Lycius at Argos, and another stjitue in the temple of Aphrodite Nicephorus. (Pans. ii. 19. § 7, iii. 21, § I, viii. 12, § 3) His swiftness became proverbial among the Romans. (Catull. Iv. 25 ; Auctorad Herenn. iv. 3 j Juv. xiii. 97 ; Mart. ii. 86. 8, x. 100. 5.) 2. A native of Aegium in Achaea, who gained a victory in the foot race at Olympia, in the 1 25th Olympiad, B.c. 280. (Paus. iii. 21. § 1, x. 23, §14.) [C.P.M.] LADO'GENES or LADO'NIS {AaSuy^u^s op AaSuvis), a name by which the poets sometimes