Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/794

Rh 780 LIBO. called from its being open at the top, like a pnteal or well. C. F, Hennann, who has carefully exa- mined all the passages in ancient writers relating to it {Ind. Led. Marburg. 1840), comes to the con- clusion that there was only such puteal at Rome, and not two, as was formerly believed, and that it was dedicated in very ancient times either on ac- count of the whetstone of the augur Navius (comp. Liv. i. 36), or because the spot had been struck by lightning ; that it was subsequently repaired and re-dedicated by Scribonius Libo, who had been commanded to examine the state of the sacred places (Festus, s. v. Scribonianum) ; and that Libo erected in its neighbourhood a tribunal for the praetor, in consequence of which the place was of course frequented by persons who had law-suits, such as money lenders and the like. (Comp. Hor. ^a^.ii. 6. 35, Epist. i. 19. 8 ; Ov. Reiiied. Amor. 561 ; CicproSejc. 8.) COIN OF L. SCRIBONIUS LIBO. 4. L. Scribonius Libo, the father-in-law of Sex. Pompey, the son of Pompey the Great, and consul B. c. 34, is first mentioned in b c. bQ, in which year he appears to have been tribune, as supporting Pompey 's views in relation to the affairs of Egypt in the case of Ptolemy Auletes. (Cic. ad Fam. i. 1.) On the breaking out of the civil war in B, c. 49, Libo naturally sided with Pompey, and was entrusted with the command of Etruria. But the rapid approach of Caesar, and the enthusiasm with which he was every where received, obliged Libo to retire from Etruria and join the consuls in Campania, from whence he subsequently proceeded with the rest of the Pompeian party to Brundisium. While here Caesar sent to him Caninius Rebilus, who was an intimate friend of Libo, to persuade him to use his influence with Pompey to effect a reconciliation ; but nothing came of this negotia- tion. (Flor. iv. 2. §21 ; Lucan, ii. 461 ; Cic. ai Ait vii. 12, viii. 11, b ; Caes. B. C. i. 26.) Libo accompanied Pompey to Greece, and was actively engaged in the war that ensued. He and M. Octavius were placed over the Liburnian and Achaean fleets, serving as legates to Bibulus, who had the supreme command of the Pompeian fleet. They were very successful against Caesar's generals in Dalmatia ; Dolabella they drove out of the country, and C. Antonius they not only defeated but made prisoner. (Caes. B. (7. iiL 5 ; Dion Cass, xli. 40 ; Florus, iv. 2. § 31 ; Oros. vi. 15.) Libo subsequently joined Bibulus ; and, on the death of the latter shortly afterwards, the chief authority in the fleet appears to have devolved upon him, al- though no one was expressly appointed to the supreme command. With fifty ships he appeared before Brundisium, in order to blockade the place strictly, as M. Antony was still there with part of Caesar's troops, waiting for an opportunity to cross over to Greece. But having suffered a repulse from Antony, and being prevented by the cavalry of the latter from obtaining any water, Libo was obliged to retire from the place, and Antony LIBO. soon afterwards escaped his vigilance and joined Caesar in Greece. (Caes. B. C. iii. 15, 16, 18, 23, 24; Dion Cass. xli. 48.) We hear nothing more of Libo for some time, but he probably did not make his submission to Caesar after the battle of Pharsalia, but united himself to those of his party who continued in arms. At the death of the dictator in B. c. 44, we find him in Spain with his son-in-law Sex. Pompey, on whose behalf he wrote to the ruling party at Rome. (Cic, ad ^i^xvi. 4.) He continued with Pompey in the civil wars which followed, and is specially mentioned, in B. c. 40, as one of the persons of high rank who was commissioned to conduct to Antony in the East his mother Julia, who had taken refuge with Sex. Pompey in Sicily after the Perusinian war. This mission alarmed Octavian. He feared that Pompey, who was now decidedly master of the sea, should unite with Antony to crush him ; and, in order to gain the favour of the former and of his father-in-law Libo, he proposed, on the advice of Maecenas, to marry Libo's sister, Scribonia, al- though she was much older than himself, and had been married twice before. The marriage shortly after took place, and paved the way for a peace between the trmmvirs and Pompey. This was negotiated in the following j'ear (b. c. 39) by Libo, who crossed over from Sicily to Italy for the pur- pose, and it was finally settled at Misenum. When the war was renewed in b. c. 36, Libo for a time continued faithful to Pompey, but, seeing his cause hopeless, he deserted him in the following year. In B. c. 34, he was consul with M. Antony, as had been agreed at the peace of Misenum. As his name does not occur again in history, he probably died soon afterwards. (Appian, B. C. v. 52, 53, 69—73, 139 ; Dion Cass, xlviii. 16, xlix. 38.) 5. The M. Livius Drusus Libo, who was con- sul B. c. 1 5, is supposed to have been a younger brother of No. 4, and to have been adopted by one of the Drusi. He is spoken of under Drusus, No. 8. 6. L. Scribonius Libo Drusus, or Libo Dru- sus, as he is also called, the conspirator against Tiberius, a. d. 16, is supposed to have been a son of the preceding [No. 5J. For an account of him see Drusus, No. 10. 7. L. Scribonius Libo, son, probably, of No, 4, was consul in a. D. 16, with T. Statilius Sisenna Taurus. (Dion Cass. Ivii. 15 ; Tac. Ann. ii. 1.) LIBO, CN. STATI'LIUS, known only from coins^ a specimen of which is given below. On the obverse is a head with CN. stati. libo, and on the reverse a patera or discus, and a vessel used apparently in sacrifices, with sacerdos. On some specimens we find praef. (i. e. Frae/ectus). The coin was certainly not struck in Italy ; and it has been conjectured that it was struck in Spain, and that the head on the obverse represents that of M, Agrippa. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 316.) COIN OF CN. STATILIUS LIBO.