Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/897

Rh MACER. If the Maccr named by Quinctilian in his sixth hook be the same with either of the above, we must conchide that one of them published a collec- tion of " Tetrasticha," which were turned aside from their true meaning, and pieced together by Ovid, so as to form an invective on good-for-nothing poets, " Adjuvant urbanitatem et versus commode positi, seu toti, ut sunt (quod adeo facile est, ut Ovidius ex tetrastichon Macri carmine librum in nialos poetas composuerit)," &:c. [W. R.] MACER, AEMl'LIUS, a Roman jurist, who wrote after Ulpian and Paulus, and lived in the reign of Alexander Severus. (Dig. 49. tit. 13.) He wrote several works, extracts from which are given in the Digest. The most important of them were, De AppeUationibas^ De Re Militari, De Officio Praesidis, De PuLlids Judiciis^ and Ad Legem de Vicesima Flereditatum. (Zimmern, Gesclmhte des Romischen Prlvairec/ds, vol. i. part i. p. 328.) MACER, BAE'BII'S. 1. One of the consuls sufFecti A. D. 101, was consul designatus when the younger Pliny pleaded the cause of Bassus before the senate. (Plin. Ep. iv. 9. § 16.) He was praefectus urbi at the time of Trajan's death, a. d. 117. (Spart. //orfr. 5.) Whether he or Calpur- nius Macer is the Macer to whom Pliny addresses three of his letters (iii. 5, v. 18, vi. 24), is un- certain. 2. Praefectus praetorio in the reign of Valerian. (Vopisc. Aurel. 12.) MACER, CALPU'RNIUS, governor of a Roman province at no great distance from that of Bithynia, at the time when Pliny administered the latter, a. d. 103, 104. (Plin. Ep. x. 51, 69, 81.) [See Macer, Baebius.] MACER, CLO'DIUS, was appointed by Nero governor of Africa ; and, on the death of this em- peror, A. D. 68, he raised the standard of revolt, and laid claim to the throne. He took this step at tlie instigation of Calvia Crispinilla, whom Tacitus calls the teacher of Nero in all voluptuousness, and who crossed over to Africa to persuade him to re- volt ; and it was also at her advice that he pre- vented the corn-ships from going to Rome, in order to produce a famine in the city. [Crispinilla.] As soon as Galba was seated on the throne, he caused Macer to be executed by the procurator, Trebonius Gariicianus. During the short time that Macer exercised the sovereign power in Africa, he had become hated for his cruelties and extortions. (Tac. Hid. i. 7, 11, 37, 73, ii. 97, iv. 49 ; Suet. CJa/b. 1 1 ; Plut. Galb. 6, 15.) The head of Macer occurs on coins which he had struck, from which we learn that his praenonien was Lucius. (Eckhel, vol. vi. p. 288, &c.) COIN OF CLODIUS MACER. MACER, HERE'NNIUS, incurred the anger of the emperor Caligula, because he saluted him only by his praenomen Caius. (Senec. de Const. Sap. IH.) MACER, C. LICI'NIUS. 1. A Roman an- MACER. 883 nalist and orator, was the father of C. Licinius Calvus [CALVUs],and must have been bom about B. c. 11 0. He was quaestor probably in b. c. 78, was tribune of theplebs B.C. 73, was subsequently raised to the praetorship and became governor of a province. He was distinguished by his hostility towards C. Rabirius, whom he charged (b. c. 73) with having been accessory to the death of Satur- ninus, an offence for which the same individual was brought to trial a second time ten years after- wards. Macer himself was impeached by Cicero, A. n. 66, when the latter was praetor, under the law De Repetundis; and finding that, notwithstand- ing the influence of Crassus, with whom he was closely allied, the verdict was against him, he in- stantly committed suicide, before all the forms were completed, and thus saved his family from the dishonour and loss which would have been en- tailed upon them had he been regularly sentenced. This is the account given by Valerius Maximus, and it does not differ in substance from that pre- served by Plutarch. His Annates, or Rerum Romanarum Libri, or Historiae, as they are variously designated by the grammarians, are frequently referred to with respect by Ijivy and Dionysius. They commenced with the very origin of the city, and extended to twenty- one books at least ; but whether he brought down the record «f events to his own time it is impos- sible for us to determine, since the quotations now extant belong to the earlier ages only. He appears to have paid great attention to the history of the constitution, and to have consulted ancient monu- ments, especially the Libri Lintei preserved in the temple of Jinio Moneta, noting down carefully the points in which they were at variance with the received accounts. In consequence of his diligence in this department, Niebuhr conceives that he must have been more trustworthy than any of his pre- decessors, and supposes that the numerous speeches with which he was fond of diversifying his nar- rative afforded materials for Dionysius and Livy. Cicero speaks very_coldly, and even contemptuously, of his merits, both as a writer and a speaker, but some allowance must perhaps be made in this case for personal enmity. A few words from an oration, Pro Tuseis, have been preserved by Priscian (x. 8, p. 502, ed. Krehl), and a single sentence from an Epistola ad Senatum, by Nonius Marcellus (s. v. contendere). (Pigh. Ann. ad ann. 675 ; Sail. Histor. iii. 22, p. 252, ed. Gerlach ; Cic ad Ait. i. 4, pro Rabir. 2, de Leg. i. 2, Brut 67 ; Val. Max. ix. 12. § 7 ; Plut. Cic. 9 ; Macrob. i. 10, 13; Cen^ovxn. de Die Nat. 20 ; Solin. 8 ; Non. Marcell. s. vv. clypeiis, con- tendere, luculenium, lues, patibulum ; Diomed. i. p. 366, ed. Putsch ; Priscian. vi. 11, p. 256, x. 6, p. 496, ed. Krehl ; in the last passage we must read Licinius for Aemilius ; Liv. iv. 7, 20, 23, vii. 9, ix. 38, 46, X. 9 ; Dionys. ii. 52, iv. 6, v. 47, 74, vi. 11, vii. 1 ; Auctor, de Grig. Gent. Rom. 19, 23 ; Lachmann, de Fontibus Hisloriar. T. Livii Comment, prior, § 21 ; Krause, Vitae et Frag. Hist. Rom. p. 237 ; Meyer, Orat. Rom. Frag. p. 385, 2nd ed. ; Weichert, Poet. Lat. Reliquiae, p. 92.) [ W. R.J 2. An account of his son, who bore the agnomen Calvus, and who is frequently described as C. Licinius Calvus, is given under Calvus. The annexed coin probably refers to No. 1. The obverse represents a youthfvd head, and 3l 2