Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/926

Rh 912 MAMERTUS. city of Gaul, probably Treves, and is addressed to Maximianus Herculius, at that time actively en- gaged in preparations against Carausius. ^ It must be observed that the name Mamerti7ms is altogether wanting in several of the best MSS., and it is doubtful whether it appears in any of the more ancient. The second piece in the collection, which stands in printed editions as Clatidii Mamertini Panegy- ricus Genethliacus Maocimiano Augusio dictus, is in honour of the birthday of the emperor, and falls between the first of April, A. D. 291, and the first of March a. d. 292 (Clinton, Fasti Rom. ad ann. 291). In this case it is admitted that none of the more ancient MSS. present us with the name of Mam.erti7ius., but usually state that it is by the same author as the preceding, a conclusion fully warranted by the general tone, as well as by some peculiarities of expression, and indeed there seems to be in c. 5 a distinct allusion to the former discourse. The tenth piece in the collection is inscribed, Mamertmi pro Consulatu Gratiarum A clio Juliano Augusto, belongs to A. d. 362, and was delivered at Constantinople, soon after the accession of Julian, by Claudius Mamertinus, consul for the year, who had previously held the offices of praefect of the Aerarium and praefect of Illyricum, manifestly a different person from the Claudius Mamertinus of the first two orations, if we admit the existence of an individual bearing that appellation as their author. (See the dissertations prefixed to the edition of the Panegyrici Veteres, by Schwarzius, 4to. Venet. 1728 ; the Censura XII. Panegyri- cormn Veterum., in the 6th volume of the Opuscula Aca/Jemica of Heyne ; and the other authorities cited under Drepanius.) [W. R.] MAMERTUS (Ma^uepros), an ancient surname of Ares, which must have arisen after the iden- tification of the Italian Mamers with the Greek Ares. (Lycoph. 938, 1410.) [L. S.] MAMERTUS, CLAUDIA'NUS ECDI'- DIUS, was a presbyter in the diocese of Vienne, in France, of which his brother was bishop, and lived in the middle of the fifth century of our era. He died about the year 470, and his praises are celebrated at great length by Sidonius ApoUinaris. {Epist. iv. 11.) His works are as follow : — 1. De Statu Animae, in three books, against the opinions of Faustus Reiensis. [Faustus, p. 142, a.] This work was first published by P. Mosel- lanus, Basil. 1520 ; afterwards by Grj'naeus in his Otihodoxogr. p. 1247; in the Bib/ioth. PatrumMax. Lugdun. vol. vi. p. 1050, &c., and by Casp. Bar- thius, Cygneae, 1655. 2. Epistolae. Besides the letter to Sidonius ApoUinaris, in which Mamertus dedicates to him his work De Statu Anirnae, there is also another letter to Sidonius, preserved among the epistles of the latter. {Epist. iii. 2.) Sidonius, in his reply (iiu 3), extols Mamertus and his work in the most extraordinary manner. 3. Carmen co7itra Poetas Vanos, a poem in hexa- meter verse, in which the author maintains the superiority of Christian doctrines over heathen poetry. The versification of this poem is smooth and flowing, and it bears evidence of its writer having carefully studied some of the best of the Roman poets. It is printed in Fabricius, Corp. Poet. Cfirist. p. 775, &c., and in the BiUioth. Pa- trum Max. Lugdun. vol. vi. p. 1074. MAMILIUS. 4. The hymn De Passione Domini, beginning with tlie words Pange lingua gloiiosi praelium cer- taminis, in the Roman breviary, is ascribed by some writers to Mamertus, and by others to Venan- tius Fortunatus. 5. The poems Carmen Paseliale, Lans Chnsfiy and Miracula Chridi, which are printed among the works of the great poet Claudian, are by some writers likewise attributed to this Claudian Ma- mertus, but were perhaps written by neither of them. (Sidon. ApoU. iv. 2, 3, 11, v. 2 ; Gennad. De Viris Illustr. 83 ; Trithem. De Script. Eccles. 178 ; Fabric. BibliotJi. Med. et Infim. Lat. s. v. Clandiarms ; Bahr, GeschicJite d. Romisch. Lite- ratur., Supplement- Band. i. § 33, ii. § 169.) MAMl'LIA GENS, plebeian, was originally one of the most distinguished families in Tusculuni, and indeed in the whole of Latium. It is first mentioned in the time of the Tarquins ; and it was to a member of this family, Octavius Ma- milius, that Tarquinius Superbus betrothed his daughter. The Mamilii traced their name and origin to the mythical Mamilia, the daughter of Telegonus, who was regarded as the founder of Tusculum, and was the reputed son of Ulysses and the goddess Circe. (Liv. i. 49 ; Dionys. iv. 45 ; Festus, p. 130, ed. Miiller.) In B.C. 458 the Roman citizenship was given to L. Mamilius on account of his marching unsummoned two years before to the assistance of the city when it was at- tacked by Herdonius. (Liv. iii. 18, 29.) But although the Mamilii had obtained the Roman franchise, it was some time before any of the mem- bers of the house obtained any of the higher offices of the state : the first who received the consulship was L. Mamilius Vitulus, in b. c. 265, the year before the commencement of the first Punic war. The gens was divided into three families, Lime- TANUS, TuRRiNUS, and Vitulus, of which tlie two latter were the most ancient and the most im- portant. Limetanus, however, is the only surname which occurs on coins. The mythical origin of the Mamilia gens, which has been mentioned above, is evidently referred to in the annexed coin. The obverse represents the head of Mercury or Hermes, who was the ancestor of Ulysses, and the reverse Ulysses himself, clad in a mean and humble dress, that he might not be recognised by the suitors. (Eckhel, voL v. pp. 242, 243.) COIN OF THE MAMILIA GENS. MAMILIA'NUS, a friend of the younger PlinyJ to whom the latter addressed two letters (ix. 16^ 25), but of whose life we know nothing, except that he was engaged in military service when Plin] wrote to him. MAMI'LIUS. 1. Octavius Mamilius, o| Tusculum, called by Livy " longe princeps Latir nominis," was the person to whom Tarquinii Superbus gave his daughter, when he was anxioi to conciliate the Latins. On the expulsion of th Tarcjuins from Rome, Superbus took refuge wit