Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/822

Rh 810 SEXTILIUS. SE'XTTA. 1. The wife of Mamercus Aemllius Scaurus, who killed herself, along with her husband, in A. D. 34. (Tac. Ann. vi. 29). [Vol. III. p. 733, a.] 2. The mother-in-law of L. Antistiiis Vetus, along with whom she was put to death by Nero in A. D. 65 (Tac. Ann. xvi. 10, 11). SE'XTIA GENS, plebeian. This name is fre- quently confounded with that of Sestius. [Sestia Gkns.] On coins we find only Sestius, never Sextius. The first member of the Sextia gens who obtained the consulship was L. Sextius Sextinus Lateranus in B. c. 366, who was the first plebeian that obtained this honour, after one place in the consulship was secured for the plebeian order, by the Licinian laws [Lateranus]. The only other person in the gens who was consul under the re- public was C. Sextius Calvinus, in b. c. 124 [Cal- viNUs] ; but the names of a few Sextii appear on the consular Fasti in the imperial period. Most of the Sextii are mentioned without any cognomen : they are given below. [Sextius.] SEXTI'LIA. 1. A Vestal virgin, was con- demned of incest, and buried alive in b. c. 273. (Liv. Epit. 14). 2. The mother of the emperor Vitellius, was a virtuous Roman matron of the old school. She lived to see her son emperor, but died a few days before his fall. (Tac. Uist. ii. 64, 89, iii. 67 ; Suet. Vitell. 3.) SEXTPLIA GENS, plebeian, is first mentioned in B.C 379, when one of its members was consular tribune. The gens, however, never obtained much distinction, and their name does not once occur on the Consular Fasti. Towards the end of the re- public, and under the empire, we meet with a few Sextilii, with cognomens, which are given below ; but the gens was not divided into families with distinctive surnames. SEXTI'LIUS. 1. C. Sextilius, consular tri- bune B. c. 379, in which year an equal number of patricians and plebeians were elected to the office. (Liv. vi. 30.) 2. L, Sextilius, one of the triumviri noctunii, was accused by the tribunes of the plebs, and con- demned, with his two colleagues, because they had come too late to put out a fire in the Via Sacra. (Val. Max. viii. 1. damn. 5). 3. M. Sextilius, of Fregellae, assured the con- suls in the second Punic war, B. c. 209, that eighteen of the Roman colonies were ready to fur- nish the state with soldiers, when twelve had re- fused to do so. (Liv. xxvii. 9, 10). 4. Sextilius, governor of the province of Africa in B.C. 88, forbade Marius to land in the country. (Plut. Mar. 40 ; Appian, B. G. i. 62, where he is called Se,rtius). 5. Sextilius, an Etruscan, betrayed C. Julius Caesar Strabo to the assassins of Marius and Cinna, in B. c. 87, although he had been previously de- fended by Caesar, when accused of a very grave offence. (Val. Max. v. 3. § 3 ; Cic. de Orat. iii. 3). 6. Sextilius, a legatus of L. Lucullus, in the Mithridatic war, was sent to attack Tigranocerta. (Appian, Mithr. 84.) 7. Sextilius, a praetor carried off by the pirates, fchortly before Pompey was appointed to the com- mand of the war against them. (Plut. Pomp. 24 ; comp. Appian, Mithr. 93 ; Cic. pro Leg. Manil. 12.) 8. A. Sextilius, spoken of in Cicero's oration for Flaccus (c. 15) as " homo improbus," appears SEXTIUS. to have been a negotiator or money-lender in Acmonia, a town in the Greater Phrygia. 9. C. Sextilius, the son of the sister of M. Lurco, a man " et pudens et constans et gravis." (Cic. joro Place. 36.) He may perhaps be the same as the praetor Sextilius mentioned bv Varro {R. R.'. 1. §10). 10. P. Sextilius, quaestor b. c. 61. (Cic. pro Place. 1 3.) 1 1. Q. Sextilius, a friend of Milo. (Cic. ad Q. Pr. ii. 1. § 3.) 12. Sextilius Andro, of Pergamum. (Cic. pro Place. 34.) SEXTI'LIUS HENA, of Corduba in Spain, a Roman poet of no great merit, wrote a poem on the death of Cicero, of which the first line is quoted by M. Seneca. (Suas. 6, pp. 45, 46, ed. Bip.) SEXTI'LIUS FELIX. [Felix.] SEXTI'LIUS RUFUS. (Rufus.] SE'XTIUS. Some persons whose names occur under this form in several editions of the ancient writers, are given under Sestius. 1. Sextius, tribune of the plebs b. c. 414, pro- posed that a colony should be sent to Bolae. (Liv. iv. 49.) 2. M. Sextius Sabinus, plebeian aedile b. c. 203, and praetor in the following year, b. c. 202, when he obtained Gaul as his province. (Liv. XXX. 26, 27.) 3. Sextius, quaestor of the consul L. Calpur- nius Bestia, in Numidia, b. c. 111. (Sail. Jug. 29.) 4. P. Sextius, praetor designatus b. c. 100, was accused of bribery by T. Junius, and con- demned. (Cic. Brut. 48.) 5. Sextius, the proximus lictor of C. Verres, in Sicily, and his favoiu'ite executioner. (Cic. Verr. iii. 67, V. 45, 54.) 6. P. Sextius Baculus, a primipili centurio in Caesar's army in Gaul, distinguished himself on many occasions by his great bravery. (Caes. B. G. ii. 25, iii. 5, vi. 38.) 7. T. Sextius, one of Caesar's legates in Gaul, took an active part in the campaign against Vercin- getorix in B. c. 52, and was stationed for winter- quarters, with one legion, among the Bituriges (Caes. B. G. vi. 1, vii. 49, 90). On the death of Julius Caesar in B. c. 44, Sextius was in possession of the province of Numidia, or New Africa, while Q. Cornificius held that of Old Africa. The two governors became involved in war with one another,.J the causes and details of which are related dif-? ferently by Appian and Dion Cassius. Tlie latt writer represents Sextius as governing New Afric for Antony, and Cornificius Old Africa for Octavian ; and Appian at one time speaks of Sextius as hold*^ ing his province for one triumvir, and at anothe time for the other. But the real fact seems tol have been that Sextius availed himself of thdj troubles in Italy to extend his own power in Afric and, accordingly, in the name of the triumvirs, quired Cornificius, who was a partizan of th« senate, to evacuate his province. Upon the refusal! of the latter, Sextius marched against him. He] was at first unsuccessful, but eventually defeatedj and slew Cornificius, and thus obtained possessiotti of both provinces (Dion Cass, xlviii. 21 ; Appiar B. a iii. 85, iv. 63—56 ; Liv. Ppit. 123). Ittl the new division of the Roman provinces after th«| battle of Philippi, b. c. 42, Octavian obtained Ne^" Africa ; and Sextius was therefore ordered by L.| Antonius to hand over this province to C. Fango, '