Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/97

Rh PAETUS. PAETUS, SEX. ARTICULEIUS, consul ..d. 101 with the emperor Trajan (Fasti). PAETUS, AUTRO'NIUS. 1. P. Autronius pAKTUS, was elected consul for B. c. 65 with P. Cornelius Sulla ; but before he and Sulla entered upon their office, they were accused of bribery by L. Aurelius Cotta and L. Manlius Torquatus, and condemned. Their election was accordingly declared void : and their accusers were chosen consuls in their stead. Enraged at his disappointment Paetus conspired with Cati- line to murder the consuls Cotta and Torquatus ; and this design is said to have been frustrated solely by the impatience of Catiline, who gave the signal prematurely before the Avhole of the conspirators had assembled. (Sail. Cat, 18 ; Dion Cass, xxxvi. *27 ; Ascon. in Cornel, p. 74, ed. Orelli ; Suet. Caes. 9 ; Liv. Epit. 101.) [Cati- LiNA, p. 629, b.] Paetifs afterwards took an active part in the Catilinarian conspiracy, which broke out in Cicero's consulship. After the sup- pression of the conspiracy Paetus was brought to trial for the share he had had in it ; he entreated Cicero with many tears to undertake his defence, pleading their early friendship, and their having been colleagues in the quaestorship, but this the orator refused (Cic. pro Sull. 6), and all his former friends in like manner withdrew from him their support. He was accordingly condemned, and went into exile at Epeirus, where he was living when Cicero himself went into banishment in B. c. 58. Cicero was then much alarmed lest Paetus should make an attempt upon his life (Sail. Cat. 17, 47; Dion Cass, xxxvii. 25; Cic. pro Sull. passim ; Cic. ad Att. iii. 2, 7.) Autronius Paetus has a place in the list of orators in the Brutus of Cicero, who however dismisses him with the character, " voce peracuta, atque magna, nee alia re ulla probabilis" (c. 68). 2. P. Autronius Paetus, consul suffectus B. c. 33 in place of Augustus, who resigned his office immediately after entering upon it on the Kalends of January. (Fasti ; Appian, IHyr. 28 ; comp. Dion Cass. xlix. 43 ; Suet. Aug. 26.) 3. L. Autronius L. p. L. n. Paetus is stated in the Capitoline Fasti to have obtained a triumph as proconsul from Africa in the month of August, B. c. 29. PAETUS, CAECINA. [Caecina, No. 5.] PAETUS, C. CAESE'NNIUS, sometimes called CAESO'NIUS, was consul A. D. 61 with C. Petronius Turpilianus. He was sent by Nero in A. D. 63 to the assistance of Domitius Corbulo [Corbulo], in order to defend Armenia against the attacks of Vologeses, king of Parthia. Arro- gant by nature, and confident of success, he thought himself superior to the veteran Corbulo, and crossed the Taurus, boldly asserting that he would recover Tigranocerta, which Corbulo had been obliged to leave to its fate. This, however, he was unable to accomplish ; but he took a few fortified places, acquired some booty, and then, as the year was far advanced, led back his army into winter-quarters, and sent to Nero a magnificent account of his exploits. But as Vologeses shortly after appeared with a large force, Paetus marched forth against him (according to Dion Cassius, with the view of relieving Tigranocerta), but after losing a few troops he hastily withdrew across mount Taurus, leaving 3000 soldiers to defend the passes of the mountain. These troops, however. P AGON DAS. 85 Vologeses cut to pieces, and then proceeded to lay siege to the town of Rhandeia or Arsamosata on tlie river Arsanias, in which Paetus had taken refuge. The place was well supplied with pro- visions, and Corbulo was at no great distance ; but such was the pusillanimity of Paetus that he was afraid to wait for the assistance of Corbulo, and purchased peace from the Parthians on the most disgraceful tenns. In consequence of this conduct Paetus was deprived of his command and expected severe punishment on his return to Rome, but Nero dismissed him uninjured with a few insulting words (Tac. Ann. xv. 6, 8 — 15, 17, 25 ; Dion Cass. Ixii. 21, 22 ; Suet. Ner. 39.) After the accession of Vespasian, Caesenniiis Paetus was appointed governor of Syria, and deprived Antiochus IV., king of Commagene, of his kingdom. (Joseph. B. J. vii. 7.) [See Vol. I. p. 194, b.] The name of Caesennius Paetus, proconsul, occurs on the coins of Ephesus and Smyrna, struck in the reign of Domitian. This Caesennius Paetus may have been a son of the preceding Paetus ; for Tacitus makes mention of one of his sons who was with his father in Armenia (Ann. XV. 10), and also of a son, apparently a different one, who was serving as tribune of the soldiers under Corbulo {Ann. xv. 28). PAETUS, L. CASTRFNIUS, mentioned by Caelius in a letter to Cicero {ad Fam. viii. 2) in B. c. 51, may perhaps be the same person as the L. Castronius Paetus, the leading man in the municipium of Luca, whom Cicero recommended to Brutus in b. c. 46 {ad Fam. xiii. 13). PAETUS, C. CONSI'DIUS, known only from coins, a specimen of which is annexed. The obverse represents the head of Venus, and the reverse a sella curulis. coin op c, considius paetus. PAETUS, L. PAPI'RIUS, a friend of Cicero, to whom the latter has addressed several letters {ad Fam. ix. 15 — 26). From these letters it appears that Papirius Paetus belonged to the Epicurean school, and that he was a man of learning and intelligence. He is mentioned once or twice in Cicero's letters to Atticus {ad Att, i. 20. § 7, ii. I. § 12). PAETUS THRA'SEA. [Thrasea.] PAETUS, VALERIA'NUS, put to death by Elagabalus. (Dion Cass. Ixxix. 4.) PAGASAEUS {lia-yaaatoi), i. e. the Pagasaean, from Pegasus, or Pegasae, a town in Thessaly, is a surname of Apollo, who there had a sanctuary said to have been built by Trophonius (Hes. Scut. Here. 70, with the Schol.), and of lason, because the ship Argo was said to have been built at Pagasus. (Ov. Met. vii. 1, Her. xvi. 345.) [L. S.] PAGONDAS {Tiayuv^as). I. A native of Thebes who gained the victory in the chariot- race with entire horses, in the twenty-fifth Olympiad, on which occasion that species of con- G 3