Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/736

ANTONINUS AND FAUSTINA. ANTONINUS AND FAUSTI'NA,. A prostyle temple in Rome, on the Sacred Way facing the Forum, voted by the Senate in 141 A.D., in commemoration of the elder Faustina, wife of Antoninus Pius, whose name was added to that of his wife on his death in 161 A.D. The temple has six columns in front and three on the sides. The frieze is richly sculptured. In the seventh or eighth century the temple was dedicated to St. Laurence under the title of San Lorenzo in Miranda. Urban V. used much of its material in the reconstruction of the Lateran.

ANTONINUS LIB'ERA'LIS. A Greek writer on mythology, who lived about 150 A.D., and is supposed to have been a freedman of Antoninus Pius. He wrote Μεταμορφώσεων Συναγωγή (Metamorphoseon Synagoge), a collection of forty-one myths dealing with transformations. Most of these are derived from ancient sources, now lost, so that the work is valuable.

ANTONINUS PI'US, (86-161 A.D.). A Roman emperor (138-161 A.D.), who was born at Lanu- vium in the reign of Domitian. The family of Antoninus Pius was originally from Nemausus, now Nimes, in Gaul. Antoninus Pius inherited great wealth, and early gave proof of excellent qualities. In 120 he was made consul; after- ward he Avas sent by Hadrian as pro-consul into Asia, where the wisdom and gentleness of his rule won for him a higher reputation than had been enjoyed by any of his predecessors. By his wife, Faustina, he had four children, of whom three died, leaving a daughter, Faustina, after- ward wife of Marcus Aurelius. In 138 he was adopted by the Emperor Hadrian, in consequence of merit alone, and came to the throne in the same year. The reign of Antoniniis Pius was peaceful and happy. In his private character he was simple, temperate, and benevolent, while in public affairs he acted as the father of his people. The persecution of the Christians, which was continued during his reign, was partly stayed by his mild measures. He was little en- gaged in war, excepting in Britain, where he extended the power of Rome and built a wall between the Forth and the Clyde, as a defense against invasions by the predatory inhabitants of the north. The reign of Antoninus Pius illus- trates the saying, "Happy the nation which has no history," for by the justice, wisdom, kindli- ness, and courtesy of the Emperor his vast empire was preserved from the crimes, conspira- cies, insurrections, and bloodshed, the recording of which formed the largest part of the his- torian's work in the dark centuries of the Roman Empire. It is said that only one senator was impeached during the life-time of Antoninus Pius. Literature received great encouragement; the laws were improved, commerce extended; the means of communication were facilitated by the repair of roads, bridges, etc.; new sanitary reg- ulations were introduced, and a taste for archi- tecture fostered in the citizens. The epithet Pius, "dutiful," was conferred on him on account of his conduct in defending the memory of his predecessor, Hadrian, against certain dishonor- ing charges brought forward by the Senate. The column raised to his memory by his adopted son and successor, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (q.v.), was discovered in 1709, but exists only in frag- ments. The so-called Column of Antoninus, now in the Piazza Colonna at Rome, is that raised by the Senate in honor of Marcus Aurelius after his victory over the Marcomanni.

ANTO'NIO. (1) The Changeling in Middleton's play of the same name. (2) The steward in Webster's Duchess of Malfi. (3) The Duke of Milan in Shakespeare's Tempest. (4) The Merchant of Venice in Shakespeare's play of the same name, who, unable to repay money borrowed of the Jew Shylock, becomes liable for the stipulated forfeit, a pound of flesh.

ANTONIO, an-to'n<?-o, Nicolas (1617-84). A Spanish bibliographer and critic. In 1659, Philip IV. made him his general agent at the court of Rome, where he remained nearly twenty years, and employed most of his time on his great work, which was a complete list of Spanish authors and a catalogue of their writings. He published part of it in 1672, under the title, New Spanish Libra- ry, and in 1696 the Old Library appeared. About 1677, he was fiscal for the Royal Council in Madrid. His Bibliotheca Hispanica is consid- ered by some critics the most comprehensive work on Spanish literature. He also wrote a critique on fabulous histories.

ANTONIO DE SEDILLA, da sa-de'lya. (c. 1730-1829). A Spanish missionary priest, better known as "Père Antoine." In 1779 he was sent to New Orleans to reinaugurate the Inquisition there, but was immediately sent back by Governor Miro, who felt that the enforcement of Spain's rigid laws against heretics would precipitate a revolution. Père Antoine returned to New Orleans in 1783 as priest of the St. Louis cathedral, and by his kindness and his numerous charities earned the love of the residents, especially of the French element. Until 1886, a palm tree planted by him was a landmark in New Orleans, and about it clustered many picturesque traditions, some of which are given in Gayarré, History of Louisiana, 3 volumes (New York, 1846-53). Consult also T. B. Aldrich's story, Père Antoine's Date Palm.

ANTO'NIUS,, surnamed. A Roman consul, son of Marcus Antonius the orator, and uncle of Mark Antony. He was Cicero's colleague in both the prætorship (65 B.C.) and the consulship (63). Though at first one of Catiline's conspirators, he was induced to desert him by Cicero, who secured for him the province of Macedonia. On his return to Rome (59), he was accused of having taken part in Catiline's conspiracy and of extortion in his province, and, though defended by Cicero, was condemned on both charges. He then retired to the island of Cephallenia, but was recalled, probably by Cæsar, and was in Rome at the beginning of 44 B.C.

ANTONIUS, (143-87 B.C). One of the most eloquent of Roman lawyers and speakers, commonly called "the Orator." He was the grandfather of Mark Antony, the triumvir. He was prætor in 104 B.C., and the following year governor (legatus pro prætore) of Cilicia; in 99 he held the consulship. He favored the aristocratic party, and was an adherent of Sulla in the Civil War against Marius, by whose order Antonius was assassinated. In the judgment of Cicero, Antonius and L. Crassus were the first Roman orators who equaled the great speakers of Greece.

ANTONIUS, (83-30 B.C). A Roman triumvir, commonly known as Mark Antony, a descendant of one of the oldest patrician