﻿THE AGE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER. 51 



Quintilian, Suetonius, and Pliny, but is named by Priscianus, Diomedes, Victorinus, 

 and Hieron}Tuus. 



Job. Chvistopb. "^Yagenseil, in bis attack upon tbe genuineness of the Tragurian 

 fragment, takes it for granted tbat the author of tbe Satyricon was the consular Petro- 

 nius of Tacitus. He says : " Atque hie ante omnia illud mibi concedi postulo, de quo 

 inter erudites propemodum convenit, esse hoc in Xeronem scriptum SatjTicon, eoque 

 niius mores et vitam turpissimam traduci, hoc est, nou de alio quam de nostro loqui 

 Tacitum,"' etc. He is equally confident that Trimalchio is a satire on Nero : " Lipsius 

 quidem in notis -sidetur fuisse ambiguus. Quid autem causae habuerit, non liquet. 

 Mihi enim Arbitrum cum Suetonio comparanti nulla dubitandi relinquitur occasio, et 

 rerisimile fit insignem hunc scriptorem multis in Petronio et praecipue his, quae de 

 Trimalchione, hoc est de Xerone recensentui", plus lucis conferre, quam quidquid in 

 eum cougestum est commentariorum," etc. 



Hadrianus Yalesius, iu his dissertation on the genuineness of the Trajjurian frac- 

 ment, agrees with "NYagenseO. in rejecting the latter, but diflfers from him with regard 

 to the age and person of Petronius, and the opinion that Trimalchio is a satire on Xero. 

 He points out the inconsistencies involved in this opinion. "WhUe Trimalchio was an 

 imported slave, Xero was the descendant of one of the noblest Roman families, and, 

 by his mother, connected with the family of the Csesars. Trimalchio's wife, Fortimata, 

 was of an origin similar to that of her husband ; Xero's wives, Octavia and Poppsea, 

 were of noble descent ; — Acte was, indeed, a freedwoman, but she was the emperor's 

 concubine, not his wife. Trimalchio was an old man ; Xero did not exceed the age of 

 thkty-two. Trimalchio is ignorant and foolish ; Xero was educated, and a man of 

 ability. Trimalchio delighted m an ugly, disgusting favorite ; Xero's favorites were 

 distinguished for their beauty. Talesius approves of the caution of Lijisius in not 

 adopting the opinion that the author of the Satyricon is the consular Petronius of 

 Tacitus. He refers to the circumstance, that, while the consular received the designa- 

 tion " elegantiae arbiter," to indicate his skill iu arranging the amusements of Xero, 

 Arbiter was actually the name of the author, as is evident from the manner in which 

 Fulgentius, Terentianus Maurus, Diomedes, Senius Honoratus, and others, quote him. 

 The consular Petronius is a man of rank and wealth ; nothing of the kind is stated of 

 the aiithor. The last written communication of the consular to Xero was Aery brief; 

 the work of the author is voluminous. Yalesius finds a confirmation of this in the 

 title of the book itself, Sat}"iicon, — which he considers, not the nominative singidar, 

 but the contracted genitive plural, — and in the manner in which several ancient 

 authors quote him, — for instance, Terentius Maurus : 



