Z61 



APOLLINARIS SIDONIUS, ST. 



APOLLONIUS, BERG^EUS. 



262 



astrology, and music, which Apollinaris says are essential parts of 

 education (' Carmen,' 14). He acquired enough of Greek to translate 

 it into Latin ; but poetry was the favourite subject of Apollinaris. 

 He was also ambitious, and he thought of rising to posts of honour. 

 It is probable that he chose the profession of the bar. But before he 

 obtained any office he married Papianilla, daughter of that Avitua 

 who was afterwards emperor. She brought him as a dowry the domain 

 of Avitac in Auvergne, which Apollinaris has described in one of his 

 letters (' Epist.,' ii. 2). He was not twenty when he married, and he 

 had at least four children. 



His father-in-law, Avitus, was declared Augustus on the 10th of 

 July, 455, and Apollinaris followed him to Rome, where he pronounced 

 his panegyric in verse in the presence of the Roman senate and people 

 on the first day of the next year, on which Avitus commenced his 

 consulship. The only reward which he received for this poem, which 

 he wrote at the age of twenty-five, was, as he complains, the erection 

 of a bronze statue, which was placed near the statue of Trajan, under 

 the portico which led to the Greek and Latin libraries. The reign of 

 Avitus, by whom Apollinaris expected to be advanced, was of short 

 duration. Before the end of the year 456 Avitus was dethroned by 

 the intrigues of Count Ricimer, and Majorian succeeded him. A part 

 of the Gauls took up arms to avenge Avitus, and Apollinaris went to 

 Lyon, which declared for Avitus, and received within its walls a body 

 of Visigoths, sent by the Visigoth king, Theodoric II. The city was 

 besieged by the Romans, and compelled to surrender. When Majorian 

 came to Lyon in 458 the poet pronounced a panegyric upon him in 

 verse ('Carmen,' 5), upon which Majorian granted him his petition in 

 behalf of Lyon. This emperor raised Apollinaris in 461 to the diguity 

 of a count, and gave him some other offices about his court. In 461 

 Ricimer caused Majorian to be assassinated, and placed the diadem 

 on the head of Severus. It appears that Apollinaris took this oppor- 

 tunity of quitting the Roman court, and that he passed the whole 

 reign of Severus in his domain of Avitac, occupying himself with lite- 

 rature, his domestic affairs, and the society of his friends. (' Epist.,' 

 ii 9 ; ' Carm.,' 23, v. 439, 490-501.) 



Upon Anthemius becoming emperor in 467, Apollinaris, who was 

 then at Lyon came to Rome, and pronounced a panegyric in verse 

 upon the emperor the 1st January, 468 ('Carmen,' 2). Anthemius 

 made him chief of the senate, prefect of the city, and after some time 

 patrician. 



Apollinaris had now obtained every honour to which a private 

 person could aspire, except the consulship, when he gave up all, and 

 passed, as he says himself, from a secular life and the first offices of 

 the court to the humility and sanctity of a bishop ('Epist.,' iii. 1). 

 Towards the close of the year 471, he was elected bishop of Clermont, 

 though not yet admitted among the clergy. He renounced profane 

 literature, and even poetry ; he wrote verses rarely, and such as he 

 did write were generally in honour of the saints and martyrs (' Epist,' 

 ix. 16). He contented himself with composing letters in prose, and 

 he sought to form a style more suitable to hia profession, less studied 

 and more approaching to common conversation than he had used 

 before (' Epist.,' iv. 3). He became a man of prayer, of fasting, and 

 charity. The greatest prelates of the church in those days, St. Lupus 

 of Troyes, St. Keinigius of Reims, St. Patiens of Lyon, corresponded 

 with him and were his friends. In 474, the city of Clermont was 

 besieged by Euric, king of the Visigoths. It suffered greatly. Winter 

 forced Euric to raise the siege : but the city was distracted by two 

 factions ; one party wished to abandon the town, another to stay and 

 defend it. Apolliuaris brought from Lyon the priest Constantius, 

 who, by his eloquence, restored concord amongst the inhabitants. The 

 country through which the Visigoths had passed was entirely devas- 

 tated ; more than 4000 Burgundians came to Clermont, destitute of 

 every thing. The bishop sold even his silver plate secretly to supply 

 the necessities of his people. But Papianilla, when she heard of this, 

 bought back the plate, and returned it to her husband. In order to 

 implore divine mercy, Apollinaris now established in his diocese the 

 ceremony of rogation*, in imitation of St. Mauiert, who had just 

 instituted it at Vienne in Dauphine" (' Epist.,' vii. 1). But Julius 

 Nepos, the emperor of the West, bought peace with Euric by the 

 cession of Auvergne, and the Visigoths became masters of Clermont 

 before the end of the reign of Nepos, that is, before the 28th of 

 August, 475. Apollinaris demanded of Euric, who was an Arian, that 

 the Catholics, who now passed under his dominion, should be allowed 

 to elect their own bishops. Euric refused and sent him prisoner to 

 the castle of Livia not far from Carcassone, where he remained for a 

 year. When he was restored to his diocese, he endeavoured to assuage 

 the sufferings of his people under the barbarian rule. Nothing is 

 known of tha last y> ars of his life, except that he experienced much 

 trouble from two priests who endeavoured to get possession of his 

 bishopric, but did not succeed. Apollinarid died on a Saturday, 

 which was the 21st of August. This is the day on which his memory 

 is honoured by the church of Clermont, which has placed him among 

 its saints. The year is uncertain, but it is probable that he died in 

 the year 488, which was the fifty-eighth of his life and the eighteenth 

 of his episcopate. 



Apollinaria wrote several works which are lost. Those which are 

 extant ho published himself. They are: 1. 'Carmina XXIV.' 

 These pen-ma appeared before the letters at different periods, and 



before Apollinaria became a bishop. Some other pieces of poetry, 

 epitaphs, and inscriptions are inserted among his letters. The most 

 remarkable of these poems are the panegyrics upon the three emperors, 

 Avitus, Majorian, and Anthemius. They are not printed ia chrono- 

 logical order. 2. ' Epistohe.' There are nine books of letters, and 

 two others are inserted among the verses. Apollinaris published these 

 books separately and at different periods after he became a bishop. 

 The last book was probably published in 483, as may be inferred from 

 the twelfth letter of the ninth book ; but Apollinaris in the publica- 

 tion of his letters observed no order either of subject or chronology. 

 The literary merit of his works is not great. His style is tumid, 

 obscure, and affected, too full of antithesis and points ; yet there is 

 considerable eloquence, fire, and conciseness in his diction. The real 

 value of his works is this, that they contain historical facts which can- 

 not be found elsewhere ; and although Apollinaris mentions the events 

 of his age very briefly, yet his writings throw considerable light on 

 the political and literary history of the 5th century. Gibbon and the 

 other historians who treat of that period refer continually to him. 



The editions of his works are numerous. The best are one pub- 

 lished with notes by Savaron, Paris, 4to., 1609; and another by Sir- 

 rnond, with valuable notes, 8vo., Paris,1614. The works of Apolliuaris 

 form a part of the ' Bibliotheca Patrum ' of Gallandius, torn. x. p. 

 463, &c., Venice, 1774. There is no English translation: but the 

 French translation, with the Latin text on the opposite side, by Gr6- 

 goire and Collombet, 8vo. Paris, 1836, three vols., contains a good 

 life and introduction to the works of Apolliuaris. 



(Histoire LUeraire de la France, torn. ii. p. 550-573 ; Gregoire and 

 Collombet, (Emrea de C. Sollias Apollinaris Sidonius, &c.) 



APOLLODO'RUS, a celebrated grammarian of Athens, of whom 

 an account is given by Suidas. He was a pupil of Aristarchus. Of 

 his voluminous writings, only three books of his ' Bibliotheca,' a 

 mythological work, have cotne down to us. He wrote a chronicle or 

 history iu Iambic verse, extending from the destruction of Troy 

 (B.C. 1184) to his own times (about B.C. 144). ('Scymnus Chiua,' 

 v. 19-49.) The first edition of Apollodorus was by B. Jigius of 

 Spoleto, 1555, 8vo, Rome. The best editions are by Heyne, 

 1782-1783, 4 volumes, and 1802, 2 volumes, 8vo; and that by Clavier, 

 Paris, 1805, 2 volumes, 8vo, with a French translation. 



APOLLODORUS, an eminent Athenian painter, who lived about 

 four centuries B.C. (Pliny, Natural History, xxxv. 9.) 



APOLLODORUS, a celebrated architect in the reigns of Trajau 

 and Hadrian, was born at Damascus. The magnificent stone bridge 

 built over the Danube, A.D. 104, by order of Trajan, was executed 

 under his direction. The remains of this bridge still exist near the 

 junction of the Aluta or Alt and the Danube. He is also said to 

 have been the architect of the Forum Trajanum, in which the column, 

 of Trajan stands, and to have built a library, a music-hall (Odeum), 

 baths, and aqueducts. It is said that Hadrian put him to Heath on 

 some false and frivolous pretence. Apollodorus is the author of a 

 work on besieging towns, printed in the collection of Thevenot. 



APOLLO'NIUS, a celebrated sculptor of the island of Rhodes, who, 

 along with his brother Tauriscus, executed a group in marble which 

 represented Zethus and Amphion binding Dirce to the horns of a 

 furious bull, to avenge their mother, Antiope, whom she had cruelly 

 persecuted. This group, described by Pliny (xxxvi. 4), is supposed, 

 with much probability, to be what is known to us under the name of 

 the Toro Farnese, found during the reigu of Paul III. in the ruins of 

 the Baths of Caracalla. The lower half of the figure of Dirce, the 

 two trunks, and a leg of Zethus and Amphion, were the only remnants 

 of the ancient sculptures, but enough remained to prove that the art 

 was then in its highest state of perfection. The group has been 

 restored by a Milanese artist, Batista Bianchi. (Piranesi, Statue; 

 Maffei ; Winkelmann, vi. i. p. 128 ; Muller, Handbuch der Arclifioloyie, 

 &e., p. 137.) 



APOLLO'NIUS, a celebrated statuary, the sou of Nestor of Athens, 

 only known to us from his name being inscribed ou the fragments of 

 a statue which was discovered in the 15th century, aud is now called 

 the Torso Belvedere. It has neither head, arms, nor legs, and yet it 

 is considered one of the master-pieces of antiquity. Michel Angelo 

 made it his grand object of study; and so enthusiastic was he iu his 

 admiration of it, that even after his sight failed him, he used to be 

 led to it that he might enjoy the pleasure of feeling it with his hands. 

 All agree as to its being one of the finest specimens of ancient 

 sculpture, but there is some doubt as to the period when Apollonius 

 lived. (Meyer, History of Greek Sculpture, p. 296 ; Visconti, Pio 

 Clementina, t. i. plate x. ; Winkelmann, x. iii. s. 15 ; Thiersch, Jfunst- 

 Epocfan, p. 333.) 



APOLLO'NIUS, the Sophist, supposed to have lived at Alexandria 

 in the time of Augustus, is the author of a Lexicon of Homeric words. 

 It was first published by Villoison at Paris, iu 1773, in two vols. 4to, 

 accompanied by a commentary and prolegomena. The work was re- 

 printed at Leyden in 1788, 8vo, with notes by Tollius, but with the 

 omission of Villoison's Latin translation and prolegomena. 



APOLLO'NIUS, BERG^EUS, after Archimedes the most original 

 and profound of all the Greek geometers, was born at Perga in 

 Paniphylia, while Ptoleinajus III., commonly called Euergetes, was king 

 of Egypt. Ptolemams began his reign B.C. 247. Apollouius was in 

 the zenith of his fame about the end of the reign of Ptolemmu.i (IV.) 



