109 



CASSIODORUS, MAGNUS. 



CASTALION, SEBASTIAN. 



no 



to him, and had he been allowed to rectify them, it is probable that 

 the fifth Cassini would not have abandoned the career of his ancestors 

 and we might have seen the observatory of Paris, such as it has been 

 since the accession of Napoleon, still in the hands of the distinguishec 

 family who had connected their name with all its previous history. 



CASSIODO'RUS MAGNUS (or, as some call him, MARCUS) 

 AURELIUS, who lived in the sixth century, was a man of letters, an 

 historian, and a statesman. He was born at Scylacium, in the conntn 

 of the Bruttii, probably about the yenr 470, though some date his 

 birth ten years later. His father, also named Cassiodorus, was high 

 in office under Odoacer and Theodoric; and he himself was early 

 introduced to public life under Odoacer, and obtained the confidence 

 of Theodoric, under whom he filled the offices of secretary and quaestor. 

 By Theodoric's successors he was appointed master of the offices and 

 pratorian prefect. Under the reign of Vitiges, about the age of 70, 

 he retired from the world, and founded the monastery of Viviers, in 

 Calabria, where he lived nearly to the age of 100 in devotional retire- 

 ment, enlivened by the exercise of his mechanical ingenuity in the 

 construction of water-clocks, dials, &c., the collection of a valuable 

 library, and composition. He composed a history of the Goths in 

 twelve books, which is only extant in the abridgment of Jornandes ; 

 and he caused the ecclesiastical histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and 

 Theodoret, to be translated into Latin by Epiphanes, under the title 

 of ' Historia Tripartite' Twelve books of his letters are extant : the 

 first ten consist of instructions relating to the service, and written in 

 the name of Theodoric, and hu successors, Araalasontha, Athalaric, 

 Theodatus, and Vitiges ; the last two consist of similar papers written 

 in his own name. They extend from the year 609 to 539. He also 

 composed a treatise ' De Artibus ac Disciplints Liberalium Literarum,' 

 upon grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, music, geometry, and 

 astronomy ; a treatise on orthography, an exposition of the psalms, 

 and other religious works. He enjoyed a high reputation among his 

 contemporaries for learning, eloquence, and talent; but his Latin is 

 impure, and hia style full of the conceits of the age. Hi* last work, 

 ' De Orthographia,' he states in his preface to have been written in his 

 93rd year. The best edition of his works is that of Garet, Rouen, 

 1679, in 2 vols. fol., reprinted at Venice; which contains the abridg- 

 ment of Jornandes and the ' Historia Tripartata,' with a life prefixed. 

 There is also a life of Cassiodorus in French, by Sainte-Marthe. 

 Paris, 1690. 12mo. As to the character of Casaiodorus, and the 

 literature of his age, the reader may consult Schlosser, 'Universal 

 Historische Uebersicht,' &c. iii. 4. 



CA'SSIUS, AVI'DIUS, was, according to Dion Cassius, a native of 

 Cyrrhns in Syria, and the son of a rhetorician, Heliodorus, who was 

 prefect of Egypt in the joint reign of Antoninus Pius and Marcus 

 Aurelius. Cassius served in the Parthian wan (A.D. 162 or 165) under 

 Lucius Verus, in which he defeated Vologeaus, and took Selenceia and 

 Ctesiphon on the Tigris. He also nerved on the Danube, probably 

 about 166. He was subsequently appointed governor of Syria, and 

 in 170 he went to Egypt to suppress an insurrection in the lower 

 country which was excited by some fanatics. He succeeded in putting 

 an end to the rebellion; but a few years after (in 175) he himself 

 rebelled against the Emperor Marcus Aureliug, and proclaimed him- 

 self Imperator in the East. Cassius was assassinated in a few months, 

 and his head was carried to Aurelius. The humane emperor lamented 

 his death, and declared that he wished Cassius alive that he might 

 upbraid him for his ingratitude. The family and children of Cassius 

 were spared, but it is said that Commodus the son of Aurelius burnt 

 alive all the then surviving members of the family of Cassius, on the 

 pretence of a fresh conspiracy. 



Dion Cassius, who loved a tale of scandal, says that Faustina the 

 wife of Aurelius, being apprehensive that her husband would not live 

 long, and considering the youth of her son Commodus, attempted to 

 secure the interests of herself and her family by corresponding with 

 Aviditis Cassius, and urging him to proclaim himself emperor when- 

 ever he heard of tho death of Aurelius, and take her for his wife. It 

 is said that there was a report of the death of Aurelius, and that this 

 was the immediate occasion of Caxsius proclaiming himself emperor. 

 It is also said that he was himself the author of the report of the death 

 of Aurelius. The letters between Aurelius and his wife Faustina on 

 the occasion of the rebellion of Cassius are probably not genuine. 

 Vulcatius attempts to show from these letters that Faustina was not 

 privy to the design of Cassius. 



(Vulcatius Qallicanus, Avidiut Cawiut ; Dion Cassius, lib. Ixxi. ; 

 Tilleraont, Hittoirt da Emperean, vol. ii.) 



-SIUS, CAIUS LONGI'NUS, appears in history for the first 

 time as the quaestor of Crassus, in tho unfortunate campaign against 

 the Parthinns, B.C. 53. He foresaw the consequences of the expedition 

 into Mesopotamia, and warned his general against it, but without 

 effect. He commanded a wing of the Roman army in the battle where 

 they were defeated ; aud in the retreat from Carrhso, discovering the 

 treachery of the guides, he took his own course with 500 horse, wboui 

 he conducted alone out of that army safely back into Syria. Succeeding 

 to the command of that province, he held out Antioch against the 

 Prthians, inflicted a signal defeat upon their troops retiring from 

 Antigonia, i.nd drove them, for a time, across the Euphrates. Upon 

 the arrival of the proconsul Bibulus, B.C. 51, Cassius returned to Rome, 

 having acquired great credit by hid conduct. 



A break occurs in his history, until, after the battle of Pharsalia, 

 B.C. 48, when we find him in Pompey's service, commanding a fleet iu 

 the Hellespont. There he had the opportunity of ending the war by 

 taking Caesar prisoner, who fell in his way accompanied by a very few 

 ships ; but instead of doing so, by some strange indiscretion or trea- 

 chery, he obeyed Caesar's summons to surrender, and passed over to 

 his side. Again we hear no more of him until the conspiracy against 

 the dictator's life, in which he was a principal; and he was chiefly 

 instrumental in drawing M. J. Brutus, whose sister he had married, 

 into the plot. He had shared in Caesar's favours, having been appointed 

 by him to a prtctorship, and to the command of Syria. Of the latter 

 Antony endeavoured to deprive him, and procured a vote of the 

 people to transfer it to Dolabella. Cassius, who had passed into Greece 

 with Brutus, no sooner heard of this than he hastened into Asia, and 

 speedily collected forces, with which he mastered Syria, Phoenicia, and 

 Judaea ; and he was on the point of invading Egypt, when letters from 

 Brutus summoned him to return towards Europe, to make head 

 against the triumviri. After conquering and plundering Rhodes 

 (B.C. 42), he joined Brutus at Sardis, and the united army marching 

 through Thrace into Macedonia, encountered Antony and Octaviauus 

 in the plain of Philippi. Cassius wished to avoid a battle as long as 

 possible, being aware that the enemy must soon become straitened for 

 provisions. But Brutus was eager to fight, and as the soldiery also 

 began to murmur at what they called the cowardice of their generals. 

 Cassius was obliged to yield. In the battle he commanded the left 

 wing, and was opposed to Antony. Brutus in the right broke th<; 

 troops of Octavianus, and drove them off the field ; but pursuing his 

 advantage too far, he exposed the flank of Cassius, who was then taken 

 at disadvantage by his able antagonist, and compelled to quit the field. 

 Thinking that all was lost, he put an end to his life. On hearing of 

 his death, Brutua honoured him with the appellation of the "last of 

 the Romans." 



Cassius was esteemed one of the best generals of the age ; his private 

 character was good, though his temper was stern, and he professed a 

 warm attachment to the republican cause. He has not escaped the 

 imputation of being influenced by private enmity in his hostility to 

 Cresar ; and tho abrupt way in which he abandoned Pompey's cause is 

 calculated to excite suspicious unfavourable to his character. In his 

 philosophical opinions, he belonged to the Epicureans. See Cicero, 'Ep. 

 adDiv.' xv. 19. 



CASSIVELLAUNUS. [BRITANNIA, in GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISION.] 

 CASTAGNO, ANDREA DEL, a distinguished Florentine painter, 

 sometimes called the Infamous, was born at Castagno in Mugello, near 

 Florence, about the year 1409, and died aged about seventy-four. He 

 was contemporary with Cosimo Roselli and Masaccio, and painted in a 

 style which in some respects resembled the styles of both masters, but 

 he always remained far behind Masaccio, though he survived him 

 many years. He was the first Florentine painter to adopt the new 

 method of oil painting, which he learnt from Domenico Veneziano, 

 and whom, after he had mastered the secret, he basely murdered. 

 [VENBZIANO, DOMEJTICO.] Very few of Castaguo's works still remain : 

 there are three in the gallery of the academy of Florence, of which 

 ' St. Jerome in the Desert ' is a work of great merit for its period ; there 

 are also two or three of those noticed by Vasari, in religious buildings 

 of Florence. In 1478, the Pazzi and other conspirators concerned iu 

 the murder of Giuliano do' Medici, were all painted by Castagno 

 hanging by the feet on the facade of the palace of the Podesta ; they 

 were done with such ability, and in such a variety of attitudes, that 

 Castagno was thenceforth called Andrea degli Impiccati (of the 

 banged). It was his best work, but it has long since perished. 

 (Vasari, Vite de' Pittori, Jtc.; Baldinucci, Notizie dei Profestori del 

 ltegno, <tc.) 



CASTALIO'N or CHASTEILLON, SEBASTIAN, was boru in 

 Dauphine", some say in Savoy, about 1515. He applied early to the 

 ancient languages, and became a great proficient in Greek and Hebrew. 

 Being at Strasbourg in 1540-1, he made the acquaintance of John 

 Calvin, who invited him to Geneva, and had him appointed to a chair 

 in the college of that city. After two or three years, Castalion having 

 become obnoxious to Calvin on account of some of his opinions, which 

 were not in accordance with Calvinistic orthodoxy, especially on tho 

 subject of predestination, left Geneva for Basel, where he employed 

 himself in teaching Greek and in writing several works, chiefly on 

 Scriptural subjects. He wrote ' Psaltniurn reliquaque sacraruni 

 Literarum Carmina et Precationes,' 1547, with notes; 'Jonas Pro 

 pheta, heroico carmine Latino descriptus ; ' 'Dialogorum Sacrorum ail 

 inguam et mores puerorum formandos, libri iv." This last work has 

 )een translated into English by Dr. Bellamy, under the title, ' Youth's 

 Scripture Remembrancer, or Select Sacred Stories by way of familial- 

 Dialogues, in Latin and English, with a short Application of each 

 Story,' London, 1743. He also published a version iu Latin verse of 

 >he Sibylline Books, with notes, and a Latin translation of the ' Dia- 

 ogues' of Bernardino Ochino. Before he lefc Geneva he had under 

 taken a complete Latin version of the Bible from the Hebrew and 

 Greek, which he completed at Basel, where it wn* published iu 1551, 

 and dedicated to Edward VI. of England. He published a French 

 version of the same ia 1555. Castalion's versions were made the 

 subject of much conflicting criticism. His Latin Bible went through 

 several editions; that of Leipzig, 1697, contains also his ' Delineatio 



