227 



SABELLIUS. 



SACCHETTI, FRANCO. 



223 



extensively employed in bis profession, he rose to considerable military 

 rank, being made lieutenant-general in 1790, and inspector-general of 

 engineers in 1792, and hud various appointments and distinctions con- 

 ferred upon him. He made some additions and alterations at the 

 royal palace of Madrid, and also at those of Aranjuez and the Pardo. 

 Amoug L is chief works in the capital are the Aduana, or custom- 

 house; the gate of Alcala" (a magnificent facade, with three lofty 

 arches and two other entrances, making in all five openings through 

 both fronts), and that of San Viucente; and the royal porcelain 

 manufactory at Buen Retire. He also designed the mausoleum of 

 Ferdinand VI. in the church of de las Salesas, the chapel in honour of 

 Paltifox in the cathedral of Csma, the grand altar in that of Segovia, 

 and various other structures, both ecclesiastical and secular, including 

 the arsenal at Caracas, and other works in Spanish America. He died 

 at Madrid on the 19th of December 1798, with the reputation of 

 great skill and judgment in his profession, and of an unusually correct 

 taste. 



SABELLIUS, an African bishop or presbyter, from whose teaching 

 originated the heretical Christian sect of the Sabellians. Of Sabellius 

 himself little is known. He appears to have been a Libyan, and 

 Theodoret says he was a native of the Libyan Pentapolis. Frcm the 

 circumstance of Dionysius of Alexandria, the great opponent of Sabel- 

 lianism, speaking of the heresy as originating in the Pentapolitan 

 Ptolemais, it. is supposed that Sabellius resided in that town. He 

 seems to have first put forth his peculiar doctrines about the middle 

 of the 3rd century. The intervention of Dionysius, who had been 

 appealed to both by the Sabellians and their opponents, is placed by 

 Tillemont in 257, but by some other historians a few years later. 

 "Whether Sabellius himself was then living is not known : Dionysius 

 does not at any rate appear to have engaged in controversy with him 

 personally, but with the bishops who had adopted his views. The 

 doctrines of Sabellius caused great excitement among the Christians 

 of the Pontapolis, and quickly found numerous adherents. The Sabel- 

 lians held that there was only one person in the Godhead, namely, the 

 Father; that Christ was a mere man, and that there resided in him a 

 certain energy proceeding from God, or a portion of the divine nature; 

 and they likewise deemed the Holy Spirit merely a divine energy, or 

 an emanation proceeding from God. They illustrated their doctrines 

 by comparing God to the sun, the Word to its illuminating power, and 

 the Holy Ghost to its warming energy. They were successfully opposed 

 by Dionysius of Alexandria, but continued for a long time to be an 

 important sect. (Lardner, Credibility and History of Heretics ; Tille- 

 mont, M6moires ; Neaader, Kirchengcschichte ; Mosheim, Ecclesiastical 

 History, and the ancient authorities there cited.) 



SABINIA'NUS of Volterra was elected Bishop of Koine after the 

 death of Gregory I., or the Great, A.D. 604. He had been employed 

 on a mission to the court of Phocas, the usurper of the Eastern empire. 

 He is said to have shown himself avaricious and fond of hoarding, and 

 to have thereby incurred the popular hatred. If such was the case, 

 he was very different from his predecessor, who was very generous 

 towards the poor. Sabiniauus died in about eighteen months after his 

 election, in 605 ; and was succeeded, after a vacancy of nearly one 

 year, by Boniface III., the first bishop of Rome who was acknowledged 

 by the imperial court of Constantinople as primate of the whole 

 Church. 



SABI'NUS, AULUS, a Roman poet, was a contemporary and friend 

 of Ovid, whom he followed and imitated in that species of poetry of 

 which Ovid has left specimens in his ' Heroides.' All we know of him 

 is that he died at an early age, and that he wrote a series of 'Epistles' 

 (Heroides), supposed to be addressed by heroes to heroines, and to be 

 the answers to thoaa epistles which Ovid has addressed to the heroes 

 in the name of the heroines. The Heroides of Sabinus, according to 

 Ovid ('Amor.,' ii., 18, 27, &c.), were Ulysses to Penelope, Hippolytus 

 to Phaedra, yEneas to Elissa, Demophoon to Phyllis, Jason to Hypsipyle, 

 find Phaon to Sappho. (Comp. Ovid, 'Ex Pout,' iv. 16, 13.) 



There are extant only three Heroides, Ulysses to Penelope, Demo- 

 phoou to Phyllis, and Paris to Oenone, which are generally ascribed to 

 Sabinus. It has been doubted, by G. Vossius and others, whether 

 these poems really belong to Sabinus ; but J. Ch. Jahn (' De Publ. 

 Ovid. Nason. et A. Sabini Epistolis Dissert.,' pars. L, Lips., 1826), and 

 nearly all modern editors of Ovid, have maintained that they belong 

 to Sabinus ; Glaser however (' Der Dieter Sabinus ' in the ' Rheinisches 

 Museum ' for 1842) is of opinion that they belong to a much later 

 writer. They are in every respect inferior to the poems of Ovid ; 

 the style is deficient in animation, and the poet's imagination seems 

 to have been very limited. 



The poems attributed to Sabinus are generally printed at the end 

 of the works of Ovid, and also in the separate editions of the Heroides 

 of Ovid. (See Ovidii ct Auli Sabini Epistolse, cum annotat., &c.,' by 

 Vitus Loers, 8vo, Colonise, 1829-30.) This edition is preceded by a 

 valuable introduction on the poems of Ovid and Sabinus. 



SABINUS, C^ELIUS, M., a Roman jurist, and the successor of 

 Cabins Longinua. He was made Consul Designatus by Otho ^Tacit., 

 ' Hist.,' i. 77) ; and his consulship belongs to the year A.D. 69, in which 

 Otho died and Vitellius became emperor. He belongs chiefly to the 

 time of Vespasian. He wrote a work, 'Ad Edictum J3dilium Curulium,' 

 which is cited by other jurists (Gaius, 'Dig.' 20, tit. 1, B. 20) ; but there 

 is ixo excerpt from Cselius Sabinus in the ' Digest.' He also wrote on 



other subjects (' Dig.' 35, tit. 1, 8. 72, 7). The extract in Gellius 

 (vii. 4, 'Pileatos servos,' &c.,) is probably from the treatise 'Ad 

 Edictum ;' for Gellius iu another passage (iv. 2) speaks of Sabinus as 

 the author of such a treatise, though he calls him in this passage, 

 according to some manuscripts, Caeciliua. He is often cited in the 

 ' Digest" simply by the name of Sabinus or Cselius (' Dig.' 20, tit. 1, s. 

 14, 17, 65). Cselius Sabinus is cited by Gaius in his ' Institutioues ' 

 (iii. 70, 141). 



SABI'NUS, MASSU'RIUS, a Roman jurist, a pupil of Aleius Capito, 

 and the contemporary of Cocceius Nerva. He lived under Tiberius ; 

 but he did not Hie in that reign, as is generally asserted, if the passage 

 of Gaius (ii. 218) refers to Massurius Sabinus, of which indeed there 

 can be no doubt. Massurius Sabinus gave the name of Sabiniani to 

 the school which was opposed to that of the Proculiani. He was near 

 fifty years of age when he was raised to the equestrian rank, and was 

 in such poor circumstances that he was mainly supported by the fees 

 of his pupils. (Pompon., ' Dig.' i., tit 2, s. 2, 47.) It is said of him 

 by Pompouius " publice primus respondit " (" he was the first who 

 gave opinions publicly"). Though the word is 'respondit' in thn 

 common editions of the ' Digest,' the passage is quoted thus by Ziminern, 

 "publice primus scripsit." It follows however from what Pom- 

 ponius says, that with Massurius began the practice of giving written 

 opinions, which were sealed with the seal of the jurist (' responsa 

 signata'). 



The reputation of Sabinus is shown by the publicity of his name, 

 which was equivalent to the title of a great lawyer (Persius, 'Sat.,' 

 v. 90 ; Arrian, 'Epictetus,' iv. 3) ; and by giving his name to the school, 

 of which his master Capito was considered to be the real founder. 

 This is evidence of the greater originality and more enlarged views of 

 Sabinus. His great work was 'Libri III. Juris Civilis,' from which 

 there is no direct excerpt in the ' Digest,' though there are various 

 fragments in Gellius (iv. 1 ; v. 13, &c.) The system followed in this 

 work had a great influence on subsequent writers. Poinponius wrote 

 at least 36 Libri ad Sabinum, Paulus 47, and Ulpian 51. The arrange- 

 ment of the matter of the work of Sabinus is made out conjecturally 

 by J. Gothofredus from the labours of his three commentators. 

 (Zirnmeru, p. 313, n. 7.) 



The other works of Sabinus were ' Commentarii de Indigenis,' 

 ' Libri Memorialium/ ' Fasti,' books of ' Responsa,' a commentary ' Ad 

 Edictum,' and ' Libri ad Vitellium.' 



(Zimmern, Oeschichte des Rom. Privatrechts ; Index to A. Gellius, ed. 

 Gronov., 1706 ; Grotius, Vitce Jurisconsultorum.) 



SACCHETTI, FRANCO. This eminent contemporary of Boccaccio, 

 who was distinguished, like him, though in less degree, as an Italian 

 novelist, was one of the earliest cultivators of a prose style in the 

 language. The precise date of his birth is not known, but Bottari 

 has fixed it about 1335, for which he alleges various proofs derived 

 both from Franco's own writings and other circumstances. His father 

 was Benci di Uguccione, of the Sachetti family, one of the most con- 

 siderable in Florence. He appears to have received au education of a 

 superior kind, and to have been well versed not only iu polite literature, 

 but in severer studies ; and that he was above the prejudices of his 

 age is proved by one or two of his tales, wherein he derides the pre- 

 tended science of astrology, and inveighs against that false and mistaken 

 devotion which substitutes superstitious observances for genuine piety. 

 Literary studies however were to him rather relaxations from more 

 serious duties than his chief occupation ; for he was actively engaged 

 in public life, and at various times filled many important offices, which 

 were conferred on him by his fellow- citizens. From what he says in 

 one of his canzoni, it appears that in the earlier part of his life he 

 visited Sclavonia, for he describes the rude iinpolished habits and 

 manners of the people, and his eagerness to see Florence again. It is 

 probable therefore that he was engaged there in commercial affairs, it 

 being then the custom for Florentine and other Italian merchants to 

 establish themselves in foreign countries. In 1383 he filled the office 

 of one of the magistrates Degli Otto, or Council of Eight, at Florence ; 

 and two years afterwards was chosen, much against his inclination, 

 as ambassador from the republic to Genoa ; but he escaped that honour 

 by happening at the same time to be elected podesth, or chief magis- 

 trate, of Bibbiena. He afterwards held the same office, first at San 

 Miniato, and in 1396 at Faenza, which latter he accepted merely 

 because its emoluments were of consequence to him in his then 

 straitened circumstances. 



The time of his death is as much matter of uncertainty as that of 

 his birth. Crescimbeni makes him live till after 1410, while Bottari 

 conjectures that he must have died shortly after the beginning of the 

 century. He was thrice married : first in 1354 to Felicita, daughter 

 of Niccolo Strozzi, to whom he was greatly attached, and by whom he 

 had several children; secondly, in 1387; and lastly in 1396, when, 

 supposing him to have been born in 1335, he was in his sixty-first 

 year, which is one of the reasons brought forward by his biographer 

 for assuming that he could not have been born much earlier than the 

 date he assigns ; yet in itself it is a most inconclusive circumstance. 

 By his first wife ha had several children, of whom only Filippo and 

 Niccolo survived him. The latter, who was gonfaloniere at Florence 

 in 1419, had a eon named Franco, a person of some literary distinction 

 among his contemporaries, which circumstance has led several writers 

 to confound the grandfather and grandson, or rather to attribute the 



