C ^ S A R. 



« De Plaiitis I.ibri xvi," Florent. i.'Sj, 4to. He com- 

 pares ttie fteds of plants to the ef^e;s of animals ; the feed 

 ferviiig, he faj's, to defend and nourifh the germ until it has 

 talccn root in the eavth. He alio formed a fyllem of ar- 

 ranijement, dividing the plants into clafTes, from the fruftili- 

 cat-'on ; but as there are no ei;gravings, or delineations of the 

 plarits, and he only gave the trivial n?mes, the work is of 

 little value at this time. He left a hortiis ficcus of 760 

 plants, which is fnid to be now in being. His fpeculations 

 in anatomy are ftill more ingenious. He dcfcribes very 

 clearly the circulation of the blood through the heart, and 

 was acquainted with the ufes of the valves. Douglas think.;* 

 him entitled to equal praife with Harvey, who only com- 

 pleted what he had nearly achieved. He clearly, Douglas 

 fays, defcribta the contratlinn and dilatation of the heart, 

 which is ihewn from the following paffage from his fourth 

 book, " OueiUonum Ptripateticaruni." " V'afornm in cor de- 

 fnientium quiidam intromittunt contentam in ipfis fubilan- 

 tiam, ut vena cava in dextro ventriculo, et arteiia venalis in 

 finiflro ; qusdam educunt, ut arteria aorta in fuiillro ventri- 

 culo, et vena arteiialis in dextro ; omnibus autem membra- 

 nulae funt appolitx et officio delegate ut olcnla intromitten- 

 tium non cducant et educentium non intromittant. contingit 

 corde contrahente, feu arterias dilatari, et dilatente conilruigi ; 

 dum enim dila'atur cor, claudi vult orilicia educeiitium, ut 

 ex corde non influat tunc fubflatitia in arterias, contrahente 

 autem fe, iufluere dehifccntlbus mtmbranis." The pulfe, 

 he thinks, depends on an effervefcence of the blood in the 

 heart. His works on the praAice of medicine have alfo 

 their portion of merit. " Qj.ieftionum Mcdicarum Libri ii.;" 

 " De Facultatibus M;dicamentorum Libri duo," Venct. 

 1593, 4to. Bleeding can only be advantageoufly ufed in 

 the beginning of fever. In putrid fever the cure is to com- 

 mence with clearing the flomach and bowels. " Speculum 

 Artis Medicx HippocraticK, e.xliibens dignofcendos curan- 

 dofque morbos, in quo multa vifuntur, qiix a prajclariflimis 

 niedicis intaifla relida erant," Lion. 1601-2-3, 3 ^ol. Svo. 

 treating of the Materia Medica, fevers, lues venerea, Sec. in 

 which difeafe he very much extols the ufe of guiacirm. 

 Douglas. Bib. Anat. Specimen. Haller. Bib. Bot. Med. et 

 Anat. 



CjESAR, in Roman yintiqu'ity, was a long time ufed 

 for the heir intended, or prefumptive, of the empire ; as 

 king of the Romans is now ufed for that of the German 

 empire. 



The Csfars were a kind of adjunfts or alTociates of the 

 empire, parUc'ipes Impern. They wore the imperial mantle, 

 purple, and diadem, and walked with other marks of the 

 Sovereign dignity : they were created, hke the emperors, by 

 putting on the purple robe. 



The dignity of Caefar remained the fecond of the em- 

 pire, till Alexius Commenus made Nicephorus Meliffcnus 

 Csfur by contraft, and it being neceffary to confer fome 

 higher dignity on his own brother Ifaacius, he created him 

 Seballocrator, with the precedency over Meliffenus, ordering 

 that in all acclamations, 8:c. Ifaacius Sebaftocrator fhould 

 be named the fecond, and Meliffcnus Cafar the third. 



The title took its rife from the cognomen, or furname 

 of the lirft emperor, C. Julius Csefar, which, by a decree of 

 the fenate, all the fuccecding emperors were to bear. Under 

 his fuccelfor, the appellation Augullus being appropriated 

 to the emperors, in compliment to tint prince, the title 

 Csfar was given to the fecond perfon in the empire, though 

 it lliil continued alfo to be given to the firft, and hence the 

 difference between Cxfar ufed fimply, and Caefar with the 

 addition of Imperator Augullus. Athors are divided as to 

 tJie origin of the word Csfar, the cognomen of the Gens 



Julia. The more common opinion is, that the word Ciefar 

 comes <} cxfo malris tilcro ; btcaufe liis mother's womb was 

 cut open to give him birth. 



If this opinion be true, (lie mufl have furvivcd the opera- 

 tion ; for we are told by Tacitus (Dialog, de Oral. 28.) 

 that fhc took care of his education, and by Suetonius (in 

 Cxi. c 26.), that (lie died when her fon was in the war 

 againll the Gauls. It is alfo known that (he was alive when 

 he was married to Ponapeia. It has been alleged, however, that 

 the words of Pliny (H. N. lib. vii. c. 9.), upon which this 

 opinion is founded, have been erroncoufly applied to Cxfar 

 the Didator ; wheteas he meant only to cxprefs, that the 

 firll perfon who was furnamed Csfar had derived his name 

 from this cireumllance. 



Some pretend that the lauicl crown on medals is never 

 given to Citlars, but only to Auguili ; which is overthrown 

 by a medallion of Maximus : not to mention another medal 

 of the lower empire, w herein Crifpus Ca:l'ar is crowned with 

 laurel. See August. 



Card. Norrisobicrves,that the years of the Crefars were fre- 

 quently marked on their mrdals ; of which we have inffancta 

 on the medals of Conftantine, Chlorns, and divers others, 

 whole years are expreffed on their coins, though they were 

 never more than Casfars. 



C/ESAR, Caius Julius, in Biography, the diftator of 

 Rome and founder of its imperial conllitntion, was a de- 

 fceudant of the Julian family, which boafted its derivation 

 from Venus by jEneas, the fon of Anchifes, to whom fa- 

 bulous hillory afcribes the origin of the Roman ftate. See 

 iENEAS. From the loth year of the fecond Punic war, 

 A. U. C. 546, till the time of Caius Julius Cxfar, the em- 

 peror's father, fome of the family of the Ccefars enjoyed 

 public offices in the commonwealth. The father of Csefar 

 died luddcnly in early life, after having occupied the ftation 

 of pijetor : his mother's name was Aurelia ; and his aunt. 

 Julia was the wife of the celebrated Caius Marius. He was 

 born at Rome, on the 12th day of the month Quintilis, af- 

 terwards called July, A.U.C. 654, B.C. 100; and though 

 he loll his father in his 1 6th year, his connexions were fuch 

 as to favour his introduftion into life in a manner fuitable to 

 his talents. In his youth he was betrothed to Coffutia, a 

 rich heirefs ; but in his 17th year he broke this engagement, 

 and married Cornelia, the daughter of L. Cornelius Cinna j 

 and at this time he was invefted with the dignity oi Jlamen 

 e/ia/is. When Sylla fucceeded in overthrowing the Mariai» 

 party, to which Cxfar owed his advancement, he was urged' 

 by this powerful didator to divorce the daughter of his ene- 

 my ; but Csfar, refilling the injunttion, was deprived of 

 the prieftly office, as well as of his own patrimony and his 

 wife's portion, and fubjefted to a decree of profcriptiou. 

 This decree, however, was afterwards reverfed, by the in- 

 terceffion of the Veftal virgins and fome diftinguifhed pcrfons 

 of his own family ; although in granting their petition Sylla 

 admonidied them, that they would repent of their interfer- 

 ence, as he forefaw in Casfar many Mariufes. Cxfar, 

 alarmed at his jealoufy, retired from Rome, and after a (hort 

 interval withdrew to the court of Nicomedes, king of Bithy- 

 nia, where his conduft gaveoccafion to fome fufpicions of an 

 infamous nature. At the fiege of Mitylene, in which 

 he was employed by Thernnus, who was at this time prxtor 

 of Afia, he ditlinguifhed himfelf by his military valour, and 

 obtained from his general the honourable recompence of a 

 civic crown. Having ferved for a (hort time in Cilicia, un- 

 der Servilius Ifauricus, the death of Sylla made way for his . 

 return to Rome ; where, declining to concur in the ambi- 

 tious defigns of Lepidus, he devoted himfelf to the ftudy 

 and praftice of eloq^uence. The mal-adrainillrationof Dola.. 



bellay 



