Serīphus, an island in the Ægean sea, about 36 miles in circumference, according to Pliny only 12, very barren, and uncultivated. The Romans generally sent their criminals there in banishment, and it was there that Cassius Severus the orator was exiled, and there he died. According to Ælian, the frogs of this island never croaked, but when they were removed from the island to another place, they were more noisy and clamorous than others; hence the proverb of seriphia rana, applied to a man who neither speaks nor sings. This, however, is found to be a mistake by modern travellers. It was on the coast of Seriphos that the chest was discovered in which Acrisius had exposed his daughter Danae and her son Perseus. Strabo, bk. 10.—Ælian, De Natura Animalium, bk. 3, ch. 37.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 21.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 242; bk. 7, li. 65.
Sermyla, a town of Macedonia. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 122.
Seron, a general of Antiochus Epiphanes.
Serrānus, a surname given to Cincinnatus, because he was found sowing his fields when told that he had been elected dictator. Some, however, suppose that Serranus was a different person from Cincinnatus. Pliny, bk. 18, ch. 3.—Livy, bk. 3, ch. 26.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 844.——One of the auxiliaries of Turnus, killed in the night by Nisus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 335.——A poet of some merit in Domitian’s reign. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 80.
Serrheum, a fortified place of Thrace. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 16.
Quintus Sertorius, a Roman general, son of Quintus and Rhea, born at Nursia. His first campaign was under the great Marius, against the Teutones and Cimbri. He visited the enemy’s camp as a spy, and had the misfortune to lose one eye in the first battle he fought. When Marius and Cinna entered Rome and slaughtered all their enemies, Sertorius accompanied them, but he expressed his sorrow and concern at the melancholy death of so many of his countrymen. He afterwards fled for safety into Spain, when Sylla had proscribed him, and in this distant province he behaved himself with so much address and valour that he was looked upon as the prince of the country. The Lusitanians universally revered and loved him, and the Roman general did not show himself less attentive to their interest, by establishing public schools, and educating the children of the country in the polite arts, and the literature of Greece and Rome. He had established a senate, over which he presided with consular authority, and the Romans, who followed his standard, paid equal reverence to his person. They were experimentally convinced of his valour and [♦]magnanimity as a general, and the artful manner in which he imposed upon the credulity of his adherents in the garb of religion, did not diminish his reputation. He pretended to hold commerce with heaven by means of a white hind which he had tamed with great success, and which followed him everywhere, even in the field of battle. The success of Sertorius in Spain, and his popularity among the natives, alarmed the Romans. They sent some troops to oppose him, but with little success. Four armies were found insufficient to crush or even hurt Sertorius; and Pompey and Metellus, who never engaged an enemy without obtaining the victory, were driven with dishonour from the field. But the favourite of the Lusitanians was exposed to the dangers which usually attend greatness. Perpenna, one of his officers who was jealous of his fame and tired of a superior, conspired against him. At a banquet the conspirators began to open their intentions by speaking with freedom and licentiousness in the presence of Sertorius, whose age and character had hitherto claimed deference from others. Perpenna overturned a glass of wine, as a signal for the rest of the conspirators, and immediately Antonius, one of his officers, stabbed Sertorius, and the example was followed by all the rest, 73 years before Christ. Sertorius has been commended for his love of justice and moderation. The flattering description which he heard of the Fortunate Islands when he passed into the west of Africa, almost tempted him to bid adieu to the world, and perhaps he would have retired from the noise of war, and the clamours of envy, to end his days in the bosom of a peaceful and solitary island, had not the stronger calls of ambition and the love of fame prevailed over the intruding reflections of a moment. It has been observed that in his latter days [♠]Sertorius became indolent, and fond of luxury and wanton cruelty; yet we must confess that in affability, clemency, complaisance, generosity, and military valour, he not only surpassed his contemporaries, but the rest of the Romans. Plutarch, Lives.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 30, &c.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 21, &c.—Appian, Civil Wars.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 2; bk. 7, ch. 3.—Eutropius.—Aulus Gellius, bk. 15, ch. 22.
[♦] ‘magnamimity’ replaced with ‘magnanimity’
[♠] ‘Sertorious’ replaced with ‘Sertorius’
Servæus, a man accused by Tiberius of being privy to the conspiracy of Sejanus. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 7.
Serviānus, a consul in the reign of Adrian. He was a great favourite of the emperor Trajan.