Ælia Petina, of the family of Tubero, married Claudius Cæsar, by whom she had a son. The emperor divorced her to marry Messalina. Suetonius, Claudius, ch. 26.
Æliānus Claudus, a Roman sophist of Præneste, in the reign of Adrian. He first taught rhetoric at Rome; but being disgusted with his profession, he became author, and published treatises on animals in 17 books, on various history in 14 books, &c., in Greek, a language which he preferred to Latin. In his writings he shows himself very fond of the marvellous, and relates many stories which are often devoid of elegance and purity of style; though Philostratus has commended his language as superior to what could be expected from a person who was neither born nor educated in Greece. Ælian died in the 60th year of his age, A.D. 140. The best editions of his works collected together are that of Conrad Gesner, folio, printed Tigurii, 1556, though now seldom to be met with, and that of Kuenius, 2 vols., 8vo, Lipscomb, 1780. Some attribute the treatise on the tactics of the Greeks to another Ælian.
Ælius and Ælia, a family in Rome, so poor that 16 lived in a small house, and were maintained by the produce of a little field. Their poverty continued till Paulus conquered Perseus king of Macedonia, and gave his son-in-law Æl. Tubero five pounds of gold from the booty. Valerius Maximus, bk. 4, ch. 4.
Ælius Adriānus, an African, grandfather to the emperor Adrian.——Gallus, a Roman knight, the first who invaded Arabia Felix. He was very intimate with Strabo the geographer, and sailed on the Nile with him to take a view of the country. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 28.——Publius, one of the first questors chosen from the plebeians at Rome. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 54.——Quintus Ælius Pætus, son of Sextus or Publius. As he sat in the senate house, a woodpecker perched on his head; upon which a soothsayer exclaimed, that if he preserved the bird, his house would flourish, and Rome decay; and if he killed it, the contrary must happen. Hearing this, Ælius, in the presence of the senate, bit off the head of the bird. All the youths of his family were killed at Cannæ, and the Roman arms were soon attended with success. Valerius Maximus, bk. 5, ch. 6.——Saturninus, a satirist, thrown down from the Tarpeian rock for writing verses against Tiberius.——Sejānus. See: [Sejanus].——Sextus Catus, censor with Marcus Cethegus. He separated the senators from the people in the public spectacles. During his consulship, the ambassadors of the Ætolians found him feasting in earthen dishes, and offered him silver vessels, which he refused, satisfied with the earthen cups, &c., which, for his virtues, he had received from his father-in-law, Lucius Paulus, after the conquest of Macedonia. Pliny, bk. 33, ch. 11.—Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1.——Spartiānus, wrote the lives of the emperors Adrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. He flourished A.D. 240.——Tubero, grandson of Lucius Paulus, was austere in his morals, and a formidable enemy to the Gracchi. His grandson was accused before Cæsar, and ably defended by Cicero. Cicero, Letters to Brutus.——Verus Cæsar, the name of Lucius Ceionius Commodus Verus, after Adrian had adopted him. He was made pretor and consul by the emperor, who was soon convinced of his incapacity in the discharge of public duty. He killed himself by drinking an antidote; and Antoninus, surnamed Pius, was adopted in his place. Ælius was father to Antoninus Verus, whom Pius adopted.——A physician mentioned by Galen.——Lucius Gallus, a lawyer, who wrote 12 books concerning the signification of all law words.——Sextus Pætus, a lawyer, consul at Rome, A.U.C. 566. He is greatly commended by Cicero for his learning, and called cordatus homo by Ennius for his knowledge of law. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 48; Brutus, ch. 20.——Stilo, a native of Lanuvium, master to Marcus Terentius Varro, and author of some treatises.——Lamia. Lamia.
Aello, one of the Harpies (from ἑλουσα ἀλλο, alienum tollens, or ἀελλα, tempestas). Flaccus, bk. 4, li. 450.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 267.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 710.——See: One of Actæon’s dogs. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 220.
Ælurus (a cat), a deity worshipped by the Egyptians; and after death embalmed and buried in the city of Bubastis. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 66, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 1.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1.—Aulus Gellius, bk. 20, ch. 7.—Plutarch, Pyrrhus.
Æmathion and Æmathia. See: [Emathion].
Æmilia lex, was enacted by the dictator Æmilius, A.U.C. 309. It ordained that the censorship, which was before quinquennial, should be limited to one year and a half. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 33.——Another in the second consulship of Æmilius Mamercus, A.U.C. 391. It gave power to the eldest pretor to drive a nail in the capitol on the ides of September. Livy, bk. 7, ch. 3.—The driving of a nail was a superstitious ceremony, by which the Romans supposed that a pestilence could be stopped, or an impending calamity averted.
Æmiliānus C. Julius, a native of Mauritania, proclaimed emperor after the death of Decius. He marched against Gallus and Valerian, but was informed that they had been murdered by their own troops. He soon after shared their fate.——One of the thirty tyrants who rebelled in the reign of Gallienus.
Æmilius. See: [Æmylius].