Gratiæ, three goddesses. See: [Charites].
Grātiānus, a native of Pannonia, father to the emperor Valentinian I. He was raised to the throne, though only eight years old; and after he had reigned for some time conjointly with his father, he became sole emperor in the 16th year of his age. He soon after took, as his imperial colleague, Theodosius, whom he appointed over the eastern parts of the empire. His courage in the field was as remarkable as his love of learning, and fondness of philosophy. He slaughtered 30,000 Germans in a battle, and supported the tottering state by his prudence and intrepidity. His enmity to the Pagan superstition of his subjects proved his ruin; and Maximinus, who undertook the defence of the worship of Jupiter and of all the gods, was joined by an infinite number of discontented Romans, and met Gratian near Paris in Gaul. Gratian was forsaken by his troops in the field of battle, and was murdered by the rebels, A.D. 383, in the 24th year of his age.——A Roman soldier, invested with the imperial purple by the rebellious army in Britain, in opposition to Honorius. He was assassinated four months after by those very troops to whom he owed his elevation, A.D. 407.
Gratidia, a woman at Neapolis, called Canidia by Horace, epode 3.
Gration, a giant killed by Diana.
Gratius Faliscus, a Latin poet contemporary with Ovid, and mentioned only by him among the more ancient authors. He wrote a poem on coursing, called Cynegeticon, much commended for its elegance and perspicuity. It may be compared to the Georgics of Virgil, to which it is nearly equal in the number of verses. The latest edition is of Amsterdam, 4to, 1728. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, poem 16, li. 34.
Gravii, a people of Spain. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 366.
Grăviscæ, now Eremo de St. Augustino, a maritime town of Etruria, which assisted Æneas against Turnus. The air was unwholesome, on account of the marshes and stagnant waters in its neighbourhood. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 184.—Livy, bk. 40, ch. 29; bk. 41, ch. 16.
Gravius, a Roman knight of Puteoli, killed at Dyrrachium, &c. Cæsar, Civil War.
Gregorius Theodore Thaumaturgus, a disciple of Origen, afterwards bishop of Neocæsarea, the place of his birth. He died A.D. 266, and it is said he left only 17 idolaters in his diocese, where he had found only 17 christians. Of his works, are extant his congratulatory oration to Origen, a canonical epistle, and other treatises in Greek, the best edition of which is that of Paris, folio, 1622.——Nazianzen, surnamed the Divine, was bishop of Constantinople, which he resigned on its being disputed. His writings rival those of the most celebrated orators of Greece in eloquence, sublimity, and variety. His sermons are more for philosophers than common hearers, but replete with seriousness and devotion. Erasmus said that he was afraid to translate his works, from the apprehension of not transfusing into another language the smartness and acumen of his style, and the stateliness and happy diction of the whole. He died A.D. 389. The best edition is that of the Benedictines, the first volume of which, in folio, was published at Paris, 1778.——A bishop of Nyssa, author of the Nicene creed. His style is represented as allegorical and affected; and he has been accused of mixing philosophy too much with theology. His writings consist of commentaries on scripture, moral discourses, sermons on mysteries, dogmatical treatises, panegyrics on saints; the best edition of which is that of Morell, 2 vols., folio, Paris, 1615. The bishop died, A.D. 396.——Another christian writer, whose works were edited by the Benedictines, in 4 vols., folio, Paris, 1705.
Grinnes, a people among the Batavians. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 5, ch. 10.