Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/51

OPPIUS. 11. L. Oppius, a Roman eques, was a witness on behalf of Flaccus, whom Cicero defended in B. c. 59. (Ck. pro Flacc. 13.) He is probably the BJime as the L. Oppius, M. f., whom Cicero recom- mended to Quintius Gallius, and whom he calls homo mihi fajniliaris, and familiarissimus {ad Fam. xiii. 43), and also the same as the L. Oppius, whom Cicero recommended to Q. Philippus, pro- consul in Asia, B.C. 54 (ad Fam. xiii. 73, 74). 12. P. or Sp. Oppius, praetor, b.c. 44. (Cic. Philipp. iii. 10.) 13. M. Oppius, was proscribed together with his father in B. c. 43. The father was unable to leave the city of his own accord on account of his great feebleness through old age, but his son carried him on his shoulders and reached Sicily with him in safety. This instance of filial piety excited such admiration among the people, that he was after- wards elected aedile ; and as he had not sufficient property to discharge the duties of the office, the people contributed the requisite money for the pur- pose, and on his death further testified their affec- tion towards him by burying him in the Campus Martins. (Appian, D. C. iv. 41 ; Dion Cass, xlviii. 53.) He is often said to be the same as the M. Oppius, whom Cicero calls in a letter to Pompeius {ad Att. viii, 11, B) " vigilans homo et industrius," but the modern editions have M. Eppius and not M. Oppius. 14. M. Oppius Capito, occurs on the coins of M. Antonius, struck about b. c. 40, as propraetor and praefectus classis, (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 264.) He may be the same as the Oppius Capito, a man of praetorian rank, of whom Pliny {H. N. vii. 13. s. 15) relates that he had a scirrhus in his sto- mach. 15. Oppius Chares, sometimes but erroneously called Cares, a Latin grammarian, who taught in the province of Gallia togata towards the end of the republic, and continued his instructions to extreme old age, when he had lost not only the power of movement, but even of sight. (Suet, de III. Gram,m. 3.) This grammarian may be the Oppius, whose work De Silvestribus Arboribus is referred to by Macrobius. {Saturn. . 14, 15.) Oppius is also quoted by Festus (p. 182, ed. Miiller), in explan- ation of the meaning of the word ordinarius. 16. Oppiuk Gallus, whose scandalous treat- ment by M. Popilius is related by Valerius Maxi- mus (vii. 8. § 9). 17. Oppius Statianus, legate of M. Antonius in his unfortunate campaign against the Parthians in B. c. 36. When Antonius hastened forward to besiege Phraata, he left Oppius with two legions and the baggage to follow him ; but Oppius was surprised by the enemy, and he and all his men were cut to pieces. (Dion Cass. xlix. 25, 44 ; Plut. Ant. 38.) 18. Oppius Sabinus, a man of consular rank, was sent against the Dacians in the reign of Domi- tian, and perished in the expedition. (Eutrop. vii. 23 ; Suet. Dom. 6.) The name, however, does not occur in any of the consular fasti, whence some have proposed to read Appius, instead of Op- pius in Eutropius and Suetonius. 19. Q. Oppius, known only from the annexed coin, cannot be identified with certainty with any of the persons previously mentioned. The PR. after tlie name of q. oppivs may signify either praetor or praefectus. The obverse represents the head of Venus, and the reverse Victory : the coin was OPTATUS. probably struck in one of the provinces, vol. V. pp. 264, 265.) (Eckhel coin op q. oppius. OPS, a female Roman divinity of plenty and fertility, as is indicated by her name, which is connected with opimus, opulentus, inops, and copia. (Fest. p. 186, &c. ed. Miiller.) She was regarded as the wife of Saturnus, and, according]}', as the protectress of every thing connected with agricul- ture. Her abode was in the earth, and hence those who invoked her, or made vows to her, used to touch the ground (Macrob. Sat. i. 10), and as she was believed to give to liuman beings both their place of .abode and their food, newly-born children were recommended to her care. (August, de Civ, Dei, iv. 11, 21.) Her worship was intimately connected with that of her husband Saturnus, for she had both temples and festivals in common with him ; she had, however, also a separate sanctuary on the Capitol, and in the vicus jugarius, not far from the temple of Saturnus, she had an altar in common with Ceres. (Liv. xxxix. 22 ; P. Vict. Beg. Urb. viii.) The festivals of Ops are called Opalia and Opiconsivia, from her surname Con- siva, connected with the verb serere, to sow. (Fest. /. c; Macrob. Sat. I 10, 12.) [L. S.] O'PSIUS, had previously been praetor, and was one of the accusers of Titius Sabinus in a. d, 28, on account of the friendship of the latter with Ger- manicus. (Tac. Ann. iv. 68, 71.) OPTATIANUS. [PoRPHYRiusj. OPTA'TUS ELIPE'RTIUS, praefectus classis in the reign of Claudius, brought the scar or char fish {scari) from the Carpathian sea, and scattered them along the coasts of Latium and Campania. For Elipertius Gelenius proposed to read e Ubertis ejus. (Plin. H. N. ix. 17. s. 29.) Macrobius calls this Optatus, Octavius. (Macrob. Saturn, ii. 12.) OPTA'TUS, bishop of Milevi in Numidia, and hence distinguished by the epithet Milevitanus^ fllourished under the emperors Valentinian and Valens, and must have been alive at least as late as A. D. 384, if the passage (ii. 3) be genuine in which mention is made of pope Siricius, who in that year succeeded Daraasus in the Roman see. Of his personal history we know nothing except that he was by birth a gentile, and that he is classed by St. Augustine with Cyprian, Lactantius, Victorinus, and Hilarius, as one who came forth from Egypt (z. e. from the bondage of paganism) laden with the treasures of learning and eloquence. He published a controversial treatise, still ex- tant, entitled De Schismate Donatistarum adversus Parmenianum, comprised, as we gather from the introduction and are expressly told by Jerome, in six books. Upon this testimony, which is fully confirmed by internal evidence, the seventh book now found in our copies has been deservedly pro- nounced spurious by the best judges, although some scholars still maintain that it ought to be re- D 4