Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/925

STILICHO. pelled the subservient senate of Rome to elect Alaric a member of their body. Fortime, however, began to turn her back upon the ever successful master of Italy. Maria, the wife of Honorius, having died, Serena proposed her second daughter Therraantia (Aerailia Materna) to him, when Sti- licho opposed the project, as any issue arising out of this new marriage would thwart his plan of obtaining both the empires for his son Eucherius. Serena, however, carried her point, and the mar- riage took place accordingly. Soon afterwards Arcadius died, and was succeeded by his son Theodosius the younger, for whom his excellent mother Pulcheria reigned with sovereign power. The influence of these events was sensibly felt at the court of Honorius, where dangerous court in- trigues sprang up, in which the arbitrary rule of Stilicho found an unforeseen check. It was evi- dent that the emperor secretly followed the advice of other counsellors than his father-in-law, and among those the crafty Olympius soon became conspicuous. Stilicho was not the man to be taken by surprise by such intrigues ; and since he was as crafty as he was bold, he coolly informed the emperor that he would at last settle the business in Illyricum, where Jovinus was only nominal prefect, if he was there at all, and go thither with the legions to annex it rinally to the Western Empire. For the first time in his life, Honorius firmly op- posed the will of Stilicho, on the pretext that he would not rob his nephew of his paternal inherit- ance. At the same time he declared that he would leave Rome, whither he had been compelled to accompany his father-in-law, and take up his former residence at Ravenna. His eyes had been opened by Olympius, who had seen through the plan of Stilicho's going to Illyricum, and could not but consider it as a means of making war upon both the emperoi-s at once, and of seizing by force of arms what he could not obtain by intrigues and negotiations. Honorius consequently set out for Ravenna. He was received with shouts of accla- mation by the troops assembled in the camp of Pavia, who were preparing for a campaign in Gaul, and had been secretly worked upon by Olympius. Honorius addressed the troops in a long and artful speech. Suddenly they rose in uproar against the partizans of Stilicho, and a terrible bloodshed en- sued : the prefect! praetorio of Gaul and Italy, a magister equitum, a magister militum, the quaestor Salvius, and his namesake Salvius, the comes do- mesticus, besides many other high functionaries, fell victims to the fury of the army. Stilicho, full of sinister forebodings, assembled round him his remaining partizans in the camp of Bologna, where he was then staying, but to their surprise and in- dignation he declined to follow their plan of imme- diately hastening to Pavia, and putting down Olympius and the whole rebellion. His hesitation in adopting energetic means in such an alternative caused his ruin. His own most faithful friends now turned against him. Sarus was the first to act. [Sarus.] He surprised the camp of Stilicho, and cut his body-guard to pieces in the conflict. Stilicho fled to Ravenna, where he shut himself up after summoning the principal cities of Italy to declare against the barbarian mercenaries of the emperor. The confusion increasing, Stilicho took sanctuary in a church. Heraclianus Comes soon arrived with a chosen body of troops, and a warrant to seize the person of the fallen minister, to whom VOL. III. STILPO. 913 safety of life was promised. Stilicho trusted to the promise and left the church, but was immedi- ately seized and massacred. He suffered death with the calm stoicism of an ancient Roman. His property was confiscated, and cruel persecutions were instituted against his family ; his son Euche- rius took to flight, but was seized, dragged from one place to another, and finally put to death. The marriage of Honorius and Thermantia was dis- solved, but she was allowed to lead an obscure life with her mother Serena, and died seven years afterwards. The friends of Stilicho were perse- cuted with cruel rigour, their blood flowed in torrents, and their families were disgraced and robbed of their estates : Olympius had become the successor of Stilicho. (Claudian. Stilicho, Serena^ Rufinus; Zosim. lib. iv. v.; Sozom. lib. viii.; Socrat. lib. vi. ; Philostorg. xi, 3, &c. ; Marcellin. Chron.; Oros. lib. vii.) [W. P] STILO, L. AE'LIUS PRAECONI'NUS, a Roman eques, was one of the earliest grammarians at Rome, and also one of the most celebrated. Cicero describes him as most learned in Greek and Roman literature, and especially well acquainted with ancient Latin works. Aelius gave instruction in grammar to Varro, who speaks of him with the greatest respect, and frequently quotes him ; and he was also one of Cicero's teachers in rhetoric. He received the surname of Praeconinus, because his father had been a praeco, and that of Stilo on account of his compositions. He belonged to the aristocratical party in the state, and accompanied Q. Metellus Numidicus into exile in B. c. 1 00, and, no doubt, returned with him to Rome in the following year. Aelius, however, did not aspire himself to any of the offices of state, and did not speak in public ; but he wrote orations for many of his friends, such as Q. Metellus, Q. Caepio, Q. Pompeius Rufus and Cotta, upon which Cicero does not bestow much commendation. It was by his grammatical works that he acquired the most celebrity. He wrote Commentaries on the Songs of the Salii and on the Twelve Tables, a work De Pro- loquiis, &c. He and his son-in-law, Ser. Claudius, may be regarded as the founders of the study of gram- mar at Rome. Some modern writers suppose that the work on Rhetoric ad C. Herennium, which is printed in the editions of Cicero, is the work of this Aelius, but this is mere conjecture. [Corap. Vol. I. pp. 726, 727.] (Cic. Brut 56, 46, Acad. i. 2, de Leg. ii. 23, de Oral. i. 43; Suet, de III. Gramm. 2, 3 ; Quintil. x. 1. % B9 ; Gell. i. 18, x. 21, xvi. 8,; Varr. L. L. v. 18, 21, 25, QQ, 101, vi. 7, 59, vii. 2, ed. Muller ; Van Heusde, Dissert, de Aelio Siilone, Ciceronis in Rhetoricis magistro, R/ietorico- rum ad Herennium ut videtur auctore. Inserta sunt Aelii Stilonis ei Servii Claudii Fragmenta^ Traj. ad Rhen. 1839; Grafenhan, Geschickte der Klassichen Philoloqie im Alierthum, vol. ii. pp. 251, 252, Bonn, 1844) STILPO (^TtATTwc), the Greek philosopher, was a native of Megara, the son of Eucleides, or as is more in accordance with the chronological notices to be presently adduced, of Pasicles of Thebes, a disciple of Eucleides. Other authorities mention Thrasymachus of Corinth as his father. (Diog. Laert. ii. 113, comp. vi. 89, and Suid. s.v.) According to one account, he engaged in dialectic encounters with Diodorus Cronus at the court of Ptolemaeus Soter ; according to another, he did not comply with the invitation of the king to go 3n