AURAY, a small town of France, situated on the slope of a hill near the mouth of the river of the same name, in the department of Morbihan, 10 miles W. of Vannes. Its port is greatly frequented by coasting vessels ; and it carries on a considerable industry in stocking-weaving, silk-spinning, tanning, shipbuilding, &c. The principal buildings are the church of St Esprit (13th century), which is now transformed into a college, the church of St Gildas, the town-house (17th century), and the Chartreuse, which marks the site of the battle of 1364, in which Charles of Blois was defeated by John de Montfort. In the neighbourhood is the church of Sainte Anne d Auray, one of the principal places of pilgrimage in Brittany. Population, 4542. (See Palliser s Brittany and its Bye- ways, 1869.)
AURELIANUS, Cælius, a celebrated Latin physician, born probably at Sicca in Numidia, but regarding whose life scarcely anything is known. The very date at which he flourished is quite uncertain. In his books he refers frequently to Soranus, and does not mention Galen, from which it has been inferred that he lived at a period inter mediate between these two writers, i.e., during the 2d century A.D. But if the writings under his name are, as seems at least probable, translations or paraphrases from Soranus, the absence of any reference to Galen can easily be understood. Again, Galen does not mention Aurelianus, though he notices many minor physicians ; from which fact, together with the corrupt Latin style of his extant works, it has been supposed by several authorities that the more correct date is the 5th century A.D. The writings of Aurelianus, which are composed from the point of view of the methodical school, and show considerable practical skill in the diagnosis of ordinary and even of exceptional diseases, consist of the following: (1.) A treatise, in three books, on acute diseases (Acutarum or Celerum Passionum), Paris, 1533 and 1826. (2.) A treatise, in live books, on chronic diseases (Tardarum or Chronicarum Passionum}, Basle, 1529. Both these treatises were published together in 1566, and frequently since. (3.) Fragments of a com prehensive treatise on medical science in the form of a dialogue (Medicinales Responsiones], referred to in the preface to the work on acute diseases, have been discovered and published by Val. Rose in his Anecdota Grceca et Cfrceco- Latina, vol. ii. 1871.
AURELIUS ANTONINUS, Marcus, the noblest of pagans, the crown and flower of Stoicism, was born at Rome 121 A.D., the date of his birth being variously stated as the 21st and the 26th April. His original name was Marcus Annius Verus. His father, Annius Verus, died while he was prostor; his mother, who survived her husband, was Domitia Calvilla or Lucilla. By both his parents he was of noble blood, his mother being a lady of consular rank, and his father claiming descent from Numa Pompilius. Marcus was an infant when his father died, and was there upon adopted by his grandfather. The latter spared no pains upon his education, and the moral training which he received, both from his grandfather and from his mother, and to which he alludes in the most grateful and graceful terms in his Meditations, must have been all but perfect. The noble qualities of the child attracted the attention of the Emperor Hadrian, who, playing upon the name Verus, said that it should be changed to Verissimus. When Marcus reached the age of seventeen, Hadrian adopted, as his successor, Titus Antoninus Pius (who had married Annia Galeria Faustina, the sister of Annius Verus, and was consequently the uncle of Marcus), on condition that he in turn adopted both his nephew and Lucius Ceionius Commodus, the son of Ælius Cæsar, whom Hadrian, being childless, had originally intended as his successor, but who had died before him. It is generally believed that, had Marcus been old enough, Hadrian would have adopted him directly.
After the death of Hadrian, and the accession of Antoninus Pius to the throne, it became at once apparent that a distinguished future was in store for Marcus. He had been, at the age of fifteen, betrothed to the sister of Commodus; the engagement was broken off by the new emperor, and he was instead betrothed to Faustina, the daughter of the latter. In 139 A.D., the title of Cæsar was conferred upon him, and he dropped the name of Verus. The full name he then bore was Marcus Ælius Aurelius Antoninus, Ælius coming from Hadrian's family, and Aurelius being the original name of Antoninus Pius. He is generally known as Marcus Aurelius or Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. In 140 A.D. he was made consul, and entered fully upon public life.
and has been so detailed by himself, that it ought not to be passed over without notice. Professor Long says, with perfect truth, apparently, of the trainers and the trained, “Such a body of teachers, distinguished by their acquirements and their character, will hardly be collected again, and as to the pupil we have not had one like him since.” We have already alluded to the care bestowed upon him in youth by his mother and grandfather; a better guardian than that thoroughly good man and prudent ruler, Antoninus Pius, could not be conceived. Marcus himself says, “To the gods I am indebted for having good grandfathers, good parents, a good sister, good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen and friends, nearly everything good.” He never attended any of the Roman public schools, and this he makes a matter for self-congratulation. He was trained by tutors, in whom, particularly in Rusticus, he appears to have been, very fortunate, and to whom he showed gratitude when he reached the throne by raising them to the highest dignities of the state. Like most of the young Romans of the day, he began his studies with rhetoric and poetry, his teachers being Herodes Atticus and M. Cornelius Fronto. But, at the early age of eleven, he entered upon another course of study, in which he may be said to have continued more or less till the end of his life. He became acquainted with Diognetus the Stoic, was fascinated by the philosophy he taught, assumed the dress of his sect, and ultimately abandoned rhetoric and poetry for philosophy and law, having among his teachers of the one Sextus of Chæronea, and of the other L. Volusianus Marcianus, a distinguished jurist. He went
thoroughly and heartily into the practice as well as the
