Fabricius

Fābrĭcĭus, a, um, adj. [faber],

• name of a Roman gens. The most celebrated is C. Fabricius Luscinus, leader of the Romans against Pyrrhus, and famous for his frugality, and for his noble conduct towards Pyrrhus, Cic. de Or. 2, 66, 268; id. Off. 3, 22, 86; id. Planc. 25, 60; Val. Max. 4, 4, 3; Gell. 1, 14; Juv. 9, 142; Plin. 33, 12, 54, § 153 et saep.—
• II Hence,
• • A Fābrĭcĭus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to a Fabricius, Fabrician: pons, leading over the Tiber to the island of Aesculapius, built by one L. Fabricius, now Ponte di quattro capi, Hor. S. 2, 3, 36.—
  • B Fābrĭcĭānus, a, um, adj., the same: venenum, prepared by C. Fabricius, a friend of Oppianicus, Cic. Clu. 66, 189 (cf. ib. 16, 47).

1. Fabricius, a, um, Name einer römischen gens, aus der am bekanntesten: C. Fabricius, Konsul 281 u. 278 v. Chr., siegreicher Feldherr gegen Pyrrhus und die Samniter, wegen seiner Mäßigkeit u. seiner Zufriedenheit in der Armut bekannt, Cic. de off. 3, 86; parad. 1, 12; Tusc. 3, 56. Flor. 1, 18: als Zensor streng gegen die überhandnehmende Silberwut, dah. stieß er den P. Korn. Rufinus aus dem Senate, weil dieser ein zehn Pfund schweres silbernes Tafelgerät benutzte, Liv. epit. 14. Gell. 4, 8, 7; 17, 21, 89. Val. Max. 2, 9, 4. Iuven. 9, 142: Plur. Fabricii, Männer wie F., Cic. de or. 2, 190 u.a. Sen. contr. 2, 1 (19), 17 sq. Lucan. 10, 152. Salv. de gub. dei 1, 9 extr. – A. Fabricius Veiento, s. Vēiento. – Adi. fabricisch, pons, die die Insel des Äskulap mit der Stadt verbindet, j. Ponte di quattro capi, Hor. sat. 2, 3, 36. – Dav. Fabriciānus, a, um, fabricianisch, des Fabricius, venenum, Cic. Clu. 189.

2 Fabrĭcĭus, (10) ĭī, m. , nom de fam. romaine ; not^t Fabricius [consul romain, célèbre par son désintéressement] : Cic. de Or. 2, 268 || -cĭus et -cĭānus, a, um, relatif à un Fabricius : Hor. S. 2, 3, 36 ; Cic. Clu. 189.

Fabri'cius, C. and L. Fabri'cius

1. C. and L. Fabricius belonged to the municipium of Aletrium, and were twins. According to Cicero (Cic. Clu. 16, &c.), they were both men of bad character; and C. Fabricius, in particular, was charged with having allowed himself to be made use of as a tool of Oppianicus, about B. C. 67, to destroy A. Cluentius. [A. CLUENTIUS, No. 2.]

Fabri'cius

2. L. Fabricius, C. F., perhaps a son of No. 1, was eurator viarum in B. C. 62, and built a new bridge of stone, which connected the city with the island in the Tiber, and which was called, after him, pons Fabricius. The time at which the bridge was built is expressly mentioned by Dio Cassius (37.45), and the name of its author is still seen on the remnants of the bridge, which now bears the name of ponte quattro capi. On one of the arches we read the inscription: "L. Fabricius Cur. Viar. FACIUNDUM COERAVIT IDEMQUE PROBAVIT, C. F. ;" and on another arch there is the following addition: "Q. Lepidus, M. F., M. Lolliu, M. F., Ex S. C. Probaverunt," which probably refers to a restoration of the bridge by Q. Lepidus and M. Lollius. The scholiast on Horace (Sat. 2.3, 36) calls the Fabricius who built that bridge a consul, but this is obviously a mistake. (Becker, Handbuch d. Röm. Alterthümer, vol. i. p. 699.) There is also a coin bearing the name of L. Fabricius. (Eckhel, Doctr. Num. vol. v. p. 210.)

Fabri'cius

3. Q. Fabricius was tribune of the people in B. C. 57, and well disposed towards Cicero, who was then living in exile. He brought before the people a motion that Cicero should be recalled, as early as the month of January of that year. But the attempt was frustrated by P. Clodius by armed force. (Cic. ad Qu. Frat. 1.4, post Red. in Sen. 8, pro Sext. 35, &c., pro Milon. 14.) In the Monumentum Ancyranum and in Dio Cassius (48.35), he is mentioned as consul suffectus of the year B. C. 36. [L.S]

Fabricius

(1) Gaius, surnamed Luscīnus. A Roman, consul for the first time in the year B.C. 283, when he triumphed over the Boii and Etrurians. After the defeat of the Romans, under the consul Laevinus, by Pyrrhus (B.C. 281), Fabricius was sent by the Senate as legate to the king, to treat for the ransom of the prisoners, or, according to others, to propose terms of peace. Pyrrhus is said to have endeavoured to bribe him by large offers, which Fabricius, poor as he was, rejected with scorn, to the great admiration of the king. Fabricius being again consul, B.C. 279, was sent against Pyrrhus, who was then encamped near Tarentum. The physician of the king is said to have come secretly to the Roman camp, and to have promised Fabricius to poison his master for a bribe. The consul, indignant at this, had him put in fetters and sent back to Pyrrhus, on whom this instance of Roman integrity made a strong impression. Pyrrhus soon after sailed for Sicily, whither he was called by the Syracusans, then hard pressed by the Carthaginians. Fabricius, having defeated the Samnites, Lucanians, and Bruttii, who had joined Pyrrhus against Rome, triumphed over these nations. Pyrrhus, afterwards returning to Italy, was finally defeated and driven away by M'. Curius Dentatus, B.C. 276. Two years after, Fabricius being consul for the third time, with Claudius Cinna for his colleague, ambassadors came from King Ptolemy of Egypt to contract an alliance with Rome. Several instances are related of the extreme frugality and simplicity which marked the manners of Fabricius. When censor, he dismissed from the Senate P. Cornelius Rufinus, who had been twice consul, and had also held the dictatorship, because he had in his possession ten pounds' weight of silver plate. Fabricius died poor, and the Senate was obliged to make provision for his daughters ( Plut. Pyrrh.), and in order to show the greatest possible respect for his memory he was interred within the Pomoerium, though the law forbade such burials.

(2) Lucius. A curator viarum, B.C. 62, who built the Pons Fabricius between the city and the Insula Tiberina (q.v.).

Fabricius

Ioannes Albertus (Johann Albert Faber). A celebrated bibliographer, born at Leipzig, November 11, 1668. He studied at Leipzig and Quedlinburg, taking the degrees in philosophy, and afterwards pursuing medicine and theology. At Quedlinburg, two books that he found in the library of Samuel Schmidt (Barthuiss's Adversaria and Morhoff's Polyhistor) gave him the suggestions that led to the preparation of his two great works, the Bibliotheca Latina and the still more important Bibliotheca Graeca. The first appeared at Hamburg in 1697, and was revised and emended by Ernesti in three volumes (Leipzig, 1773). Its secondary title explains its scope: Notitia Auctorum Veterum Latinorum Quorumcumque Scripta ad Nos Venerunt. The divisions adopted in this compilation are, (1) The writers preceding the age of Tiberius;

(2) The writers from Tiberius to the Antonines;

(3) The writers from the Antonines to the decay of the language;

(4) The fragments from old authors, with chapters on the early Christian literature. The Bibliotheca Graeca is further styled Notitia Scriptorum Veterum Graecorum Quorumcumque Monumenta Integra aut Fragmenta Edita Extant, tum Plerorumque e Manuscript. ac Deperditis. This work, which has been styled maximus antiquae eruditionis thesaurus, is in fourteen quarto volumes, appearing at Hamburg at intervals from 1705 to 1728, and subsequently revised by Harles (Hamburg, 1790). Its divisions are marked off by Homer, Plato, Christ, Constantine, and by the capture of Constantinople in 1453, with a sixth section devoted to canon law, medicine, and jurisprudence. Besides these two great compilations, Fabricius, who was a most voluminous writer, put forth 126 other works, some of them, however, being books that he edited only, and none of them of any especial interest to the classical student.

Fabricius held at different times the posts of librarian and Professor of Rhetoric and Ethics (1699), and Rector of the School of St. John at Hamburg. He declined chairs at Greifswald (1701) and Wittenberg. He died at Hamburg, April 30, 1736. The details of his life are given by his sonin-law, Reimar, in his work De Vita et Scriptis J. A. Fabricii Commentarius (Hamburg, 1757).