Pedius
- I Q. Pedius, a joint-heir with Augustus to Caesar's estate, Cic. Att. 9, 14, 1; id. Planc. 7, 17; Suet. Caes. 83; Vell. 2, 65, 2.—
- II Q. Pedius, grandson of the former, born dumb, became a great painter, Plin. 35, 4, 7, § 21.
1. Q. Pedius, the great-nephew of the dictator C. Julius Caesar, being the grandson of Julia, Caesar's eldest sister.
This is the statement of Suetonius (Cuesar, 83), but Glandorp has conjectured (Onom. p. 432), not without reason, that Pedius may have been the son of the dictator's sister, since we find him grown up and discharging important duties in Caesar's lifetime. The name of Pedius first occurs in B. C. 57, when he was serving as legatus to his uncle in Gaul. (Caes. B. G.> 2.1.) In B. C. 55, Pedius became a candidate for the curule aedileship with Cn. Plancius and others, but he lost his election. (Cic. pro Planc. 7, 22: respecting the interpretation of these passages, see Wunder, Prolegomena, p. lxxxiii, &c. to his edition of Cicero's oration pro Plancio.) On the breaking out of the civil war in B. C. 49, Pedius naturally joined Caesar. During Caesar's campaign in Greece against Pompey, B. C. 48, Pedius remained in Italy, having been raised to the praetorship, and in the course of that year he defeated and slew Milo in the neighbourhood of Thurii. At the beginning of B. C. 45, we find Pedius serving as legatus against the Pompeian party in Spain, and on his return to Rome with Caesar in the autumn of the year, he was allowed the honour of a triumph with the title of proconsul. (Fasti Capit.) In Caesar's will Pedius was named one of his heirs along with his two other great-nephews, C. Octavius and L. Pinarius, Octavius obtaining three-fourths of the property, and the remaining fourth being divided between Pinarins and Pedius, who resigned his share of the inheritance to Octavius. After the fall of the consuls, Hirtius and Pansa, at the battle of Mutina in the month of April, B. C. 43, Octavius marched to Rome at the head of an army [Augustus, p. 425b.), and in the month of August he was elected consul along with Pedius. The latter forthwith, at the instigation of his colleague, proposed a law, known by the name of the Lex Pedia, by which all the murderers of Julius Caesar were punished with aquae et ignis interdictio. Pedius was left in charge of the city, while Octavius marched into the north of Italy, and as the latter had now determined to join Antonius and Lepidus, Pedius proposed in the senate the repeal of the sentence of outlawry which had been pronounced against them. To this the senate was obliged to give an unwilling consent; and soon afterwards towards the close of the year there was formed at Bononia the celebrated triumvirate between Octavius, Antonius and Lepidus. As soon as the news reached Rome that the triumvirs had made out a list of persons to be put to death, the utmost consternation prevailed, morel especially as the names of those who were doomed had not transpired. During the whole of the night on which the news arrived, Pedius was with difficulty able to prevent an open insurrection; and on the following morning, being ignorant of the decision of the triumvirs, he declared that only seventeen persons should be put to death, and pledged the public word for the safety of all others. But the fatigue to which he had been exposed was so great that it occasioned his death on the succeeding night. Further Information
Cic. Att. 9.14; Caesar, Caes. Civ. 3.22 ; Auctor, B. Hisp. 2; Suet. Jul. 83; D. C. 43.31, 42, 46.46, 52; Appian, App. BC 3.22, 94, 96, 4.6; Plin. Nat. 35.4. s. 7; Vell. 2.69; Suet. Nero 3, Galb. 3.
2. Q. Pedius, the grandson of No. 1, was a painter. [See below.]
3. Pedius Poplicola, a celebrated orator mentioned by Horace (Serm. 1.10. 28), may have been a son of No. 1.
4. Pedius Blaesus [Blaesus, p. 492a.]
5. Cn. Pedius Castus, consul suffectus at the beginning of the reign of Vespasian, A. D. 71.
a Roman painter in the latter part of the first century B. C. He was the grandson of that Q. Pedius who was the nephew of Julius Caesar, and his co-heir with Augustus (see above, No. 1): but, as he was dumb from his birth, his kinsman, the orator Messala, had him taught painting: this arrangement was approved of by Augustus, and Pedius attained to considerable excellence in the art, but he died while still a youth (Plin. Nat. 35.4. s. 7). Muller places him at B. C. 34, but this is too early a date. [P.S]
a Roman jurist, whose writings were apparently known to Pomponius (Dig. 4. tit. 3. s. 1.4). His name Sextus appears in a passage of Paulus (Dig. 4. tit. 8. s. 32.20), and in other passages. Pedius was younger than Ofilius [Ofilius], or at least a contemporary (Dig. 14. tit. 1. s. 1.9): and the same remark applies to Sabinus (Dig. 50. tit. 6. s. 13.1), where Massurius Sabinus is meant. He is most frequently cited by Paulus and Ulpian. He is also cited by Julian (Dig. 3. tit. 5. s. 6.9). We may, therefore, conclude that he lived before the time of Hadrian. He wrote Libri ad Edictum, of which the twenty-fifth is quoted by Paulus (Dig. 37. tit. 1. s. 6.2). He also wrote Libri de Stipulationibus (12. tit. 1. s. 6). The passages which are cited from him show that he had a true perception of the right method of legal interpretation; for instance, he says, in a passage quoted by Paulus, "it is best not to scrutinize the proper signification of words, but mainly what the testator has intended to declare ; in the next place, what is the opinion of those who live in each district" (De Instructo vel Instrumento Legato, Dig. 33. tit. 7. s. 18.3). In another passage quoted by Ulpian (Dig. 1. tit. 3. s. 13), Pedius observes "that when one or two things are introduced by a lex, it is a good ground for supplying the rest which tends to the same useful purpose, by interpretation, or at least by jurisdictio." (Grotius, Vitae Jurisconsultorum ; Zimmern, Geschichte des Raöm. Privatrechts, p. 333; the passages of the Digest in which Sextus Pedius is cited are collected by Wieling, Jurisprudentia Restitula, p. 335.) [G.L]
(1) Quintus, the great-nephew of the dictator C. Iulius Caesar, being the grandson of Iulia, Caesar's eldest sister. He served under Caesar in Gaul as his legatus, B.C. 57. In 55 he was a candidate for the curule aedileship with Cn. Plancius and others, but he lost his election. In the Civil War he fought on Caesar's side. He was praetor in 48, and in that year he defeated and slew Milo in the neighbourhood of Thurii. In 45 he served against the Pompeian party in Spain. In Caesar's will Pedius was named as one of his heirs along with his two other great-nephews, C. Octavius and L. Pinarius, Octavius obtaining three fourths of the property, and the remaining one fourth being divided between Pinarius and Pedius: the latter resigned his share of the inheritance to Octavius. After the fall of the consuls, Hirtius and Pansa, at the battle of Mutina in April, 43, Octavius marched upon Rome at the head of an army, and in the month of August he was elected consul along with Pedius. The latter forthwith proposed a law, known by the name of the Lex Pedia, by which all the murderers of Iulius Caesar were punished with aquae et ignis interdictio. Pedius was left in charge of the city while Octavius marched into the north of Italy. He died towards the end of the year shortly after the news of the proscription had reached Rome.
(2) Sextus, a Roman jurist, living just before the reign of Hadrian in the second century A.D. His works and opinions are frequently cited by the later writers, such as Paulus and Ulpian.