Volusius
- the name of a Roman gens.
- 1 M. Volusius, Cic. Fam. 16, 12.—
- 2 Volusius, an old poet, who wrote Annales, Cat. 36, 1; 95, 7.—
- 3 Volusius Maecianus, a celebrated lawyer, the tutor of Marcus Antoninus, Jul. Capit. in Ant. Pio, 12 al.
1. An haruspex in the cohors of Verres. (Cic. Ver. 3.11, 21.)
2. Q. Volusius, a pupil of Cicero in oratory, accompanied Cicero to Cilicia, where he held some office under him. (Cic. Fam. 5.10, 20, ad Att. 5.21.) In one passage (ad Att. 5.11) he is called Cn. Volusius, for there call be little doubt that this Cneius is the same person who is elsewhere called Marcus.
3. M. Volusius, is mentioned by Cicero in B. C. 49 (ad Fam. 16.12). He is probably the same as the M. Volusius who was plebeian aedile in B. C. 43, and was proscribed by the triumvirs, but escaped by assuming the disguise of a priest of Isis. (V. Max. 7.3.8; Appian, App. BC 4.47.)
a jurist, was in the consilium of Antoninus Pius. (Capitol. Antonin. Pius, 100.12.)
Among the many illustrious men who formed the character of Marcus Aurelius, was Maecianus : Aurelius was one of his auditores. (Capitol. Antonin. Philosoph. 100.3.) A rescript of the Divi Fratres (Dig. 37. tit. 14. s. 17), speaks of him in these terms : " Volusius Maecianus amicus noster, &c." Marcus in his Τῶν εἰς ἑαυτόν (lib. 1) mentions Marcianus, in place of which it is proposed to read Maecianus, but Marcus does not speak of him as a jurist. Vulcatius (Avid. Cass. 100.7) says that Maecianus was entrusted with the government of Alexandria, and that he was killed by the army for having joined Cassius in his usurpation, A. D. 175. Works Legal Writings
Maecianus wrote sixteen books on Fideicommissa, and fourteen books on Judicia Publica. A Liber Quaestionum is also mentioned (Dig. 29. tit. 2. s. 86), but it may have been a part of the work on Fideicommissa. He also wrote that Legem Rhodiam, from which there is a single excerpt in the Digest (14. tit. 2. s. 9) in Greek, from which we may conclude that this was a collection of the Rhodian laws relating to maritime affairs, and Maecianus may have accompanied the collection with a commentary. This work is not mentioned in the Florentine Index.
There are forty-four excerpts from Maecianus in the Digest. He is cited by Cervidius Scaevola, Papinian, Ulpian and Paulus.
A treatise, De Asse et Ponderibus, is attributed to Volusius Maecianus, but there is some doubt about the authorship. Editions
It is printed in Graevius, Antiq. Roman. xi., and at Paris, 1565, 8vo. There is a dissertation by Wunderlich, De L. Volusio Maeciano; and a recent edition of Maecianus de Asse, and of Balbus by E. Böcking, Bonn, 1831, 12mo. [G.L]
[Proculus.]
[Saturninus.]